Reading an excerpt of Socrates' defense of himself and his cause, I was wondering about the claim he makes when he avers that his BFF Chaerephon was the one who consulted the Pythian prophetess about who was wiser than Socrates. The priestess's answer is famous and the raison d'etre for all of Socratic dialogue: there is no man wiser than Socrates.
A couple of things come to mind that makes me question Socrates veracity.
Consulting the oracle in ancient Greece wasn't akin to accosting a traffic cop and asking for directions. Neither was it analogous to going to the DMV to have your license renewed, where one has to draw a ticket and wait for one's turn.
In fact, consulting the Oracle was a long drawn out process for the supplicant. It involved a series of rituals that were probably designed to ensure that the supplicant had an inquiry that was worthy of the Oracle's oracular efforts. In other words, the oracle probably wouldn't be inclined to given you any answer if your question was steeped in the mundane: Will I get to work on time tomorrow? What is my favorite fruit? Who 's that guy selling hot dogs?
Getting to the oracle was a long an arduous journey. Once you got there, there was an entire committee of priestesses who would interview about your quest. This was a selective process. What's my favorite fruit would likely not make the cut. Neither would hey, who's that guy selling hot dogs? Once selected, you'd learn a bunch of rituals to ensure that you got to ask the question in a manner deemed fit for oracular response. Then you'd have to make sure you had come with gifts and offerings for the oracle. Even in ancient Delphi, there ain't no free lunch.
Finally, you'd get to meet the oracle and ask your question. And receive your answer in the form of some mumbo jumbo that made no sense and hence offered itself as a "riddle" to be solved.
Which brings me to the crux of what seems specious about Socrates' tale. If one were to believe him, his BFF (best friend forever) Chaerephon went to ask the oracle who was wiser than Socrates. First point of speciousness: does this sound like a question that would be deemed worthy of oracular attention? If one is to believe Socrates, his road to Socratic dialogue was launched by the Oracle's answer: No man is wiser than Socrates. If Socrates began his famous journey only after hearing the Oracle's response, then one may well assume that Socrates wasn't philosophizing in his quirky dialogues before his friend went to the Oracle.
If this is true, then Socrates was a nobody when Chaerephon went to the Oracle.
So how then are we to believe that he made it through the screening process to ask his irrelevant question. Imagine the scene at the committee of assembled priestesses at Delphi:
Chaerophon: "What do I want to know? I want to know who's wiser than Socrates."
Committee: "Whos wiser than who?"
Chaerophon: "Socrates."
Committee: "Who's Socrates?"
Chaerophon: "He's my BFF. I think he's super smart."
Committe: "So you want to find out who's wiser than your best friend? This definitely sounds like a question worthy of the Oracle's time and attention. It's questions like these she lives for. Why, only yesterday, a guy came here wanting to know who's that guy selling hot dogs."
So Chaerophon goes in and asks and gets his answer: "No man is wiser than Socrates. Not even the dude selling hot dogs."
How is this a riddle? Unless the Oracle liked playing double reversal games, this statement is a straightforward answer to a very irrelevant question in the oracular realm.
(Oracle: What'll they ask me next: Who's fatter than my mother-in-law? This place used to have standards, I tell you.)
So Chaerephon supposedly returns from his journey to the Oracle and supplies Socrates with the Oracle's answer: that none is wiser than Socrates.
Socrates thinks: If it's from the Oracle, it must be a riddle.
Chaerophon thinks: I can't believe my BFF bought this cock-and-bull story about me seeing the oracle.
Socrates thinks: Surely, there must be someone smarter than me.
Chaerophon thinks: He might be my BFF but the guy sure is gullible. He's seeing a riddle in my plain statement to make believe its oracular. Come on, man--even I'm wiser than this!
Socrates thinks: I must set out to uncover the meaning of the riddle by finding out who's wiser than me.
Chaerephone thinks: He's probably going to go out and do something crazy. I just hope he doesn't get himself killed...
Coming back to Socrates's trial, it remains curious that Chaerophon is no longer alive to testify to his ever having gone to the Oracle at Delphi. Socrates tells the Athenians that Chaerophon's brother can confirm the truth of Chaerophon's story.
Suddenly, this has begun to sound like a friend of a friend told me kind of story.
A conjecture here: Socrates realizes Chaerophon was leading him on, that he never consulted any oracle, that it was just a joke to point out to Socrates that he takes himself too seriously and that he really needs to get a handle on his egotistical self, and that a humorless Socrates indulged in some quick-fix homicide to keep at his quest to solve the riddle that was all along a friendly joke.
Requiescat in pace, Chaerophon.
A couple of things come to mind that makes me question Socrates veracity.
Consulting the oracle in ancient Greece wasn't akin to accosting a traffic cop and asking for directions. Neither was it analogous to going to the DMV to have your license renewed, where one has to draw a ticket and wait for one's turn.
In fact, consulting the Oracle was a long drawn out process for the supplicant. It involved a series of rituals that were probably designed to ensure that the supplicant had an inquiry that was worthy of the Oracle's oracular efforts. In other words, the oracle probably wouldn't be inclined to given you any answer if your question was steeped in the mundane: Will I get to work on time tomorrow? What is my favorite fruit? Who 's that guy selling hot dogs?
Getting to the oracle was a long an arduous journey. Once you got there, there was an entire committee of priestesses who would interview about your quest. This was a selective process. What's my favorite fruit would likely not make the cut. Neither would hey, who's that guy selling hot dogs? Once selected, you'd learn a bunch of rituals to ensure that you got to ask the question in a manner deemed fit for oracular response. Then you'd have to make sure you had come with gifts and offerings for the oracle. Even in ancient Delphi, there ain't no free lunch.
Finally, you'd get to meet the oracle and ask your question. And receive your answer in the form of some mumbo jumbo that made no sense and hence offered itself as a "riddle" to be solved.
Which brings me to the crux of what seems specious about Socrates' tale. If one were to believe him, his BFF (best friend forever) Chaerephon went to ask the oracle who was wiser than Socrates. First point of speciousness: does this sound like a question that would be deemed worthy of oracular attention? If one is to believe Socrates, his road to Socratic dialogue was launched by the Oracle's answer: No man is wiser than Socrates. If Socrates began his famous journey only after hearing the Oracle's response, then one may well assume that Socrates wasn't philosophizing in his quirky dialogues before his friend went to the Oracle.
If this is true, then Socrates was a nobody when Chaerephon went to the Oracle.
So how then are we to believe that he made it through the screening process to ask his irrelevant question. Imagine the scene at the committee of assembled priestesses at Delphi:
Chaerophon: "What do I want to know? I want to know who's wiser than Socrates."
Committee: "Whos wiser than who?"
Chaerophon: "Socrates."
Committee: "Who's Socrates?"
Chaerophon: "He's my BFF. I think he's super smart."
Committe: "So you want to find out who's wiser than your best friend? This definitely sounds like a question worthy of the Oracle's time and attention. It's questions like these she lives for. Why, only yesterday, a guy came here wanting to know who's that guy selling hot dogs."
So Chaerophon goes in and asks and gets his answer: "No man is wiser than Socrates. Not even the dude selling hot dogs."
How is this a riddle? Unless the Oracle liked playing double reversal games, this statement is a straightforward answer to a very irrelevant question in the oracular realm.
(Oracle: What'll they ask me next: Who's fatter than my mother-in-law? This place used to have standards, I tell you.)
So Chaerephon supposedly returns from his journey to the Oracle and supplies Socrates with the Oracle's answer: that none is wiser than Socrates.
Socrates thinks: If it's from the Oracle, it must be a riddle.
Chaerophon thinks: I can't believe my BFF bought this cock-and-bull story about me seeing the oracle.
Socrates thinks: Surely, there must be someone smarter than me.
Chaerophon thinks: He might be my BFF but the guy sure is gullible. He's seeing a riddle in my plain statement to make believe its oracular. Come on, man--even I'm wiser than this!
Socrates thinks: I must set out to uncover the meaning of the riddle by finding out who's wiser than me.
Chaerephone thinks: He's probably going to go out and do something crazy. I just hope he doesn't get himself killed...
Coming back to Socrates's trial, it remains curious that Chaerophon is no longer alive to testify to his ever having gone to the Oracle at Delphi. Socrates tells the Athenians that Chaerophon's brother can confirm the truth of Chaerophon's story.
Suddenly, this has begun to sound like a friend of a friend told me kind of story.
A conjecture here: Socrates realizes Chaerophon was leading him on, that he never consulted any oracle, that it was just a joke to point out to Socrates that he takes himself too seriously and that he really needs to get a handle on his egotistical self, and that a humorless Socrates indulged in some quick-fix homicide to keep at his quest to solve the riddle that was all along a friendly joke.
Requiescat in pace, Chaerophon.
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