Equécrates . Contemporary Greek philosopher of Plato, who mentions him in Phaedo, (Platonic dialogue that is set in the last hours of Socrates’ life, before being executed).
Summary
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- 1 Biographical synthesis
- 1 Development of the work
- 2 Dramatic situation
- 2 See also
- 3 Source
Biographical synthesis
He was born in Fliunte (in ancient Greek, Φλιούς, Phlioús), sometimes referred to as Fliasia. Ancient Greek polis located in the Argolis region, in the Peloponnese peninsula, south of the polis of Sición and southwest of Corinth. The name Fliasia more commonly designates the countryside that surrounds the city.
According to Pausanias, the Fliuncios were of Argive origin and became Dorians with the arrival of the Heracleides. Its origin was in a first settlement that tradition attributed to the native Arante, who established a city around Mount Arantino called Arantia, whose name was later changed to Aretirea in homage to Arante’s daughter. Later Flías founded the city of Fliunte on another mountain near the Arantino.
Development of the work
Greek philosopher of the school of Pythagoras , contemporary of Plato , who mentions him in Phaedo, as an aid to the plot of the work. Phaedo, a homonymous character in the Platonic dialogue that is set in the last hours of Socrates’ life, before being executed. Plato uses this painting to expose his ideas of maturity, the theory of Ideas, the theory of reminiscence and the theory of metempsychosis, as elements of a discussion on the immortality of the soul.
Some time after the execution of Socrates, Equécrates asks Phaedo to tell him the story of the last hours of the famous philosopher who was executed. Phaedo’s presentation occupies most of the rest of the dialogue, although Equécrates interrupts it, at times, to ask relevant questions to resume the discussion.
He is also cited by Diogenes Laertius and Cicero (who in De Finis Terre mistakenly supposes him locrio).
Dramatic situation
Phaedo of Elis, disciple of Socrates, meets the Pythagorean Equécrates de Fliunte, probably in the latter’s homeland. There he narrates what happened in the last hours of Socrates’ life and what was said on that occasion. This allows Plato to have a narrator who can present the reader not only the dialogue itself, but also the scene and the actions of the protagonists.
The dialogue narrated by Phaedo takes place in the prison where Socrates was detained awaiting the moment of his execution, in Athens, in the year 399 BC. Although his wife Xanthippa (then retires and reappears at the end) and fourteen of his friends -among whom were Antisthenes, Euclides and Crito (59b) – are present in the scene, Socrates’ main interlocutors are Simmias and Cebes , ancient disciples of the Pythagorean Philolaus.