ISSUE 16 / MAR 2014

«Crito, we owe a cock to Asclepius. Do pay it. Don't forget».
These are Socrates’ last words before Death arrived to free
his soul from the grave of his body, according to the records
examined by Athenian court.
Does it mean that he fell for the logic of transaction, exactly
hen he was about to experience his transient nature?
We do not think so, because there is something sarcastic
in Socrates appointing somebody to sacrifice a cock on
his behalf when he is about to die because of a morning
hemlock-flavoured drink and this sarcasm puts Socrates
beyond those trivial things between gods and worshippers.
Worshippers demand, receive and thank, constantly afraid
of suffering, dying, leaving this world. Socrates has the
elegance of a warrior, which he was.
And maybe that last minute ex voto was just the last joke
against the court which