My Encounter with Socrates and Plato

 

Myth, or history? Thoth laughs.

The Greeks!—they love to paint themselves

grander, wiser, more generous than they really are.

The Greeks are pretenders, actors, lovers of lies, and

their stories are full of lies, because a story full of lies

makes a better story—Thoth swears it. 

—Duncan Sprott, The Ptolemies

I wake up confused! Am I reading too much!

I find myself en route to ancient Athens, Greece, and I am accompanied by someone who claims to be my sign language interpreter.

I look around and find there are about twenty of us huddling together in an open wagon pulled by a fine-looking horse. All of them are using sign language that is foreign to me so I look back to my escort for some explanations. Most of them are mutes—the term my escort uses to mean ‘DEAF’. They tell me we are going to meet Socrates in the marketplace, or as my escort points out ‘agora’ or ‘gathering place.’  I realize that the English verb ‘to gather’ is from the Greek verb ‘ageiro’ so the noun agora must come from the same Greek term.

I still get confused because I'm not sure if I'm dreaming. Maybe not! Oh, the horse-drawn wagon stops, and we better get off now.

Oh my goodness, there are so many people milling about the agora, they are not minding our presence. And I am learning to distinguish between public gestures and a few new signs, and they must be ancient and complex.

Yes, I'm a fast learner simply because I have undergone language change and culture shock, which is lingering within me for a lifetime.

Oh, I see in the center of the marketplace—pardon me, but my escort insists it's agora—a short, robust gentleman that resembles Santa Claus in his light toga. I know he must be Socrates. As he speaks, he makes a lot of gestures I could almost laugh because I just know what he is talking about, with my escort interpreting.

I laugh because Socrates must have repeated his thoughts and ideas so many times they have become ancient. Oh my, he is now talking about us. He makes some people around him to look at us and give us a courteous nod. One of them gives us two thumb-ups, and my escort tells me to return my thumb-ups. I look back to this guy and recognize his broad physique. Plato!

Am I still dreaming? Or am I waking up? Or am I still reading? Or am I telling myself some lies?

:)