Awakening Your Inner Genius by Sean Patrick

Author:Sean Patrick
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Oculus Publishers
Published: 2013-08-05T16:00:00+00:00

Socrates could no longer feel his legs.

A tingling numbness was creeping up his body, and soon it would reach his heart. When it did, one of history’s greatest thinkers would die.

The people of Athens had charged him with disrespecting the gods and corrupting the youth, for which he was given two choices: exile, or execution. He refused exile and declared that he was unafraid of death, and that he would uphold his civic duty to abide by the laws to which he had agreed to conduct himself, and accept his punishment of death.

Socrates would eventually become known as one of history’s most insightful and influential philosophers—indeed, one of the founders of Western philosophy itself—despite not writing a single word.

His students embraced his teachings and used them to change the world in ever-widening spheres: Plato founded the famous Academy, where he guided the likes of Aristotle, Heraclides Ponticus, Eudoxus of Cnidus, and others, to prominence; Xenophon led 10,000 soldiers into the heart of Persia, and his book detailing the exploits proved invaluable to Alexander the Great in his conquest of the entire Persian empire; and Antisthenes adopted and developed the ethical side of Socrates’ teachings, and is recognized as the founder of Cynic philosophy.

But Socrates was once a young boy more interested in fighting in the gymnasium than intellectual pursuits. When he was eighteen, he enlisted in the Athenian army and began his rigorous military training. But just a year later, he had begun cultivating his love of knowledge and truth. When he wasn’t training for war, Socrates spent copious time in study and discussion with the famous educators of his day, such as Protagoras, Prodicus, and Hippias. And thanks to Athens’ rich culture of festivals, competitions, and celebrations, Socrates would spend hours talking with great philosophers visiting from neighboring lands.

The more Socrates learned, the more he realized he didn’t know, and the more he came to resent the common superstitions and pretensions of his fellow countrymen. These views mounted and, in part, led to his belief that he was destined to become “a sort of gadfly” to the Athenian state. Undeterred by this revelation—in fact, further inspired by it—Socrates decided that he would devote his life to the moral and intellectual reform of its citizens.

The war between Athens and Sparta was intensifying, however, and many feared that it would engulf all of Greece. Socrates was soon deployed as a hoplite (a foot soldier) to help end a revolt in Potidaea, which turned into a protracted siege that drove the population to cannibalism.

While on their way home, Socrates and his fellow soldiers were met by a large enemy force near Spartolus. The Athenians suffered heavy losses in the fierce skirmish that followed. Socrates distinguished himself, however, by saving the life and armor of the wounded Athenian general Alcibiades, who would later become an admirer of his works.

Socrates’ military active duty continued and intensified when, after the battle of Delium, the famous Athenian general Laches commended him for the heroic courage he displayed despite his army’s defeat and retreat.

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