ed
explanation, he gives us a series of wholly fanciful myths about the
origin of the world. Wherever we find myths in Plato's dialogues, we
may suspect that we have arrived at one of the weak points of the
system.

If we are to study Plato intelligently, it is essential that we should
cease to regard the dialogues as if they were all produced _en bloc_
from a single phase of their author's mind. His literary activity
extended over a period of not less than fifty years. During that time,
he did not stand still. His thought, and his mode of {172} expression,
were constantly developing. If we are to understand Plato, we must
obtain some clue to enable us to trace this development. And this
means that we must know something of the order in which the dialogues
were written. Unfortunately, however, they have not come down to us
dated and numbered. It is a matter of scholarship and criticism to
deduce the period at which any dialogue was written from internal
evidences. Many minor points are still undecided, as well as a few
questions of importance, such as the date of the "Phaedrus," [Footnote
11] which some critics place quite early and some very late in Plato's
life. Neglecting these points, however, we may say in general that
unanimity has been reached, and that we now know enough to be able to
trace the main lines of development.

[Footnote 11: The same remark applies to the "Symposium," the
"Republic," and the "Theaetetus."]

The dialogues fall into three main groups, which correspond roughly to
the three periods of Plato's life. Those of the earliest group were
written about the time of the death of Socrates, and before the
author's journey to Megara. Some of them may have been written before
the death of Socrates. This group includes the "Hippias Minor," the
"Lysis," the "Charmides," the "Laches," the "Euthyphro," the
"Apology," the "Crito," and the "Protagoras." The "Protagoras" is the
longest, the most complex in thought, and the most developed. It is
probably the latest, and forms the bridge to the second group.

All these early dialogues are short and simple, and are still, as
regards their thought, entirely under the influence of Socrates. Plato
has not as yet developed {173} any philosophy of his own. He propounds
the philosophy of Socrates almost unaltered. Even so, however, he is
no mere plagiarist. There are throughout these dialogues evidences of
freshness and originality, but these qualities exhibit th