Acropolis, Panathenaea: The Acropolis was the fortified, upper part of Athens, on which several structures were built, including the Parthenon, a famous Doric temple. A continuous frieze around the colonade of the Parthenon depicted a procession of all Athenians, the "Panathenaea."

Daedalus: his name means "the artful craftsman" in Greek, and Daedalus was the most skillful builder of Greek mythology. He built the Labyrinth on Crete, and then fashioned wings for himself and his son, Icarus, to escape the island by air. The reference here is to the legend that Daedalus's statues were so realistic that they would come to life.

deme of Pitthis: an Attican township or administrative district ("deme") near Athens.

diviner: an oracle or prophet, whose job it was to determine the will of the gods by various forms of divination.

Hephaestus, Hera: Hephaestus was the Greek god of fire and the forge, the son of Zeus and Hera, the king and queen of the gods. Hera was goddess of women and marriage.

impeachment: The distinction between a "suit" and an "impeachment" would be approximately that between our civil and criminal cases. Socrates, therefore, is being charged with a crime, rather than being sued for damages.

Lyceum: the grove in Athens where the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-22 BCE) taught; and, from that, anyplace, especially a school or public hall, where lectures and discussions are held.

magnitudes: dimensions or size.

Naxos: an island in the Aegean sea.

Plato: (427?-347? BCE) Greek philosopher and author of The Republic and other works, such as his Socratic dialogues, including this one.

poet: the quotation is from a poem by Stasinus (7th century BCE), author of "The Cypria."

porch of the King Archon: an outer room or hall of a building. In this case, the "porch" is really the courtroom, whose judge, the chief magistrate of Athens, assumed the strictly honorary title of "king."

Proteus: the shape-shifting Greek god of the sea. In The Odyssey, by Homer (8th? century BCE),the hero Odysseus, seeking safe passage home to Ithaca, must capture and hold on to Proteus as he changes from one form to another.

robe of Athena: In the Parthenon, some parts of the frieze represent battles of Greek mythology, as portrayed on the robe that Athena was believed to have woven in a contest with Arachne, whom she later turned into a spider. The temple, situated at the highest point of Athens, was dedicated to Athena.

Socrates: (470?-399 BCE) Athenian philosopher and teacher of Plato and Aristotle, who was condemned to death for corrupting the youth of Athens by teaching them the principles of his philosophy, and chose to drink poisonous hemlock rather than escape.

Tantalus: In Greek mythology, Tantalus was a fabulously wealthy king, the son of Zeus and a mortal woman, who, in Hades after his death, was condemned to stand in water that would recede whenever he tried to drink it, and under fruit that would rise beyond his reach whenever he tried to grasp it.

Zeus, Cronos, Uranus: In Greek mythology, Zeus was the king of the gods, a title he won by overthrowing his own father Cronos, king of the Titans, who in turn had overthrown his father Uranus. Uranus was the personification of the heavens, and was married to Gaea, the personification of the earth.