Memorabilia of Socrates

Xenophon’s defence of Socrates, written as a collection of recollected conversations rather than as a formal apology. It answers the charges that Socrates was impious and corrupted the young by showing him at work: advising a son on how to treat his mother, a general on command, a friend on poverty, a young man on self-control. Where Plato’s Socrates is a metaphysician, Xenophon’s is relentlessly practical — a teacher of household management, friendship, and the discipline required to be useful. It is the second of the two independent ancient portraits of Socrates and the main check on Plato’s. Composed in Greek in the fourth century BC.

Why it’s on the list: McCord places it in Classical Greek Political Philosophy alongside Plato’s dialogues and Xenophon’s other works, which is where the curriculum establishes its two competing accounts of the examined life — the philosophical and the practical — before moving on to how regimes are built.

Where I saw it: Brendan McCord’s Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List, in the Political Philosophy and the History of Ideas part, section Classical Greek Political Philosophy — a structured curriculum shared on X on March 9, 2026 and saved to Kyle’s Apple Note “Books To Read”. The full 211-entry transcription is on The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List.

Connections

• Socrates — the subject; this is one of only two surviving first-hand portraits.
• Plato — the other portrait, and the one this book is usually read against.
• The Philosopher-Entrepreneur Reading List — the curriculum this came from.