Phaedo

Plato (Πλάτων) (c. 428 BCE - c. 347 BCE)
Translated by Benjamin Jowett (1817 - 1893)

Plato's Phaedo is one of the great dialogues of his middle period, along with the Republic and the Symposium. The Phaedo, which depicts the death of Socrates, is also Plato's seventh and last dialogue to detail the philosopher's final days (the first six being Theaetetus, Euthyphro, Sophist, Statesman, Apology, and Crito).

In the dialogue, Socrates discusses the nature of the afterlife on his last day before being executed by drinking hemlock. Socrates has been imprisoned and sentenced to death by an Athenian jury for not believing in the gods of the state and for corrupting the youth of the city. The dialogue is told from the perspective of one of Socrates' students, Phaedo of Elis. Having been present at Socrates' death bed, Phaedo relates the dialogue from that day to Echecrates, a fellow philosopher. By engaging in dialectic with a group of Socrates' friends, including the Thebans Cebes and Simmias, Socrates explores various arguments for the soul's immortality in order to show that there is an afterlife in which the soul will dwell following death. Phaedo tells the story that following the discussion, he and the others were there to witness the death of Socrates. Source - Wikipedia

Genre(s): Classics (Greek & Latin Antiquity), *Non-fiction, History

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 01 01 - Part 1 Bob Neufeld
00:17:35
Play 02 02 - Part 2 Bob Neufeld
00:19:44
Play 03 03 - Part 3 Bob Neufeld
00:24:21
Play 04 04 - Part 4 Bob Neufeld
00:21:43
Play 05 05 - Part 5 Bob Neufeld
00:33:09
Play 06 06 - Part 6 Bob Neufeld
00:17:59
Play 07 07 - Part 7 Bob Neufeld
00:21:36
Play 08 08 - Part 8 Bob Neufeld
00:27:48