Incorrect Analyses of Plato

For my blog post this week I would like to discuss the idea of the psyche in Phaedo. There are many analyses online that focus on the idea that in Phaedo there is direct mention of the "soul". I feel like this may be a product of the Jowett translations. People automatically assume that when Socrates and the others are discussing immortality, they are discussing their souls. To me it is interesting how wide spread this misconception is because there is really no believe in a soul in ancient Greece as we discussed in class. However it seems to be such a widely spread idea that Socrates was discussing the afterlife in a monotheistic religious way. I find it rather amusing, given that our idea of the afterlife is largely based off of christian ideology. I knew that Benjamin Jowett tainted much of Plato's translations, but I had no idea how wide spread the misconception was. It is also interesting to me because I find myself having to really rework my thought processes while rereading this text. It is so easy to just automatically assume that when someone talks about death and moving on after death they are discussing Heaven and Hell but that is why it is crucial to dive into the culture of the text and not look at it through your own culture.