Brian Johnson explores Socrates' final days through Professor Hale's account, focusing on the metaphor of "second voyaging" as a shift from natural philosophy to ethics. When the wind fails, take to the oars: a lesson about effort when circumstances change, tied to the delayed ship that sealed Socrates' fate.
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Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another heroic one. In our last few plus ones, we've been spending some time immersed in wisdom from ancient Athens, learning more about the role their ancient navy played in the birth of democracy. Today we're going to spend some more time with Professor Hale and invite Socrates to join the party as well. Let's get straight to work. Hale tells us two momentous deaths mark the demise of the old order, Socrates and Thucydides. It just took me about 20 takes, by the way, to say that dude's name. Right, let's go. Five years after the city's surrender, Socrates was accused of heresy, of corrupting the minds of the young. At his trial, Socrates denied the charges and reminded the 501 jurors of his war record under Phormio and Lamachus. Probably mispronounced that, too. When the generals whom you chose to command me assigned me my positions, I remained at my post like anyone else in fate face death. Afterward, when God appointed me, as I believe, to the duty of leading a philosophic life, examining myself and others, how inconsistent I should have been to desert my post then through fear of death or any other danger. He also spoke of the role he played in the trial of generals, when he had upheld the law rather than given to the crowd. And then Hale continues by saying, I quote him again. The jury sentenced Socrates to death, but his execution was unexpectedly delayed because of a ship. In his last days, Socrates reminisced about his career as a philosopher. His early scientific interest in the workings of the cosmos had given way in midlife to an obsessive questioning about human nature and the pursuit of virtue. Borrowing a proverbial phrase from Athenian seafarers, he called his change of course a second voyaging. When mariners cruising under sail met with a dead calm, they would run out the oars and venture on by rowing. And finally, he says, in the same way, Socrates had turned away from the natural world and studied mankind instead. When word came that the Delius had landed near Capsunium, his reprieve was over. Like so many others who had incurred the anger of the Athenians, Socrates drank the hemlock, walked about for a little while, and then lay down to die. He had written nothing of his philosophy, asserting that the only thing he knew was that he knew nothing. Now, that's from one of the later chapters called Rowing to Hades, in which Professor Hale walks us through the fall of Athens that followed their loss to the Spartans in the Peloponnesian War. As we've discussed, the last Note I created was on Donald Robertson's latest book called how to Think Like Socrates. Donald joined us in Athens and gave a talk on the grounds of Plato's Academy, along with a couple of spontaneous talks on the Acropolis. He also joined us for an incredibly special trip to board an Athenian trireme, their warship that dominated the ancient world. The picture of him joyfully sitting in the commanding officer's chair is one of my absolute favorite shots from the entire trip. We've got a link. You can check it out in this plus one. Now. When I read about the second voyaging, I thought of David Brooks's brilliant book the Second Mountain. Check out those notes where he tells us, and I quote, when making a commitment decision, defining the purpose of your life is the biggest part of the problem. That's a matter of the ultimate horizon. The question what is my ultimate good? Is a different kind of question than how can I win at Monopoly? When I read about the ship returning to Cape Sunium, I thought of our trip at the end of the week to the Temple of Poseidon, which is on Cape Sunium and overlooks an incredible stretch of the Aegean Sea. Check out a picture of that linked in this plus one as well. And finally, when I read about the calm waters that led to the ancient mariners running out the oars, I thought of the Latin proverb, if the wind fails, take to the oars. And that's today's plus one. Wind not blowing in the direction you'd like. Perfect. Take to the oars. P.S. fun historical fact I bet you didn't know the ancient Athenian mariners could row 50 to 100 miles in a single day. PPS Fun Johnson family Fact. I bet you didn't know, you know, what we were going to name Emerson if he was a girl. Athena.
What's up? This is Michael, President and head coach at Heroic. One quick note before we go. I just think it's so amazing that Brian keeps reading all these books and distilling them into more wisdom in less time. By the way, thank you Brian for continuing to read the books distill them for us. I love not having to read the book, just getting them more wisdom in less time through the plus ones of Philosopher's Notes. And if you're into this kind of thing, expressing the best version of yourself and using your greatest gifts make a positive impact on the world. Make sure you head to Heroic Us to check out all the other resources that we have available to you. You can download a bunch of free goodies, including Philosopher's Notes master classes in our scientifically proven heroic app. You can also explore advanced resources to help you go next level, including live and virtual workshops, working one on one with a heroic performance coach, or even becoming a certified coach yourself as you master heroic performance, the fundamentals of coaching excellence and heroic coaching prosperity. Again, head to Heroic Us to get the ancient wisdom, modern science and practical tools you need to activate your heroic potential and change the world together. And please do hit subscribe, appreciate you have a fantastic day and see you again soon.
