How Phaedo drew on The Odyssey
A documented line of influence: Plato demonstrably engaged Homer’s work. The commentary below is Gröblé’s, verbatim from each work’s page.
The source
The Odyssey
Homer · c. 725 BCE
Ancient GreeceThe influenced
Phaedo
Plato · c. 385 BCE
Ancient GreeceRelevance
8/10
On Phaedo’s page
- Socrates argues that the soul commands the body — and he proves it with Homer
- The deathbed scene quotes Odysseus rebuking his own heart (Odyssey 20.17–18) to demolish Simmias' claim that the soul is just the body's harmony
- Knowing the Odyssey moment lets you feel why Plato reached for it: the hero overruling his own rage is the soul-over-body picture in a line
On The Odyssey’s page
- A single Homeric line becomes a philosophical proof
- Plato has Socrates quote Odysseus smiting his breast and rebuking his heart (Odyssey 20.17–18) on his deathbed
- The moment Odysseus masters his own anger is, for Plato, evidence that the soul rules the body rather than merely tuning it