Notes and Comments on Phaedo -- 39

29 September 2023

Notes and Comments on Phaedo – 39

Continuing with my series on Phaedo; I am using the Harold North Fowler translation published by the Loeb Classical Library:

“’But my friends, ‘ he said, ‘we ought to bear in mind, that, if the soul is immortal, we must care for it, not only in respect to this time, which we call life, but in respect to all time, and if we neglect it, the danger now appears to be terrible.  For if death were an escape from everything, it would be a boon to the wicked, for when they die they would be freed from the body and from their wickedness together with their souls.  But now, since the soul is seen to be immortal, it cannot escape from evil or be saved in any other way than by becoming as good and wise as possible.  For the soul takes with it to the other world nothing but its education and nurture, and these are said to benefit or injure the departed greatly from the very beginning of his journey thither.  And so it is said that after death, the tutelary genius of each person, to whom he had been allotted in life, leads him to a place where the dead are gathered together; then they are judged and depart to the other world with the guide whose task it is to conduct thither those who come from this world; and when they have received their due and remained through the time appointed, another guide brings them back after many long periods of time.  And the journey is not as Telephus says in the play of Aeschylus; for he says a simple path leads to the lower world, but I think the path is neither simple nor single, for if it were, there would be no need of guides, since no one could miss the way to any place if there were only one road.  But really there seem to be many forks of the road and many windings; this I infer from the rites and ceremonies practiced here on earth.  Now the orderly and wise soul follows its guide and understands its circumstances; but the soul that is desirous of the body, as I said before, flits about it, and in the visible world for a long time, and after much resistance and many sufferings is led away with violence and with difficulty by its appointed genius.  And when it arrives at the place where the other souls are, the soul which is impure and has done wrong, by committing wicked murders or other deeds akin to those and the works of kindred souls, is avoided and shunned by all, and no one is willing to be its companion or its guide, but it wanders about alone in utter bewilderment, during certain fixed times, after which it is carried by necessity to its fitting habitation.  But the soul that has passed through life in purity and righteousness, finds gods for companions and guides, and goes to dwell in its proper dwelling.  Now there are many wonderful regions of the earth, and the earth itself is neither in size nor in other respects such as it is supposed to be by those who habitually discourse about it, as I believe on someone’s authority.’

“And Simmias said, ‘What do you mean, Socrates?  I have heard a good deal about the earth myself, but not what you believe; so I should like to hear it.’

“’Well Simmias, I do not think I need the art of Glaucus to tell what it is.  But to prove that it is true would, I think, be too hard for the art of Glaucus, and perhaps I should not be able to do it; besides, even if I had the skill, I think my life, Simmias, will end before the discussion could be finished.  However, there is nothing to prevent my telling what I believe the form of the earth to be, and the regions in it.’

“’Well,’ said Simmias, ‘that will be enough.’

“’I am convinced, then,’ said he, ‘that in the first place, if the earth is round and in the middle of the heavens, it needs neither the air nor any other similar force to keep it from falling, but its own equipoise and the homogeneous nature of the heavens on all sides suffice to hold it in place; for a body which is in equipoise and is placed in the center of something which is homogeneous cannot change its inclination in any direction, but will remain always in the same position.  This, then, is the first thing of which I am convinced.’

“’And righty,’ said Simmias.

“’Secondly,' said he, ‘I believe that the earth is very large and that we who dwell between the pillars of Hercules and the river Phasis live in a small part of it about the sea, like ants or frogs about a pond, and that many other people live in many other such regions.  For I believe there are in all directions on the earth many hollows of very various forms and sizes, into which the water and mist and air have run together; but the earth itself is pure and is situated in the pure heaven in which the stars are, the heaven which those who discourse about such matters call the ether; the water, mist and air are the sediment of this and flow together into the hollows of the earth.  Now we do not perceive that we live in the hollows, but think we live on the upper surface of the earth, just as if someone who lives in the depth of the ocean should think he lived on the surface of the sea, and, seeing the sun and the stars through the water, should think the sea was the sky, and should by reason of sluggishness or feebleness, never have reached the surface of the sea, and should never have seen, by rising and lifting his head out of the sea into our upper world, and should never have heard from anyone who had seen, how much purer and fairer it is than the world we lived in.  Now I believe this is just the case with us; for we dwell in a hollow of the earth and think we dwell on its upper surface; and the air we call the heaven, and think that is the heaven in which the stars move.  But the fact is the same, that by reason of feebleness and sluggishness, we are unable to attain to the upper surface of the air, for if anyone should come to the top of the air or should get wings and fly up, he could lift his head above it and see, as fishes lift their heads out of the water and see the things in our world, so he would see things in that upper world; and, if his nature were strong enough to bear the sight, he would recognize that that is the real heaven and the real light and the real earth.  For this earth of ours, and the stones and the whole region where we live, are injured and corroded, as in the sea things are injured by the brine, and nothing of any account grows in the sea, and there is, one might say, nothing perfect there, but caverns and sand and endless mud and mire, where there is earth also, and there is nothing at all worthy to be compared with the beautiful things of our world.  But the things in that world above would be seen to be even more superior to those in this world of ours.  If I may tell a story, Simmias, about the things on the earth that is below the heaven, and what they are like, it is well worth hearing.’

“’By all means, Socrates,’ said Simmias; ‘we should be glad to hear this story.’”

(Ibid, Fowler, pages 369-377, 107C-110B)

1.  This is the beginning of a shift in Phaedo to a primarily mythic and analogical presentation of the realities of rebirth.  The presence of myth is part of the complex fabric of Phaedo from the beginning where the story of Theseus and the Minotaur plays a significant role.  The difference here is that Socrates seems to have reached an end to his presentation of arguments about rebirth and is now starting to speak of those realities as best he can.  This resembles a group of people talking about a particular composer’s worth, and then shifting to listening to the music. 

2.  Some of these presentations on the realities of rebirth and the post-death world are complex, others are fairly straightforward.  It is my view that Socrates is drawing on ancient traditions that, I suspect, his pupils had already been introduced to.  Tentatively, I think that the Pythagorean and Orphic traditions may be primary sources for what Socrates relates.  In addition, the teachings of various mystery traditions may also have contributed to an understanding of how rebirth works and the details of how someone takes on their next life.

3.  Socrates begins this section with an argument, similar to the one’s he has been presenting (but notice that he does not ask Simmias or Cebes for their agreement; instead Socrates simply presents the argument and leaves it there). 

This argument is that we must take care for our soul, and not just during this life, but for all time; meaning life after life until we ascend to that which is timeless.  Needing to take care of the soul for all time implies that the soul survives and that therefore there is some point in doing so.  Socrates points out that if the soul suffers dissolution at death that this would be a ‘boon for the wicked’ because the wicked would be able to escape the consequences of the actions of their lives.

This is, in my opinion, a powerful argument.  Secular materialists often argue that the reason people believe in rebirth is that they are afraid of dying because dying means annihilation.  Secular materialists do not accept the existence of a soul, or other non-material realities.  Absent non-material realities, it makes sense that secular materialists would psychologize the basis for accepting rebirth.

But Socrates’s point here undermines the secular analysis of belief in rebirth by pointing out that rejecting rebirth may happen because people fear that they will have to endure the consequences of their misbehaviors if rebirth is true.  From this perspective, rebirth and karmic consequences are intimately connected.

4.  Socrates states that we take with us into the after death experience our education and our nurture; that is quite a lot.  This view emphasizes the importance that education, training, nurture have not just for this life, but for future lives as well.

5.  The first thing that happens after death, according to this presentation, is that the person who has died is met by their ‘tutelary deity.’  The Focus Philosophical Library uses the word ‘spirit.’  The Greek word is ‘daemon.’  Socrates, in Apology talks about his relationship with his personal spirit, tutelary deity, or daemon and seems to have had interaction with it over a period of many years.  The daemon is similar to a guardian angel.  In some traditions this spirit guide might not have a human appearance; instead it may be a spirit animal.  The basic idea is that each person has a spirit guide or presence that assists that person throughout their life.  It is this spirit that meets the deceased and takes him to a gathering of the deceased where they are ‘judged.’ 

The spirit guide takes the recently deceased person to the ‘other world’ in accordance with how they have been judged.  After this judgment has been served, another guide brings them back ‘after many long periods of time.’

There are complexities and caveats to this basic outline such as the soul that is strongly desirous of a body may remain stuck in the visible, material, world for a long time before being able to move on to its judgment and subsequent consequences. 

Socrates mentions a play by Aeschylus called ‘Telephus.’  The story of Telephus is complex, involving interactions with many gods and heroes, including being wounded, and then healed by Achilles who was on his way to the Trojan War.  For our purposes, the reference to the play by Aeschylus means that the kind of inquiry into the specifics of the after death experience were discussed openly in Greek society and there seem to have been multiple traditions, which is why Socrates takes issue with Aeschylus’s presentation in the play.

6.  Socrates details the difficulties those who have ‘done wrong,’ such as committing murder and other deeds of that kind, will experience after death.  They will be shunned, and no one will want to be their guide.  Because of this they wander for a ‘fixed time’ (which I read as ‘in accordance with the nature of their deeds’) until they are carried by ‘necessity’ (causation?) to their ‘fitting habitation.’  This is a description of what we today would call ‘karma.’  And it is these karmic consequences that the materialist seeks to escape.

7.  In contrast, those who have lived a life of purity have companions, and even gods to assist and guide them.  Again, this is a description of karmic consequences for how someone has lived their life.  Taken together, this is why we should take care of the soul.

8.  Socrates then shifts the discussion to his thoughts about the earth and its regions.  His thoughts about this are based on ‘someone’s authority,’ but that someone goes unnamed.  Perhaps this is another example of a widely known view and the person did not have to be specifically named;  I say that because otherwise, I think, Cebes or Simmias would have asked for more background.

8.1  Socrates observes that he does not need the 'art of Glaucus' to tell those gathered his views about the Earth.  The 'gift of Glaucus' is the gift of prophecy.  Glaucus is a sea-god who was originally a human mortal who was a fisherman and diver.  He ate a magical herb, leaped into the sea, and became an immortal with the gift of prophecy.  (Leaping into the sea, or other bodies of water, is a regular theme in Phaedo.)  I understand the consuming of the herb to be consuming the truths of philosophy.  I understand leaping into the sea as plumbing the depths of wisdom.  I understand becoming an immortal as the philosopher entering into the noetic reality, and then, eventually becoming one with the One.  I understand the 'gift of prophecy' as the gift of being able to reveal to others the Way of Philosophy.  This would imply that Socrates is being ironically humble when he implies a distance from the gift of Glaucus; in a way Socrates is indicating to his students that he and Glaucus share many archetypal similarities.

9.  The description of the earth given by Socrates does not fit with our current cosmology.  However, it is possible to read this kind of presentation allegorically. 

I see the description of the earth as in equipoise and being held in place, not inclined in any material direction, as a description of the philosophical mind after many years, and many lifetimes, of practice.  The advanced practitioner has achieved balance, equanimity, and is not thrown off balance by surprise events or material setbacks.  The advanced practitioner is ‘centered,’ an often used description of someone in meditation.

10.  Socrates then describes the earth as filled with ‘hollows’ of ‘various forms.’  I think a takeaway from this is that human beings do not know where they live and are unaware of their actual situation; that is to say they are ignorant of their actual situation.

This description reminds me of the allegory of the cave, found in The Republic, where human beings are chained and only see shadows on the wall of the cave, but mistake them for reality.  In a similar way, human beings in this allegory are confined to hollows but think that is the full reality of their situation.  This is a central teaching of Platonism and allegory seems to be the chosen way to present this teaching. 

This situation of being placed in hollows keeps people from realizing the presence of ‘that world,’ the world beyond their hollows.  Socrates contrasts the two realms, saying that the ‘whole region (of the earth) is injured and corroded.’  In contrast, things in the upper world are the ‘real light’ and the ‘real earth.’ 

This is a mythic, or allegorical, presentation of the material realm in contrast with the noetic realm.  Socrates has indicated in a number of arguments the nature of noetic realities.  Here Socrates is describing earthly and noetic realities using beautifully crafted images to inspire those who are listening on the path of philosophy and to give further encouragement for the care of the soul.