Polskie tłumaczenie Meneksenosa a polski filhellenizm
Polish Translation of the Menexenus and Polish Philhellenism

Summary/Abstract: The paper aims towards explaining the surprising phaenomenon which is the translation of Menexenus into Polish as the fourth Plato’s dialogue translated into this language. After the Apology, Crito and Phaedo, translated and published in 1845 by F. A. Kozłowski, Menexenus, a short dialogue with little, if any, philosophical significance, appeared in print in 1857. The publishing of Menexenus as a part of a joint literary volume constituted an inauguration of A. Bronikowski’s activity as a translator of Plato’s dialogues into Polish. He was the most diligent translator in this field in Poland in the 19th century and published altogether 18 dialogues (including Politeia). The presented paper examines the context of publishing Menexenus in the volume which contained varied literary material, investigates the reasons of selecting this dialogue to be the first published by Bronikowski, and considers Menexenus as a peculiar manifestation of Polish Philhellenism. The content of Menexenus proved to be in harmony with patriotic and messianic works of the joint volume. Bronikowski selected this dialogue because he considered it to express an important patriotic message for his contemporaries in Poland under tripartition.

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