Rick Riordan and Socrates Part 1

The classic Greek architecture of the British Museum,
a center of learning, and where artifacts from
the Parthenon of Athens are stored.

As you can see by perusing my reading list for 2019, I've finished the ten novels that make up Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and The Heroes of Olympus series. I've always yearned to understand how the ancient Greeks regarded their gods, and Rick Riordan's lighthearted take on the subject made the subject more real to me.

This may sound crazy, as Rick Riordan's fantasy novels rival J. K. Rowlings Harry Potter books with regard to character adventures and fireworks. Still, the way he focuses on demigods like Percy and Annabeth, portrays their divine parents, and how the teens utilize their powers to either benefit themselves or protect others, tells me a lot about how the ancient Greeks related to their world. As a bonus, the second series brings in characters from a Roman camp, and demonstrates how the Romans viewed the gods differently.

After reading Riordan's novels, something spurred me to read a few of Plato's writings. His stories--Apology, Crito, and Phaedo--illustrate how his mentor Socrates viewed the world, as well as his place in it. As I read Plato's stories, cast as a series of conversations and arguments, I couldn't help think about Socrates, and why his fellow citizens might put him to death. To follow are some of my reactions and thoughts. They are in no way educated assertions, but merely reflections based on my own outlook and experience.

Socrates was seventy years old when he was condemned to death. The charge seems to revolve around his teachings, and corrupting the youth. But Socrates had lived in Athens, and been a philosopher there all his life. If his fellow citizens have tolerated his teachings up to now, why did his teachings suddenly become too dangerous to tolerate?

The ancient Greeks had far less medical knowledge and capabilities than today. Socrates would have suffered the ordinary accidents of life that maybe doctors back then couldn't set right. In an age without Flu shots, inoculations, and antibiotics, who knows what aftereffects of diseases like Tuberculosis or Scarlet Fever he might have suffered from. Additionally, as a soldier in the Peloponnesian War, he would have suffered injuries and wounds that left scars in more ways than one. 

Anyone who has suffered from a malady the doctors had trouble diagnosing knows the long term implications of infection. Even poorly maintained teeth can lead to a heart condition. It's safe to say the palliatives and ointments the ancients used to treat wounds and illnesses weren't as effective as today's more targeted cures. 

Might Socrates have needed a steadying hand to help him get around? Did he suffer from defective hearing or eyesight? Might he have lung or heart damage? Did the doctors attend him regularly to manage his ailments? In a society in which doctors regularly practiced assisted suicide and euthanasia, maybe the government weighed his physical needs against the community's available time and resources, and manufactured a reason why this long-time philosopher's teachings were suddenly a corrupting influence.

Clarissa, the daughter of Ares, the Greek god of War, in Rick Riordan's novels, might well approve of such a decision. Personally, I suspect that Percy Jackson, the son of Poseidon, the Greek god of the seas, would find a more caring way of dealing with the aged philosopher. 

Dragon Dave