"This," concludes Phædo, "was the end of our friend--a man, as we may say, the best of all his time, that we have known, and, moreover, the most wise and just." FOOTNOTES [12] Sec. 21-39. [13] Sec. 39, 40. [14] Sec. 40-46. [15] Sec. 47. [16] Sec. 48-57. [17] Sec. 55-59. [18] Sec. 61-75. [19] Sec. 76-84. [20] Sec. 93-99. [21] Sec. 100-112. [22] Sec. 112-128. [23] Sec. 129-131. [24] Sec. 132-145. PHÆDO; OR, THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL. FIRST ECHECRATES, PHÆDO. THEN SOCRATES, APOLLODORUS, CEBES, SIMMIAS, AND CRITO. _Ech._ Were you personally present, Phædo, with Socrates on that day when he drank the poison in prison, or did you hear an account of it from some one else? _Phæd._ I was there myself, Echecrates. _Ech._ What, then, did he say before his death, and how did he die? for I should be glad to hear: for scarcely any citizen of Phlius[25] ever visits Athens now, nor has any stranger for a long time come from thence who was able to give us a clear account of the particulars, except that he had died from drinking poison; but he was unable to tell us any thing more. 2. _Phæd._ And did you not hear about the trial--how it went off? _Ech._ Yes; some one told me this; and I wondered that, as it took place so long ago, he appears to have died long afterward. What was the reason of this, Phædo? _Phæd._ An accidental circumstance happened in his favor, Echecrates; for the poop of the ship which the Athenians send to Delos chanced to be crowned on the day before the trial. _Ech._ But what is this ship? _Phæd._ It is the ship, as the Athenians say, in which Theseus formerly conveyed the fourteen boys and girls to Crete, and saved both them and himself. They, therefore, made a vow to Apollo on that occasion, as it is said, that if they were saved they would every year dispatch a solemn embassy to Delos; which, from that time to the present, they send yearly to the god. 3. When they begin the preparations for this solemn embassy, they have a law that the city shall be purified during this period, and that no public execution shall take place until the ship has reached Delos, and returned to Athens; and this occasionally takes a long time, when the winds happen to impede their passage. The commencement of the embassy is when the priest of Apollo has crowned the poop of the ship. And this was done, as I said, on the day before the trial: on this account Socrates had a long interval in prison between the trial and his death. 4. _Ech._ And what, Phædo, were the circumstances of his death? What was said and done? and who of his friends were with him? or would not the magistrates allow them to be present, but did he die destitute of friends? _Phæd._ By no means; but some, indeed several, were present. _Ech._ Take the trouble, then, to relate to me all the particulars as clearly as you can, unless you have any pressing business.