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Section 62

"You must be eager," said Socrates, "and perhaps you will hear. Now it might seem wondrous to you if this alone among all things is absolute—that it is never better for a man to die than to live, as it sometimes is in other matters. And if for those for whom it is better to die, it seems wondrous to you that it is impious for them to do this good to themselves, but they must wait for another benefactor." Cebes smiled gently and said in his own dialect, "Zeus knows!" "Indeed," said Socrates, "put that way, it does seem unreasonable. But perhaps there is some reason in it. The teaching spoken in secret about this matter—that we human beings are in a kind of prison, and one must not free oneself or run away—seems to me a great saying and difficult to see through. But this much, Cebes, seems to me well said: that the gods are our caretakers, and we human beings are one of the gods' possessions. Does it not seem so to you?" "It does," said Cebes. "Therefore," said Socrates, "if one of your possessions were to kill itself without you indicating that you wished it to die, would you not be angry with it and punish it, if you had a punishment to inflict?" "Certainly," he said. "Then perhaps it is reasonable to say that a man must not kill himself before the god lays some necessity upon him, like the one present before us now." "Yes," said Cebes, "that seems reasonable. But what you said just now, Socrates—that philosophers ought to be willing and eager to die—that seems strange, if what we just agreed upon is true, that the god is our caretaker and we are his possessions. For it is unreasonable that the wisest men should not be aggrieved at leaving this service in which the best overseers of all, the gods, are watching over them. Surely they do not think they will care for themselves better when they are free. A foolish man might perhaps think he should run away from a master, not reflecting that one should never run away from a good master but stay as long as possible. But the sensible man would desire always to be beside one who is better than himself. Thus, Socrates, the opposite of what was just said seems probable: the wise should be grieved at dying, while the foolish should rejoice."