The main sources of Socrates ' “real” teaching are widely believed to be two: 1) Plato's early dialogues and 2) Xenophon's Socratic works. The early dialogues of Plato, which reveal the true (seemingly) teaching of Socrates, are first Protagoras, then Crito/Euthyphron and Charmides / Lysis/Lakhet and the apology of Socrates, which also gives an outline of his ideas and method (if you read about them, you will see why I have arranged them in this way, this is not really important for this question). There are also several dialogues like Meno or Cratylus, about which there is no consensus as to how much is still Socrates, and how much is already Plato. I also recommend A. F. Losev's book “Plato”(ZhZL, together with his “Aristotle” was published) and most importantly-his introductory article (and comments) to the 4-volume Plato. This is one of the clearest and most concise accounts of the teachings of Socrates and Plato that I have ever read.
Xenophon's Socratic writings in Russian were published as a separate book in a wonderful translation by S. I. Sobolevsky, which (like Plato), regardless of the study of Socrates ' ideas, is simply a magnificent prose, a work of fiction. For an idea of the teachings of Socrates, the “Feast” and “Memories of Socrates” are of the greatest value, the ideas set out in Domostroy should be treated with caution, it seems that Xenophon added a lot of things from himself. It is interesting to compare Xeonophon's” Defense of Socrates at the Trial “with Plato's” Apology… “and” Crito”, since they express similar thoughts, but in a rather different way and with different accents.
To counterbalance the ideas of A. F. Losev, I also recommend F. H. Cassidy's excellent book “Socrates”. Comparing the positions of Cassidy and Losev will help you take a critical look at the problem. I would also like to recommend a very old, but clever and well-written book by T. Gompertz, “Greek Thinkers”, which has a separate chapter about the teachings of Socrates, very clearly stated, and a much more modern book by P. Ado,” What is Ancient Philosophy?”, which also has a good chapter about Socrates.
The main sources of Socrates ' “real” teaching are widely believed to be two: 1) Plato's early dialogues and 2) Xenophon's Socratic works. The early dialogues of Plato, which reveal the true (seemingly) teaching of Socrates, are first Protagoras, then Crito/Euthyphron and Charmides / Lysis/Lakhet and the apology of Socrates, which also gives an outline of his ideas and method (if you read about them, you will see why I have arranged them in this way, this is not really important for this question). There are also several dialogues like Meno or Cratylus, about which there is no consensus as to how much is still Socrates, and how much is already Plato. I also recommend A. F. Losev's book “Plato”(ZhZL, together with his “Aristotle” was published) and most importantly-his introductory article (and comments) to the 4-volume Plato. This is one of the clearest and most concise accounts of the teachings of Socrates and Plato that I have ever read.
Xenophon's Socratic writings in Russian were published as a separate book in a wonderful translation by S. I. Sobolevsky, which (like Plato), regardless of the study of Socrates ' ideas, is simply a magnificent prose, a work of fiction. For an idea of the teachings of Socrates, the “Feast” and “Memories of Socrates” are of the greatest value, the ideas set out in Domostroy should be treated with caution, it seems that Xenophon added a lot of things from himself. It is interesting to compare Xeonophon's” Defense of Socrates at the Trial “with Plato's” Apology… “and” Crito”, since they express similar thoughts, but in a rather different way and with different accents.
To counterbalance the ideas of A. F. Losev, I also recommend F. H. Cassidy's excellent book “Socrates”. Comparing the positions of Cassidy and Losev will help you take a critical look at the problem. I would also like to recommend a very old, but clever and well-written book by T. Gompertz, “Greek Thinkers”, which has a separate chapter about the teachings of Socrates, very clearly stated, and a much more modern book by P. Ado,” What is Ancient Philosophy?”, which also has a good chapter about Socrates.