hstry

Socrates in prison on living well

set in 399 BCE, Athens, the prison. As Plato tells it.

Where and when

set in 399 BCEAthens, the prison

2,424 years ago

Explore
Socrates, c. 470 – 399 BCE3000 BCE2900 BCE2800 BCE2700 BCE2600 BCE2500 BCE2400 BCE2300 BCE2200 BCE2100 BCE2000 BCE1900 BCE1800 BCE1700 BCE1600 BCE1500 BCE1400 BCE1300 BCE1200 BCE1100 BCE1000 BCE900 BCE800 BCE700 BCE600 BCE500 BCE400 BCE300 BCE200 BCE100 BCE1 CE100 CE200 CE300 CE400 CE500 CE600 CE700 CE800 CE900 CE1000 CE1100 CE1200 CE1300 CE1400 CE1500 CE1600 CE1700 CE1800 CE1900 CE2000 CEGreat Pyramid of Giza built, c. 2600 BCERome founded (traditional date), 753 BCELast western Roman emperor deposed, 476 CEGutenberg's printing press, c. 1440 CEColumbus reaches the Americas, 1492 CEFirst people on the Moon, 1969 CEToday, 2026

Swipe the line. Bars: entries. Dots: events.

Socrates

, Athens, the prisonAs Plato tells it

In plain words, ours

Let's check whether we still agree: what matters most is not living, but living well.

But, my friend, the argument we have just finished seems to me still much the same as before; and now see whether we still hold to this, or not, that it is not living, but living well which we ought to consider most important.

Plato, Crito 48bTranslated by Harold North Fowler (1914)Read the full passage (Plato, Crito 48b, opens scaife.perseus.org)

What was going on, our summary

As Plato tells it, Socrates is in prison awaiting execution, talking with his friend Crito. They are weighing whether it would be right for him to escape without the permission of the Athenians.

Checked claim by claim against: Socrates is tried, condemned and put to death, the passage around the quote.

Why it matters

About the event it belongs to: Socrates is tried, condemned and put to death

Plato's account of the trial and death inspired writers, artists and philosophers to return to it. Some saw the execution as showing the defects of democracy; others as a justifiable defence of a newly restored democracy.

Based on Wikipedia: Trial of Socrates

Plato's presentation of the trial and death of Socrates inspired writers, artists, and philosophers to revisit the matter.

For some, the execution of the man whom Plato called "the wisest and most just of all men" demonstrated the defects of democracy and of popular rule; for others, the Athenian actions were a justifiable defence of the recently re-established democracy.

Wikipedia, Trial of Socrates (opens en.wikipedia.org), as of 2026-10-01. Text CC BY-SA 4.0. Our line is checked against these sentences only.

Related moments

In time order, with this one in its place. Each says why it is here.

  1. c. 420–413 BCEabout 18 years earlier Orestes on judging a man's worth Also about how to live well
  2. 404 BCE5 years earlier The Thirty take power in Athens Same years
  3. 403 BCE4 years earlier Democracy returns to Athens, with an amnesty Same years
  4. 399 BCESame year Socrates is tried, condemned and put to death The event behind itAlso in Athens
  5. set in 399 BCEThis momentSocrates in prison on living well
  6. by 399 BCEBy this year Aspasia on honest matchmaking Also in Athens
  7. set in 399 BCESame year The charge Meletus swore against Socrates Also in Athens
  8. set in 399 BCESame year Socrates on not returning wrong for wrong Same passage
  9. set in 399 BCESame year Socrates and the oracle at Delphi More from Socrates
  10. set in 399 BCESame year Socrates on what makes things beautiful More from Socrates
  11. set in 399 BCESame year Socrates on knowing that he does not know More from Socrates
  12. c. 386 BCEabout 13 years later Aspasia's speech on wealth and cowardice Also about how to live well

Just before and after

The text around the quote, word for word from the same translation.

Show the passageHide the passage

Crito. Certainly not. Socrates. But is it worth living when that is ruined which is injured by the wrong and improved by the right? Or do we think that part of us, whatever it is, which is concerned with right and wrong, is less important than the body? Crito. By no means. Socrates. But more important? Crito. Much more. Socrates. Then, most excellent friend, we must not consider at all what the many will say of us, but what he who knows about right and wrong, the one man, and truth herself will say. And so you introduced the discussion wrongly in the first place, when you began by saying we ought to consider the opinion of the multitude about the right and the noble and the good and their opposites. But it might, of course, be said that the multitude can put us to death. Crito. That is clear, too. It would be said, Socrates. Socrates. That is true.

The quote: But, my friend, the argument we have just finished seems to me still much the same as before; and now see whether we still hold to this, or not, that it is not living, but living well which we ought to consider most important.

Crito. We do hold to it. Socrates. And that living well and living rightly are the same thing, do we hold to that, or not? Crito. We do. Socrates. Then we agree that the question is whether it is right for me to try to escape from here without the permission of the Athenians, or not right. And if it appears to be right, let us try it, and if not, let us give it up.

Plato, Crito 47e–48cTranslated by Harold North Fowler (1914)Read the full passage (opens scaife.perseus.org)

When, and whose words

Date
set in 399 BCE. Set in prison in 399 BCE, in the days between Socrates' sentence and his execution.
Whose words
As Plato tells it.
How this post was checked
  • The plain-words line was read against the quote alone by a second, independent pass, which found it adds no claim the quote does not make (2026-10-03).
  • Each claim in the summary was checked by an independent pass against only the material it cites.
  • The quote itself is checked by the build: word for word, once, at the cited section of the stored translation.

See it among its momentsMore from SocratesSee it in the feed