[608d]
and not rather for all
time?” “I think so,” he said; “but
what is this that you have in mind?” “Have you never
perceived,” said I, “that our soul is immortal and never
perishes?” And he, looking me full in the face1 in amazement,2 said, “No, by
Zeus, not I; but are you able to declare this?” “I
certainly ought to be,3” said I, “and I think you too can, for it is
nothing hard.” “It is for me,” he said;
“and I would gladly hear from you this thing that is not
hard.4” “Listen,”
said I. “Just speak on,” he replied. “You
speak of5 good
1 ἐμβλέψας: Cf. Charmides 155 C.
2 Glaucon is surprised in spite of 498 D. Many uncertain inferences have been drawn from the fact that in spite of the Phaedo and Phaedrus(245 C ff.) interlocutors in Plato are always surprised at the idea of immortality. Cf. supra,Introd. p. lxiv.
3 For the idiomatic εἰ μὴ ἀδικῶ cf. 430 ECharm. 156 A, Menex. 236 B, 612 D.
4 Cf. Protag. 341 Aτὸ χαλεπὸν τοῦτο, which is a little different, Herod. vii. 11τὸ δεινὸν τὸ πείσομαι.
5 See Vol. I. p. 90, note a and What Plato Said, p. 567, on Cratyl. 385 B.
Plato. Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vols. 5 & 6 translated by Paul Shorey. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1969.
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