Lancer:
I quote "As Theseus traveled with fourteen threatened Athenians through the Labyrinth of Minos to face and slay the monstrous Minotaur, so Socrates travels with fourteen threatened philosophers through the intricacies of argumentation to face and slay what threatens both himself and his companions, namely the fear of death. As Theseus was able to triumph over the Minotaur and free Athens, so Socrates will triumph over death.  Philosophy is a practice for dying."

Engel: Good detective work, Watson.

Don't know much about the story of Theseus other then the basics but what I have learned is that the Greek hero principle is equivalent to the Boddhisattva principle within Mahayana Buddhism: the Buddhist soul that foregoes final liberation in order to help suffering humanity.    

According to the Poet Pindar: 

"But for those from whom Persephone accepts retribution

for her ancient grief, in the ninth year she returns their souls

to the upper sunlight: from them arise

proud kings and men who are swift in strength

and greatest in wisdom, and for the rest of time

they are called sacred heroes by mortals.

Scholars are in agreement that this poem describes the Greek concepts of reincarnation.  In the Greek system, a human soul that has been successfully initiated into the mysteries, referred to in the poem as "retribution for Persephone's ancient grief",  has a change in the trajectory of its incarnations and now begins a series of final incarnations heading toward the Greek form of liberation.  Among other things, this liberation was termed, "joining the company of the heroes".   A hero, therefore, is generated as a result of numerous initiation trials, has succeeded in escaping the cycles of certain negative and unproductive incarnations and is on the way toward final liberation.  In their final incarnations, they would be assigned the task of achieving some great good in the public domain such as incarnating as a philosopher or a great ruler or leader of some kind and as such become role models for future initiates.  The Greek hero stories, which I think of as initiation stories, record these ancient tasks of social achievement performed as a result of initiation.  Theseus would be one of the ancient individuals who became role models for initiates in the days of Plato and Socrates.   

The story of Theseus' would be classed under a form of myth or muthos known as an 'aeiton' which was a foundation story or myth.  Every Athenian child, man and woman, would have known of Athens' founding by Theseus.  An aeiton was known publically, it was not secret as was the case for mystery knowledge.  

Nevertheless, the vast majority of Greek myths were tightly woven multi-dimensional packages of sacred knowledge, a kind of zip file if you will, containing layer upon layer of information that could be unfolded fully only in the mind of those undergoing initiation.  How the ancient mythographers, Orpheus being the greatest of these, composed these stories is a subject of intense interest for today's modern scholars who now have access to a variety of tools not available to previous generations of scholars, shamanism and the psychedelic models being among the most important of these.  

Thank you Charlie Chan,

I think the contextual placement of the "hero story" is key the initatic transmission THROUGH the story.  

In phaedo, Plato starting out by drawing an immediate though subtle (only for the eyes that see) parallel between the divine-human founder of the city state of athens and the divine-bound founder of the state of philosopher consciousness in athens, suggesting the purely INNER journey of heroic initiation as divinely ordained.

I think the participation of the elements is REALLY important here - those cross-winds (like crucifixion winds) that HELD UP the "execution".   Suggests a cosmic process at work in the whole thing.

But I think the really biggest "hint" might be Plato's "illness" that kept him from being with Soc at this momentus (initiatic) event.  This is obviously a "blind" of some kind.  Plato would have to be dead to not show up there.  Any thoughts on it?

Your observations seem spot on to me.  Looks like Plato is anointing Socrates as the "new" Theseus.  Socrates is portrayed as the ultimate hero throughout the writings of Plato.  Phaedo is clearly a mystery play of the highest order, every word and image is carefully constructed and put precisely where it needs to be with the purpose of leading the mind on an initiatic journey of some kind. That said, the literal and historical should not be minimized either.  Socrates is the locus, or logos of all Greek thought.  Removing him from this physical earth could have implications that would work itself into the actual elements, the cross-winds etc.  You seem right that Pato's illness and non-participation is a key of some kind.  Brings to mind Peter disavowing Christ who then goes on to become the foundation stone upon which Christ builds his Church.