Phaedo, himself, is much younger than Socrates
and is about eighteen years old at the time of the execution. Originally
brought to Athens as a slave, he was eventually
set free and became one of Socrates most devoted
students. Later, he opened his own school of philosophy at Elis, a Greek
city approximately one hundred miles west of
Athens on the Peloponnesian Peninsula. There he
composed his own dialogues, focusing on the field of ethics.
According to one interpretation, Socrates and
Phaedo were lovers, and it was Socrates who set
the latter free. In ancient Athens, as well as
other Greek cities, sex between adult men and young males who had reached
puberty was culturally acceptable. It was often part of a mentoring program
intended to educate the male youth by exposing them to the activities in
which they were expected to participate. These activities included politics,
economics, training for war, and sex. Thus, what would be sexual
abuse by contemporary standards in Western culture, was an expected part
of growing up for the affluent youth of ancient Greece. Such a "practicum"
in same sex love-making would make national news today, especially in the
supermarket tabloids!