Socrates' imminent execution sets the stage for the dialogue Phaedo. The last pages of the dialogue contain a very moving account of his courageous departure from this life. In the opening pages, Socrates maintains that one aim of practicing philosophy is to prepare for death. The effect of the practice of philosophy is to free the soul from the body as much as possible in life (it being impossible to remain living without a body). What Socrates means is that the soul is freed from the mastery of the body. Because of this adversarial relation with the body, the philosopher is thought by ordinary people as being close to death. The remainder of the philosophical part of the dialogue describes Socrates' views about death, which he was about to face himself.
