Socrates, before dying, addresses a surprising petition to Crito, “we owe a cock to Asclepius”. It is this enigmatic statement that is explored with recourse to Plato and Nietzsche in this paper. With the Phaedo, Plato offers us the chance to be present on the last day of Socrates’s life and to participate, in spirit, in the dialogue with his disciples. The cult of Asclepius, god of medicine, venerated in Epidauros, provides us with the key to the symbolism of the cock. After presenting the interpretation of the death of Socrates by Nietzsche, we will contrast two perspectives for dealing with death: one by Socrates, through the justifications of reason and one by Nietzche, truth according to the body.