Death by Socrates and Homer.

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

Kimberly Morgan

May 6, 2003

Gov’t 323

Professor Char Miller

Death by Socrates and Homer

Through out the history of man, there has always been one true guarantee from the moment of birth, the guarantee of death. It is in escapable; no matter what a person does there will come at time in their life when they will die. Many have theorized about what happens after death. Some have spoken of near death experiences in which they have caught a glimpse of the after life. There seems to be a common belief in the world that after the physical body dies the soul lives on. It is this belief that produces the question of what happens to the soul after is separates from the physical body. Many religions theorize that after death the soul goes though a judgment. A judgment of its activities here on earth. This judgment determines where the soul will spend the rest of eternality. However, none of these theories or beliefs can be proven or disproved. In the book The Trial and Death of Socrates; Four Dialogues written by Plato, Socrates refuses to escape his execution because he believes that would be unjust, and he would rather do the right thing by accepting his execution and allow his soul to move on to a better afterlife. Some feel as though life on earth is better then life after death; in the book The Iliad written by Homer, Homer portrays death as inevitable doom that all mortals must face.

In Plato’s book of Crito, in a conversation that Socrates has with his friend the day before his schedule execution, Socrates lets it be known that his is not afraid of death. He refuses to leave even though Crito tries to convince him to escape and flee the city of Athens. To Socrates it does not matter that he was prosecuted unjustly, it is still his duty as a citizen to obey the laws of Athens. Socrates shows his obligation to Athens when he states,

You (I), Socrates, are breaking the covenants and agreements which you made with us at your leisure, not in any haste or under any compulsion or deception, but having had seventy years to think of them, during which time you were at liberty to leave the city, if we were not to your mind, or if our covenants appeared to you to be unfair.” “But you pretended that you preferred death to exile, and that you were not grieved at death.” And if Socrates leaves, they will say, “And now you have forgotten these fine sentiments, and pay no respect to us the laws, of whom you are the destroyer; and are doing what only a miserable slave would do, running away and turning your back upon the compacts and agreements which you made as a citizen. (52)

Socrates had often acknowledged his indebtedness to Athens’ system of government and social order. And because he had spent all of his seventy years of life in Athens and has been the recipient of the many benefits that the city has offered him, he has formed an unspoken agreement with Athens to obey all its laws. And an escape from prison in violation of the law would be an evil act on his part and in no way would it counteract the evil performed by the court. Socrates knows that he has to do what is right, not because ...

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Crito also uses the argument that the judges and accusers are unjust and that that would justify Socrates’ escape. To this Socrates says, “And what of doing evil in return for evil, which is the morality of the many –is that just or not? For doing evil to another is the same as injuring him? Then we ought not to retaliate or render evil for evil to any one, whatever evil we may have suffered from him. Neither injury nor retaliation nor warding off evil by evil is ever right.”(49) Socrates felt that to commit a wrong is under all conditions a bad thing for the person who commits it. From this it follows that a person must never repay ill treatment with ill treatment. No treatment received from another ever justifies doing something wrong in return.

In Plato’s book of Phaedo, Phaedo, a friend of Socrates, explain to Echecrates and others why Socrates was not afraid of death. Socrates felt that man should not fear death if it is the will of the Gods because your soul will live on. Socrates shows this when he says,

“…I ought to be grieved at death, if I were not persuaded that I am going to other gods who are wise and good, and to men departed who are better than those whom I leave behind; and therefore I do not grieve as I might have done, for I have good hope that there is yet something remaining for the dead, and as has been said of old, some far better thing for the good than for the evil.”(60)

Socrates felt that he would be grieved at death if he did not believe the soul would fare better after death then when it is dwelling in the body. He is convinced, however, that after the soul is separated from the body, and it will go to other gods and will be associated with the souls of departed people who are even better than those now living on earth. Socrates felt that if you live your life on earth just and did what was right, and then you’re after life would be much better then your life on earth. You would have better gods and meet better people in the after life.

Also Socrates does not fear death because he feels that as a true philosopher he should welcome death. Death is only the separation of the soul from the body, and only leads to true happiness. Socrates explains this by saying, “…he who has lived as a true philosopher has reason to be of good cheer when he is about to die, and after death he may hope to receive the greatest good in the other world.”(61) Socrates explains that because a true philosopher does not place high value on the pleasures of the body, such as eating and drinking or the acquisition of costly raiment, he would gladly die so as to not to have to worry about eating or drinking. He feels as the body interferes with the welfare of the soul by requiring such pleasures of eating or drinking. Socrates knows that the soul is superior to the body and should be its master rather than its slave.

Completely opposite of Socrates’ theory on death, Homer depicts death to be the worst fate of all. In the Iliad all humans are inextricably bound to death and to the misery that arises due to one’s own death and the death of loved ones. This can be seen when Zeus himself reports, “Of all creatures that breathe and move on earth, none is more to be pitied than a man whose ultimate destiny is misery and death.” (421) Zeus’s assessment of the human condition emphasizes the inevitability and finality of death, and the inconsequential nature of individual existence.

Humans in the epic also recognize the inevitability of this “fatal destiny”. Priam, upon his meeting with Achilles, acknowledges that, “Upon the threshold of my age, in misery, the son of Kronos will destroy my life after the evil days I shall have seen- my sons brought down and my daughters dragged away… And at the end, I too- when someone with a sword-cut or a spear has had my life- I shall be torn apart on my own doorstep by the hounds…” (517) Clearly, Priam’s prediction for his own destiny is not confined strictly to the inevitability of death, but also encompasses the misery which he believes is bound to befall him.

Even Achilles, the epic’s hero, begotten of a goddess, is bound by fate’s shackles to misery and destruction. Quite early on in the poem, in fact, his mother, Thetis, bemoans her son’s fate: “Oh early death! Oh broken heart! No destiny so cruel!” (25) If misery and death is the ultimate end to every human life, what is left for the epic personage to hope for? Achilles explains the predicament created by a seemingly unalterable eventual fate when he says, “The portion’s equal whether a man hangs back or fights his best… One who’s active dies like a do-nothing. What least thing have I to show for it, for harsh days undergone and my life gambled, all these years of war?” (213) To him, it doesn’t matter whether you are honorable or lazy during your life; we all die in the end.

In The Iliad, the mortals see death as final. There is no belief of an afterlife where ones soul lives on. The only way in which they feel you can live on after death is through glory and honor. It is believed that if you live an honorable life, you can live forever in the memories of others. So in theory, it is the memory of the person that lives on, not any actually part of the person. Achilles ponders the two ways to die when he tells us, “My mother, Thetis of the silvery feet, tells me of two possible destinies carrying me toward death: two ways: if on the one hand I remain to fight around Troy town, I lose all hope of home but gain unfading glory; on the other, if I sail back to my own land my glory fails- but a long life lies ahead of me.” (216) By “unfading glory”, Achilles means glory that will live on in the memory of others. And he is faced with the decision to prolong his inevitable death by going home without glory, or have his memory live on after his own inevitable death by continuing to fight in the battle of Troy with glory.

In conclusion, Socrates is prepared to die because he knows his soul will live on in a better life in the after world. He felt that he had no reason to fear death because he has lived a just life, and to escape and flee his execution would only dishonor himself. Socrates was a gifted individual who could see past the ignorance of the majority and teach what he believe to be the just way to live ones life. Plato used Socrates to display the many downfalls or inconsistencies with the belief that death is a punishment and is meant to be feared. The Iliad, on the other hand, portrayed that there was no life after death for mortals. In the epic, death is extremely feared because it is final. Both Homer and Plato illustrated that we as people really do not know anything about death, and we each have to use our individual beliefs to determine how we will approach death.