Menexenus (; el, Μενέξενоς) was one of the three sons of
Socrates
Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no te ...
and
Xanthippe
Xanthippe (; , , ; 5th–4th century BCE) was an ancient Athenian, the wife of Socrates and mother of their three sons: Lamprocles, Sophroniscus, and Menexenus. She was likely much younger than Socrates, perhaps by as much as 40 years.
Name
...
. His two brothers were
Lamprocles Lamprocles ( el, Λαμπροκλῆς) was Socrates' and Xanthippe's eldest son. His two brothers were Menexenus and Sophroniscus. Lamprocles was a youth (μειράκιον ''meirakion'') at the time of Socrates' Trial of Socrates, trial and dea ...
and Sophroniscus. Menexenus is not to be confused with the character of the same name who appears in
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
's dialogues
''Menexenus'' and
''Lysis''. Socrates' sons Menexenus and Sophroniscus were still children at the time of their father's
trial and death, one of them small enough to be held in his mother's arms. According to
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...
, Socrates' descendants all turned out to be unremarkable "fools and dullards".
[Aristotle. '' Rhetoric'', Book 2 Chapter 1]
References
{{Socrates navbox
Ancient Athenians
Family of Socrates