Topics

Books

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… 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,”… 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… 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… 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… 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… 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… 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… 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… 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… More

Encounters and Reflections: Conversations with Seth Benardete

– Encounters and Reflections: Conversations with Seth Benardete. Edited by Ronna Burger. 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… More

Aristotle’s “On Poetics”

– Aristotle - On Poetics. A translation 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… More

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

– 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.… More

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

– The Archaeology of the Soul: Platonic Readings of Ancient Poetry and Philosophy by Seth Benardete, edited by Ronna Burger and Michael Davis, South Bend: 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… More

Essays

Plato’s Sophist 231b1–7

– "Plato's Sophist 231b1-7," Phronesis 5, no. 3 (1960): 129-139. Reprinted in The Archaeology of the Soul, 2012.

Achilles and the Iliad

– "Achilles and the Iliad," Hermes 91, No. 1 (1963): 1-16. Reprinted in The Argument of the Action, 2000.
Excerpt: Achilles is a hero in a world of heroes; he is of the same cast as they, thought we might call him the first impression that has caught each point more finely than later copies. He… More

Eidos and Diaeresis in Plato’s Statesman

– "Eidos and Diaeresis in Plato's Statesman," Philologus 107, nos. 3-4 (1963): 193-226. Reprinted in The Archaeology of the Soul, 2012.
Excerpt: When the Stranger summarizes the set of divisions which presents the statesmen as a ruler of two-footed swine, he omits the differentia, even though he had gone to some trouble to… More

Some Misquotations of Homer in Plato

– "Some Misquotations of Homer in Plato," Phronesis 8, no. 2 (1963): 173-78. Reprinted in The Archaeology of the Soul, 2012.
Excerpt: “Plato often has Socrates and his other characters quote Homer. Their quotations for the most part exactly agree with our vulgate, but sometimes they differ. The most recent… More

Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus

– "Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus." in Ancients and Moderns, 1-15, New York, Basic Books, 1964. Reprinted in The Argument of the Action, 2000.
Excerpt: “The crippled Oedipus, we must imagine, appears before the Thebans leaning on a staff, a staff that indicates as much his present authority as the use he once made of it to… More

The Crimes and Arts of Prometheus

– "The Crimes and Arts of Prometheus," Rheinisches Museum fur Philologie 107, No. 2, (1964): 126-139. Reprinted in The Archaeology of the Soul, 2012.
Excerpt: “Most recent scholarship on Aeschylus’ Prometheus has been devoted to the question of Zeus and the plan of the whole trilogy. And in a way that is understandable.… More

XRH and DEI in Plato and Others

– “XRH and DEI in Plato and Others,” Glotta 43, nos. 3-4 (1965): 285-98. Reprinted in The Archaeology of the Soul, 2012.

Hesiod’s Works and Days: A First Reading

– "Hesiod's Works and Days: A First Reading," Agon 1 (1967): 150-174. Reprinted in The Archaeology of the Soul, 2012.
Excerpt: “Hesiod’s Works and Days is divided into nine sections. 1) 1-10 Proemium; 2)11-41 Two kinds of Eris; 3) 42-201 Two accounts of man’s misery; 4) 202-8 Justice and… More

The Aristeia of Diomedes and the Plot of the Iliad

– "The Aristeia of Diomedes and the Plot of the Iliad," Agon 2 (1968): 10-38. Reprinted in The Argument of the Action, 2000.
Excerpt: “Blunt Ajax states the paradox of heroic virtue: “Alas, even a fool would know that Zeus himself aids the trojans: the spears of all, no matter whether good or bad do… More

On Plato’s Timaeus and Timaeus’ Science Fiction

– "On Plato's Timaeus and Timaeus' Science Fiction," Interpretation 2, No. 1 (Summer 1971): 21-63. Reprinted in The Archaeology of the Soul, 2012.
Excerpt: “Socrates counts out loud. He makes himself out to be somewhat ridiculous. He does not say, “There are three of you; there should be four.” Nor does he say,… More

Memorial Speech for Leo Strauss

– Memorial Speech for Leo Strauss, New School for Social Research, 1974. Reprinted in The Archaeology of the Soul, 2012.
Excerpt: “Leo Strauss was a philosopher. He hid this fact as much as he showed it by being a transhistorical historian of philosophy. He was more historically accurate than the… More

A Reading of Sophocles’ Antigone

– "A Reading of Sophocles' Antigone, In Three Parts: Interpretation 4, No. 3 (Spring 1975): 148-196; 5, no. 1 (Summer 1975): 1-55; 5, no. 2 (Winter 1975): 148-184. Reprinted as Sacred Transgressions: A Reading of Sophocles' Antigone. 1999.
Excerpt: “Antigone meets Ismene outside the gates of the royal palace. She usurps for the planning of her crime the place Creon had designated for his own meeting with the elders. As… More

Aristotle’s De Anima III.3–5

– "Aristotle's de anima III.3-5," Review of Metaphysics, 28, no. 4 (June 1975): 611-622. Reprinted in The Archaeology of the Soul, 2012.
Aristotle’s De Anima is not a treatise on the human soul. It is as silent about the virtues as it is about memory and empeiria. The soul is mainly considered apart form time and the… More

Euripides’ Hippolytus

– "Euripides' Hippolytus." In Essays in Honor of Jacob Klein, 21-47, Annapolis: St. John's College Press, 1976.  Reprinted in The Argument of the Action, 2000.
“Euripides’ Hippolutus” provides a rich field of observations. Benardete addresses the inner tension between opposing traits of the characters, thereby putting them… More

The Grammar of Being

– "The Grammar of Being," Review of Metaphysics 30, No. 3 (1977): 486-496. Reprinted in The Archaeology of the Soul, 2012.
Excerpt: “Charles H. Kahn’s The Verb “Be” in Ancient Greek is the sixth part of a series edited by JWM Verhaar with the overall title, The Verb “Be”… More

On Wisdom and Philosophy: The First Two Chapters of Aristotle’s Metaphysics A

– "On Wisdom and Philosophy: The First Two Chapters of Aristotle's Metaphysics A," Review of Metaphysics, 32, No. 2 (Dec 1978): 205-215. Reprinted in The Argument of the Action, 2000.
Excerpt: “Each of Aristotle’s three most theoretical writings begins with a critique of his predecessors but whereas the second books of his Physics and On Soul present his own… More

Leo Strauss’s The City and Man

– "Leo Strauss's The City and Man," Political Science Reviewer 8 (1978): 1-20. Reprinted in The Archaeology of the Soul, 2012.
Excerpt: Leo Strauss’s The City and Man seems at first to be a straightforward continuation of all his previous work: the articulation of the theological-political problem. Event he… More

On Greek Tragedy

– "On Greek Tragedy," in The Great Ideas Today, 102-143. Chicago: Encyclopedia Brittanica, 1980. Reprinted in The Argument of the Action, 2000.
Excerpt: Of all literary forms, tragedy and comedy alone seem to make a natural pair. They are natural in that they designate something not merely in letters but in life, and they are a… More

Physics and Tragedy: On Plato’s Cratylus

– "Physics and Tragedy: On Plato's Cratylus," Ancient Philosophy 1, no, 2 (1981): 140-172. Reprinted in The Argument of the Action, 2000.
Excerpt: The Cratylus seems to be a caricature of a Platonic dialogue. It gives us Socrates as seen in the distorting mirror of an alien inspiration. It begans as a farce and ends as a… More

Review of J. Dudley, Gott und Theoria bei Aristoteles: Die metaphysische Grundlage der Nikomachischen Ethik.

– Review of J. Dudley, Gott Und Theoria bei Aristotles: Die metaphysische Grundlage der Nikocachischen Ethik. The Review of Metaphysics 37, no. 1 (September 1983): 112-13. Reprinted in The Archaeology of the Soul, 2012.
Excerpt: This short book, a German translation of an unpublished English version, with 95 pages of text and 114 of notes, consists of three main chapters: I. The nature of the complete… More

On Interpreting Plato’s Charmides

– "On Interpreting Plato's Charmides," New School Graduate Faculty Philosophy Journal 11 (1986): 9-36. Reprinted in The Argument of the Action, 2000.
Excerpt: The Charmides is about sophrosyne, moderation and self-knowledge; but part of Socrates’ original question was about the state of philosophy in Athens; and since the… More

Cicero’s de legibus I: its Plan and Intention

– "Cicero's de legibus I: its Plan and Intention," American Journal of Philology 108, no. 2 (1987): 295-309. Reprinted in The Archaeology of the Soul, 2012.
Although the Laws’ transitions from one topic to another are managed adroitly if one considers them dialogically, their thematic purpose is obscure. It is easy to see how… More

The Plan of the Statesman

– "The Plan of the Statesman," Metis: Revue d'anthropologie du monde grec ancien 7, nos. 1-2 (1992): 25-47. Reprinted in The Argument of the Action, 2000.
Excerpt: It is not easy to follow the argument of the Statesman. Its difficulty seems to be due to the odd lengths of its sections, which are either too short or too long for the matter… More

On Plato’s Sophist

– "On Plato's Sophist," Review of Metaphysics 46, No. 4 (June 1993): 747-780. Reprinted in The Argument of the Action, 2000.
Excerpt: Once the stranger takes over the discussion at the beginning of the Sophist, and agrees to discuss the sophist, the statesman, and the philosopher, it is hard to remember that… More

The Right, the True, and the Beautiful

– "The Right, the True, and the Beautiful," Glotta, 41 nos. 1-2 (1963): 54-62. Reprinted in The Archaeology of the Soul, 2012.
Excerpt: Were there a gap in our manuscript between two questions of Socrates, we should not now be able to say which stereotyped phrase was most suitable. Was Plato equally perplexed? Are… More

The Poet-Merchant and the Stranger from the Sea

– "The Poet-Merchant and the Stranger from the Sea." The Greeks and the Sea, 59-65, ed. Speros Vryonis. New York: Aristede Caratzas Publishers, 1993. Reprinted in The Archaeology of the Soul, 2012.
Excerpt: The sea has both a surface and a depth. It thus lends itself to be the paradigm for the human soul, which, as the Chorus of Sophocles’ Antigone says, when stirred brings to… More

On Plato’s Symposium

– "On Plato's Symposium," Munich: Carl Friedrich von Siemens Stiftung, 1994. Reprinted in The Argument of the Action, 2000.
Excerpt: “Some platonic dialogues are bound closely to the life and times of Socrates, and some are set at a particular time of day. The Phaedo and Symposium satisfy both criteria;… More

On Plato’s Lysis

– "On Plato's Lysis," ms. 1994. In The Argument of the Action, 2000.
Excerpt: In the Lysis Plato has Socrates present himself at his sleaziest. He reports how he undertook to pimp for the silly Hippothales and succeeded first in smashing the false pride of… More

The Play of Truth

– "The Play of Truth." Review of R.B. Rutherford, The Art of Plato: Ten Essays in Platonic Interpretation. Boston Book Review, November 10, 1995. Reprinted in The Archaeology of the Soul, 2012.
Excerpt: R.B. Rutherford wishes to restore to the understanding of Plato what Cicero already knew and practiced in his own dialogues. In a passage not cited by Rutherford, Cicero writes… More

Plato’s Theaetetus: On the Way of the Logos

– "Plato's Theaetetus: On the Way of the Logos," Review of Metaphysics, 51, no. 1 (September 1997): 25-53. Reprinted in The Argument of the Action, 2000.
Excerpt: The opening of the Theaetetus is curious. The report we have of another opening of nearly the same length indicates that it was always a curiosity. If both openings are… More

Review of Michael Tanner, Nietzsche: A Very of Short Introduction

– Review of Michael Tanner, Nietzsche: A Very Short Introduction. In The Great Ideas Today, 454-58. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 1997. Reprinted in The Archaeology of the Soul, 2012.
Excerpt: His very short study of Nietzsche is very long on the opinions of the author without conveying much of the thought of Nietzsche himself. Michael tanner, who teachers philosophy at… More

Plato, True and False

– "Plato, True and False," Review of Plato: Complete Works, edited by John M. Cooper. The New Criterion, February 1998: 70-74. Reprinted in The Archaeology of the Soul, 2012.
Excerpt: “To have everything of Plato in one volume, regardless of whether or not it has been ascribed to him correctly, is a fortunate event: one can survey all at once the man… More

The First Crisis in First Philosophy

– "The First Crisis in First Philosophy," Graduate Faculty Philosophy Journal 18, No. 1 (1995: 237-248, 1999. Reprinted in The Argument of the Action, 2000.
Excerpt: Virtually everyone knows that Aristotle sometimes lies. His account of the pre-Socratics in the first book of the Metaphysics leaves out of account everything that does not suit… More

On the Timaeus

– "On the Timaeus." Lecture at The Hannah Arendt/Reiner Schurmann Memorial Symposium in Political Philosophy: "The Philosophy of Leo Strauss," New School for Social Research, 1999. In The Argument of the Action, 2000.
Excerpt: Thirty years ago, when I submitted a paper to Leo Strauss on Timaeus’s science fiction, he wrote back to say that Plato’s Timaeus for him has always been sealed with 7… More

Metamorphosis and Conversion: Apuleius’s Metamorphoses

– "Metamorphosis and Conversion: Apuleius's Metamorphoses." In Literary Imagination, Ancient and Modern: Essays in Honor of David Grene, edited by Todd Breyfogle, 155-176. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999. Reprinted in The Archaeology of the Soul, 2012.
Excerpt: In a book called Transformations, which we learn is a “Greekish tale” (fibula Graecanica) told by an educated Greek in poor Latin, the two biggest surprises are the… More

Plato’s Phaedo

– "Plato's Phaedo," ms. 1980. In The Argument of the Action, 2000.
Excerpt: I wish to discuss four things in Plato’s Phaedo. First, the intention of the dialogue as a whole; second, the plan or structure of the Phaedo; third, some arguments of… More

The Furies of Aeschylus

– "The Furies of Aeschylus," ms. 1982. In The Argument of the Action, 2000.
Excerpt: “The Greek word for “right” is dike. Dike can mean “punishment,” but it never means “acquittal.” Dikastike – the science of right… More

Protagoras’ Myth and Logos

– "Protagoras' Myth and Logos," ms. 1988. In The Argument of the Action, 2000.
Excerpt: “In general, a speaker should not promise more than he can deliver, nor should he present conclusions as the setting for his argument, but in this case, where a part of a… More

Plato’s Laches: A Question of Definition

– Plato's Laches: A Question of Definition," ms. 1992. In The Argument of the Action, 2000.
Excerpt: The Laches records the meeting between Socrates and the inglorious sons of Thucydides and Aristides, on the one hand, and on the other, the now-famous general Laches and Nicias.… More

Strauss on Plato

– "Strauss on Plato," University of Chicago lecture, 1993. In The Argument of the Action, 2000.
Excerpt: “What philosophy is seems to be inseparable from the question of how to read Plato. Almost no philosopher after Plato wrote at length about philosophy, and from antiquity at… More

On Heraclitus

– "On Heraclitus." Review of Metaphysics 53, No. 3 (March 2000): 613-33.
Excerpt: Lucretius, after he has expounded that nothing comes out of nothing and nothing goes into nothing, and there are only bodies and void, turns to three pre-Socratics: Heraclitus,… More

Derrida and Plato

– "Derrida and Plato." Lecture delivered at NYU, in a series "Derrida and his Non-Contemporaries," October 19, 2000. In The Archaeology of the Soul, 2012.
Excerpt: The French for nothing rien comes from the Latin for thing rem; Derrida suggests that in thought the reverse is true. This is one of the very large claims Derrida makes, but the… More

The Plan of Odysseus and the Plot of the Philoctetes

– "The Plan of Odysseus and the Plot of Philoctetes," Epoche 7, no. 2 (Spring 2003): 133-150. Reprinted in The Archaeology of the Soul, 2012.
Excerpt: Odysseus is the Cinna of tragedy, with a “head to contrive, and a tongue to persuade, and a hand to execute any mischief” In Philoctetes Odysseus presents himself as… More

Freedom, Grace and Necessity

– "Freedom, Grace and Necessity." Freedom and the Human Person, edited by Richard Velkley. Studies in Philosophy and the History of Philosophy, Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2007. Reprinted in The Archaeology of the Soul, 2012.
Excerpt: Before the start of the Isthmian games at Corinth in 196 B.C., a Roman herald proclaimed that with the conquest of philop of Macedon all the cities of Greece and Asia Minor were to… More

Aeschylus’ Agamemnon: The Education of the Chorus

– "Aechylus's Agamemnon: The Education of the Chorus." Manuscript, undated.  In The Archaeology of the Soul, 2012.
Excerpt: According to one interpretation of the Oresteia, the ground of Athenian democracy is the divine condonation of matricide; but a stricter interpretation would be that the Olympian… More

On Reading Pindar Platonically

– "On Reading Pindar Platonically." Manuscript undated. In The Archaeology of the Soul, 2012.
Excerpt: At the beginning of the Phaedrus, Socrates, in order to hear about Lysias’ speech, has to accompany Phaedrus on his constitutional; and, in response to Phaedrus’… More

Aeneid

– "Aeneid." Manuscript, undated. In The Archaeology of the Soul, 2012.

Horace C.I.xv

– "Horace C.I.xv." Manuscript, undated. In The Archaeology of the Soul, 2012.
Excerpt: Four poems of Horace’s first book seem to be so placed as to represent a proportion. The fifth and sixth seem to be in the same relation to one another as the fourteenth and… More

Commentary

On the Being of The Being of the Beautiful

– Michael Davis, "On the Being of The Being of the Beautiful," Ancient Philosophy, Vol. 7 (1987): 191-200.
Seth Benardete’s The Being of the Beautiful combines a precise translation and a comprehensive analysis of the three Platonic dialogues: Theaetetus, Sophist, and Statesman. The… More

Review of Socrates’ Second Sailing: on Plato’s Republic

– Arlene Saxonhouse, Review of Socrates' Second Sailing: on Plato's Republic, Political Theory, Vol. 18, no. 4 (Nov. 1990): 690-705.
As with much of Benardete’s other work, this is not an easy book to read. To say that it is dense, boldly paradoxical, replete with hellenized English, and abjures the standard… More

Thirty-nine Reasons for Reading Benardete on the Republic by Will Morrisey

– Will Morrisey, "Thirty-nine Reasons for Reading Benardete on the Republic," Interpretation Vol. 23, no. 1, Fall 1995: 89-100.
Professor Benardete has been around long enough to have established a reputation. His writings are reputed to be hard to understand. This reputation has led to certain worries. “He is… More

Review of Seth Benardete, The Rhetoric of Morality and Philosophy

– Abraham Anderson, Review of Seth Benardete's The Rhetoric of Morality and Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy Vol. 17 (1997): 443-447.
Students of moral and political philosophy sometimes seem divided between those who seek truth through arguments without regarding their influence on human beings, and those who think that… More

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

– Martin Sitte, Review of The Bow and the Lyre: A Platonic Reading of The Odyssey, The Review of Metaphsysics, Vol. 51, no. 4 (1998): 911-913.
Benardete’s book investigates the possibility that the Socratic turn in philosophy, that which enabled philosophy to inquire into the human and the political, had been anticipated by… More

Review of The Argument of the Action

– Steven Berg, Review of The Argument of the Action, The Review of Metaphysics, Vol 55, no. 1 (2001): 119-21.
The Argument of the Action is a collection of essays by Seth Benardete on Greek poetry and philosophy selected and introduced by Ronna Burger and Michael Davis. We must be grateful to the… More

Shelf Life; A Classicist’s Starting Point: Putting Aside Interpretation

– Edward Rothstein, "Shelf Life: A Classicist's Starting Point: Putting Aside Interpretation" (Review of The Argument of the Action) The New York Times, Arts, February 16, 2002.
Confessions of ignorance are not usually in a critic’s best interest. But in this case, perhaps, an exception can be made. Ignorance, after all, is now common when confronting Greek… More

In Memoriam: Seth Benardete (1930-2001)

– Ronna Burger, “In Memoriam: Seth Benardete (1930-2001),” Review of Metaphysics, Vol. 56:4 (June 2003) 939-941.
Excerpt: Seth Benardete was born in Brooklyn, where he grew up with his older brother Jose. His father, Mair Jose, born in Istanbul, was a professor of Sephardic studies and Spanish at… More

Prelude to First Philosophy: Seth Benardete on De Anima

– Richard Velkley, "Prelude to First Philosophy: Seth Benardete on De Anima," Epoche, vol. 7, no. 2 (2003): 189-98.
Benardete reads Aristotle as Socratic dialectician writing in treatise form. The sciences of various subject matters appear at first separate (like Platonic eide) but they contain diverging… More

At Homer’s Diner by Mark Blitz

– Mark Blitz, "At Homer's Diner" (Review of Encounters and Reflections) The Weekly Standard, Vol. 28, no. 29, April 7, 2003.
There’s a joke that goes: “‘Do you know where we’re supposed to go?’ I said, ‘No.’ So he said, ‘Well let’s go together.’ That’s… More

Review of Encounters and Reflections

– Vincent Renzi, Review of Encounters and Reflections, Bryn Mawr Classical Review, Nov. 31, 2003.
As editor Ronna Burger notes in her preface (p. x), the present volume is “a project that falls outside the usual categories” of scholarship. While listing him as author, it is… More

The Thumotic and the Erotic Soul by Ronna Burger

– Ronna Burger, "The Thumotic and the Erotic Soul: Seth Benardete on Platonic Psychology," Interpretation, Vol. 32, no. 1 (2004): 57-76.
In the poem, “Ode to Aphrodite,” Sappho gives expression to her “raging heart,” suffering from the experience of unrequited love. Summoned by the poet, Aphrodite… More

Seth Benardete’s Second Sailing by Michael Davis

– Michael Davis, "Seth Benardete's Second Sailing: On the Spirit of Ideas" The Political Science Reviewer, vol. 34 (2005): 7-21.
In twelve books, six translations, and over fifty scholarly articles Seth Benardete wrote with unsurpassed breadth and depth on Homer, Hesiod, Pindar, Herodotus, Aeschylus, Sophocles,… More

Review of: Achilles and Hector – The Homeric Hero

– Steven Berg, Achilles and Hector: The Homeric Hero, Review of Metaphysics, Vol 60:2 (Dec. 2006), 387-389
Excerpt: “At the age of twenty-five, Seth Benardete presented his PhD dissertation on Homer’s Iliad to his committee at the University of Chicago. That dissertation has now been… More

Review of The Archaeology of the Soul

– Steven Berg, Review of The Archaeology of the Soul, Polis: The Journal for Ancient Greek Political Thought, Vol. 30, no. 2 (2013): 340-343.

How Benardete Read the Last Stage of Socrates’ Philosophic Education

– Laurence Lampert, "How Benardete Read the Last Stage of Socrates' Philosophic Education," Political Philosophy Cross-Examined, ed. by Thomas Pangle and Harvey Lomax (Palgrave Macmillan 2013): 189-204.
Seth Benardete, like Leo Strauss, judged that the Symposium occupies the privileged place in the Platonic kosmos. A chief reason both give is that the Symposium is the third of three… More

Being and Politics by Richard Velkley

– Richard Velkley, "Being and Politics: Seth Benardete on Aristotle's Metaphysics" The Political Science Reviewer, vol. 34 (2005): 7-21.
Although he will not be remembered principally as an interpreter of Aristotle, Seth Benardete was much engaged with this philosopher throughout his life of teaching and writing. He taught… More

The Benardete Archive

The Benardete Archive was founded in 2002 as a not-for-profit corporation for the purpose of preserving the scholarly and philosophical work of Seth Benardete and encouraging serious… More

The Eccentic Core: the Thought of Seth Benardete

– The Eccentic Core: the Thought of Seth Benardete, Edited by Ronna Burger and Patrick Goodin. South Bend: St. Augustine’s Press, forthcoming 2016.
This forthcoming volume includes reprints of many of the pieces listed on this website, along with other reviews and essays on or inspired by Benardete’s work. The title of this volume… More

Multimedia

“Socrates and Plato: The Dialectics of Eros” (1999)

– Seth Benardete, "Socrates and Plato: The Dialectics of Eros," Munich, July 1, 1999.
The only known footage of Seth Benardete, this is a lecture filmed in Munich in 1999. Thanks to the Carl Friedrich von Siemens Foundation in Munich for its kind permission to use this… More

The Benardete Memorial Service

– N.Y.U. memorial service for Seth Benardete, Feb. 1, 2002. Copyright 2003 by The Benardete Archive Inc. contact@benardetearchive.org Speakers included Harvey Mansfield, Ronna Burger, Michael Davis, Victor Gourevitch, José Benardete, and others.
Memorial speeches in honor of Seth Benardete. Speakers included: Matthew S. Santirocco Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences Angelo J. Ranieri Director of Ancient Studies Professor of… More