This seminar will take a close look at the man whose famous turn from the study of nature to the study of human affairs gave birth to political philosophy in its classical form. We will focus almost entirely on Plato's presentation of Socrates, but we will begin by reading Aristophanes' more critical-and more comic-portrait of Socrates in the Clouds. Among the Platonic dialogues we will read are likely to be the Apology of Socrates, the Protagoras, the Symposium, and the Alcibiades I. The main themes will be Socratic education, the question of justice, Socrates' quarrel with the sophists, the significance of eros in Socrates' view of the human soul, and the relationship between philosophy and politics. Prerequisite: sophomore standing. Enrollment limited.