Customer Reviews

Plato: Phaedo (Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics) (Greek Edition)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Socrates, as depicted by his devoted student, Plato, is one of the true spiritual giants of recorded history, standing in such company as Jesus and the Buddha. The Phaedo preserves the moment where Socrates earned his immortality, forced to commit suicide by the Athenian democracy.

Oxford's edition is the only accessible volume to give the Phaedo the individual treatment it merits. Gallop's translation is clear, dramatic, naturalistic, and compelling. Included are an extensive introduction, an outline of the arguments of the dialogue, and copious explanatory notes, as well as a bibliography for further reading.

To hear Socrates lecturing his students on the nature of the soul and his assurance of the life to come as the moment of his execution approaches is inspiring and uplifting. As great as any Greek tragedy, the Phaedo recreates a moment where one of the greatest of men shuffles off his mortal coil and "puts on immortality." A powerful, moving, and transforming read; not to be missed!

My reading in Plato begun with Parmenides. Which is pity, to think about it, since Parmenides is to this day considered to be one of the most esoteric. Contrast to Parmenides, where young Socrates stands up against this old thinker, Phaedo reveals old Socrates who now discusses things in fully down-to-earth terms. In fact, Socrates at this time is a dying one. And his tragic end is so well presented that it actually reads like a novel. Back to my point, this book is, I think, the most appropriate as a starter. Then you could trace back to Plato's more abstract discussions. Nowhere in Plato's works his conception of the idea is more clearly explained than in Phaedo. This also summarizes Plato's outlining of philosophy. A must-read.

This book is combination of poetry and philosophy. The time before the death of Socrates and his last great teachings. It is a mile-stone in ethics. Socrates teachings can (and have been) compared to and elevated above the teachings of Jesus. Along with its ethical value, the book reads magnificantly. 'Phaedo' gives Plato his rightfull place as an all time great writer in the company of Homer, Shakspeare, and Goethe.

In his work Phaedo, Plato utilizes the character of Socrates, before his death by poison in prison, as a vehicle for establishing the existence of, and immortality of, the human soul. Though his arguments often make bold jumps that are difficult to reconcile, he does a more than admirable job of molding a logical argument for the existence of the soul, by taking on a number of possible objections to the theory, objections which are both abstract and somewhat scientific in nature. By likening the soul to the Forms, or the basic abstract properties of the universe, he argues that the soul not only must exist, but must also exist indefinitely, due to its very nature. This book is no doubt worth the read, as it provides an exceptional reflection on death and human mortality, and is a great starting point for Plutonian philosophy.

This book is organized in a very odd way. Most translated pieces like this (Illiad, Odyssey, etc) have the verses numbered in the margin of the page. This particular piece is organized into a number of sections, something like 90 or more. However, this book did not mark any of them. Also, it seems like this piece wasn't edited at all. Many of the passages have random characters like c& just left in the middle of a sentence. Also, whenever there is a translated verse which has caused controversy among the translating community, the book will add parenthetical statements as long as a paragraph to discuss (in a very convoluted way) the different translations which may be substituted.

All in all: I'm really not sure what I bought, but I had to do my entire reading assignment by finding Phaedo online for free. This book was a complete waste of money.

"Phaedo" is one of Plato's best and most important works. Though well worth reading by itself, the fact that it is widely anthologized - e.g., in The Trial and Death of Socrates - makes it very hard to justify a standalone.

Though apparently early and not as complex or philosophically influential as later ones, "Phaedo" is immensely important in portraying Socrates' death. Along with the aforementioned dialogues, it is our clearest picture of the historical Socrates and would be invaluable for this alone. Indeed, I have read hundreds - perhaps thousands - of books, and this is one of my ten or so favorites, mostly because of how moving the depiction of the great man's last days is. The story of Socrates' last moments is part of world literature's very fabric, an immortal part of Western cultural heritage. However, the works have great value even aside from this; a few have indeed questioned their historical veracity. This does not affect their philosophical, literary, and political worth, which is of the highest, making the book doubly essential.

"Phaedo" ostensibly details Socrates' last moments, including his last look at his wife and child, his last dialogue, his last words to friends, and his actual death. A large part of Socrates' image comes from this, and its potential historical value is inconceivable, though its historicity can easily be doubted since the work itself strongly suggests that Plato was not there. Even so, it is likely accurate in regard to the things that really matter and certainly a fine account of how it very well could have been. It is extremely moving; shot through with pathos, it is one of the most affecting things I have ever read. One can surely not read it without being overcome by emotion; I can hardly even think of it without misty eyes. Anyone who respects and admires this central Western civilization figure will be profoundly touched; his famous last words seem comic out of context but are very much otherwise here, telling us much about Socrates and moving us yet further. This would be one of the greatest works of all-time if it had no other aspect, but it is also a fine dialogue appropriately dealing mostly with death. Plato examines perennial questions like the soul's immortality and metempsychosis very thoroughly and thought-provokingly, and the conclusion - unsurprisingly, given the circumstances - has uncharacteristic certainty. It may not convince our cynical, empiricist, science-loving, twentieth century-surviving age, but the argument is certainly well-made and in many ways admirable. The dialogue touches on other important subjects also and is generally seen as the culmination of Plato's early, Socrates-centered thought.

The ever-important translation issue must also be kept in mind. It goes without saying that anyone who cares about intellectual issues, especially applied ones, must know Plato, as should anyone who wants to be even basically well-read. However, this is far easier said than done for most; he is so different from what now passes for literature, to say nothing of pop culture, that he is virtually inaccessible to general readers. Yet the importance of persevering cannot be overemphasized; the payoff is well worth the effort. As nearly always in such cases, reading him becomes far easier after the initial difficulty; no attentive reader will ever think Plato easy reading, but he is utterly absorbing once we get used to his style. He has a near-poetic beauty that all agree has never even been remotely approached in philosophy, and such mesmerizing prose is rare in any genre. His dialogues are an incredible form at once intellectually and aesthetically pleasing - an inspired combination that has perhaps never been bettered; many have appropriated it, but none have matched it. All this means that picking the right translation is probably more important with Plato than any other writer. This Benjamin Jowett translation is now quite old but still very accessible; it will work quite well for most, but anyone struggling should try a more recent version. For the average reader, the more recent, the better is generally true. The important thing is to read Plato in some form, and those who happen on a translation that does not work for them should keep trying until their mind opens in a truly new way - and once done, it will never close again.

If it was up to me to preserve just one of the dialogues of Plato for posterity it would be the Phaedo. That is because this is the metaphysical core of the teachings of Socrates (the main character) as told by Plato. As is emphasized in the text, death is the main topic of concern for the true philosopher- and that is what is covered here. However, there is nothing morbid about it. This is a message of hope, for Socrates establishes the divinity and immortality of the soul. The good man, he who has purified himself through the love of wisdom (Philosophy) goes to a higher, purer realm to be with like-minded souls and the gods themselves. The bad man also goes to his just reward with those of like character.

If I was to abstract the core truth here it would be that the true philosopher is always trying to free his soul from the body- for only then is the soul free of the distractions and distortions that can corrupt it and keep it from direct perception of the Ideals (Absolute Truth, Good, Beauty, and Justice.)

You easily see where the Church borrowed so much of its basic theological underpinnings. In fact, reading this work abolishes forever in your mind the idea that the pre-Christian pagans were in anyway necessarily savage or barbaric in their deepest spiritual beliefs. This is spirituality more pure than anything preached by the Church- and it is supported by reasoned argument and not appeal to empty faith and authority.

The closing of the dialog is probably the finest depiction in Western literature of the death of a great and good man. You truly concur that Socrates was indeed the wisest and justest and best of all men.

Socrates is unique among philosophers, not just for his place among the early Greek philosophers, but also for the fact that he is the most famous philosopher to never write his own books. What we know of Socrates comes from contemporary accounts and students, most particularly Plato.

Set in 399 BCE, the Phaedo is a reconstruction of Socrates final conversations with friends on the day he died. We do not know when this dialogue was written, but it was probably before The Republic (Plato's most famous work, also featuring the figure of Socrates). Like The Republic, this dialogue features a well developed theory of Forms -- these are introduced gradually here, slowly filling out the details of each step. This develops the story of the caves idea from Plato's earlier work in epistemological, metaphysical, moral, and semantic terms. Plato also advances the 'imperfection argument' here -- the idea that when we sense something, it is never perfectly the thing we are thinking of, and that idea or standard to which we relate what we see, hear, feel, etc. is tying into a more perfect Form.

However, the idea of the soul is rather less developed here than in The Republic. The soul is simply mind, or intellect - all emotions are here placed as bodily aspects. This is rather Pythagorean in a fashion, that only the soul grasps the perfect Forms, and so should consist of nothing but reasoning ability, for emotions distort and cloud the perceptions and judgments.

In the end of the Phaedo, we witness Socrates drink the hemlock, without fear or trembling, as a philosopher should know the value of life and welcome death with a firm hope. The story is almost religious in nature here.

David Gallop's translation is good and true to the original (in as much as I can tell from my small Greek learning). It is somewhat tending toward the formal side. This is serious stuff, but in a small number of pages manages to capture much, and this makes it all the more relevant.

I will not quote myself, but I'll evoke the words that I have written here before in the review of Krishnamurti's book. Since you're reading this I guess you're interested in Plato's philosophy and this work in particular. I'll just say few words and then will let you to dive into the book and find the meaning for yourself.
This is the book that belong to Plato's later works, and debate continues whether Socrates in this book is historical Socrates or just voice of Plato. If you take into consideration few Aristotelian lines than first option would be the true one. But, no matter which one is right, Socrates here is presented as few characters of world literature are. I can not speak about philosophy here, so I shall speak about style. Bearing the posture of romantic poets, and if you picture ancient greek dungeon as some reneiscance castle dungeon, you'll have the setting. And tht's it. No quarells, no fightning and vicious murdering, just one of the most beautifull speeches conserning human soul, and only one, diginified, death.
Books like these give me hope that there is still a chance for a world to become the better place.

Socrates on his deathbed, kicking it with his homies.
Best book ever written about the concept of the soul & their existence coming (nearly) from the very mouth of Socrates before his execution. Beautifully written by Socrates' BFF Plato & with help from the rest of Socrates' crew who eyewitness of the tense final moments.
Awesome, just awesome! Gives one an epic appreciation for our forefathers by living this immortalized tragedy of the Father of Philosophy.