Question

“‘. . . I may and must pray to the gods that my departure hence be a fortunate one; so I offer this prayer and may it be granted.’ With these words he [Socrates] raised the cup to his lips and very cheerfully drained it. Up to that time most of us had been able to restrain our tears fairly well, but when we . . . saw that he had drunk the poison, we could do so no longer. . . . It was not for him that I wept, but for my own misfortune in being deprived of such a friend. . . . Such was the end . . . of our friend, who was, as we may say, of all of his time whom we have known, the best and wisest and most righteous man.”

—Plato, as quoted in Eyewitness to History

Why did Plato weep?
a.
He was sad for Socrates.
c.
He was scared.
b.
He was losing a friend.
d.
He was sad for his friends.

Answer 1

B. He was losing a friend.

Step-by-step explanation:

The passage talks about how Socrates cheerfully accepted his death by drinking the goblet of poison, and Plato (the narrator "I" in here) began to weep. Yet, it's not because of his sadness for Socrates' life, as we might think. The given lines indicate something else:

"It was not for him that I wept, but for my own misfortune in being deprived of such a friend"

"deprived of such a friend" essentially just means losing a friend, so Plato wept because he lost a good friend.

The answer is B.

Answer 2

b. He was losing a friend.

Step-by-step explanation:

Note the following quote:

"...It was not for him [dying] that I wept, but for my own misfortune in being deprived of such a friend..." (bolded for emphasis).

Deprived generally means lost, so being deprived of a friend means having lost a friend.

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