Plato: Phaedo · 42 of 44 · tr. Benjamin Jowett

Section 1

In any way that you like; only you must get hold of me, and take care that I do not walk away from you.

Then he turned to us, and added with a smile: I cannot make Crito believe that I am the same Socrates who have been talking and conducting the argument; he fancies that I am the other Socrates whom he will soon see, a dead body-and he asks, How shall he bury me?

And though I have spoken many words in the endeavor to show that when I have drunk the poison I shall leave you and go to the joys of the blessed-these words of mine, with which I comforted you and myself, have had, I perceive, no effect upon Crito.

And therefore I want you to be surety for me now, as he was surety for me at the trial: but let the promise be of another sort; for he was my surety to the judges that I would remain, but you must be my surety to him that I shall not remain, but go away and depart; and then he will suffer less at my death, and not be grieved when he sees my body being burned or buried.

I would not have him sorrow at my hard lot, or say at the burial, Thus we lay out Socrates, or, Thus we follow him to the grave or bury him; for false words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.

Be of good cheer, then, my dear Crito, and say that you are burying my body only, and do with that as is usual, and as you think best.

When he had spoken these words, he arose and went into the bath chamber with Crito, who bade us wait; and we waited, talking and thinking of the subject of discourse, and also of the greatness of our sorrow; he was like a father of whom we were being bereaved, and we were about to pass the rest of our lives as orphans.

When he had taken the bath his children were brought to him-(he had two young sons and an elder one); and the women of his family also came, and he talked to them and gave them a few directions in the presence of Crito; and he then dismissed them and returned to us.

Now the hour of sunset was near, for a good deal of time had passed while he was within.

When he came out, he sat down with us again after his bath, but not much was said.

Soon the jailer, who was the servant of the Eleven, entered and stood by him, saying: To you, Socrates, whom I know to be the noblest and gentlest and best of all who ever came to this place, I will not impute the angry feelings of other men, who rage and swear at me when, in obedience to the authorities, I bid them drink the poison-indeed, I am sure that you will not be angry with me; for others, as you are aware, and not I, are the guilty cause.

And so fare you well, and try to bear lightly what must needs be; you know my errand.

Then bursting into tears he turned away and went out.

Socrates looked at him and said: I return your good wishes, and will do as you bid.

Then, turning to us, he said, How charming the man is: since I have been in prison he has always been coming to see me, and at times he would talk to me, and was as good as could be to me, and now see how generously he sorrows for me.

But we must do as he says, Crito; let the cup be brought, if the poison is prepared: if not, let the attendant prepare some.

Themes

◆Body As Obstacleanthropology

The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return.

Socrates explicitly instructs Crito to bury only the body, emphasizing that the soul departs and false words infect the soul.

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◆Cosmic Dualismtheology

Ontological opposition between two primal principles (light/darkness, truth/lie, spirit/matter) as the fundamental structure of reality.

The distinction between the material body and the immaterial soul implies an ontological opposition between physical existence and spiritual reality.

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◆Detachment Gelassenheitpraxis

Eckhart's Abgeschiedenheit/Gelassenheit — radical letting-go of will, image, and grasping that opens the soul to God; distinct from inner_silence (quietness) and from material renunciation, and adjacent to Sufi tark and Buddhist non-grasping as a practice rather than a metaphysical claim.

Socrates declares he will not remain but depart, embodying a radical letting-go of attachment to the material world and personal identity.

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◆Funerary Navigationpraxis

Texts and rituals guiding the soul through death.

The passage focuses on the practical arrangements for burial and the soul's departure from the body, guiding the reader through the death ritual.

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◆Good Thought Word Deedethics

The Zoroastrian triad of right thought, right speech, and right action as the foundation of ethical life; truth-in-living.

Socrates warns that false words infect the soul with evil and emphasizes truth in speech and action as a spiritual imperative.

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◆Love Of Neighbourethics

Active compassionate care for others as a central spiritual obligation or expression of divine love.

The jailer's generous sorrow for Socrates demonstrates compassionate care for another person's suffering despite personal risk.

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◆Paradox As Teachingethics

Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.

Socrates uses the paradox that he will not remain but depart to instruct Crito about the nature of death and the soul's journey.

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◆Psychopomp Journeycosmology

Guided passage of the soul through afterlife realms.

The passage describes Socrates' departure from the body and his movement toward the 'joys of the blessed,' implying a guided passage through death.

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◆Return To Sourcesoteriology

The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination.

Socrates' statement that he will go to the 'joys of the blessed' indicates a journey back to a divine origin or state beyond mortality.

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◆Self Knowledgesoteriology

The recognition of one's own true divine nature as the primary path to liberation; 'know thyself' as soteriology.

Socrates' declaration that he is 'the same Socrates' who has been talking reflects a commitment to his identity and truth over material form.

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◆Separation From Sourcesoteriology

The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive.

The text describes the soul's departure from the body and the death of the physical self, emphasizing the separation from earthly existence.

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◆Spiritual Ascentpraxis

A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.

Socrates' journey from prison to the 'joys of the blessed' implies a movement upward toward a higher state of being.

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◆Theosis Deificationsoteriology

The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy.

Socrates' promise to go to the 'joys of the blessed' suggests a transformation into a partaker of divine nature beyond ordinary human life.

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Related passages · 1 parallel

◆gnosticism|Pistis Sophia|Document THIRDk

“Answered Maria, said she, Now therefore, my Lord, then thou didst not bring Mysteries indeed unto the World, that the man should not die by the death which is reckoned unto him by the Rulers of the Destiny: because if it is being reckoned u…”

Both passages discuss the concept of the soul's departure from the body and the transcendence of death through mystical means. Plato's Socrates speaks of the soul's journey to the joys of the blessed, while the Gnostic text describes the soul's escape from the body and its ascent to the Place of its Kingdom through the completion of mysteries.