Socrates’ Conception of the Underworld

Abstract

Chapter seven examines Plato’s Apology, where Socrates describes one view of what might await us after death in terms of a familiar conception of the Underworld. There are the souls of heroes, kings, and great criminals as well. As Socrates’ description proceeds, however, we find that his conception of life and activity in the Underworld is very different from the traditional one. In fact, by the standards of his contemporaries, Socrates’ conception of the Underworld would seem bizarre, in that it involves an eternity of conversation and reasoning. Benitez argues that Socrates’ conception of the Underworld uses familiar ideas to convey an unfamiliar view to his audience, and to make that view seem attractive. Beneath the mythological trappings lies a view about death in which what survives is impersonal. In addition, there is an unusual lesson about life in Socrates’ conception, namely that the best life is like the best death: rational and impersonal. The appeal of this view may lie in the way that anxiety over death is lessened by the Socratic life.