Work
Phaedo
Phaedo recounts Socrates’ final hours among friends. Discussion of the soul’s immortality, Forms, and philosophical practice leads from mourning to death by hemlock without suppressing the interlocutors’ objections.
- Composition
- c. 385-370 BCE
Sources and precision
The internal chronology remains disputed. This range is a qualified reference point, not a certain year.
Confidence C · probable range
- Tradition
- Socratic and Platonic thought
- Period
- Antiquity
- Languages
- Ancient Greek · English · French
- Extent
- 62 passages · 27,963 words
Before reading
What you will learn
Distinguish arguments for immortality, follow Simmias’ and Cebes’ objections, and analyze relations among demonstration, myth, and death narrative.
Short summary
Phaedo recounts Socrates’ final hours among friends. Discussion of the soul’s immortality, Forms, and philosophical practice leads from mourning to death by hemlock without suppressing the interlocutors’ objections.
Long summary
Socrates presents philosophy as preparation for death and develops several arguments: cyclical opposites, recollection, the soul’s affinity with intelligible reality, and formal causation of life. Simmias and Cebes raise objections requiring renewed proof.
An eschatological myth and the restrained account of execution close the day. The reported frame reminds readers that the scene is memorial composition. The arguments do not form one proof; their succession puts philosophical confidence to work before loss.
Inside this work
The table of contents follows the divisions actually carried by the corpus.
Work › Stephanus page
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Concepts covered
Historical context
The world around the text
The corpus manifests do not yet establish the precise place and circumstances of composition. The images below document the author’s world or the text’s transmission. They do not claim to show the exact scene of writing.
These are modern reconstructions. They situate a documented place, practice, or transmission and are not period documents.
What the world looked like
Classical Greek world, 5th century BCE
- State of technology
- Bronze, iron, pottery, simple cranes, and shipbuilding sustain cities. Power still comes mainly from people, animals, wind, and water.
- Science and knowledge
- Geometry, astronomy, inquiry into nature, and rational argument advance without modern measuring instruments or standardized experiments.
- Medicine and care
- Practitioners observe symptoms, diet, and seasons; healing sanctuaries and ritual treatment also remain common.
- Transport
- Walking and animals dominate on land. Sailing ships and triremes connect islands, ports, and colonies.
- Agriculture and food
- Small farms, grain, vines, olives, goats, and sheep shape the diet; harvests remain vulnerable to weather and war.
- Communication
- Public speech, messengers, and handwritten letters carry news. Theatre, the civic square, and the banquet are major social media.
- Clothing and fashion
- Women and men drape wool or linen as chitons, peploi, and cloaks. Garments are pinned, belted, and shaped by status rather than tailored like modern clothes.
Editions, translations, and provenance
The following carriers represent the text. They do not create new passage identities.
- Ancient Greekoriginal
- Englishhistorical_translation
- French AI-generated translation, non-officialCodex gpt-5.6-sol · Non-official working translation · 2026-09-11
- Frenchhistorical_translation
- English AI-generated translation, non-officialCodex gpt-5.6-sol · Non-official working translation · 2026-09-11
Source manifests: plato.phaedo, plato.phaedo_fr_carrier
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