Separated by language, history and several hundred miles of the Mediterranean Sea, two of the world's greatest cultures simultaneously matured and advanced in the centuries before the birth of Christianity. In the Aegean north, Hellenic Greeks blossomed around their crown jewel of Athens, while the eastern Holy City of Jerusalem witnessed the continued development of Hebrew tradition. Though they shared adjacent portions of the globe and of chronology, these two civilizations grew up around wholly different ideologies. The monotheistic devotion of Judaism that evolved in the Hebrew lands stood in stark contrast to the Greek worship of polytheistic Olympians, a religion that often tended more towards the rational and philosophic than the longstanding Jewish piety.
In the spirit of such a division appear the two works in consideration, the rather secular Phaedo from the Greek luminary Plato and its counterpart among the sacred pages of the Old Testament, Ecclesiastes. Though the ages of each cannot definitely determined, most scholarly assumptions place their birth within a century and a half of one another. The Greek probably was authored just after Socrates' death in 399BC and the Hebrew text was likely composed sometime around 250 BC, leaving an insignificant difference relative the overall scale of antiquity. This reasonably close proximity of authorship can clearly be seen in the way these two works consider the fundamental and eternal questions of life, yet for every tie between the two a difference also abounds.
Plato, author of the Phaedo, was the second member of the brilliant philosophical flourish of ancient Athens that began with Socrates, continued through him and then culminated with Aristotle. Thou...
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...and bemoans Socrates' foolish waste of his life in preparation for an empty and eternal death. Can we really decide which to side with, the abstention of Socrates or the indulgence of Koheleth? As usually seems to be the case, most would likely avoid such extremes to opt towards moderation, but the question is really invalid since for these works are not presented as a guidebook of "how to live." Such precious pieces of classical literature are examples of the answers two men have found to the eternal questions, questions that every individual must confront and investigate for himself.
Works Cited
Plato, Phaedo, In: The Collected Dialogues Of Plato Including The Letters, Editors: E. Hamilton and H. Cairns, Bollingen Series LXXI, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1961.
The Hebrew Bible. "Ecclesiastes". Ed. Gottwald, Norman K. Fortress Press, 1985
Thesleff, Holger. "In Search of Dialogue." Plato's Dialogues: New Studies and Interpretations. Ed. Gerald A. Press. Lanham: Rowan and Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 1993: 259-266.
Contrary to this widely accepted myth, I will try to demonstrate that Socrates' argument was erroneous, which made his decision less rational. In fact, had he decided to escape, his behavior would not have represented an unjust act. Although his argumentation and dialogue with Crito seem more like a moral sermon, his ...
In Phaedo, there is an immense form of development and the dialogue focuses primarily on death and the immortality of the soul. It starts with Phaedo, Simmias and Cebes, all interlocutors who recount the story of Socrates execution. This dialogue is unique because it contains discussions of the philosopher, a soul’s immortality through the opposites, recollection, affinity and the last arguments. The philosopher is capable to relate to death and understand
Plato, and G. M. A. Grube. "Phaedo." Five Dialogues. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Pub., 2002. 93-
Plato. "Phaedrus." The Works of Plato. Trans. B. Jowett. New York: The Dial Press, n.d.
Plato. Great Dialogues of Plato. Ed. by John Clive Graves Rouse. (New York NY: The New American Library, Inc., 1956).
"Plato." Literature of the Western World, Volume 1. 5th edition by Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 2001. 1197-1219.
Plato, Phaedrus, trans. R. Hackforth, in Edith Hamilton and Huntington Cairns, eds. The Collected Dialogues of Plato (New York: Pantheon, 1966).
Plato. The Collected Dialogues of Plato. Bollingen Series LXXI. Edited by Edith Hamilton and Huntington Cairns. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1961.
In this literature review I will discuss both Socrates and Jesus Christ (Jesus). I will compare and distinguish them, by their trial, misdeeds (through the view of society), law, justice and punishment. In addition, I will write about their influence in today’s society and what impact they have made through time. Both Socrates and Jesus had many things in common yet, they we’re different. Both had different religious beliefs. While, Socrates was polytheistic, believing in several gods. Jesus, in the other hand was monotheism, believed in only one God. Both were charged, tried, and executed for their “radical” behavior with society. Overall, both men sacrificed themselves for the possible chance of change.
While the Hebrews and Egyptians creation theories bear resemblances and differences, the study and comparison of both the Egyptian myths and the biblical account allow us to comprehend the religious views of ancient civilizations in a better light. One may come to the conclusion that the Hebrews were influenced by the cultures of Egyptians by creating similarities in their own beliefs, or by drawing a line of defense of what is in their terms true, by separating from the mass ideals of the Egyptians and establishing distinct
Nails, Debra, N. (2005, September 16). Socrates. Stanford University. Retrieved November 11, 2013, from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/socrates/
1. "The Internet Classics Archive | Phaedo by Plato." The Internet Classics Archive | Phaedo by
Plato. 1941 [385 B.C.E.]. The Republic of Plato. Trans. Francis Macdonald Cornford. New York: Oxford University Press.
The literary works of Plato were highly inspired from Socrates' teachings. He presented the ideas through poems, drama, rhetoric and upbringing the various social issues to be addressed in the society. The dialogues of Plato are the most famous for their bold remarks, conversational interactions and as a great source of understanding the intricate delicacies of complex situations. Plato's early works of dialogues addressed investigations of a single issue and one criticism in this respect is that these early works lacked concluding remarks. Euthyphro has also raised significant doubts regarding defining the morally right action in light of the d...