We turn now to the single most important source of our knowledge of Socrates, his student Plato. Of the 35 dialogues that have come down to us from antiquity as Plato’s, almost all feature Plato’s teacher Socrates, and none features Plato himself in a speaking role. To begin our study of the wonders of the Platonic dialogue, we must first take up the question of how to read Plato and, closely allied with this, reflect on the unique literary form that is the Platonic dialogue. In the final part of the lecture, we turn to consider some first impressions of Plato’s Socrates and discuss in particular the trait for which the latter is famous or notorious, his irony.