Phaedo of Elis
Encyclopedia
Phaedo of Elis was a Greek philosopher
. A native of Elis
, he was captured in war and sold into slavery. He subsequently came into contact with Socrates
at Athens
who warmly received him and had him freed. He was present at the death of Socrates, and Plato
named one of his dialogues Phaedo
. He returned to Elis, and founded the Elean School of philosophy. Almost nothing is known of his doctrines; his school was subsequently transferred to Eretria by his pupil Menedemus
, where it became the Eretrian school.
and of high birth. He was taken prisoner in his youth, and passed into the hands of an Athenian slave dealer; and being of considerable personal beauty was compelled to prostitute himself
. The occasion on which he was taken prisoner was no doubt the war between Sparta
and Elis, 402-1 BC, in which the Spartans were joined by the Athenians in 401 BC.
Two years would have been available for Phaedo's acquaintance with Socrates
, to whom he attached himself. According to Diogenes Laërtius
he was ransomed by one of the friends of Socrates. The Suda
says that he was accidentally present at a conversation with Socrates, and pleaded with him to effect his liberation. Various accounts mention Alcibiades
, Crito
, or Cebes
, as the person who ransomed him. Cebes is stated to have become friends with Phaedo, and to have instructed him in philosophy. Phaedo was present at the death of Socrates in 399 BC, and was young enough for Socrates to stroke his hair which was worn long in the Spartan style.
That Phaedo was friends with Plato
seems likely from the way in which he is introduced in Plato's dialogue Phaedo
which takes its name from him. Athenaeus
, though, relates that Phaedo and Plato were enemies, and that Phaedo resolutely denied any of the views which Plato ascribed to him.
Phaedo appears to have lived in Athens for a short time after the death of Socrates. He then returned to Elis, where he became the founder of a school of philosophy. His disciples included Anchipylus, Moschus and Pleistanus, who succeeded him. Subsequently Menedemus
and Asclepiades
transferred the school to Eretria
, where it was known as the Eretrian school and is frequently identified (e.g. by Cicero
) with the Megarian school.
of which he is the namesake. His writings, none of which are preserved, were in the form of dialogues. As to their authenticity, nothing is known, in spite of an attempt at verification by Panaetius
, who maintained that the Zopyrus and the Simon were genuine. Besides these Diogenes Laërtius
mentions as of doubtful authenticity the Nicias, Medius, Antimachus or Elder, and Scythian Discourse. The Suda
also mentions the Simmias, Alcibiades, and Critolaus. Seneca
has preserved one of his dicta, concerning the results of frequenting the company of good (or bad) people:
Greek philosophy
Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BCE and continued through the Hellenistic period, at which point Ancient Greece was incorporated in the Roman Empire...
. A native of Elis
Elis
Elis, or Eleia is an ancient district that corresponds with the modern Elis peripheral unit...
, he was captured in war and sold into slavery. He subsequently came into contact with Socrates
Socrates
Socrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary ...
at Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
who warmly received him and had him freed. He was present at the death of Socrates, and Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
named one of his dialogues Phaedo
Phaedo
Plato's Phaedo is one of the great dialogues of his middle period, along with the Republic and the Symposium. The Phaedo, which depicts the death of Socrates, is also Plato's seventh and last dialogue to detail the philosopher's final days .In the dialogue, Socrates...
. He returned to Elis, and founded the Elean School of philosophy. Almost nothing is known of his doctrines; his school was subsequently transferred to Eretria by his pupil Menedemus
Menedemus
Menedemus of Eretria was a Greek philosopher and founder of the Eretrian school. He learned philosophy first in Athens, and then, with his friend Asclepiades, he subsequently studied under Stilpo and Phaedo of Elis. Nothing survives of his philosophical views apart from a few scattered remarks...
, where it became the Eretrian school.
Life
Born in the last years of the 5th century BC, Phaedo was a native of ElisElis
Elis, or Eleia is an ancient district that corresponds with the modern Elis peripheral unit...
and of high birth. He was taken prisoner in his youth, and passed into the hands of an Athenian slave dealer; and being of considerable personal beauty was compelled to prostitute himself
Male prostitution
Male prostitution is the practice of engaging in sexual acts for money. Compared to female sex workers, male sex workers have been far less studied by researchers, and while studies suggest that there are differences between the ways these two groups look at their work, more research is needed.Male...
. The occasion on which he was taken prisoner was no doubt the war between Sparta
Sparta
Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...
and Elis, 402-1 BC, in which the Spartans were joined by the Athenians in 401 BC.
Two years would have been available for Phaedo's acquaintance with Socrates
Socrates
Socrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary ...
, to whom he attached himself. According to Diogenes Laërtius
Diogenes Laertius
Diogenes Laertius was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. Nothing is known about his life, but his surviving Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers is one of the principal surviving sources for the history of Greek philosophy.-Life:Nothing is definitively known about his life...
he was ransomed by one of the friends of Socrates. The Suda
Suda
The Suda or Souda is a massive 10th century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Suidas. It is an encyclopedic lexicon, written in Greek, with 30,000 entries, many drawing from ancient sources that have since been lost, and often...
says that he was accidentally present at a conversation with Socrates, and pleaded with him to effect his liberation. Various accounts mention Alcibiades
Alcibiades
Alcibiades, son of Clinias, from the deme of Scambonidae , was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general. He was the last famous member of his mother's aristocratic family, the Alcmaeonidae, which fell from prominence after the Peloponnesian War...
, Crito
Crito of Alopece
Crito of Alopece was a faithful, probably lifelong companion of Socrates. The two had evidently grown up together as friends, being from the same deme and of roughly the same age...
, or Cebes
Cebes
Cebes of Thebes was a disciple of Socrates in the late 5th-century BCE. One work, known as the Pinax or Tabula, attributed to Cebes still survives, but it is believed to be a composition by an anonymous author of the 1st or 2nd century....
, as the person who ransomed him. Cebes is stated to have become friends with Phaedo, and to have instructed him in philosophy. Phaedo was present at the death of Socrates in 399 BC, and was young enough for Socrates to stroke his hair which was worn long in the Spartan style.
That Phaedo was friends with Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
seems likely from the way in which he is introduced in Plato's dialogue Phaedo
Phaedo
Plato's Phaedo is one of the great dialogues of his middle period, along with the Republic and the Symposium. The Phaedo, which depicts the death of Socrates, is also Plato's seventh and last dialogue to detail the philosopher's final days .In the dialogue, Socrates...
which takes its name from him. Athenaeus
Athenaeus
Athenaeus , of Naucratis in Egypt, Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourished about the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd century AD...
, though, relates that Phaedo and Plato were enemies, and that Phaedo resolutely denied any of the views which Plato ascribed to him.
Phaedo appears to have lived in Athens for a short time after the death of Socrates. He then returned to Elis, where he became the founder of a school of philosophy. His disciples included Anchipylus, Moschus and Pleistanus, who succeeded him. Subsequently Menedemus
Menedemus
Menedemus of Eretria was a Greek philosopher and founder of the Eretrian school. He learned philosophy first in Athens, and then, with his friend Asclepiades, he subsequently studied under Stilpo and Phaedo of Elis. Nothing survives of his philosophical views apart from a few scattered remarks...
and Asclepiades
Asclepiades of Phlius
Asclepiades of Phlius was a Greek philosopher in the Eretrian school of philosophy. He was the friend of Menedemus of Eretria, and they both went to live in Megara and studied under Stilpo, before sailing to Elis to join Phaedo's school. His friendship with Menedemus was said to have been hardly...
transferred the school to Eretria
Eretria
Erétria was a polis in Ancient Greece, located on the western coast of the island of Euboea, south of Chalcis, facing the coast of Attica across the narrow Euboean Gulf. Eretria was an important Greek polis in the 6th/5th century BC. However, it lost its importance already in antiquity...
, where it was known as the Eretrian school and is frequently identified (e.g. by Cicero
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
) with the Megarian school.
Works
The doctrines of Phaedo are not known, nor is it possible to infer them from the Platonic dialoguePhaedo
Plato's Phaedo is one of the great dialogues of his middle period, along with the Republic and the Symposium. The Phaedo, which depicts the death of Socrates, is also Plato's seventh and last dialogue to detail the philosopher's final days .In the dialogue, Socrates...
of which he is the namesake. His writings, none of which are preserved, were in the form of dialogues. As to their authenticity, nothing is known, in spite of an attempt at verification by Panaetius
Panaetius
Panaetius of Rhodes was a Stoic philosopher. He was a pupil of Diogenes of Babylon and Antipater of Tarsus in Athens, before moving to Rome where he did much to introduce Stoic doctrines to the city. After the death of Scipio in 129, he returned to the Stoic school in Athens, and was its last...
, who maintained that the Zopyrus and the Simon were genuine. Besides these Diogenes Laërtius
Diogenes Laertius
Diogenes Laertius was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. Nothing is known about his life, but his surviving Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers is one of the principal surviving sources for the history of Greek philosophy.-Life:Nothing is definitively known about his life...
mentions as of doubtful authenticity the Nicias, Medius, Antimachus or Elder, and Scythian Discourse. The Suda
Suda
The Suda or Souda is a massive 10th century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Suidas. It is an encyclopedic lexicon, written in Greek, with 30,000 entries, many drawing from ancient sources that have since been lost, and often...
also mentions the Simmias, Alcibiades, and Critolaus. Seneca
Seneca the Younger
Lucius Annaeus Seneca was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was tutor and later advisor to emperor Nero...
has preserved one of his dicta, concerning the results of frequenting the company of good (or bad) people:
Phaedo says: "Certain tiny animals do not leave any pain when they sting us; so subtle is their power, so deceptive for purposes of harm. The bite is disclosed by a swelling, and even in the swelling there is no visible wound." That will also be your experience when dealing with wise people, you will not discover how or when the benefit comes to you, but you will discover that you have received it.