The Spartan Drama of Plato’s Laws

Friedland presents the Laws, Plato's longest dialogue, as a drama that must be interpreted with close and sustained attention to each of its three characters. He argues that Megillos, seen by most commentators as the most obtuse character in the dialogue, is in fact a man of few words but of surprising capacity for reflection. This capacity, and the crisis to which it brings him, is key to understanding the Laws' exploration of human nature, permanently drawn both to what is beyond and beneath i