The last and longest dialogue of Plato is “The Laws”. However, unlike one’s immediate expectation, the first question that is discussed is not “What is Law?” The question that Plato raises is “Who is given the credit for making your own laws?”Scholars all over the world generally agree that this dialogue was written by Plato when he was in the waning stages of his life, after the failure at the Sicilian city of Syracuse. These events are indirectly mentioned in Plato’s Seventh Letter.

One would normally expect that Socrates would, as he always does, make an appearance in The Laws. However, this is not the case and it deems to be fit because this dialogue took place in the island of Crete. Socrates appeared only twice in those Platonic dialogues that took place outside Athens. In place of Socrates, Plato introduces a new character, an Athenian Stranger and the other two old men who assist him.

The Athenian Stranger is very similar to Socrates, but his name is never mentioned by Plato. He joins the other two old men on a crusade to the cave of Zeus and the whole dialogue takes place within the duration of this long journey. It imitates the action of Minos, who is believed to have laid down the ancient laws for the Cretans. The Cretans used to walk this path every nine years in order to receive some instructions from Zeus on the topic of lawmaking.

By the time the 3rd book of the dialogue finishes, Kleinias, one of the two old men, declares that he has been handed the responsibility of making the new laws for a particular Cretan province and he would appreciate the Athenian Stranger’s assistance in the process. The remaining part of the dialogue is all about the remainder of the journey, during which the three men make the laws for the new province.

Description: The Laws is the longest and last dialogue that Plato wrote. It is about an Athenian Stranger who takes the trip to the cave of Zeus along with two other old and wise men who take some help from him to make the laws for a new Cretan province.