The last words of the Apology:
"Now the hour to part has come. I go to die, you go to live. Which of us goes to the better lot is known to no one, except the god" (Five Dialogues, p. 44).
"ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἤδη ὥρα ἀπιέναι, ἐμοὶ μὲν ἀποθανουμένῳ, ὑμῖν δὲ βιωσομένοις: ὁπότεροι δὲ ἡμῶν ἔρχονται ἐπὶ ἄμεινον πρᾶγμα, ἄδηλον παντὶ πλὴν ἢ τῷ θεῷ."
"τῷ θεῷ" literally translates as "the god," but in Ancient Greek, the article is used differently (e.g., in English we say "Justice is good" but in Greek one might say "The justice is good.").
The word "ἄδηλον" means unseen, unclear, indistinct, uncertain.
An alternative translation of the last sentence:
" ... which of us goes to the better lot, is not clear to anyone except God."
Three themes are evident in this passage:
1. Time: "Now the hour to part has come." ("ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἤδη ὥρα ἀπιέναι")
2. Death: "I go to die ... " ("ἐμοὶ μὲν ἀποθανουμένῳ")
3. Uncertainty: "Which of us goes to the better lot is known to no one, except the god." ("ὁπότεροι δὲ ἡμῶν ἔρχονται ἐπὶ ἄμεινον πρᾶγμα, ἄδηλον παντὶ πλὴν ἢ τῷ θεῷ.")
Death, for some thinkers, lies at the center of philosophical thought. In another dialogue, Socrates states:
" ... the one aim of those who practice philosophy in the proper manner is to practice for dying and death." — Phaedo (Five Dialogues, p. 101)
Two perspectives on time and death:
I:
Time: Life is short and for each one of us, death can arrive at any time.
Death: Death is annihilation. Nothing survives death. Belief in an afterlife is a
delusion.
II:
Time: Life is a gift. No life is "too short." Even a single day has value.
Death: Death is a transition. True life begins with death (e.g., Christianity, Islam).
What is common to both perspectives is uncertainty. Since we have no conclusive answers, conflicting interpretations of death are widespread. In short, we don’t know.
Multiple perspectives on death are also evident when death is visualized. Consider this iconic painting of death by John Everett Millais, which portrays the death of Ophelia, Hamlet's forsaken lover.
Ophelia (Millais , 1852)
One writer has described this image as " ... tragic beauty frozen forever in a watery silence." (Daphne A. Browning in Romance Notes No. 1, 2013)
Conflicting views on death:
Nikolai Berdyaev (1874 – 1948):
" ... in the fear of death, in the holy terror of it, man comes into touch with the deepest mystery of being ... death contains a revelation." — The Destiny of Man, Nikolai Berdyaev (1954, p. 254).
Socrates:
"To fear death ... is no other than to think oneself wise when one is not, to think one knows what one does not know ... And surely it is the most blameworthy ignorance to believe that one knows what one does not know." (Five Dialogues, p. 33).
On the one hand, Berdyaev feels the "terror" of death, and he states that fear of death can be revelatory. On the other, Socrates states that it is wrong to fear that which is unknown.
As is often the case, the philosophers (like “the experts” in general) contradict themselves.
Death is a big question mark. We like to think that science can help us deal with it, but often it does the opposite: science gives us the means to kill more people in less time. While medical science can extend life in some cases, it can give us the illusion that death can be endlessly postponed.
In conclusion, note that both philosophers associate death with the religious. Berdyaev states that death may be a terror but it is "holy" and it reveals something important to us; in the Apology and other dialogues death is associated with the gods.
