Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1853-01-20

Socrates In the midst OF the A,henIan

Socrates In the midst OF the AtheniaH
Crowd.
All other teachers, both before and
afterward, "either took money for theil
lessons, or at least gave them apart from
the multitude in a private house to spe-
cial pupils, with admission or rejection
al their own pleasure" The Acddemus
grove of Plato, the Garden Of Epicurus.
the Porch or Cloister of Zeno, the Ly.
cegm or Sanctuary, with the Peripatetic
shades of Aristotle, all indicate the pre-.
vailing practice. The philosophy OF
Socrates alone was in every sense the
philosophy of the market place. Very
rarely he might be found under the
shade of the palm tree, or the caverned
rocks OF the Illissus, enjoying the gras-
sy slope of its banks, and the little
pools of water that collect in the corners
Of its torrent bed, and the white and
purple flowers of its agnus~castus
shrubs. But, ordinarily, whether in the
city, or in the dusty road between the
Long Walls, or in the busy mart of Pi-
r@us, his place was among men, and
with men, in every vocation Of life, liv-
ing not for himself, but for them, reiec-
ting all pay, contented in poverty
Whatever could be added TO the singu.
larity OF this spectacle. was added by
the singularity Of its outward appear
ance. What that appearance was has
been already indicated. Amid the CAV
life, the beautiful forms, the brilliant
colc:s OF an Athenian multitude and an
Athenian street, the repulsive features,
the unwiedy figure, the naked feet, the
rough, thread-bare attire Of the philoso-
pher. must have excited every sentiment
of astonishment and ridicule which
strong contrast can produce. And if to
this we add the occasional trance, the
eye fixed on vacancy, the total abstrac-
ton from outward things-or, again, the
momentary outbursts of violent temper
or, lastly, (what we are told at times
actually took place, the sudden irrup-
tions of his wife Xanthippe to carry off
her eccentric husband to his forsaken
home--we shall not wonder at the uni
versal celebrity which he acquired, even
irrespeciively Of his great powers or of
his peculiar objects. Every one knows
the attention which an unusual diction,
or even an unusual dress, secures for a
teacher so soon as he has once secured
a hearing. A Quaker at court, or
Latter~day prophet, speaking in the Ian
guage of Mr.. Carlyle, has, other things
considered, better chance of being
listened TO than a man in ordinary cos
tune and of ordinary address. And
such, in an eminent degree, was Socra-
tes. Ii was (so his disciples described
iD as if one of the marble satyrs, which
sat in grotesque attitudes, with pipe or
flute, in the sculptors' shops at Athens,
had left his seat of stone, and walked
into the plane-tree avenue of the GYM
nastic colonade. Gradually the crowd
gathered round him. At first he spoke
OF the tanners, and the smiths, and the
drovers, who were plying their trades
about him, and they shouted with laugh.
ter as he poured forth his homely jokes.
But soon the magic charm of his voice
made itself felt The peculiar sweet
ness of its tone had an effect which even
the thunder of Pericles failed to pro-
duce. The laughter ceased; the crowd
ihickened; the gay youth, whom nothing
else could tame, stood transfxed and
awe>struck in his presence; there was q
solemn thrill in his words, such as his
hearers could compare TO nothing but
the mysterious sensation produced by
the clash Of drum and cymbal in the
worship of the great mother ofthe gods;
the head swan; the heart leaped at the
sound; tears rushed from the eyes; and
they felt that unless they tore them
selves away from that fascinated circle,
they should sit down at his feet and
grow old in listening to the marvellous
music of this second Marsyas.
But The excitement occasioned by his
appearance was increased ten fold by
the purpose which he had set before
him, when, to use the expressive com-
parison of his pupils, he cast away his
rough satyr's skin, and disclosed the d. |
vine image which that rude exterior had
covered. The object TO which he thus
devoted himself was to convince men
of ali classes, but especially the most
distinguished, that they had the ''conceit
of knowledge without the reality"
Quarterly ReUiev.