Abstract

Socrates’ last words, as reported by Plato in the Phaedo, are as disquieting as touching: “Crito, we owe a rooster to Asclepius. Do pay it. Don’t forget”. In opposition to the canonical nietzschean interpretation according to which the Athenian philosopher suffered life as an illness and for that reason required to testify his gratitude to the god master of healing, Michel Foucault understands the last Socratic saying as an exhortation not to forget or neglect ourselves, to take care of one’s own life, discovering who we are and how we could better ourselves. The warning on the risks of forgetting the self constitutes the pendulum of Socrates’ death from the beginning of the Apology and the Crito, to the end of the Phaedo, summarizing his attitude towards life and philosophy. His teaching: “take care of yourselves”, we must not pass out of sight, backing away from the danger of carelessness, and thanking the god of healing, who encourages selfcare, both with ourselves and with others.