Out of all of the readings this week, Plato’s preservation and depiction of Socrates’ words after being sentenced to death was the most powerful and insightful.
To begin, I cannot imagine knowing that I was “not far from death” (Plato 55). Socrates, of course, is told and remains in composure enough to state his beliefs again and leave behind enlightenment for those who are taking his life and others to come. When I was trying to imagine knowing I was going to die, my thoughts wandered to my Aunt Nanci, who was diagnosed in January 2006 with colon cancer and expected to have about six months to live. I have written of her before, however, I believe Socrates’ condition in this passage is similar in some ways to my aunt’s. The comparison of the two situations shines a light on both the strengths and weaknesses of each “victim”.
Illness is far different from punishment and death due to actions, just or unjust. The thread between the two is a conclusion of ones life. When my aunt was diagnosed, she was terrified. I distinctly remember sneaking into the bathroom during school to talk to my mom about the devastating news. She told me my aunt had been too weak to walk after leaving the doctor so her husband had to carry her in and set her down on my grandpa, her father’s, lap. They sat and cried. As I write this, two years later, I am filled with sadness and tears come to my eyes. The idea of death was frightening, unimaginable, unfair, especially for a fifty-two year old mother of seven.
My aunt’s approach to death was far different from Socrates’ approach. Now, being that Socrates “himself wrote nothing” and what we know of his ideas are all from Plato, details and the exact manner in which events occurred may have been slightly or largely different from our current understanding. However, we must go by what we know, or think we know. And according to the text, after hearing his sentence, Socrates accepted it and continued to discuss his beliefs.
Socrates said “there is great reason to hope that death is a good” (Plato 56). How can one be so certain that death is good while they are staring it in the face? Death, for many, is the time they will journey into a
“better place” where they are reunited with their creator. Those who believe this will have a much easier time accepting death. My aunt was a Christian and believed Heaven exists. After the initial shock of her potentially short time left on this earth, she was able to accept her new life and deal with her illness as needed. A year and a half (not six months) after being given her “death sentence,” my aunt passed away peacefully, with my mother’s hand in hers and her children by her side. If things went as she planned, she moved on to that “better place” with her God. Being rather unreligious, I find the idea of Heaven extremely hard to grasp.
(The picture is a depiction of going from the concrete chair to the abstract design.) I am a concrete minded person and that sort of abstract thought is difficult to understand. Because of my uncertain beliefs in a Heaven, it is hard for me to view death as a good thing, like Socrates does. It wasn’t for quite awhile after my aunt’s death that it struck me how final it all is. She’s gone. She will never be back. Never again will I ride with her to visit her horse, stopping at Mr. Freeze on the way back to get an ice cream. Never again will we go shopping together or simply sit and talk. It’s all done.
Reading the passage of Socrates’ thoughts gives me a little more strength to stand up to and accept death for what it is. Perhaps “to die is to gain” (Plato 56) and it is not until you are at that point in your life that you understand the truth in that statement.
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