Note 17 — Chapter III · * OTHER COMPANIONS OF SOKRATES.
Reading edition
Athenæus, xi. pp. 505-508. Diog. Laert. ii. 60-65, iii. 36.
The statement made by Plato in the Phædon — That Aristippus and Kleombrotus were not present at the death of Sokrates, but were said to be in Ægina — is cited as an example of Plato’s ill-will and censorious temper (Demetr. Phaler. s. 306). But this is unfair. The statement ought not to be so considered, if it were true: and if not true, it deserves a more severe epithet. We read in Athenæus various other criticisms, citing or alluding to passages of Plato, which are alleged to indicate ill-nature; but many of the passages cited do not deserve the remark.