What did Socrates mean when he said: "I owe Asclepius the Savior a rooster."?

Answer 1

In case you're not too familiar with Greek mythology (as many aren't), Asclepius was the divinity in charge of healing and medicine. That rod with a snake twirled about it that you see even now in a lot of medical symbology is the Rod of Asclepius, and hearkens back to that Greek cult that sought his intervention and advice.

Nietzsche almost certainly got that particular line from Plato's account of Socrates' death (that would be the dialogue "Phaedo", link 1). Whether that account was accurate in the first place is a matter of debate, but as it was one of his earliest works and published to other people who might have been there, the consensus seems to be that it's at least pretty close.

Nietzsche seems to have taken a bit of artistic license, however, and put his own spin on that last comment of Socrates. His implication is clear - to Socrates life was like a disease; one that he would be happy to be cured of. This is part of the reason why he identifies Socrates as the great betrayer of the Greeks: his happy suicide, elevation of reason over the passions of life, and other negations of the things Nietzsche thinks are the very stuff of life.

If you read Plato's account in Phaedo, you get a very different impression. One of the last things Socrates says before he drinks is, "I may and must ask the gods to prosper my journey from this to the other world". That he then asks to pay Asclepius a moment later as his dying wish suggests that his prayer has been answered... and perhaps even that the gods themselves looked favourably on Socrates even if the court of Athens did not.

Of course, if Plato's account IS accurate, he may have meant something entirely different. Perhaps he forget about an earlier debt. Perhaps he was making some other point. Reality seldom comes to as tidy an ending as fiction does.

Answer 2

Very good question, and one I adressed in an assignment last year. The jist of my paper was this. That similarly to the Greek tradition of sacrificing a rooster* to Asclepius in the hopes of a medical miracle, Socrates was "sacrificing" himself in an effort to heal Athens. Some translations actually read "WE owe a rooster* to Asclepius", and if we take this, and take my interpretation a step further, the "we" in the text would refer to the men who followed Socrates, and they would be the ones left over to care for the patient (Athens) after the rooster (Socrates) had been sacrificed.

*(The proper term gets censored when submitted. In most translations it is rendered crock minus the r)

Answer 3

Socrates Meant, He Owed Asclepius 'A Wake Up Call'

Answer 4

IF Socrates lived in America today, maybe he would've said: Death is music to my ears!0!

Mr. Nietzsche was a great philosopher, but he could not fully understand this[maybe it was his sarcarsm], although I think he did, he just put it differently: Those who were dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.

He could definitely hear Socrates' music, he just didn't like the lyric, so he changed it!0!

Good luck!

Answer 5

It is too bad that the search on this only brings up Nitzche's quote. Socratees was 70 years old when he died and that is a long life even for today. He had suffered the paralizing effects of the Hemlock and he says these words just before he takes his last breath. It shows a sense of humor still alive even as the man nears his death. His suffering is almost done and he remarks that he wants to sacrifice to the god for his release. He dies with a sense of relief that "it is finished."

Answer 6

...ahhh...as in life today we jest over mundane things....especially over a pint or two so why not poke fun at it...