_Ech._ Yes; some one told me this; and I wondered, that as it took place
so long ago, he appears to have died long afterwards. What was the
reason of this, Phædo?
_Phæd._ An accidental circumstance happened in his favour, 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 despatch 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.
_Phæd._ I am at leisure, and will endeavour to give you a full account:
for to call Socrates to mind, whether speaking myself or listening to
some one else, is always most delightful to me.
5. _Ech._ And indeed, Phædo, you have others to listen to you who are of
the same mind. However, endeavour to relate every thing as accurately as
you can.
_Phæd._ I was indeed wonderfully affected by being present, for I was
not impressed with a feeling of pity, like one present at the death of a
friend; for the man appeared to me to be happy, Echecrates, both from
his manner and discourse, so fearlessly and nobly did he meet his death:
so much so, that it occurred to me, that in going to Hades he was not
going without a divine destiny, but that when he arrived there he would
be happy, if any one ever was. For this reason I was entirely
uninfluenced by any feeling of pity, as would seem likely to be the case
with one present on so mournful an occasion; nor was I affected by
pleasure from being engaged in philosophical discussions, as was our
custom; for our conversation was of that kind. But an altogether
unaccountable feeling possessed me, a kind of unusual mixture compounded
of pleasure and pain together, when I considered that he was immediately
about to die. And all of us who were present were affected in much the
same manner, at one time laughing, at another weeping, one of us
especially, Apollodorus, for you know the man and his manner.
_Ech._ How should I not?
6. _Phæd._ He, then, was entirely overcome by these emotions; and I too
was troubled, as well as the others.
_Ech._ But who were present, Phædo?
_Phæd._ Of his fellow-countrymen, this Apollodorus was present, and
Critobulus, and his father Crito, moreover Hermogenes, Epigenes,
Æschines, and Antisthenes; Ctesippus the Pæanian, Menexenus, and some
other of his countrymen were also there: Plato I think was sick.
_Ech._ Were any strangers present?
_Phæd._ Yes: Simmias the Theban, Cebes, and Phædondes: and from Megara,
Euclides and Terpsion.