''Axiochus'' () is a
Socratic dialogue attributed to
Plato
Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...
, but which has been considered spurious since the 1st century AD. The work dates from the
Hellenistic era, c. 1st century BC. The author was probably a
Platonist,
[John Madison Cooper, D. S. Hutchinson, (1997), ''Plato, Complete works'', page 1734. Hackett Publishing.] or perhaps a
Neopythagorean.
[ William Keith Chambers Guthrie (1986), A history of Greek philosophy, page 395. Cambridge University Press] It forms part of the
consolation literature which was popular in Hellenistic and Roman era, although it is unusual in being addressed to someone who is close to death, rather than someone who has lost a loved-one.
In the dialogue,
Axiochus has come close to death, and is scared by the experience, despite his familiarity with the arguments which were supposed to make him scorn the fear of death.
Socrates
Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...
is summoned to his bedside, and consoles him with a wide variety of teachings to help Axiochus welcome death as the release of the soul to a better place.
References
External links
*
Latin translationby
Marsilio Ficino
Free public domain audiobook version of ''Axiochus''translated by George Burges
* . Collection includes Axiochus.
George Burges, translator (1855).
{{Authority control
Dialogues of Plato
Appendix Platonica