George. A competence, though no superabundance of this world's goods, had been the result of their industry. About the year 469, and early in the year, in March or April, a son was born in this retired cottage. No special prognostics, as far as we know, heralded his birth, no prodigies signalized his boyhood, and yet he was destined to be the most remarkable man, perhaps, that the world has ever seen. When of a suitable age, he was sent to the schools of his native district, where he was taught in the usual departments of learning then thought necessary, music, poetry, and gymnastic exercises. Of his attainments in the two former arts, we see no special indication in his subsequent life; and yet we hesitate not to believe, from his general character, that he fell not a whit behind his compeers, if he did not far excel them. His success in the training of his physical nature, we shall frequently have occasion to allude to in the subsequent pages. He also received instruction in the art of his father, which was probably supposed to be the profession most suited to his capacities, as well as to his birth. And he would doubtless have become world-renowned even there, if he had not been allured away to a higher sphere of exertion; for we are credibly informed, that in addition to other works carved by his hand, a draped statue of the Three Graces, which would necessarily require no small degree of skill in the use of the chisel, was thought worthy of a place in the Acropolis at Athens, near the Minerva of the master-sculptor, Phidias.* Crito, a wealthy Athenian, in some way, perhaps, attracted to the studio of the artist by his love of the creations of the art, seems to have taken a fancy for the uncouth figure of the boy, as he bent over the half-formed mass of stone before him. "Come," said he, "leave this thoughtless, senseless mass, and these walls that imprison the free spirit, and go with me and learn something better." How long the good father was in yielding to this offer so unexpected, we know not; but sure we are, that the heart of *This group was preserved and exhibited as the work of Socrater until the time of Pausanias. See Paus., I. 22. 8; IX. 35. 2. the son leaped within him at the prospect of a life of culture and intellectual growth. At all events, the consent of the parents was finally obtained, for we have evidence that he made considerable progress in early life in physics, which he himself says he had a fondness for,* although afterward, when he had attained to better things, he looked upon them with some contempt, or at least without any very strong feeling in their favor; so true is it, that in the joy of the attainment of a desired object, the thousand little, or it may be important aids therein, are forgotten or nearly lost sight of. Several teachers come in for their share of the honor or dishonor of his early training. According to Ion of Chios, an unimpeached contemporary witness, he accompanied the physical philosopher Archelaus from Athens to Samos, in order to avail himself of his instructions, and there is little question that he was for a time also the pupil of Anaxagoras. The Parmenides of Plato, doubtless, gives us a true picture of the zeal and enthusiasm of the young scholar in his attendance upon Parmenides and Zeno, during his earliest efforts to acquire a knowledge of the process of dialectics as pursued by them. Indeed, the natural curiosity of his mind seems to have urged him, now that the liberality of his patron had given him the means, to pursue eagerly every branch of knowledge then accessible. The degree of satisfaction that physical science, as pursued in the age of Socrates, would give to an original and discriminating mind, was, it must be confessed, very small. The opposing dogmas, the obscurity, the confusion, the chaos in which rival sects had enveloped all nature, seem to have been too much even for his keen penetration. This we should hardly have expected. * Plato, Phaedo. p. 96. A. where he says: véos av davμaotŵs is tñe θύμησα ταύτης τῆς σοφίας ἣν δὴ καλοῦσι περὶ φύσεως ἱστορίαν, κ.τ.λ. The same thing is implied in Mem. IV. 7. 3 sq.: Kaítol oùk áñeipós ye αὐτῶν ἦν. Mem. IV. 7. 5; I. 1. 11 sq., and Grote, Vol. VIII. p. 572. See also Tychsen's Dissertation Ueber. d. Prozess d. Sokrates, in Bibliothek d. Alt. Lit. u. Kunst. 1st. St. p. 43. Some struggling rays of light, we should have supposed, would have met his eager gaze into the depths, and saved him from wholly discarding this kind of knowledge. But no; even in the maturity of his powers, he classed the working of the machinery of nature among those things which the gods had designed to be kept from the knowledge of mortals, and as a secret, the attempt to pry into which would not only prove nugatory, but would be punished as impious. Yet, as we have before intimated, these efforts of the youth were not lost in their influence upon the character of the man. * Dissatisfied with the study of Physics, Socrates naturally turned his thoughts to more purely speculative themes, and to moral relations and duties. Even his teacher, Archelaus, might have aided in directing his attention to these subjects, by his discussions upon the foundations of justice, and upon the effect of law. But the instructions of Parmenides and Zeno are unmistakeable.t SOCRATES AS PUBLIC TEACHER. Precisely when Socrates deserted his father's workshop, or how long a time he devoted to study before he became a "public talker," is uncertain. He probably came into his position gradually, as his own views became more settled, and his knowledge of the errors and defects of those who professed to be teachers, and of the questionings and wants of those who frequented public places, were by degrees revealed to him. He, however, is supposed to have devoted himself to the main object of his mission when about thirty years of age. After that time, about 539 B. C., he was generally to be found in some public place in the city, with his little company of adherents, and those strangers and curious persons who had been allured into his society by the fame that had gone abroad concerning him. The external appearance * Mem. I. 1. 7 sq.; IV. 7. 6. + Cf. Grote, vol. viii. 568 and 473. of the man was certainly noticeable, although not altogether attractive. Indeed, his uncomely exterior was almost proverbial. He was compared to a satyr or silenus,* and his prominent eyes, scarcely parted by the low ridge of the nose, his dilated nostrils, wide mouth, and thick lips, low and protuberant figure, and awkward movement,t were thought a sufficient ground for jests and merriment even among his friends. Neither did his soiled and worn garments, and bare feet without regard to the season, add to his personal attractions. The pale face which Aristophanes attributes to him could not certainly be indicative of infirm health, for "his physical constitution," says Grote, "was healthy, robust, and enduring to an extraordinary degree. He was not merely strong and active as an hoplite on military service, but capable of bearing fatigue or hardship, and indifferent to heat or cold to a degree which astonished all his companions." The natural temper of Socrates seems not to have been without some acerbity, but his habit of self-control enabled him generally, at least, to keep it in complete subjection. Indeed, the one great principle of his life, after he had devoted himself to the instruction of others, was to reduce as much as possible all his desires and appetites. His diet and regimen was all made to conform to this, in order that his time might be the more at his disposal, for the benefit of his friends and country: thus, when Antiphon objects to his philosophy, that it does not enable him to live freely and generously, and that the legitimate result of his teachings to men would be misery, he replies: "Men rejoice when they are prosperous in their respective pursuits; but how much greater is the delight that I have in conscious advancement in virtue, and in aiding others therein." And, in conclusion: “I suppose that to want nothing is godlike (Jeĉov), and to want very little is to be most nearly related to the gods; and the divine is most excellent, and that which is nearest to deity is best."§ *Plat. Symp. 215. A. Encyclopædia Britannica, Art. Socrates. We are not, however, to conclude that he had so entirely put off the character of his age and nation, as never to relax the rigidity of his life. On festal occasions, whether religious or secular, the viands and the wine were not less grateful to him than to others, yet he was careful never to cast the reins of desire wholly upon the neck of his appetites; self-command he was careful never to lose.* The life of Socrates, with some few interruptions, which will be hereafter alluded to, seems to have passed on in an even tenor, which was the great object of his seeking. Early in the morning he was to be found in the public walks, and in the places set apart for the physical and intellectual training of the young. He went thence to the market-place, where he remained as long as the crowd set in that direction. He then passed the remainder of the day wherever he supposed he should fall in with the most of his fellow-citizens. And his biographer adds significantly he was talking for the most part, and that not privately, but all who wished, "sophists, military men, artisans, ambitious or studious youths," all were permitted to listen to him. "He visited all persons of interest in the city, male or female. His friendship with Aspasia is well known; and one of the most interesting chapters of Xenophon's Memorabilia recounts his visit to and dialogue with Theodote, a beautiful Hetæra or female companion." He himself says in his Apology, as given us by Plato: "To all young or old who have desired to know of my words or actions, I have exhibited them; I have not spoken for money, nor kept silent for want of it; but I have freely permitted any who wished, the poor as well as the rich, to question me, and hear my answers." He also declares that he had spoken his sentiments without reserve to all. "If any one," he says, avers that he has ever been taught any thing by me, or heard me say * See the Symposion of Plato and Xenophon, and cf. Grote, vol. iii. 547. + Memorab. I. 1, 10: ἔλεγε μὲν ὡς τὸ πολύ. See Mem. II. 6. 36; III. 11. 1 sq.; and Grote's Greece, viii. 555 1 |