Of all writers of speculative philosophy, both ancient and modern, there
is probably no one who has attained so eminent a position as Plato. What
Homer was to Epic poetry, what Cicero and Demosthenes were to oratory,
and what Shakespeare was to the drama of England, Plato was to ancient
philosophy, not unapproachable nor unapproached, but possessing an
inexplicable but unquestioned supremacy.
The authentic records of his life are meagre, and much that has been
written concerning him is of a speculative nature. He was born at Athens
in the year 427 B.C. His father's name was Ariston, and his mother's
family, which claimed its descent from Solon, included among its members
many Athenian notables, among whom was Oritias, one of the thirty
tyrants.
In his early youth Plato applied himself to poetry and painting, both of
which pursuits he relinquished to become the disciple and follower of
Socrates. It is said that his name was originally Aristocles, but that
it was changed to Plato on account of the breadth of his shoulders and
forehead. He is also said to have been an expert wrestler and to have
taken part in several important battles.
He was the devoted friend and pupil of Socrates, and during the
imprisonment of his master he attended him constantly, and committed to
writing his last discourses on the immortality of the soul.
After the death of Socrates it is supposed that Plato took refuge with
Euclides in Megara, and subsequently extended his travels into Magna
Graecia and Egypt.
Upon his return to Athens he taught those who came to him for
instruction in the grove named Academus, near the Cephisus, and thus
founded the first great philosophical school, over which he continued to
preside until the day of his death. Above the entrance to this grove was
inscribed the legend: "Let no one ignorant of geometry enter here." Here
he was attended by persons of every description, among the more
illustrious of whom were Aristotle, Lycurgus, Demosthenes and Isocrates.
There is a story to the effect that Plato three times visited Sicily,
once upon the invitation of the elder Dionysius, and twice at the
earnest solicitations of the younger. The former he is said to have so
seriously offended as to cause the tyrant to have him seized on his
return home and sold as a slave, from which state of bondage he was,
however, released by Anicerius of Cyrene.
The people of his time thought more of him than they did of all their
other philosophers, and called him the Divine Plato. So great was the
regard and veneration for him that it was considered better to err with
Plato than be right with any one else.
The writings of Plato are numerous, and most of them are in the form of
dialogues. The following pages contain translations of three of his
works, viz.: "The Apologia," "The Crito" and "The Phædo," all of which
have reference to the trial, imprisonment and death of Socrates.
"The Apologia" represents Socrates on trial for his life, undertaking
his own defence, though unaccustomed to the language of the courts, the
occasion being, as he says, the first time he has ever been before a
court of justice, though seventy years of age. Plato was present at the
trial, and no doubt gives us the very arguments used by the accused. Two
charges were brought against Socrates--one that he did not believe in
the gods recognized by the State, the other that he had corrupted the
Athenian youth by his teachings. Socrates does not have recourse to the
ordinary methods adopted by orators on similar occasions. He prefers to
stand upon his own integrity and innocence, uninfluenced by the fear of
that imaginary evil, death. He, therefore, does not firmly grapple with
either of the charges preferred against him. He neither denies nor
confesses the first accusation, but shows that in several instances he
conformed to the religious customs of his country, and that he believes
in God more than he fears man. The second charge he meets by a
cross-examination of his accuser, Melitus, whom he reduces to the
dilemma of charging him with corrupting the youth designedly, which
would be absurd, or with doing so undesignedly, for which he could not
be liable to punishment.
His defence, however, avails him nothing, and he is condemned by the
judges to die by drinking the poisonous hemlock. In the closing part of
"The Apologia" Socrates is represented as commenting upon the sentence
which has been passed upon him, and as expressing his belief that in
going to his death he is only passing to a better and a happier life.
In "The Crito" Socrates is represented in conversation with a friend of
his named Crito, who had been present at his trial, and who had offered
to assist Socrates in paying a fine, had a fine been the sentence
imposed. Crito visits Socrates in his confinement to bring to him the
intelligence that the ship, the arrival of which was to be the signal
for his death upon the following day, would arrive forthwith, and to
urge him to adopt the means of escape which had already been prepared.
Socrates promises to follow the advice of Crito if, upon a full
discussion of the matter, it seems right to do so. In the conversation
which ensues Socrates argues that it is wrong to return evil for evil
and that the obligations which a citizen owes to his State are more
binding than those which a child owes his parents or a slave his master,
and, therefore, it is his duty to submit to the laws of Athens at
whatever cost to himself. Crito has no answer to make to this argument,
and Socrates thereupon decides to submit to his fate.
Plato is said to have had two objects in writing this dialogue: First,
to acquit Socrates of the charge of corrupting the Athenian youth; and,
second, to establish the fact that it is necessary under all
circumstances to submit to the established laws of his country.
"The Phædo" relates the manner in which Socrates spent the last day of
his life and the circumstances attending his death. He is visited by a
number of his friends, among whom are Phædo, Simmias and Crito. When his
friends arrive they find him sitting upon a bed rubbing his legs, which
have just been released from bonds. He remarks upon the unaccountable
connection between pleasure and pain, and from this the conversation
gradually turns to a consideration of the question of the immortality of
the soul. He convinces his listeners of the pre-existence of the soul;
but they are still skeptical as to its immortality, urging that its
pre-existence and the fact that it is more durable than the body does
not preclude the possibility of its being mortal. Socrates, however,
argues that contraries cannot exist in the same thing at the same time,
as, for example, the same object cannot partake of both magnitude and
littleness at the same time. In like manner, heat while it is heat can
never admit the idea of cold. Life and death are contraries and can
never coexist; but wherever there is life there is soul, so that the
soul contains that which is contrary to death and can never admit death;
consequently the soul is immortal.
Having convinced his listeners, Socrates bathes and takes leave of his
children and the women of his family. Thereupon the officer appears and
tells him it is time for him to drink the poison. At this his friends
commence to weep and are rebuked by Socrates for their weakness. He
drinks the poison calmly and without hesitation, and then begins to walk
about, still conversing with his friends. His limbs soon grow stiff and
heavy and he lays himself down upon his back. His last words are:
"Crito, we owe a cock to Æsculapius; pay it, therefore, and do not
neglect it."