{ "schema": "prokopton42-public-passage-v1", "id": "plato.phaedo", "canonical_url": "https://prokopton42.com/en/works/plato/phaedo/reference-62/", "language": "en", "title": "Phaedo", "author": "Plato", "date": "c. 385-370 BCE", "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.", "learning": "Distinguish arguments for immortality, follow Simmias’ and Cebes’ objections, and analyze relations among demonstration, myth, and death narrative.", "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.\n\nAn 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.", "historical_context": "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.", "material_world_label": "Classical Greek world, 5th century BCE", "material_world": { "technology": "Bronze, iron, pottery, simple cranes, and shipbuilding sustain cities. Power still comes mainly from people, animals, wind, and water.", "science": "Geometry, astronomy, inquiry into nature, and rational argument advance without modern measuring instruments or standardized experiments.", "medicine": "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": "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": "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." }, "material_world_scenes": [ { "asset": "/assets/timeline/landmarks/03-431-bce/world-01.webp", "title": "Technology, science, and care", "description": "Bronze, iron, pottery, simple cranes, and shipbuilding sustain cities. Power still comes mainly from people, animals, wind, and water. Geometry, astronomy, inquiry into nature, and rational argument advance without modern measuring instruments or standardized experiments. Practitioners observe symptoms, diet, and seasons; healing sanctuaries and ritual treatment also remain common." }, { "asset": "/assets/timeline/landmarks/03-431-bce/world-02.webp", "title": "Travel and communication", "description": "Walking and animals dominate on land. Sailing ships and triremes connect islands, ports, and colonies. Public speech, messengers, and handwritten letters carry news. Theatre, the civic square, and the banquet are major social media." }, { "asset": "/assets/timeline/landmarks/03-431-bce/world-03.webp", "title": "Farming and food", "description": "Small farms, grain, vines, olives, goats, and sheep shape the diet; harvests remain vulnerable to weather and war." }, { "asset": "/assets/timeline/landmarks/03-431-bce/world-04.webp", "title": "Clothing, women and men", "description": "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." } ], "intellectual_tradition": { "id": "platonism", "label": "Socratic and Platonic thought" }, "period": { "id": "ancient", "label": "Antiquity" }, "languages": [ "grc", "en", "fr" ], "manifestations": [ { "coverage": "complete", "file": "data/corpus/normalized/plato/phaedo/representations/grc.ndjson", "language": "grc", "records": 62, "role": "original", "sha256": "f9f35a70a8e1458af11e65257e936a4b38e3d47b2c9a503b851ecb90afe414d8", "source_id": "perseus-plato-phaedo-grc" }, { "coverage": "complete", "file": "data/corpus/normalized/plato/phaedo/representations/en.ndjson", "language": "en", "records": 62, "role": "historical_translation", "sha256": "d484453972818c9bcd699097d5e9ba7ab71149fb72c09c0899363b0ba87d1f73", "source_id": "perseus-plato-phaedo-en" }, { "coverage": "complete", "file": "data/corpus/normalized/plato/phaedo/representations/ai-generated/fr-gpt-5-6-sol-corpus-passage-translation-v1.ndjson", "generated_on": "2026-09-11", "language": "fr", "model": "gpt-5.6-sol", "official_status": "non_official", "prompt_version": "corpus-passage-translation-v1", "provider": "codex_subscription", "records": 62, "role": "ai_generated_translation_non_official", "sha256": "0772843fe16f63e4aa357c721ddb707dcd86acfd71000a2a848d561b5dceb806", "source_id": "prokopton42-codex-translation:gpt-5.6-sol:corpus-passage-translation-v1", "translation_type": "ai_generated_translation" }, { "coverage": "complete", "file": "data/corpus/normalized/plato/phaedo_fr_carrier/representations/fr.ndjson", "language": "fr", "records": 1, "role": "historical_translation", "sha256": "cd4b15c773e44afe53805f3ab2222845c97dfd0a31594be14f5c5b32e51938cb", "source_id": "wikisource-cousin-phaedo-fr-01" }, { "coverage": "complete", "file": "data/corpus/normalized/plato/phaedo_fr_carrier/representations/ai-generated/en-gpt-5-6-sol-corpus-passage-translation-v1.ndjson", "generated_on": "2026-09-11", "language": "en", "model": "gpt-5.6-sol", "official_status": "non_official", "prompt_version": "corpus-passage-translation-v1", "provider": "codex_subscription", "records": 1, "role": "ai_generated_translation_non_official", "sha256": "29980f2104226927dd508ecb7b385998d6b1f685e6a1b094fdc8bc48dc3efb9b", "source_id": "prokopton42-codex-translation:gpt-5.6-sol:corpus-passage-translation-v1", "translation_type": "ai_generated_translation" } ], "concepts": [ { "id": "aporia", "label": "Aporia" }, { "id": "care_of_soul", "label": "Care of the soul" }, { "id": "courage", "label": "Courage" }, { "id": "death", "label": "Death" }, { "id": "desire", "label": "Desire" }, { "id": "faith", "label": "Faith" }, { "id": "family", "label": "Family" }, { "id": "forms", "label": "Intelligible forms" }, { "id": "freedom", "label": "Freedom" }, { "id": "friendship", "label": "Friendship" }, { "id": "god", "label": "God" }, { "id": "justice", "label": "Justice" }, { "id": "law", "label": "Law" }, { "id": "logos_nature", "label": "Logos of nature" }, { "id": "messiah", "label": "Messiah" }, { "id": "nature", "label": "Nature" }, { "id": "necessity", "label": "Necessity" }, { "id": "reason", "label": "Reason" }, { "id": "service", "label": "Service" }, { "id": "time", "label": "Time" }, { "id": "tranquillity", "label": "Tranquillity" }, { "id": "wisdom", "label": "Wisdom" } ], "source_work_ids": [ "plato.phaedo", "plato.phaedo_fr_carrier" ], "passages": 62, "word_count": 27963, "word_counts_by_language": { "en": 27963, "fr": 27353, "grc": 22457 }, "editorial_status": "gpt_5_6_semantic_draft_v1", "structure": { "citation_scheme": "plato-stephanus-page-v1", "kind": "native", "levels": [ { "key": "stephanus_page", "label_fr": "Page Stephanus", "label_en": "Stephanus page" } ], "leaf_fr": "Passage", "leaf_en": "Passage" }, "canonical_passage_id": "passage:plato.phaedo:62", "canonical_ref": "62", "canonical_parent_ref": null, "canonical_parent_id": null, "representations": [ { "language": "grc", "text": "ΦΑΙΔ. ἀλλὰ προθυμεῖσθαι χρή, ἔφη· τάχα γὰρ ἂν καὶ ἀκούσαις. ἴσως μέντοι θαυμαστόν σοι φανεῖται εἰ τοῦτο μόνον τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων ἁπλοῦν ἐστιν, καὶ οὐδέποτε τυγχάνει τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ, ὥσπερ καὶ τἆλλα, ἔστιν ὅτε καὶ οἷς βέλτιον ὂν τεθνάναι ἢ ζῆν, οἷς δὲ βέλτιον τεθνάναι, θαυμαστὸν ἴσως σοι φαίνεται εἰ τούτοις τοῖς ἀνθρώποις μὴ ὅσιον αὐτοὺς ἑαυτοὺς εὖ ποιεῖν, ἀλλὰ ἄλλον δεῖ περιμένειν εὐεργέτην. καὶ ὁ Κέβης ἠρέμα ἐπιγελάσας, Ἴττω Ζεύς , ἔφη, τῇ αὑτοῦ φωνῇ εἰπών. καὶ γὰρ ἂν δόξειεν, ἔφη ὁ Σωκράτης , οὕτω γ’ εἶναι ἄλογον· οὐ μέντοι ἀλλ’ ἴσως γ’ ἔχει τινὰ λόγον. ὁ μὲν οὖν ἐν ἀπορρήτοις λεγόμενος περὶ αὐτῶν λόγος, ὡς ἔν τινι φρουρᾷ ἐσμεν οἱ ἄνθρωποι καὶ οὐ δεῖ δὴ ἑαυτὸν ἐκ ταύτης λύειν οὐδ’ ἀποδιδράσκειν, μέγας τέ τίς μοι φαίνεται καὶ οὐ ῥᾴδιος διιδεῖν· οὐ μέντοι ἀλλὰ τόδε γέ μοι δοκεῖ, ὦ Κέβης , εὖ λέγεσθαι, τὸ θεοὺς εἶναι ἡμῶν τοὺς ἐπιμελουμένους καὶ ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἓν τῶν κτημάτων τοῖς θεοῖς εἶναι. ἢ σοὶ οὐ δοκεῖ οὕτως; ἔμοιγε, φησὶν ὁ Κέβης . οὐκοῦν, ἦ δ’ ὅς, καὶ σὺ ἂν τῶν σαυτοῦ κτημάτων εἴ τι αὐτὸ ἑαυτὸ ἀποκτεινύοι, μὴ σημήναντός σου ὅτι βούλει αὐτὸ τεθνάναι, χαλεπαίνοις ἂν αὐτῷ καί, εἴ τινα ἔχοις τιμωρίαν, τιμωροῖο ἄν; πάνυ γ᾽, ἔφη. ἴσως τοίνυν ταύτῃ οὐκ ἄλογον μὴ πρότερον αὑτὸν ἀποκτεινύναι δεῖν, πρὶν ἀνάγκην τινὰ θεὸς ἐπιπέμψῃ, ὥσπερ καὶ τὴν νῦν ἡμῖν παροῦσαν. ἀλλ’ εἰκός, ἔφη ὁ Κέβης , τοῦτό γε φαίνεται. ὃ μέντοι νυνδὴ ἔλεγες, τὸ τοὺς φιλοσόφους ῥᾳδίως ἂν ἐθέλειν ἀποθνῄσκειν, ἔοικεν τοῦτο, ὦ Σώκρατες , ἀτόπῳ, εἴπερ ὃ νυνδὴ ἐλέγομεν εὐλόγως ἔχει, τὸ θεόν τε εἶναι τὸν ἐπιμελούμενον ἡμῶν καὶ ἡμᾶς ἐκείνου κτήματα εἶναι. τὸ γὰρ μὴ ἀγανακτεῖν τοὺς φρονιμωτάτους ἐκ ταύτης τῆς θεραπείας ἀπιόντας, ἐν ᾗ ἐπιστατοῦσιν αὐτῶν οἵπερ ἄριστοί εἰσιν τῶν ὄντων ἐπιστάται, θεοί, οὐκ ἔχει λόγον· οὐ γάρ που αὐτός γε αὑτοῦ οἴεται ἄμεινον ἐπιμελήσεσθαι ἐλεύθερος γενόμενος. ἀλλ’ ἀνόητος μὲν ἄνθρωπος τάχ’ ἂν οἰηθείη ταῦτα, φευκτέον εἶναι ἀπὸ τοῦ δεσπότου, καὶ οὐκ ἂν λογίζοιτο ὅτι οὐ δεῖ ἀπό γε τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ φεύγειν ἀλλ’ ὅτι μάλιστα παραμένειν, διὸ ἀλογίστως ἂν φεύγοι· ὁ δὲ νοῦν ἔχων ἐπιθυμοῖ που ἂν ἀεὶ εἶναι παρὰ τῷ αὑτοῦ βελτίονι. καίτοι οὕτως, ὦ Σώκρατες , τοὐναντίον εἶναι εἰκὸς ἢ ὃ νυνδὴ ἐλέγετο· τοὺς μὲν γὰρ φρονίμους ἀγανακτεῖν ἀποθνῄσκοντας πρέπει, τοὺς δὲ ἄφρονας χαίρειν.", "edition": "perseus-plato-phaedo-grc", "source_id": "perseus-plato-phaedo-grc", "translation_type": "original" }, { "language": "en", "text": "Phaedo. You must have courage, said he, and perhaps you might hear something. But perhaps it will seem strange to you that this alone of all laws is without exception, and it never happens to mankind, as in other matters, that only at some times and for some persons it is better to die than to live; and it will perhaps seem strange to you that these human beings for whom it is better to die cannot without impiety do good to themselves, but must wait for some other benefactor. And Cebes, smiling gently, said, God knows it does, speaking in his own dialect. It would seem unreasonable, if put in this way, said Socrates, but perhaps there is some reason in it. Now the doctrine that is taught in secret about this matter, that we men are in a kind of prison and must not set ourselves free or run away, seems to me to be weighty and not easy to understand. But this at least, Cebes, I do believe is sound, that the gods are our guardians and that we men are one of the chattels of the gods. Do you not believe this? Yes, said Cebes, I do. Well then, said he, if one of your chattels should kill itself when you had not indicated that you wished it to die, would you be angry with it and punish it if you could? Certainly, he replied. Then perhaps from this point of view it is not unreasonable to say that a man must not kill himself until god sends some necessity upon him, such as has now come upon me. That, said Cebes, seems sensible. But what you said just now, Socrates, that philosophers ought to be ready and willing to die, that seems strange if we were right just now in saying that god is our guardian and we are his possessions. For it is not reasonable that the wisest men should not be troubled when they leave that service in which the gods, who are the best overseers in the world, are watching over them. A wise man certainly does not think that when he is free he can take better care of himself than they do. A foolish man might perhaps think so, that he ought to run away from his master, and he would not consider that he must not run away from a good master, but ought to stay with him as long as possible; and so he might thoughtlessly run away; but a man of sense would wish to be always with one who is better than himself. And yet, Socrates, if we look at it in this way, the contrary of what we just said seems natural; for the wise ought to be troubled at dying and the foolish to rejoice.", "translator": "Benjamin Jowett", "edition": "perseus-plato-phaedo-en", "source_id": "perseus-plato-phaedo-en", "translation_type": "historical_human_translation" }, { "language": "fr", "text": "Phédon. « Il faut prendre courage, dit-il, et peut-être entendras-tu quelque chose. Mais il te paraîtra peut-être étrange que cette loi soit la seule de toutes à ne souffrir aucune exception, et qu’il n’arrive jamais aux hommes, comme dans les autres domaines, qu’à certains moments et pour certaines personnes il vaille mieux mourir que vivre. Il te paraîtra peut-être étrange aussi que ces hommes pour lesquels il vaut mieux mourir ne puissent, sans impiété, se rendre ce service à eux-mêmes, mais doivent attendre quelque autre bienfaiteur. »\n\nCébès, souriant doucement, dit dans son propre dialecte : « Dieu sait que oui. »\n\n« Présentée ainsi, la chose semblerait déraisonnable, dit Socrate, mais elle a peut-être quelque raison d’être. L’enseignement secret transmis à ce sujet, selon lequel nous autres hommes sommes dans une sorte de prison et ne devons ni nous en libérer nous-mêmes ni nous en évader, me paraît profond et difficile à comprendre. Mais voici du moins, Cébès, ce que je crois fondé : les dieux sont nos gardiens, et nous autres hommes sommes l’un des biens qui leur appartiennent. Ne le crois-tu pas ?\n\n« Si, répondit Cébès, je le crois.\n\n« Eh bien, reprit-il, si l’un de tes biens se donnait la mort sans que tu lui aies signifié que tu voulais qu’il meure, ne te mettrais-tu pas en colère contre lui et ne le punirais-tu pas si tu le pouvais ?\n\n« Certainement, répondit-il.\n\n« De ce point de vue, il n’est donc peut-être pas déraisonnable de dire qu’un homme ne doit pas se tuer avant que le dieu lui impose quelque nécessité semblable à celle qui s’est maintenant présentée à moi.\n\n« Cela paraît sensé, dit Cébès. Mais ce que tu disais à l’instant, Socrate, à savoir que les philosophes doivent être prêts à mourir et y consentir volontiers, paraît étrange si nous avions raison de dire que le dieu est notre gardien et que nous sommes ses possessions. Il n’est pas raisonnable que les hommes les plus sages ne s’affligent pas de quitter le service dans lequel les dieux, les meilleurs surveillants qui soient, veillent sur eux. Un homme sage ne pense certainement pas qu’une fois libre il saura mieux prendre soin de lui-même qu’ils ne le font. Un insensé pourrait peut-être penser qu’il doit fuir son maître. Il ne réfléchirait pas qu’on ne doit pas fuir un bon maître, mais rester auprès de lui aussi longtemps que possible, et il pourrait donc s’enfuir inconsidérément. Un homme sensé, au contraire, souhaiterait demeurer toujours auprès de celui qui vaut mieux que lui. Et pourtant, Socrate, à considérer les choses ainsi, c’est le contraire de ce que nous disions à l’instant qui paraît naturel : les sages devraient s’affliger de mourir, et les insensés s’en réjouir. »", "translator": "Codex gpt-5.6-sol", "edition": "Prokopton42 non-official AI translation, 2026-09-11", "source_id": "prokopton42-codex-translation:gpt-5.6-sol:corpus-passage-translation-v1", "translation_type": "ai_generated_translation", "official_status": "non_official", "generation_model": "gpt-5.6-sol" } ], "content_checksum": "a4d21ba1e0a91953d12f9e0317790cc7458cb8c058c3d0d61e9b35a4c5c78f65" }