Notes and Comments on Phaedo -- 13

2 July 2023

Notes and Comments on Phaedo – 13

This posts continues with my notes and comments on Phaedo.  I am using the translation by Harold North Fowler published by the Loeb Classical Library:

“’Then, Simmias,’ he continued, ‘is not that which is called courage especially characteristic of philosophers?’

“’By all means,’ said he.

“’And self-restraint – that which is commonly called self-restraint, which consists in not being excited by the passions and in being superior to them and acting in a seemly way – is not that characteristic of those alone who despise the body and pass their lives in philosophy?’

“’Necessarily,’ said he.

“’For,’ said Socrates, ‘if you care to consider the courage and the self-restraint of other men, you will that they are absurd.’

“’How so, Socrates?’

“’You know, do you not, that all other men count death among the great evils?’

“’They certainly do.’

“’And do not brave men face death – when they do face it – through fear of greater evils?’

“’That is true.’

“’Then all except philosophers are brave through fear.  And yet it is absurd to be brave through fear and cowardice.’

“’Very true.’

“’And how about those of seemly conduct?  Is their case not the same?  They are self-restrained because of a kind of self-indulgence.  We say, to be sure, that this is impossible, nevertheless their foolish self-restraint amounts to little more than this; for they fear that they may be deprived of certain pleasures which they desire, and so they refrain from some because they are under the sway of others.  And yet being ruled by pleasures is called self-indulgence.  Nevertheless they conquer pleasures because they are conquered by other pleasures.  Now this is about what I said just now, they they are self-restrained by a kind of self-indulgence.’

“’So it seems.’

“’My dear Simmias, I suspect that this is not the right way to purchase virtue, by exchanging pleasures for pleasures, and pains for pains, and fear for fear, and greater for less, as if they were coins, but the only right coinage, for which all those things must be exchanged and by means of and with which all these things are to be bought and sold, is in fact wisdom; and courage and self-restraint and justice and, in short, true virtue exist only with wisdom, whether pleasures and fears and other things of that sort are added or taken away.  And virtue which consists in the exchange of such things for each other without wisdom, is but a painted imitation of virtue and is really slavish and has nothing healthy or true in it; but truth is in fact a purification from all these things, and self-restraint and justice and courage and wisdom itself are a kind of purification.  And I fancy that those men who established the mysteries were not unenlightened, but in reality had a hidden meaning when they said long ago what whoever goes uninitiated and unsanctified to the other world will be in the mire, but he who arrives there initiated and purified will dwell with the gods.  For as they say in the mysteries, “the thyrsus-bearers are many, but the mystics are few’; and these mystics are, I believe, those who have been true philosophers. And I in my life have, so far as I could, left nothing undone, and have striven in every way to make myself one of them.  But whether I have striven aright and have met with success, I believe I shall know clearly, when I have arrived there, very soon, if it is God’s will.  This then, Simmias and Cebes, is the defence I offer to show that it is reasonable for me not to be grieved or troubled at leaving you and the rulers I have here, because I believe that there, no less than here, I shall find good rules and friends.  If now I am more successful in convincing you by my defence than I was in convincing my Athenian judges, it is well.’”

(Ibid, Fowler, pages 237 – 241)

 

1.  This quote from Phaedo is focused on the virtues, such as courage, justice, and self-restraint, and how they differ in a philosophical context and a non-philosophical context.  In a philosophical context the virtues are a part of the process of purification.  In a non-philosophical context the virtues are used in order to obtain some kind of sensory pleasure; that is to say, for example, the self-restraint may be exercised in eating because one wants to look good at the beach and thereby attract attention.  Or one may be courageous in order to impress someone that you have a sexual interest in.  I think that is what Socrates means by ‘purchasing virtue’. 

In contrast, in a philosophical context virtue is practiced for the purpose of purification, and purification is practiced as the method for separating the soul from the body.  In a philosophical context the virtues overcome desire, whereas in a non-philosophical context the virtues shift the focus of desire.

2.  “And I fancy that those men who established the mysteries were not unenlightened, but in reality had a hidden meaning when they said long ago that whoever goes uninitiated and unsanctified to the other world will be in the mire, but he who arrives there initiated and purified will dwell with the gods.”

I have noticed how often Socrates brings up esotericism and mystery traditions.  It is clear that Socrates relies on those traditions and, it seems, participated in at least some of them.

(As an aside, I think these kinds of comments legitimately raise the question of whether Platonism was patterned, or in some sense mimicked, mystery traditions.  I know there are some who think so.  Personally, I am not familiar enough with the specifics of mystery traditions to have an informed opinion; though I’m not opposed to such a conclusion or view.)

From a philosophical perspective, I interpret ‘initiated’ and ‘sanctified’ as referring to engaging in the practices of purification. 

3.  “For as they say in the mysteries, ‘the thyrsus-bearers are many, but the mystics are few’; and these mystics are, I believe, those who have been true philosophers.”

It seems that Socrates is quoting a well-known saying of his day.  It is likely that those in attendance understood the symbology of the ‘thyrsus-bearers’. 

A thyrsus was a pillar made from a type of fennel.  It was wrapped in vines and sometimes topped with a cone, like a pine tree cone.  It was used in celebrations connected with Dionysus.  Dionysus is the god of wine, drunkenness, and often associated with orgiastic sexuality.  In the context of this quote, Dionysus symbolizes the opposite of self-restraint and purification.  When Socrates says the ‘thyrsus-bearers are many’ I understand that as a symbol for the fact that many live a life that celebrates sensual stimulation and are not interested in purification.

“But the mystics are few.”  It is interesting that in this translation mystics are equated with philosophers, the true philosophers.  This is a highly contentious view these days.  For example, the analytic tradition, materialists, Marxists, etc. do not think of mystics and philosophers as engaged in the same kind of work, or have the same task.  In a way they are correct; but for the Platonist tradition philosophy was a spiritual tradition and mystic understanding, or experience, of the transcendental is its purpose and the ground from which everything else in Platonism flows. 

4.  It is the mystics who are true philosophers.  The implication is that most of that which goes by the name of philosophy today, particularly in the analytic tradition, is, from this perspective, something else, something other than philosophy.  It may have something to offer, but it does not offer the methods of asceses and purification, and it does not know of the Good and the One; in fact it denies the validity of metaphysics and spirituality. 

Socrates is confident in the heritage of purification that he has received and practiced during his life.  This indicates that Platonism is a way of life; a way of asceticism, a way of purification, a way that cultivates wisdom.  This way is accessible even today.  Even today we can, step by step, journey to the transcendental, that which is eternal, the Good and the One.