Editing Crito (section)

== Setting ==
This dialogue takes place in 399 BC, in a prison cell, roughly a month after the events of the ''[[Apology (Plato)|Apology]]'', where [[Socrates]] has been found guilty of impiety by the Athenian jury.{{sfn|Nails|2002}}

=== Characters ===
The speakers in this dialogue are:
* '''[[Socrates]]''' of [[Alopece]]
* '''[[Crito of Alopece|Crito]]''' of [[Alopece]] - a friend of [[Socrates]], roughly the same age.{{sfn|Nails|2002}}
Other characters mentioned:
* [[Simmias of Thebes|Simmias]] and [[Cebes of Thebes|Cebes]] of [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]]
 
=== Background ===
Following his trial in the ''[[Apology (Plato)|Apology]]'', Socrates had been imprisoned for four weeks and would be executed in a matter of days. Historians are not aware of the exact location of Socrates' cell but according to archaeologists, the ancient Athenian prison is about {{Convert|100|meters|feet|abbr=out}} southwest of the [[Heliaia]] court, just outside the site of the [[agora]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Alican|first=Necip Fikri|title=Rethinking Plato: a Cartesian quest for the real Plato|date=2012|publisher=Editions Rodopi|isbn=9789401208123|oclc=809771242}}</ref>

Plato's representation of Socrates is a literary work, so the historical validity of what was said and how much of Plato's interpretation of Socrates aligns with his real beliefs is uncertain.<ref name=":0" /> According to [[Xenophon]], Plato's friends drafted escape plans.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Apology|last=Xenophon of Athens|date=2013|doi = 10.4159/dlcl.xenophon_athens-apology_2013.2013}}</ref> The extent the theoretical plan aligned with the historical ones is unknown.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gorgias -- Meno : Selected Papers from the Seventh Symposium Platonicum.|last=Erler|first=Michael|date=2010|publisher=Academia Verlag|isbn=9783896655264|oclc=659500147}}</ref> Some historians of philosophy assume the Socratic figure depicted in ''Crito'' is similar to the historical figure.<ref name="Kraut, Richard Verfasser 1994" /> [[William K. C. Guthrie]] considers the social contract to be true to Socrates' philosophical interests.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book|last=Guthrie|first=William K. C.|title=A History of Greek Philosophy.|date=1993|publisher=Cambridge Univ. Press|isbn=0521387604|oclc=1068093421}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=March 2020}}{{Volume needed|issue=no|date=March 2020}}