Plato on Virtue in the Menexenus

Contemporary interpretations of Plato's Menexenus are particularly affected by the increasing fossilisation of traditional readings, which must be supplemented in order to discover important statements made in the dialogue. In particular, in the final part of the funeral oration Plato describes a virtue that may be acknowledged by the whole community. This virtue is different from authentic virtue, which is based on knowledge. It is a virtue of lower degree, political in nature, and leading to the accomplishment of virtuous actions. In this paper I outline the features of this virtue, as they emerge from the Menexenus, and finally indicate its import for the dialogue and for Plato’s ethics as a whole.