§57ΕΧ. αὐτός, ὦ Φαίδων, παρεγένου Σωκράτει ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ᾗ τὸ φάρμακον ἔπιεν ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ, ἢ ἄλλου του ἤκουσας;
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?
ΦΑΙΔ. αὐτός, ὦ Ἐχέκρατες.
Phaedo: I was there myself, Echecrates.
ΕΧ. τί οὖν δή ἐστιν ἅττα εἶπεν ὁ ἀνὴρ πρὸ τοῦ θανάτου;
Echecrates: What then did the man say before his death?
καὶ πῶς ἐτελεύτα;
And how did he die?
ἡδέως γὰρ ἂν ἐγὼ ἀκούσαιμι.
For I would gladly hear.
καὶ γὰρ οὔτε Φλειασίων οὐδεὶς πάνυ τι ἐπιχωριάζει τὰ νῦν Ἀθήναζε, οὔτε τις ξένος ἀφῖκται χρόνου συχνοῦ ἐκεῖθεν ὅστις ἂν ἡμῖν σαφές τι ἀγγεῖλαι οἷός τ’ ἦν περὶ τούτων, πλήν γε δὴ ὅτι φάρμακον πιὼν ἀποθάνοι· τῶν δὲ ἄλλων οὐδὲν εἶχεν φράζειν.
Indeed, none of the Phliasians visits Athens much nowadays, nor has any stranger arrived from there for a long time who could bring us any clear news about these matters, except only that he died by drinking poison; but of other things he had nothing to tell.
§58ΦΑΙΔ. οὐδὲ τὰ περὶ τῆς δίκης ἄρα ἐπύθεσθε ὃν τρόπον ἐγένετο;
Phaedo: Then you didn't even learn how the trial went?
ΕΧ. ναί, ταῦτα μὲν ἡμῖν ἤγγειλέ τις, καὶ ἐθαυμάζομέν γε ὅτι πάλαι γενομένης αὐτῆς πολλῷ ὕστερον φαίνεται ἀποθανών.
Echecrates: Yes, someone did report that to us, and we wondered indeed why, although the trial took place long before, he appears to have died so much later.
τί οὖν ἦν τοῦτο, ὦ Φαίδων;
What then was the reason for this, Phaedo?
ΦΑΙΔ. τύχη τις αὐτῷ, ὦ Ἐχέκρατες, συνέβη·
Phaedo: A certain chance befell him, Echecrates.
ἔτυχεν γὰρ τῇ προτεραίᾳ τῆς δίκης ἡ πρύμνα ἐστεμμένη τοῦ πλοίου ὃ εἰς Δῆλον Ἀθηναῖοι πέμπουσιν.
For it happened that on the day before the trial the stern of the ship which the Athenians send to Delos was crowned.
ΕΧ. τοῦτο δὲ δὴ τί ἐστιν;
Echecrates: And what is this?
ΦΑΙΔ. τοῦτ’ ἔστι τὸ πλοῖον, ὥς φασιν Ἀθηναῖοι, ἐν ᾧ Θησεύς ποτε εἰς Κρήτην τοὺς
δὶς ἑπτὰ
ἐκείνους ᾤχετο ἄγων καὶ ἔσωσέ τε καὶ αὐτὸς ἐσώθη.
Phaedo: This is the ship, as the Athenians say, in which Theseus once went to Crete, taking those "twice seven" youths, and saved them and was saved himself.
τῷ οὖν Ἀπόλλωνι ηὔξαντο ὡς λέγεται τότε, εἰ σωθεῖεν, ἑκάστου ἔτους θεωρίαν ἀπάξειν εἰς Δῆλον· ἣν δὴ ἀεὶ καὶ νῦν ἔτι ἐξ ἐκείνου κατ’ ἐνιαυτὸν τῷ θεῷ πέμπουσιν.
So they made a vow to Apollo at that time, as the story goes, that if they were saved, they would send a sacred embassy to Delos every year; which indeed they have always sent annually to the god from that time even until now.
ἐπειδὰν οὖν ἄρξωνται τῆς θεωρίας, νόμος ἐστὶν αὐτοῖς ἐν τῷ χρόνῳ τούτῳ καθαρεύειν τὴν πόλιν καὶ δημοσίᾳ μηδένα ἀποκτεινύναι, πρὶν ἂν εἰς Δῆλόν τε ἀφίκηται τὸ πλοῖον καὶ πάλιν δεῦρο· τοῦτο δ’ ἐνίοτε ἐν πολλῷ χρόνῳ γίγνεται, ὅταν τύχωσιν ἄνεμοι ἀπολαβόντες αὐτούς.
Therefore, when they begin the sacred embassy, it is a law with them to keep the city pure during this time and to execute no one by public authority, until the ship reaches Delos and comes back here again; and this sometimes takes a long time, whenever winds happen to detain them.
ἀρχὴ δ’ ἐστὶ τῆς θεωρίας ἐπειδὰν ὁ ἱερεὺς τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος στέψῃ τὴν πρύμναν τοῦ πλοίου· τοῦτο δ’ ἔτυχεν, ὥσπερ λέγω, τῇ προτεραίᾳ τῆς δίκης γεγονός.
And the beginning of the embassy is when the priest of Apollo crowns the stern of the ship; and this happened, as I say, to have occurred on the day before the trial.
διὰ ταῦτα καὶ πολὺς χρόνος ἐγένετο τῷ Σωκράτει ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ ὁ μεταξὺ τῆς δίκης τε καὶ τοῦ θανάτου.
For this reason, a long time elapsed for Socrates in the prison between the trial and his death.
ΕΧ. τί δὲ δὴ τὰ περὶ αὐτὸν τὸν θάνατον, ὦ Φαίδων;
Echecrates: And what about the details of the death itself, Phaedo?
τί ἦν τὰ λεχθέντα καὶ πραχθέντα, καὶ τίνες οἱ παραγενόμενοι τῶν ἐπιτηδείων τῷ ἀνδρί;
What were the things said and done, and who of his companions were present with the man?
ἢ οὐκ εἴων οἱ ἄρχοντες παρεῖναι, ἀλλ’ ἔρημος ἐτελεύτα φίλων;
Or did the magistrates not allow them to be present, so that he died destitute of friends?
ΦΑΙΔ. οὐδαμῶς, ἀλλὰ παρῆσάν τινες, καὶ πολλοί γε.
Phaedo: By no means, but some were present, and indeed many.
ΕΧ. ταῦτα δὴ πάντα προθυμήθητι ὡς σαφέστατα ἡμῖν ἀπαγγεῖλαι, εἰ μή τίς σοι ἀσχολία τυγχάνει οὖσα.
Echecrates: Do your best then to report all these things to us as clearly as possible, unless you happen to have some business.
ΦΑΙΔ. ἀλλὰ σχολάζω γε καὶ πειράσομαι ὑμῖν διηγήσασθαι· καὶ γὰρ τὸ μεμνῆσθαι Σωκράτους καὶ αὐτὸν λέγοντα καὶ ἄλλου ἀκούοντα ἔμοιγε ἀεὶ πάντων ἥδιστον.
Phaedo: Nay, I am at leisure, and I will try to relate it to you; for to remember Socrates, both speaking myself and hearing another, is always of all things the most pleasant to me.
ΕΧ. ἀλλὰ μήν, ὦ Φαίδων, καὶ τοὺς ἀκουσομένους γε τοιούτους ἑτέρους ἔχεις· ἀλλὰ πειρῶ ὡς ἂν δύνῃ ἀκριβέστατα διεξελθεῖν πάντα.
Echecrates: Well, Phaedo, you have others who are going to listen to you who feel the same way; so try to go through everything as accurately as you can.
ΦΑΙΔ. καὶ μὴν ἔγωγε θαυμάσια ἔπαθον παραγενόμενος.
Phaedo: Indeed, I experienced a wonderful feeling being present there.
οὔτε γὰρ ὡς θανάτῳ παρόντα με ἀνδρὸς ἐπιτηδείου ἔλεος εἰσῄει· εὐδαίμων γάρ μοι ἁνὴρ ἐφαίνετο, ὦ Ἐχέκρατες, καὶ τοῦ τρόπου καὶ τῶν λόγων, ὡς ἀδεῶς καὶ γενναίως ἐτελεύτα, ὥστε μοι ἐκεῖνον παρίστασθαι μηδ’ εἰς Ἅιδου ἰόντα ἄνευ θείας μοίρας ἰέναι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκεῖσε ἀφικόμενον εὖ πράξειν εἴπερ τις πώποτε καὶ ἄλλος.
For no pity entered into me, as would be expected for one present at the death of an intimate friend; for the man appeared to me happy, Echecrates, both in his manner and in his words, so fearlessly and nobly did he die, so that it came over me that he was not going to Hades without a divine dispensation, but that even when he arrived there he would fare well, if anyone ever did.