Plato, Phaedo, 80 c.

Extract

On the passage spaced Archer-Hind writes: ‘It seems to me that needless difficulty has been raised over this sentence; Хαρɩέντως έҳων simply means “having his body in a good state,” and to this τοɩαύτη refers. If the body were in a healthy condition at death and at a healthy age, it would hold out longer, says Plato, against decomposition. Mr. Cope, I think, is quite correct in translating “If a man dies with his body in a vigorous state and at a vigorous period of his life, a very considerable time indeed.” The following sentence συμπεσòν … χρόνον is bracketed by Schanz after Ast. I see no sufficient reason for doing so; the yap is certainly not very obvious but may be explained thus; (nor is this the strongest case) for if a body is embalmed it remains nearly whole for an indefinite time. Hirschig brackets ώσμερ … ταριχενθέντες very superfluously. Plato says (i.) the body of a healthy man who dies in the prime of life lasts a good while; (ii.) an Egyptian mummy lasts an indefinite time; (iii.) even without this some parts of the human frame are almost indestructible.’