Key Arguments

• Phaedo explains that the Athenians send a ship to Delos each year in commemoration of Theseus’ voyage to Crete, where he saved the fourteen youths and himself.
• He notes that the period from when "the priest of Apollo crowns the stern of the ship" until its return is a "holy season" during which "the city is not allowed to be polluted by public executions."
• Because in Socrates’ case "the stern of the ship" had been crowned the day before his trial, his death had to be postponed until the ship’s return, and contrary winds can make this an extended period.

Source Quotes

What was the reason of this? PHAEDO: An accident, Echecrates: the stern of the ship which the Athenians send to Delos happened to have been crowned on the day before he was tried. ECHECRATES: What is this ship?

ECHECRATES: What is this ship? PHAEDO: It is the ship in which, according to Athenian tradition, Theseus went to Crete when he took with him the fourteen youths, and was the saviour of them and of himself. And they were said to have vowed to Apollo at the time, that if they were saved they would send a yearly mission to Delos.

And they were said to have vowed to Apollo at the time, that if they were saved they would send a yearly mission to Delos. Now this custom still continues, and the whole period of the voyage to and from Delos, beginning when the priest of Apollo crowns the stern of the ship, is a holy season, during which the city is not allowed to be polluted by public executions; and when the vessel is detained by contrary winds, the time spent in going and returning is very considerable. As I was saying, the ship was crowned on the day before the trial, and this was the reason why Socrates lay in prison and was not put to death until long after he was condemned.

Now this custom still continues, and the whole period of the voyage to and from Delos, beginning when the priest of Apollo crowns the stern of the ship, is a holy season, during which the city is not allowed to be polluted by public executions; and when the vessel is detained by contrary winds, the time spent in going and returning is very considerable. As I was saying, the ship was crowned on the day before the trial, and this was the reason why Socrates lay in prison and was not put to death until long after he was condemned. ECHECRATES: What was the manner of his death, Phaedo?

Key Concepts

• the stern of the ship which the Athenians send to Delos happened to have been crowned on the day before he was tried.
• It is the ship in which, according to Athenian tradition, Theseus went to Crete when he took with him the fourteen youths, and was the saviour of them and of himself.
• the whole period of the voyage to and from Delos, beginning when the priest of Apollo crowns the stern of the ship, is a holy season, during which the city is not allowed to be polluted by public executions
• this was the reason why Socrates lay in prison and was not put to death until long after he was condemned.

Context

Phaedo responds to Echecrates’ question about why Socrates’ death occurred long after his condemnation, giving a narrative but also thematically significant explanation of the religious context.