things participate in them. Forexample, beautiful things come from absolute beauty. This hold for allforms: no opposites ever become mixed with each other (hot and cold,life and death). Socrates states that the soul is the creator of life and it cannever be mixed with death, which would be its opposite. Socrates thenstresses the importance of taking good care of our soul at all timesbecause of its immortality. His friends worry about the burial logistics as if the corpse they will buryis Socrates’. Socrates’ family returns. Once Socrates dismisses them, thejailer brings the poison. Cebes tells Socrates that there is still time toenjoy. However, Socrates thinks that there is nothing to be gained bydelay. He drinks the poison and, following his jailer’s instructions, liesdown when he feels his legs heavy. Socrates’ last words are to repay adebt, a sacrifice he owes to a god. ANALYSIS In the Phaedo, we meet Socrates on the morning of his own execution.Socrates suggests philosophy and contemplation as a method to castaway the fear of death. He believes that the philosophical life is apreparation for death and that the true philosopher looks forward todying. It seems that if philosophers look upon death with “good cheer,"then they would not love life enough to learn and examine life and,therefore, death. Socrates makes a distinction between two types ofdeath, figurative and literal, and defines death as the release of the soulfrom the body. The responsibility of the philosopher is to seek the truthand to prepare for the afterlife. Socrates notes that the body leads usaway from the truth. The discussion about the separation of body andsoul leads to the discussion of the immortality of the soul. Socratespresents three arguments: one from the necessary generation of oppositesfrom opposi...
