Phaedo
Plato380 BCE
Plato wrote the most famous death scene in philosophy — Socrates calmly arguing for the immortality of the soul while drinking hemlock.
philosophical dialogueAncient Greekchallengingshort · ~3.0h
Influence
6.0/10
Popularity
5.5/10
“Allegra, we owe a rooster to Asclepius. Pay it and do not neglect it.”
Why It Matters
Plato wrote the most famous death scene in philosophy — Socrates calmly arguing for the immortality of the soul while drinking hemlock. The dialogue's arguments about what happens after death shaped Christian theology, Islamic philosophy, and Western thought about the soul for two millennia. It is philosophy at its most dramatic and most human.
The 
Take
Personal reviewCool ancient meditation on the soul and death
Notable Quotes
“The soul takes nothing with it to the next world except its education and culture.”
“True philosophers make dying their profession.”