Phaedo | Page 8

inseparable
attribute is by the force of the terms imperishable. If the odd principle
were imperishable, then the number three would not perish but remove,
on the approach of the even principle. But the immortal is imperishable;
and therefore the soul on the approach of death does not perish but
removes.
Thus all objections appear to be finally silenced. And now the
application has to be made: If the soul is immortal, 'what manner of
persons ought we to be?' having regard not only to time but to eternity.
For death is not the end of all, and the wicked is not released from his

evil by death; but every one carries with him into the world below that
which he is or has become, and that only.
For after death the soul is carried away to judgment, and when she has
received her punishment returns to earth in the course of ages. The wise
soul is conscious of her situation, and follows the attendant angel who
guides her through the windings of the world below; but the impure
soul wanders hither and thither without companion or guide, and is
carried at last to her own place, as the pure soul is also carried away to
hers. 'In order that you may understand this, I must first describe to you
the nature and conformation of the earth.'
Now the whole earth is a globe placed in the centre of the heavens, and
is maintained there by the perfection of balance. That which we call the
earth is only one of many small hollows, wherein collect the mists and
waters and the thick lower air; but the true earth is above, and is in a
finer and subtler element. And if, like birds, we could fly to the surface
of the air, in the same manner that fishes come to the top of the sea,
then we should behold the true earth and the true heaven and the true
stars. Our earth is everywhere corrupted and corroded; and even the
land which is fairer than the sea, for that is a mere chaos or waste of
water and mud and sand, has nothing to show in comparison of the
other world. But the heavenly earth is of divers colours, sparkling with
jewels brighter than gold and whiter than any snow, having flowers and
fruits innumerable. And the inhabitants dwell some on the shore of the
sea of air, others in 'islets of the blest,' and they hold converse with the
gods, and behold the sun, moon and stars as they truly are, and their
other blessedness is of a piece with this.
The hollows on the surface of the globe vary in size and shape from
that which we inhabit: but all are connected by passages and
perforations in the interior of the earth. And there is one huge chasm or
opening called Tartarus, into which streams of fire and water and liquid
mud are ever flowing; of these small portions find their way to the
surface and form seas and rivers and volcanoes. There is a perpetual
inhalation and exhalation of the air rising and falling as the waters pass
into the depths of the earth and return again, in their course forming
lakes and rivers, but never descending below the centre of the earth; for
on either side the rivers flowing either way are stopped by a precipice.
These rivers are many and mighty, and there are four principal ones,

Oceanus, Acheron, Pyriphlegethon, and Cocytus. Oceanus is the river
which encircles the earth; Acheron takes an opposite direction, and
after flowing under the earth through desert places, at last reaches the
Acherusian lake,--this is the river at which the souls of the dead await
their return to earth. Pyriphlegethon is a stream of fire, which coils
round the earth and flows into the depths of Tartarus. The fourth river,
Cocytus, is that which is called by the poets the Stygian river, and
passes into and forms the lake Styx, from the waters of which it gains
new and strange powers. This river, too, falls into Tartarus.
The dead are first of all judged according to their deeds, and those who
are incurable are thrust into Tartarus, from which they never come out.
Those who have only committed venial sins are first purified of them,
and then rewarded for the good which they have done. Those who have
committed crimes, great indeed, but not unpardonable, are thrust into
Tartarus, but are cast forth at the end of a year by way of
Pyriphlegethon or Cocytus, and these carry them as far as the
Acherusian lake, where they call upon their victims to let them come
out of the rivers into the lake. And if they prevail, then they are let out
and