Socrate's swan song: a celebration of death or of the salvific value of the speech?
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Abstract
"Phaedo" presents a curious and dense symbolic reference: the philosopher's speech in face to death is a swan song, inspired by a feeling of joy and not of pain (Phaed. 84d4-85b9). This essay investigates analytically the components of the symbol and the internal references, which, through the text of the dialogue, gather into the image of the singing and prophetic swan. The aim is to dissolve some ambiguity about the link between the philosopher and death.
Keywords
- Death
- Divination
- Immortality
- Pythagoreanism
- Socrates
- Swansong
