Today, I am thankful for my favorite Greek guide, mentor, and old friend. Indeed, I have a crush on Socrates (the ancient Greek philosopher, not the center back for Arsenal).
Today is a memorable day for the city of New York. On this day (Feb 20) in 1872, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of the world’s great institutions committed to the wonders of humanity, opened its doors. About 60 years later, the museum would add a painting from an 18th Century French neoclassical artist, Jacques-Louis David, depicting the moments leading up to the demise of the great Greek philosopher. As shown in the picture of this post, The Death of Socrates portrays the philosopher accepting the poison (hemlock) that would ultimately end his life.
Socrates was born 470 BC into a middle-class family living in Ancient Greece. He lived his entire life within the confines of the city-state of Athens at its heyday of wealth, culture, and growth. In his early life, he followed his father’s path and worked as a mason. He even fought valiantly in several famous battles in the armored infantry (the Hoplite), but he never maintained a real occupation. He chose the life as a sophist, an individual who would spend time educating the upper-class youth of Athens, which he often did in the Greek marketplace at the foot of the Acropolis (the Agora). He never accepted financial remuneration for his sophist work, choosing to remain destitute. However, his gregarious personality, authentic style, and genial gift for gab won him many friends, and, hence, he was never in wont of food, shelter, or entertainment. He wore ragged, torn cloaks, always walked barefoot throughout Athens, and never cared for his physical appearance; in fact, he had been repeatedly mocked as the “ugliest" man to walk the streets of Athens. Nonetheless, he exercised regularly and maintained a steadfast belief that all things were best consumed and/or enjoyed in moderation.
What makes Socrates so memorable was both his philosophical beliefs and his approach to attaining knowledge (or wisdom). His premise was that knowledge was acquired to improve the greater well-being of society. Essentially, individuals should use human reasoning, as opposed to some civic or societal doctrine, to achieve virtue (true happiness) in life. In other words, a person needed to reflect internally to arrive at their own set of truths regarding everything from law and justice to abstract topics such as morality, ethics, and courage. His personal steadfast belief was that virtue could only be derived from “doing good”, and one could never waver from this belief. This ‘moral absolutism’ would form the basis of modern Western philosophy and our current legal system. With this montage as his guiding principle, he walked the streets of Athens, asking questions in a polite, non-threatening way to all, including the elite, ruling class, the aristocrats (such as the great playwrights, artists, and historians), the middle class, and even slaves – with the primary goal of seeking truth. He spent many hours hobnobbing at symposia with greats, such as Euripides, Sophocles, and Aristophanes. In short, his dialectic methodology was not intended to teach Athenians what to think, but rather how to think.
Socrates lived to the ripe age of 70 years, and would likely have endured into his 80s or 90s, if he had not been sentenced to death in 399 BC for the bogus crimes of having disrespectful religious beliefs and sedition (corruption of the youth).
So, today, I pay homage to Socrates and all he has taught me about love, happiness, and life.
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