κύκνειον ᾆσμα

carmen cygni

a swan song

cover illustration for "The Bloomsbury Handbook of Plato" by Tyler Miles Lockett

In the sky, the symbolism for Plato's "platonic solids" (polyhedra with identical faces) as Socrates dialogues with Phaedrus about the immortality of the soul, under a plane tree alongside the Ilissos river.

In the distance, the Acropolis of Athens and an ascending swan in flight ― a bird associated with Apollo, therefore, considered a symbol of harmony and beauty and its limited capabilities as a singer being sublimated to those of songbirds ― while Plato associated himself with it, saying that the swan sang most beautifully nearest death In his Φαίδων • (Phaídōn) Phaedo, the character of Socrates declares that, although swans sing in early life, they do not do so as beautifully as before they die. He adds that there is a widespread belief that the swans' song is sorrowful, but prefers to think that they sing for joy, having "foreknowledge of the blessings in the other world".

The expression refers to an ancient belief that swans sing a beautiful song just before their death since they have been silent ― or not so musical ― for most of their lifetime. The view, whose basis has been long debated, had become proverbial in ancient Greece by the 3rd century BCE and has been reiterated many times in later Western poetry and art. Yet, although swans learn a variety of sounds throughout their lifetime, their sounds distinguish more during courting rituals and are not correlated with their demise.

In his History of Animals, Aristotle too noted that swans "are musical, and sing chiefly at the approach of death".