Rick Riordan and Socrates: Part 3

A Caryatid from the Acropolis in Athens, now in the British Museum

Even though he wasn't present during Socrates' final days, Plato makes no mention of physical or mental disability. So perhaps it's unfair to suggest Socrates was in any way unfit. But the question remains: if the Athenians had put up with his preaching for the majority of his life, why condemn him to exile or death when he's seventy years old?

Even if Socrates functioned well physically and mentally, all societies change with time. Each generation places its own stamp upon society. Socrates' views of right and wrong would have been formed by the society of his youth. It's one thing to tolerate someone's antisocial behavior if that person holds no important position. But if an esteemed member of society continually finds fault with aspects of a community's new direction, or the inevitable modifications to the religious and civil events that knit the fabric of their society together, the leadership would notice. 

Might Socrates have been less a radical than a throwback to an earlier time, or to a societal direction not taken? He certainly fought against societal trends he thought would damage his beloved city in the long term. Given how much Socrates influenced later philosophers, it's only logical that leaders struggling to put forward their agendas would wish to sweep the unamenable old man out of sight, rather than risk him and his followers scuttling their plans for Athens. 

A marble votive relief of Athena from Athens, now in the British Museum

In Rick Riordan's novels, Luke Castellan befriends Annabeth Chase, and helps her reach Camp Half-Blood. Luke is the son of the god Hermes, and Annabeth the daughter of Athena. When Luke turns against the gods, his agenda becomes more important to him than his friend Annabeth, and anyone else who disagrees with his grand vision to build a better future for his fellow demigods, as well as the rest of humanity.

Annabeth's mother, the goddess Athena, was the patron saint of Athens. The citizens there worshiped her for her skills in strategy and warfare, as well as her wisdom. Whether the goddess would approve of the leaders' decision to steer the city toward a better future by killing off opponents such as Socrates is open to debate. 

As for Annabeth, she never gives up on Luke. No matter how many people he hurts or kills in order to achieve his objective, she always hopes he will give up his quest to destroy the gods, and resume his place as a productive, encouraging leader at Camp Half-Blood. It's an idealistic belief, and totally unrealistic, given his decisions and actions. But that's why she's a hero, and why readers love her.

Just like Socrates' followers saw him as a hero, and sought to immortalize him.

Dragon Dave

 

Rick Riordan and Socrates Part 2

A man is handed a Persian-style drinking horn in the Cella frieze at the British Museum.

After reading Rick Riordan's novels about Percy Jackson and his fellow demigods, I took the time to read some of Plato's works: Apology, Crito, and Phaedo. Instead of looking forward, and propounding his own views on life, the Greek philosopher devoted these stories to the death of his mentor Socrates. In sum, they demonstrate what Socrates believed, and when public sentiment in Athens turned against him, why he felt the need to die by drinking poison, rather than opt for exile, or escape the city with the help of his friends.

As I mentioned in the previous post, Socrates was seventy years old when he died. I couldn't help wonder why the Athenians, usually described as the most open-minded and rational of the ancient Greeks, would decide to put this old man to death after accepting his teachings and community involvement for so long. While Plato portrays his mentor as a  man with all his wits, he wasn't present when Socrates drank the hemlock. And it's a fact of life that often, despite our best efforts, we lose mental, as well as physical function, as we age.

The ancient Greeks viewed stages of life such as birth and death, as well as certain illnesses and types of sexual activity, as influences that could corrupt or pollute their society. Plato clearly wanted to memorialize Socrates, and preserve his philosophy, by portraying him at his most rational. But what if Socrates had trouble remembering things? What if he started to rant, began to repeat a handful of arguments, or stopped physically taking care of himself.

Lapses in memory and mental function could have worried ancient Athenian doctors, as well as the priests in the temples of their gods. Had the gods cursed Socrates? Had they afflicted him with madness? In an era when people believed the gods protected them from all sorts of potential dangers, allowing madness to pollute the purity of the citizenry would put everyone in the city at risk. 

The Nereid Monument in the British Museum

Offhand, I don't remember if Percy Jackson and his friends ever meet Astraea, the Greek goddess of Purity, in Rick Riordan's novels. They meet a large number of gods, demigods, and supernatural beings over the two five-book series. As they pursue their quests, Percy and his friends discover that some of the minor gods have grown bitter with the pantheon on Olympus. With nothing to lose, these divine beings who formerly embraced good and preserved the status quo ally themselves in revolts led by the titan Hades and the Earth Mother Gaea. The young demigods attempt to address this imbalance, and win the favor of these forgotten gods, by pledging to honor them, and building temples to them at Camp Half-Blood.

Plato makes no mention of medical or priestly condemnation of Socrates. Still, the suggestion of divine disapproval, whispered in the right ears, could have prompted legal proceedings against any citizen, even someone as esteemed as Socrates. After all, if the philosopher's thought processes were corrupted, isn't it only logical that he would corrupt the young?

Dragon Dave