Introduction

The fido is one of plato's greatest dialogues in part because it is the first dialogue to set out the theory of forms. It dramatizes socrates's swan song, his final philosophical discussion and his death upon cheerfully drinking down the hemlock. The main topic of the dialogue is not forms, but the immortality of soul. In must be a swipe at aristophanes, plato has socrates say that even a comic poet wouldn't blame him for irrelevant prattling when he takes up this topic at this time and place.