Socrates
Socrates is a philosopher living in Athens, Greece in the fourth century BC He is the central character in Phaedo. A clever thinker and shrewd conversationalist, Socrates is known for encouraging people to carefully…
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Phaedo
Phaedo is an ancient Greek philosopher and the narrator of Phaedo. On his way home after having witnessed Socrates’s execution in an Athenian prison, Phaedo encounters a fellow philosopher, Echecrates, who asks…
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Simmias
Simmias is an ancient Greek philosopher, and one of Socrates’s devoted followers. Simmias is present in the final hours before Socrates’s execution. Along with his friend Cebes, he is one of the primary…
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Cebes
Cebes is an ancient Greek philosopher, and one of Socrates’s close followers. During Socrates’s final conversation, Cebes—along with Simmias—voices several misgivings about Socrates’s logic regarding the immortality of the soul. Although he’s hesitant…
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Crito
Crito is an ancient Greek philosopher, and one of Socrates’s close friends. Although he rarely speaks in Phaedo, Crito is present during Socrates’s final hours. After Socrates drinks the poison hemlock, he turns…
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Evenus
Evenus is an ancient Greek philosopher and poet. At the beginning of their discussion about death, Cebes tells Socrates that Evenus wants to know why he started writing poetry in prison. Socrates says that Cebes…
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Minor Characters
Echecrates
Echecrates is an ancient Greek philosopher from Pythagoras. When Phaedo encounters Echecrates on his way home from Athens, Echecrates asks him to tell him about Socrates’s final hours, wanting to know what the famous philosopher talked about before his execution. This provides the impetus for Phaedo’s entire narrative.
Anaxagoras
Anaxagoras is an ancient Greek philosopher who writes about the “natural sciences.” Socrates notes that Anaxagoras suggests that “Mind” shapes the universe, an idea that Socrates admits he once believed. Now, however, he thinks Anaxagoras’s theory ultimately depends too heavily on the physical senses.
