''Axiochus'' ( el, Ἀξίοχος) is a Socratic dialogue attributed to

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

, but which has been considered spurious for over 400 years. The work dates from the

Hellenistic era In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in 3 ...

, c. 1st century BC. The author was probably a

Platonist Platonism is the philosophy of Plato and philosophical systems closely derived from it, though contemporary platonists do not necessarily accept all of the doctrines of Plato. Platonism had a profound effect on Western thought. Platonism at l ...

,John Madison Cooper, D. S. Hutchinson, (1997), ''Plato, Complete works'', page 1734. Hackett Publishing. or perhaps a

Neopythagorean Neopythagoreanism (or neo-Pythagoreanism) was a school of Hellenistic philosophy which revived Pythagorean doctrines. Neopythagoreanism was influenced by middle Platonism and in turn influenced Neoplatonism. It originated in the 1st century BC ...

. 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 Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no te ...

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 translation
by Marsilio Ficino
Free public domain audiobook version of ''Axiochus
translated by George Burges * . Collection includes Axiochus.

George Burges George Burges (; 1786 – 11 January 1864) was an English classical scholar who published translations of the works of Euripides, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Plato. Biography Burges was born in Bengal, India, and was probably the son of Thomas B ...

, translator (1855). {{Authority control Dialogues of Plato Academic skepticism