Plato on the death of socrates7/8/2023 ![]() ![]() All we can see at the site is the foundation stones of the State Prison where Socrates was held prisoner and where he was forced to drink the hemlock in the year 399 BCE. On the surface, this site is nothing much to write home about. On 16 March 2015, the group participating in the 2015 Harvard Spring Break travel study program visited the site where Socrates died-and where he said what he said about sacrificing a rooster to Asklepios. So, what does Socrates mean when he asks his followers, in his dying words, not to forget to sacrifice a rooster to Asklepios? But Asklepios, even after death, retained his power to bring the dead back to life. That is why he was killed by the immortals, since mortals must stay mortal. More than that, Asklepios also had the power of bringing the dead back to life. But first, we need to ask: who is this Asklepios? As I explain in H24H 20§§29–33, he was a hero whose father was the god Apollo himself, and, like his divine father, Asklepios had special powers of healing. ![]() I will quote the whole passage in a minute. Calling out to one of those followers, Crito, who was a native son of the same neighborhood where Socrates was born, he says to his comrade: don’t forget to sacrifice a rooster to Asklepios. ![]() ![]() His last words, as transmitted by Plato, are directed at all those who have followed Socrates-and who have had the unforgettable experience of engaging in dialogue with him. In H24H 24§45, I quote and analyze the passage in Plato’s Phaedo 117a–118a where Socrates dies. ![]()
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