Phaedrus — Plato

4l6 PLATO THE TEACHER — is to be divine ; and to be divine is to be eternal " This is life eternal that ye might know God and Jesus Christ whom he hath s^t.** Plato temes nearer to seeing this than does many a Christian.

PH/CDO PERSONS OF THE DIALOGUE.* PHiCDOi who is the narrator of ApollodoruS. the Dialogue to SiMMiAS. ECHECâATES o/Phlius. CebES, Socrates. Crito. Attendant of the Prison. Scene : — ^The Prison of Socrates. Place of the Narration: — Phlius. Eckeerates. Were you yourself, Phsedo, in the prison gteoh with Socrates on the day when he drank the poison ? ^ ^57 Phado. Yes, Echecrates, I was. Ech, I wish that you would tell me about his death.

What did he say in his last hours ? We were informed that he died by taking poison, but no one knew anything more; for no Phliasian ever goes to Athens now, and a* long time has elapsed since any Athenian found his way to Phlius, and therefore we had no clear account. I^d, Did you not hear of the proceedings at the .^ trial ?

58 1 Phaedo (IS'd5) : a Greek phnosopher. said to have been brought to Athens as a slave in his youth and ransomed by one of the friends of Socrates. Later he founded a school of philosophy. Echecrates (e-kdk'ra*>tez) : not mentioned elsewhere in Plato. ApoUodorus. See Symposium, note i.

Simroias (sTm'mf-as) : a native of Thebes, educated in the Pythasorean philosophy, which taught the doctrine of the pre-existence of the souL Hence his readiness to accept Socrates' argument based on that doctrine. He is said to have written twenty-three dialogues, all of which are lost. Cebes (se'bez) : a Greek philosopher, native of Thebes. He wrote three dialogues, one of which, called Pinax, or The Picture, has been preserved. Crito : see Apology, note 35. * Phlius (fli'us) : a town about sixty miles west of Athens. * Hemlock. 27 417

41 p. 8Ech, Yes ; some one told us about the trial, and we could not understand why, having been condemned, he was put to death, as appeared, not at the time, but long afterwards. What was the reason of this ? P}md, An accident, Echecrates. The reason was that the stern of the ship which the Athenians sent to Delos happened to have been crowned on the day before he was tried. Ech, What is this ship ? Ph(Bd.

This is the ship in which, as the Athenians say, Theseus ^ went to Crete when he took with him the fourteen youths, and was the saviour of them and of himself. And they were said to have vowed to Apollo at the time, that if they were saved they would make an annual pilgrimage to Delos.

Now this custom still continues, and the whole period of the voyage to and from Delos, beginning when the priest of Apollo crowns the stern of the ship, is a holy season, during which the city is not allowed to be polluted by public executions ; and often, when the vessel is detained by adverse winds, there may be a very considerable delay.

As I was saying, the ship was crowned on the day before the trial, and this was the reason why Socrates lay in prison and was not put to death until long after he was condemned. Ech. What was the manner of his death, Phsedo ? What was said or done ? And which of his friends had he with him? Or were they not allowed by the authorities to be present ? And did iie die alone? Phced, No; there were several of his friends with him.

Ech, If you have nothing to do, I wish that you would tell me what passed, as exactly as you can. FhcBd, I have nothing to do, and will try to gratify your wish. For to me too there is no greater pleasure than to have