Phaedo

The Phaedo completes Plato's account of the death of Socrates. It records the philosopher's last conversation, in his prison cell on the day of his execution, with the friends gathered around him — a conversation that turns on the immortality of the soul and the philosopher's relation to death.

Socrates offers four extended arguments for the soul's immortality, interleaved with the human business of the day — the children visiting, his wife being led away, the friends weeping when they should not be, the jailer apologising before bringing the cup. The dialogue ends with the celebrated account of the philosopher's death, calmly observed by his student Phaedo. It is one of the most affecting documents in ancient literature.