Menexenus (son of Socrates)

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Menexenos ( Greek Μενέξενος ) was one of the three sons of the famous Athenian philosopher Socrates (* 469 BC; † 399 BC) and his younger wife, the proverbial Xanthippe . (Some sources give Myrto , the second wife of Socrates, as the mother of Menexenus.) His older brothers were Sophroniscus that after his paternal grandfather was named, and Lamprocles from which the writer and historian Xenophon in his memories of Socrates (Memorabilia) reported.

Menexenus seems to have got its name after a young student of Socrates, who appears in several dialogues of Plato ( Phaidon , Lysis , Menexenus ), was very popular in the Socrates circle and was also personally present when the philosopher who was sentenced to death presented the hemlock in prison had to drink. When his father died, Menexenos was still a toddler who had to be held in her arms by his mother Xanthippe. So he was probably around 402 BC. Born in BC. No details are known about his further résumé.

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  • Plato: Dialogues Defense of Socrates ( Apology , p. 34d) and Phaedo (p. 116b).
  • Xenophon: memories of Socrates . ( Memorabilia , Book II 2, 1-14).

literature

  • Lesley Dean-Jones: Menexenus-Son of Socrates . In: The Classical Quarterly 45, 1995, pp. 51-57.
  • Debra Nails: The People of Plato . Indianapolis / Cambridge 2002. p. 203.
personal data
SURNAME Menexenos
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Menexenus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Son of Socrates and Xanthippe
DATE OF BIRTH around 402 BC Chr.
PLACE OF BIRTH Athens
DATE OF DEATH after 399 BC Chr.