HUAS48027 - Plato, Phaedo, Part 2

Course Description

In the Phaedo, Plato presents his friend and teacher Socrates on the cusp of death, waiting to fulfill – by hemlock – the sentence imposed upon him by the people of Athens. Socrates, with friends & acquaintances, ruminates on the soul, its possible immortality, as well as on the nature of what can be known and how we can know it. We’ll read this dialogue over three quarters in the way that every work of Plato is arguably meant to be read (and re-read) – in Greek, with friends and with lots of good-natured arguing.

Prerequisites: At least two years of previous ancient Greek instruction, preferably Attic or Homeric. Students should also (re-)familiarize themselves with a few shorter dialogues of Plato - the Apology, Euthyphro & Crito.