Other editions of book Phaedo of Plato

After an interval of some months or years, and at Phlius, a town of Peloponnesus, the taleof the last hours of Socrates is narrated to Echecrates and other Phliasians by Phaedo the'beloved disciple.' The Dialogue necessarily takes the form of a narrative, because Socrateshas to be described acting as well as speaking. The minutest particulars of the event areinteresting to distant friends, and the narrator has an equal interest in them.During the voyage of the sacred ship to and from Delos, which has occupied thirty days,the execution of Socrates has been deferred. (Compare Xen. Mem.) The time has beenpassed by him in conversation with a select company of disciples. But now the holy seasonis over, and the disciples meet earlier than usual in order that they may converse withSocrates for the last time. Those who were present, and those who might have beenexpected to be present, are mentioned by name. There are Simmias and Cebes (Crito), twodisciples of Philolaus whom Socrates 'by his enchantments has attracted from Thebes'(Mem.), Crito the aged friend, the attendant of the prison, who is as good as a friend—thesetake part in the conversation. There are present also, Hermogenes, from whom Xenophonderived his information about the trial of Socrates (Mem.), the 'madman' Apollodorus(Symp.), Euclid and Terpsion from Megara (compare Theaet.), Ctesippus, Antisthenes,Menexenus, and some other less-known members of the Socratic circle, all of whom aresilent auditors. Aristippus, Cleombrotus, and Plato are noted as absent. Almost as soon asthe friends of Socrates enter the prison Xanthippe and her children are sent home in thecare of one of Crito's servants. Socrates himself has just been released from chains, and isled by this circumstance to make the natural remark that 'pleasure follows pain.' (Observethat Plato is preparing the way for his doctrine of the alternation of opposites.) 'Aesopwould have represented them in a fable as a two-headed creature of the gods.'

The Phaedo is acknowledged to be one of Plato's masterpieces, showing him both as a philosopher and as a dramatist at the height of his powers. For its moving account of the execution of Socrates, the Phaedo ranks among the supreme literary achievements of antiquity. It is also a document crucial to the understanding of many ideas deeply ingrained in western culture, and provides one of the best introductions to Plato's thought.

Next to Republic and Symposium, Phaedo is among Plato’s best known dialogues. Like three other Platonic dialogues, Phaedo also uses as framework the final days of Socrates, one of the founders of Western philosophy who was also Plato’s teacher. Phaedo, like so many other works by Plato, discusses questions of life, death and afterlife. Socrates tells about his views on the last day before he is executed – he was sentenced to death through poisoning by hemlock because he refused to believe in the Gods imposed on the people by the state of Athens. The discussion is related to Echecrates of Phlius by Phaedo, a former student of Socrates who spent the day with Socrates in his prison cell and was also present at the execution. The main idea that the dialogue revolves around is the immortality of the soul, and it also discusses the proposition that divinity and grace is not a privilege of gods, it can be attained by humans, too. Socrates presents four arguments in defense of his ideas: the Cyclical Argument, advocating the view that Forms are constant and eternal and as the soul is the agency that brings about life, it is also eternal; the Theory of Recollection, explaining that we all possess knowledge that was passed on to us in a non-empirical way before we were born, proving that the soul has existed eternally, before humans; the Affinity Argument, making the distinction between body and soul, defining the former as being visible and mortal, while the latter as invisible and immortal and arguing that our soul lives on even after our body dies. The final argument takes the notion of eternal forms one step further by defining Forms as the origin of everything we see in our world – as the soul has a part in the world of Forms, it never dies.

After an interval of some months or years, and at Phlius,a town of Peloponnesus, the tale of the last hours ofSocrates is narrated to Echecrates and other Phliasiansby Phaedo the 'beloved disciple.' The Dialoguenecessarily takes the form of a narrative, becauseSocrates has to be described acting as well as speaking.The minutest particulars of the event are interesting todistant friends, and the narrator has an equal interest inthem.During the voyage of the sacred ship to and from Delos,which has occupied thirty days, the execution of Socrateshas been deferred. (Compare Xen. Mem.) The time hasbeen passed by him in conversation with a selectcompany of disciples. But now the holy season is over,and the disciples meet earlier than usual in order that theymay converse with Socrates for the last time. Those whowere present, and those who might have been expected tobe present, are mentioned by name. There are Simmiasand Cebes (Crito), two disciples of Philolaus whomSocrates 'by his enchantments has attracted from Thebes'(Mem.), Crito the aged friend, the attendant of the prison,who is as good as a friend—these take part in theconversation. There are present also, Hermogenes, fromwhom Xenophon derived his information about the trial ofSocrates (Mem.),

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Phædo or Phaedo, also known to ancient readers as On The Soul, is one of the best-known dialogues of Plato's middle period, along with the Republic and the Symposium. The philosophical subject of the dialogue is the immortality of the soul. It is set in the last hours prior to the death of Socrates, and is Plato's fourth and last dialogue to detail the philosopher's final days, following Euthyphro, Apology, and Crito. One of the main themes in the Phaedo is the idea that the soul is immortal. In the dialogue, Socrates discusses the nature of the afterlife on his last day before being executed by drinking hemlock. Socrates has been imprisoned and sentenced to death by an Athenian jury for not believing in the gods of the state (though some scholars think it was more for his support of "philosopher kings" as opposed to democracy)[2] and for corrupting the youth of the city. By engaging in dialectic with a group of Socrates' friends, including the two Thebans, Cebes, and Simmias, Socrates explores various arguments for the soul's immortality in order to show that there is an afterlife in which the soul will dwell following death. Phaedo tells the story that following the discussion, he and the others were there to witness the death of Socrates. The Phaedo was first translated into Latin from Greek by Henry Aristippus in 1160. Today, it is generally considered one of Plato's great works.

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The philosopher desires death—which the wicked world will insinuate that he also deserves: and perhaps he does, but not in any sense which they are capable of understanding. Enough of them: the real question is, What is the nature of that death which he desires? Death is the separation of soul and body—and the philosopher desires such a separation. He would like to be freed from the dominion of bodily pleasures and of the senses, which are always perturbing his mental vision. He wants to get rid of eyes and ears, and with the light of the mind only to behold the light of truth. All the evils and impurities and necessities of men come from the body. And death separates him from these corruptions, which in life he cannot wholly lay aside. Why then should he repine when the hour of separation arrives? Why, if he is dead while he lives, should he fear that other death, through which alone he can behold wisdom in her purity?Besides, the philosopher has notions of good and evil unlike those of other men. For they are courageous because they are afraid of greater dangers, and temperate because they desire greater pleasures. But he disdains this balancing of pleasures and pains, which is the exchange of commerce and not of virtue. All the virtues, including wisdom, are regarded by him only as purifications of the soul. And this was the meaning of the founders of the mysteries when they said, 'Many are the wand–bearers but few are the mystics.' (Compare Matt. xxii.: 'Many are called but few are chosen.') And in the hope that he is one of these mystics, Socrates is now departing. This is his answer to any one who charges him with indifference at the prospect of leaving the gods and his friends.Still, a fear is expressed that the soul upon leaving the body may vanish away like smoke or air. Socrates in answer appeals first of all to the old Orphic tradition that the souls of the dead are in the world below, and that the living come from them. This he attempts to found on a philosophical assumption that all opposites—e.g. less, greater; weaker, stronger; sleeping, waking; life, death—are generated out of each other. Nor can the process of generation be only a passage from living to dying, for then all would end in death. The perpetual sleeper (Endymion) would be no longer distinguished from the rest of mankind. The circle of nature is not complete unless the living come from the dead as well as pass to them.