Notes and Comments on Phaedo -- 41

4 October 2023

Notes and Comments on Phaedo – 41

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

“’But round about the whole earth, in the hollows of it, are many regions, some deeper and wider than that in which we live, some deeper but with a narrower opening than ours, and some also less in depth and wider.  Now all these are connected with one another by many subterranean channels, some larger and some smaller, which are bored in all of them, and there are passages through which much water flows from one to another as into mixing bowls; and there are everlasting rivers of huge size under the earth, flowing with hot and cold water; and there is much fire, and great rivers of fire, and many streams of mud, some thinner and some thicker, like the rivers of mud that flow before the lava in Sicily, and the lava itself.  These fill the various regions as they happen to flow to one or another at any time.  Now a kind of oscillation within the earth moves all these up and down.  And the nature of the oscillation is as follows: One of the chasms of the earth is greater than the rest, and is bored right through the whole earth; this is the one which Homer means when he says: 

            Far off, the lowest abyss beneath the earth;

            (Home, Iliad 8, 14, Lord Derby’s translation – Fowler footnote)

and which elsewhere he and many other poets have called Tartarus.  For all the rivers flow together into this chasm and flow out of it again, and they have each the nature of the earth through which they flow.  And the reason why all the streams flow in and out here is that this liquid matter has no bottom or foundation.  So it oscillates and waves up and down, and the air and wind about it do the same; for they follow the liquid both when it moves toward the other side of the earth and when it moves toward this side, and just as the breath of those who breathe blows in and out, so the wind there oscillates with the liquid and causes terrible and irresistible blasts as it rushes in and out.  And when the water retired to the region which we call the lower, it flows into the rivers there and fills them up, as if it were pumped into them; and when it leaves that region and comes back to this side, it fills the rivers here; and when the streams are filled they flow through the passages and through the earth and come to the various places to which their different paths lead, where they make seas and marshes, and rivers and springs.  Then they go down again under the earth, some passing around many great regions and others around fewer and smaller places, and flow again into Tartarus, some much below the point where they were sucked out, and some only a little; but all flow in below their exit.  Some flow in on the side from which they flowed out, others on the opposite side; and some pass completely around in a circle, coiling about the earth once or several times, like serpents, then descend to the lowest possible depth and fall again into the chasm.  Now it is possible to go down from each side to the center, but not beyond, for there the slope rises upward in front of the streams from either side of the earth.

“’Now these streams are many and great and of all sorts, but among the many are four streams, the greatest of the outermost of which is that called Oceanus, which flows round in a circle, and opposite this, flowing in the opposite direction, is Acheron, which flows through various desert places and, passing under the earth, comes to the Acherusian lake.  To this lake the souls of most of the dead go and, after remaining there the appointed time, which is for some longer and for others shorter, are sent back to be born again into living beings.  The third river flows out between these two, and near the place whence it issues it falls into a vast region burning with a great fire and makes a lake larger than our Mediterranean Sea, boiling with water and mud.  Then it flows in a circle, turbid and muddy, and comes in its winding course, among other places, to the edge of the Acherusian lake, but does not mingle with its water.  Then, after winding about many times underground, it flows into Tartarus at a lower level.  This is the river which is called Pyriphlegethon, and the streams of lava which spout up at various places on earth are offshoots from it.  Opposite this the fourth river issues, it is said, first into a wild and awful place, which is all of a dark blue color, like lapis lazuli.  This is called the Stygian river, and the lake which it forms by flowing in is the Styx.  And when the river has flowed in here and has received fearful powers into its waters, it passes under the earth and, circling round in the direction opposed to that of Pyriphlegethon, it meets it coming from the other way in the Acherusian lake.  And the water of this river also mingles with no other water, but this also passes round in a circle and falls into Tartarus opposite Pyriphlegethon.  And the name of this river, as the poets say, is Cocytus.

“’Such is the nature of these things.  Now when the dead have come to the place where each is led by his genius, first they are judged and sentenced, as they have lived well and piously, or not.  And those who are found to have lived neither well nor ill, go to the Acheron and, embarking upon vessels provided for them, arrive in them at the lake; there they dwell and are purified, and if they have done any wrong they are absolved by paying the penalty for their wrong doings, and for their good deeds, they receive rewards, each according to his merits.  But those who appear to be incurable, on account of the greatness of their wrong-doings, because they have committed many great deeds of sacrilege, or wicked and abominable murders, or any other such crimes, are cast by their fitting destiny into Tartarus, whence they never emerge.  Those, however, who are curable, but are found to have committed great sins – who have, for example, in a moment of passion done some act of violence against father or mother and have lived in repentance the rest of their lives, or who have slain some other person under similar conditions – these must needs be thrown into Tartarus, and when they have been there a year the wave casts them out, the homicides by way of Cocytus, those who have outraged their parents by way of Pyriphlegethon.  And when they have been brought by the current to the Acherusian lake, they shout and cry out, calling to those whom they have slain or outraged, begging and beseeching them to be gracious and to let them come out into the lake; and if they prevail they come out and cease from their ills, but if not, they are borne away again to Tartarus and thence back into the rivers, and this goes on until they prevail upon those whom they have wronged; for this is the penalty imposed upon them by the judges.  But those who are found to have excelled in holy living are freed from these regions within the earth and are released as from prisons; they mount upward into their pure abode and dwell upon the earth.  And of those, all who have duly purified themselves by philosophy live henceforth altogether without bodies, and pass to still more beautiful abodes which it is not easy to describe, nor have we time enough.

“’But, Simmias, because of all these things which we have recounted we ought to do our best to acquire virtue and wisdom in life.  For the prize is fair and the hope great.

“’Now it would not be fitting for a man of sense to maintain that all this is just as I have described it, but that this or something like it is true concerning our souls and their abodes, since the soul is shown to be immortal, I think he may properly and worthily venture to believe; for the venture is well worth while; and he ought to repeat such things to himself as if they were magic charms, which is the reason why I have been lengthening out the story so long.  This then is why a man should be of good cheer about his soul, who in his life has rejected the pleasures and ornaments of the body, thinking they are alien to him and more likely to do him harm than good, and has sought eagerly for those of learning, and after adorning his soul, with no alien ornaments, but with its own proper adornment of self-restraint and justice and courage and freedom and truth, awaits his departure to the other world, ready to go when fate calls him.  You, Simmias and Cebes and the rest,’ he said, ‘will go hereafter, each in his own time; but I am now already, as a tragedian would say, called by fate, and it is about time for me to go to the bath; for I think it is better to bathe before drinking the poison, that the women may not have the trouble of bathing the corpse.’’

(Ibid, Fowler, pages 381 – 393, 111C-115A)

1.  This is an elaborate description of rivers and their courses, the way the rivers interact, and the way the flow of these rivers relates to the destiny of souls.  I’m not a very visual person and at times I have difficult seeing the layout in my mind's eye.  It would probably help people like to me to have a visual representation of this layout and I wonder if there were such visual depictions, like paintings or bas-reliefs, of what is spoken about here?

2.  According to the commentary on Phaedo by Damascius, this teaching comes from the Orphic tradition:

“The four rivers here described correspond, according to the tradition of Orpheus, to the four subterranean elements and the four cardinal points in two sets of opposites: the Pyriphlegethon to fire and the east, the Cocytus to earth and the west, the Acheron to air and the south.  These are arranged in this way by Orpheus [frg. 123 – translators note], it is the commentator who associates the Oceanus with water and the north.”

I haven’t studied the fragmentary remains of Orphism.  But I might take the time to do so because I think it provides, along with Pythagoreanism, a deep historical background for Platonism. 

Damascius also makes the following observations:

“The cause of the opposite direction of the subterranean rivers, Socrates says, is the ‘swing,’ i.e. a state of unstable equilibrium; the prior cause is the soul, which makes the earth an animal that breathes in and out; and beyond this there is the demonic and divine cause. . .

“To the region of Acheron Socrates attributes purifying power.  It must be regarded as twofold, corporeal and incorporeal; purifying ceremonies here on earth have the same double power.

“Tartarus is the privation of all that is good; therefore it becomes the abode of those who are guilty of irremediable sins, inasmuch as they have already fallen into their own Tartarus.  They are said to ‘be thrown,’ because they have led a life heavily weighted by matter, moved by external impulses, a life crying out for punishment and driven towards it by fate.  But since even the lowest ranges of existence are governed in accordance with Justice, Socrates says that this is ‘their due portion.’

“Sins easy to cure are those committed without a permanent evil disposition; difficult to cure are those which result from a permanent disposition, but one that also resists the deed and after the deed repents; incurable are those that proceed from an evil disposition without repentance.  The place destined for the first kind is Acheron and the Acherusian lake, for the second kind the Pyriphlegethon and Cocytus, for the third Tartarus.”

(Damascius Commentary on Plato’s Phaedo, translated by L. G. Westerink, The Prometheus Trust, Gloucestershire, UK, 1977, page 276 – 278, ISBN: 9781898910473)

3.  "But those who appear to be incurable, on account of the greatness of their wrong-doings, because they have committed many great deeds of sacrilege, or wicked and abominable murders, or any other such crimes, are cast by their fitting destiny into Tartarus, whence they never emerge."

This passage seems to teach that it is possible for someone to live a life that is so degraded, so thoroughly destructive, so malevolent that it is no longer possible for them to free themselves from the negative karmic consequences of those acts.  This, at first, feels like a harsh teaching, a teaching that many would reject today for various reasons; some of them emotional and some based on their understanding of universal salvation.  

For many years I was committed to the Mahayana Buddhist view of universal salvation through the vows of Bodhisattvas.  It was difficult for me to think of the Bodhisattva vows as in some way limited.  But slowly I began to understand that the fate of other beings isn't up to me; that other beings have their own journey and destiny.  It's not that I don't hope for others to overcome their negative tendencies.  It has more to do with recognizing my own limitations and accepting them as the reality that it is.  

4.  “But, Simmias, because of all these things which we have recounted we ought to do our best to acquire virtue and wisdom in life.  For the prize is fair and the hope great.”

Here Socrates is emphasizing that the purpose of life is to cultivate virtue and wisdom, and the purpose of cultivating virtue and wisdom is to be prepared for the great afterlife journey and transformation.  It is possible to do that in life, but it is difficult.  But, as Socrates says, “the prize is fair and the hope great.”

5.  “Now it would not be fitting for a man of sense to maintain that all this is just as I have described it, but that this or something like it is true concerning our souls and their abodes, since the soul is shown to be immortal.”

The depiction offered by Socrates is an allegory and allegories can, and often do, deviate from the experience an individual may have. 

I recall from years ago when I was doing caregiving work for the dying, some of those I cared for had become acquainted with the Tibetan Book of the Dead.  This caused them more than a little agitation and dread because they were trying to keep in mind, under highly stressful conditions, the colors they should follow and those that they should avoid, and many of the other specifics presented in the book.  This was not helpful.  A general appreciation for the afterlife journey is helpful, but it’s not necessary to fixate on the details.  An analogy might help; I might ask someone for directions and he might respond, “Go north ten miles, turn left at the stop sign, and then go another fifteen miles and there you are.”  Another person might say, “You will pass an old house that was built in the 1950’s, I kind of like the architecture, though it does need some fixing up, and after the 1950’s house there is a pine tree which was just put in three years ago, though it looks older than that, but keep going and there is a 7-11 on the right side of the road in the middle of one of the blocks which still has a pay phone, can you believe it?, and if you are hungry there is a good Mexican Restaurant on the left side of the road just a block, or maybe two, past the 7-11, which, remember, is on the right, and next to the Mexican Restaurant is a house with a beautiful garden, but come to think of it at this time of year most of its beauty is over, so you might want to skip it . . . “  The spare instruction will get you to your destination.  The detailed instruction will get you lost.

6.  “. . . and he ought to repeat such things to himself as if they were magic charms . . . “

That’s an interesting suggestion from Socrates.  It would have been helpful if Socrates had described the kind of charms he meant; my assumption is that his audience was aware of the specifics.  Socrates might be referring to a talisman or a mantra/phrase, or perhaps some other item.

I use a phrase in a mantra-like way as a part of my Platonist practice.  I use the phrase ‘return to the One.’  I simply repeat this phrase when I sense that I have become, or might soon become, distracted by the many temptations of the material world.  I repeat the phrase, usually out loud, but softly, sometimes just mentally, ‘return to the One.’  I usually repeat the phrase a number of times.  I find it to be an effective reminder of the direction I want to maintain in my life.

Often when I go for walks I coordinate the phrase with my footsteps using two syllables per step: return / to the / One, concluding with the single syllable, One.  This means that the phrase takes three steps; starting with the right foot with ‘return’, then the left foot ‘to the’, then the right foot ‘One.’  Then it switches to the left foot ‘return’, right foot ‘to the’, left foot ‘One.’  And then repeat the process.  I like switching the placement of the feet rather than always starting the phrase on the same foot.

And sometimes I will chant the phrase for a few minutes; it produces a sense of calm and focus.

To my mind, the phrase ‘return to the One’ sums up the Platonic quest, or you could say it distills the teachings, or summarizes the teachings, of Platonic spirituality.  I’m not sure if it could be called a ‘magic charm’; it depends on how one understands magic.  And I’m not sure if Socrates had this kind of practice in mind, but I have found it a helpful assist.

Regarding talismans, many spiritual traditions have talismans for particular deities as well as talismans that are what I think of as spiritual reminders.  Some contemporary Stoic groups use circular discs that have a pithy, profound, Stoic teaching on them.  The idea is to carry the disc around with them.  One of them is a ‘memento mori’, reminder of death.  The disc simply says ‘memento mori.’  Things like this can be of great assistance (perhaps I should create a disc that has carved on it ‘Return to the One.’)

It is interesting to note that in New Age retail outlets they often have similar devices for remembering key teachings.  I have seen, for example, stones with words like ‘Love’, ‘Peace’, ‘Gratitude’, ‘Patience’, etc. written on them, usually in elegant script.  Stones like this seem to be used primarily at home altars, but some people carry them around in their pocket, purse, briefcase, or place them on their desk.  Again, I’m not sure if Socrates had these kinds of things in mind; I suspect he was thinking more along the lines of deity-specific talismans, but I don’t really know.  On the other hand, a disc with the phrase from the Oracle at Delphi, ‘Know Thyself’ would seem very appropriate.  And there is a phrase from Plotinus, ‘Take Away Everything’ that I think would also serve this kind of purpose well.

7.  “This then is why a man should be of good cheer about his soul, who in his life has rejected the pleasures and ornaments of the body . . .”

Here Socrates returns to the topic of asceticism, connecting this topic to the descriptions he has just given of the afterlife.  In a sense, asceticism is the central topic of Phaedo, which is why it is frequently returned to.  I say this because asceticism is the means whereby a Platonic practitioner purifies himself and enters the afterlife with a sense of stability and safety, realizing that each life, purified by asceses, is a step on the long journey that culminates in a Return to the One.