Phaedo
Socrates offers four arguments for the soul's immortality:The scene is set in Phlius where Echecrates who, meeting Phaedo, asks for news about the last days of Socrates. Phaedo explains why a delay occurred between his trial and his death, and describes the scene in a prison at Athens on the final day, naming those present. He tells how he had visited Socrates early in the morning with the others. Socrates' wife Xanthippe was there, but was very distressed and Socrates asked that she be taken away. Socrates' relates how, bidden by a recurring dream to "make and cultivate music", he wrote a hymn and then began writing poetry based on Aesop's Fables.
Empire and Communications
Innis begins by examining Greek civilization at its height in the 5th century BC. He points out that the philosopher Socrates (c. 470 BC–399 BC) "was the last great product and exponent of the oral tradition." Socrates taught using a question and answer technique that produced discussion and debate. His student, Plato (428/427 BC – 348/347 BC), elaborated on these Socratic conversations by writing dialogues in which Socrates was the central character. This dramatic device engaged readers in the debate while allowing Plato to search for truth using a dialectical method or one based on discussion. "The dialogues were developed," Innis writes "as a most effective instrument for preserving [the] power of the spoken word on the written page." He adds that Plato's pupil, Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC), regarded the Platonic dialogues as "half-way between poetry and prose." Innis argues that Plato's use of the flexible oral tradition in his writing enabled him to escape the confines of a rigid philosophical system. "Continuous philosophical discussion aimed at truth. The life and movement of dialectic opposed the establishment of a finished system of dogma." This balance between speech and prose also contributed to the immortality of Plato's work.