library_books Bookstacks

Section 57

ECHECRATES. Were you there yourself, Phaedo, with Socrates on that day when he drank the poison in the prison, or did you hear about it from someone else?

PHAEDO. I was there myself, Echecrates.

ECHECRATES. What were the things the man said before his death? And how did he meet his end? I would gladly hear it. For these days, hardly any citizen of Phlius visits Athens, nor has any stranger arrived from there in a long time who could give us a clear account of the events, other than the mere fact that he drank the poison and died. They had nothing further to tell us.

PHAEDO. Did you not even hear the circumstances of his trial?

ECHECRATES. Yes, someone reported that to us. And we wondered why, since the trial had already taken place, he appears to have died a long time afterward. What was the reason for this, Phaedo?

PHAEDO. It was due to a stroke of fortune, Echecrates. For it happened that the stern of the ship the Athenians send to Delos was crowned on the day before his trial.

ECHECRATES. What ship is that?

PHAEDO. The Athenians say this is the very ship in which Theseus once set sail for Crete with the "twice seven" youths, saving both them and himself. It is said that they vowed to Apollo back then that if they were saved, they would send an annual sacred mission to Delos. They have sent this mission to the god every year since, right up to the present day. Whenever this mission begins, it is their law to keep the city pure during the entire period and to execute no one publicly until the ship reaches Delos and returns here. Sometimes this takes a long time, if the winds delay them. The mission begins when the priest of Apollo crowns the stern of the ship. As I said, this happened the day before the trial. Because of this, Socrates spent a long time in prison between his trial and his death.