Achilles and Hector: The Homeric Hero

"Achilles and Hector: The Homeric Hero," Ph.D. dissertation, University of Chicago: 1955. Reprinted in St. John's Review in two parts: Spring 1985: 31-58; Part II, Summer 1985: 85-114. Also published by St. Augustine's Press (2005) in cloth and paperback.

Seth Benardete’s study of the Iliad, which initiated his scholarly career, bears the hallmarks of the unique turn of mind that characterized all his later work. In a brief Note written thirty years later, included in this volume, he looks back on what he sees as the limits of his… More

Aeschylus’ Suppliant Maidens and Persians

Aeschylus' Suppliant Maidens and Persians, Translation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1957.

From the publisher: Aeschylus I contains “The Persians,” translated by Seth Benardete; “The Seven Against Thebes,” translated by David Grene; “The Suppliant Maidens,” translated by Seth Benardete; and “Prometheus Bound,” translated by David Grene. Sixty years ago, the… More

Herodotean Inquiries

Herodotean Inquiries. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1969. New edition with "Second Thoughts." South Bend: St. Augustine's Press, 1999.

From the publisher: Herodotus’ Inquiries should be regarded as our best and most complete document for pre-Socratic philosophy. Without being a work of philosophy, its plan and intention cannot be understood apart from philosophy. Here an attempt is made to uncover Herodotus’… More

The Being of the Beautiful: Plato’s Theaetetus, Sophist, and Statesman

The Being of the Beautiful: Plato's Theaeteus, Sophist, and Statesman. Translation and commentary. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984.

From the publisher: The Being of the Beautiful collects Plato’s three dialogues, the Theaetetus, Sophist, and Statesmen, in which Socrates formulates his conception of philosophy while preparing for trial. Renowned classicist Seth Benardete’s careful translations clearly… More

The Rhetoric of Morality and Philosophy: Plato’s Gorgias and Phaedrus

The Rhetoric of Morality and Philosophy: Plato's Gorgias and Phaedrus, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991.

From the publisher: The Rhetoric of Morality and Philosophy, one of the most groundbreaking works of twentieth-century Platonic studies, is now back in print for a new generation of students and scholars to discover. In this volume, distinguished classicist Seth Benardete interprets and… More

The Tragedy and Comedy of Life: Plato’s Philebus

The Tragedy and Comedy of Life: Plato's Philebus. Translation and commentary. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993.

From the publisher: In The Tragedy and Comedy of Life, Seth Benardete focuses on the idea of the good in what is widely regarded as one of Plato’s most challenging and complex dialogues, the Philebus. Traditionally the Philebus is interpreted as affirming the doctrine that the good… More

Sacred Transgressions: A Reading of Sophocles’ Antigone

Sacred Transgressions: A Reading of Sophocles' Antigone. South Bend: St. Augustine's Press, 1999.

From the publisher: This detailed commentary on the action and argument of Sophocles’ Antigone is meant to be a reflection on and response to Hegel’s interpretation in thePhenomenology (VI.A.a–b), and includes, in addition, two appendixes dealing with Aeschylus’ Septem. It… More

Plato’s Laws: The Discovery of Being

Plato's Laws: The Discovery of Being. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000.

From the publisher: The Laws was Plato’s last work, his longest, and one of his most difficult. In contrast to the Republic, which presents an abstract ideal not intended for any actual community, the Laws seems to provide practical guidelines for the establishment and… More

The Argument of the Action: Essays on Greek Poetry and Philosophy

The Argument of the Action: Essays in Greek Poetry and Philosophy by Seth Benardete, edited by Ronna Burger and Michael Davis. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000.

From the publisher: This volume brings together Seth Benardete’s studies of Hesiod’s Theogony, Homer’s Iliad, and Greek tragedy, of eleven Platonic dialogues, and Aristotle’s Metaphysics. These essays, some never before published, others difficult to find,… More

Plato’s Symposium

Plato's Symposium. A translation by Seth Benardete with commentaries by Allan Bloom and Seth Benardete. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001.

From the publisher: Plato, Allan Bloom wrote, is “the most erotic of philosophers,” and his Symposium is one of the greatest works on the nature of love ever written. This new edition brings together the English translation of the renowned Plato scholar and translator, Seth… More

Encounters and Reflections: Conversations with Seth Benardete

Burger, Ronna, ed. Encounters and Reflections: Conversations with Seth Benardete. With Robert Burman, Ronna Burger, and Michael Davis. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002.

From the publisher: By turns wickedly funny and profoundly illuminating, Encounters and Reflections presents a captivating and unconventional portrait of the life and works of Seth Benardete. One of the leading scholars of ancient thought, Benardete here reflects on both the people he… More

Aristotle’s “On Poetics”

Aristotle. On Poetics. Translated by Seth Benardete and Michael Davis. South Bend, IN: St. Augustine’s Press, 2002.

The original, Aristotle’s short study of storytelling, written in the fourth century B.C., is the world’s first critical book about the laws of literature. Although the work is 2400 years old, Aristotle’s discussions—Unity of Plot, Reversal of the Situation,… More

The Bow and the Lyre: A Platonic Reading of the Odyssey

Benardete, Seth. The Bow and the Lyre: A Platonic Reading of the Odyssey. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1997.

From the publisher: In this exciting interpretation of the Odyssey, the late renowned scholar Seth Benardete suggests that Homer may have been the first to philosophize in a Platonic sense. He argues that the Odyssey concerns precisely the relation between philosophy and poetry and, more… More

The Archaeology of the Soul: Platonic Readings of Ancient Poetry and Philosophy

Benardete, Seth. The Archaeology of the Soul: Platonic Readings of Ancient Poetry and Philosophy. Edited by Ronna Burger and Michael Davis. South Bend, IN: St. Augustine’s Press, 2012.

From the publisher: The Archaeology of the Soul is a testimony to the extraordinary scope of Seth Benardete’s thought. Some essays concern particular authors or texts; others range more broadly and are thematic. Some deal explicitly with philosophy; others deal with epic, lyric, and… More