1	The Ancient Greeks: Through the Eyes of Socrates Session 8 Conclusion L.D. Alford Author of The Second Mission www.lionelalford.com www.ldalford.com
2	My Novels 18 written, 6 published, 2 on contract The Second Mission – historical fiction Centurion – historical fiction Aegypt – historical fiction/suspense The End of Honor - SiFi The Fox’s Honor - SiFi A Season of Honor - SiFi The Sister of Light/Darkness – 2 on contract The Shadow/Warrior of Light/Darkness – 4 in consideration The Ghost Ship Chronicles – 5 in consideration
3	The Second Mission Historical fiction novel with a SiFi driver Idea 1994, start 1996, finished 2000 Published by Xulon in Aug 2003 Follows Alan Fisher and Sophia Time: October 400 BC to October 399 BC Location: Athens Greece Available here from me and Watermark Books
4	Class Syllabus 1. Novel, characters, history, politics 2. Ancient Greece in time and place – 400 BC 3. Paganism and the musterium – 400 BC 4. Greek life – 400 BC 5. Socrates 6. The Socratic Dialogs 7. The Death of Socrates 8. Conclusion
5	My Question When I write a book, I always ask a question The question that propelled The Second Mission is: What would happen if a modern person was accidentally pulled back into a time mission? You can see there are cascading effects that result from this question
6	Overview Novel is historical—2+ years of research Mainly primary sources in history Language, religion, and cultural details Suspense driven by historical data My question: What would happen if a modern person was accidentally pulled back into a time mission? Cascading questions: What is the most important event in history that future societies would want to confirm or observe? How would they go about it?
7	"“What do you mean..." “What do you mean no one will be traveling for at least a year? Aren’t you going back?” Sophia’s face took on a guarded expression. “You will take me back?” he said forcefully. “I... I can’t.” “What do you mean, you can’t?” “Please, please keep your voice down,” Sophia appeared close to tears, “A man isn’t supposed to be in this house.” “All right, I’m lowering my voice. What do you mean, you can’t?”
8	"She spoke in a rush" She spoke in a rush, “We prepared for this mission for ten years. It’s mission number two. I trained for that entire time. I was handpicked for this mission. The groundwork was put together, the location prepared. No contact has been made with these people. We worked ten years to put this mission together, and I am here for one year,” Sophia’s voice died away to a whisper. “What did you say?” She spoke a little louder, “This is a one-year trip. I cannot return until this time, one year from today. No one can return for one year,” she put her hands over her eyes and tears dropped between her fingers.
9	"“If you expected this" “If you expected this, then why are you crying?” She put down her hands. Tears streaked her face. Sophia stared at him with incredulity, “This is the mission, my mission. You have no part to play in this. You are a dependent, forced upon me. None of my training took anything like this into account.” She crossed her arms, “If you don’t believe me, if you don’t trust me and obey me, you and I will likely die here. I will have failed completely. Ten years of planning and training will go for nothing.” “What’s the danger? Why are you so afraid?”
10	"“This is not the..." “This is not the modern world, Mr. Fisher. This is a dangerous time. There is little rule of law. In this time, might largely determines right. Because of that, people are more suspicious and dangerous than you can imagine. People here rarely travel from their own city-state. They kill strangers indiscriminately. If you cannot speak the language, and if you do not know their customs, they will likely kill you outright. If we infringe law or custom, we could both be put to death. I am already suspect because I supposedly returned from another city.”
11	The Second Mission A time travel mission (the second one) to Oct 400 BC for one year – until the death of Socrates in Oct 399 BC I wanted to show Greek society and culture I wanted to make the dialogs of Socrates available to everyone
12	The Second Mission Caliban wasn’t listening to her. His mind was still wrapped around the revelation of the truth of his situation. He spoke around a bite of the dry bread, “The mission depends on this money. Everything you have done today supports the mission. Just what exactly is this mission?” Her eyes got large and she smiled, “The mission is to validate the words of Socrates and to observe his death.” “This is the most critical question to answer in history?”
13	"“No,” she said..." “No,” she said with gravity, “this is the second most important question.” “I didn’t really mean to sound sarcastic. Why this question?”
14	"Only her lips were visible..." Only her lips were visible in the firelight, “Socrates is the beginning point for philosophy in Western civilization. We base the validity of science, literature, and philosophy on his methods and ideas. He was the first person we know in history who was martyred for his ideas. His death foretold and began the decline of the Greek city-state. If we understand the truth of Socrates’ ideas, we define Western civilization. If we validate Plato’s records of Socrates’ dialogues, we validate ancient Western literature.”
15	The Mission Why this question?
16	Historical and Literary Question Prior to the Age of Reason Historical-Legal method assumed to prove veracity of documents in antiquity Age of Reason (circa. 1600 to 1700) All knowledge could be gained by reason alone <or> All knowledge has to come through the senses Application of scientific method and reason to many fields where they had not before Philosophical and political movement in thought Rationalism and empiricism were rallying calls Assumed by many to simply be early enlightenment
17	Age of Enlightenment Roger Chartier - "This movement [from the intellectual to the cultural/social] implies casting doubt on two ideas: first, that practices can be deduced from the discourses that authorize or justify them; second, that it is possible to translate the terms of an explicit ideology the latent meaning of social mechanisms.” First: questioning of information passed down as authoritative Second: questioning if the information passed down should be used to govern social and cultural mores
18	Historical and Literary Question Prior to the Age of Enlightenment Historical-Legal method assumed to prove veracity of documents in antiquity Age of Enlightenment (circa. 1700 to 1800) Invention of the Novel Extended intentionally fictional narrative that appears to be truth Many in the East: The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu (11^th century) Revolution in the West Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (1719)
19	Age of Enlightenment Implicit assumption that everything passed down and that passed Historical-Legal tests was truth Question AoE wanted to answer What was fiction and what not fiction Novel brought this to the forefront Ascent of science – scientific method Ascent of of archeology – nascent science What was reason - logic
20	The Question The great question from antiquity is… Are ancient dialogs the actual words of the speakers or are they polite fictions used to propel a philosophical proof or narrative Answer has incredible historical ramifications If actual words—historical documents represent the actual vocabulary and thoughts from the past If polite fictions or something in between—literary documents with historical ramifications, but not historical truth Answer radically affects knowledge and view of history
21	Question Literally, the second most important question in history Answer affects our entire view of the past Therefore: The Second Mission
22	The Second Mission The postulate of the Novel Second mission in time is to determine if the Socratic dialogs recorded by Plato were the actual words of Socrates or fictions by Plato Main character Alan Fisher is accidentally drawn into the mission Allows me to show the reader Greek times and events from the viewpoint of a modern man
23	The Other Question Obvious other question… What was the first mission?
24	"The first mission," The first mission, that was an interesting thought. The idea intrigued Caliban the moment Sophia said it. What event in history would concern a future society? Like the death of Socrates, it would have to be a defining moment in civilization. Would it be the same question his time would ask?
25	"Sophia said Socrates’" Sophia said Socrates’ death had been the defining point in the birth of Western philosophy and literature. As a scientist, Caliban would have chosen Leonardo Da Vinci or Newton, Aquinas, or Aristotle—or, perhaps, Augustine. But, these figures were well known. They all left a record of their life and ideas. They all produced a great body of writing and information about their discoveries.
26	"What was the difference about..." What was the difference about Socrates? Why of course, Caliban thought, Socrates didn’t leave any of his own writing. Everything he said was interpreted and written down by his student, Plato. And Socrates was important not only for his ideas, but because, as Sophia said, he died for his ideas. That was it! What other figure in history had not left a personal record and died for his ideas? The answer came to him immediately—the defining moment in Western history had been the death and supposed resurrection of Jesus Christ.
27	"Sophia said her mission was..." Sophia said her mission was to test the veracity of the historical record. They had not just picked this time to observe history, but to check histories’ data on the event itself. Within the context Sophia presented him about this mission, the second mission, Caliban guessed the first mission must have been to investigate the death and resurrection of Christ. But did his conjecture fit with Sophia’s words and actions?
28	"Sophia answered him," Sophia answered him, “We chose the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for many reasons—but, primarily, it characterizes a major element in the civilization of the world and, secondarily, it defines the only religion based entirely on a historical event. Except for pantheistic religions, like the Greeks, all the other religions are based on a person and their individual revelation. You can prove the person exists in time, but you can’t prove the inspiration.”
29	First Mission Major element that affects all modern civilizations Only religion based on a historical event
30	Historical Resurrection Prior to resurrection of Christ No word in any culture that meant to come back from death No concept of human return from death in any religion or culture Individual miracle in OT with Elijah and the young man (1 Kings 17)—such revivals were not unknown, but not noted much in historical documents
31	Historical Resurrection After resurrection Beginning of words for resurrection from death Beginning of resurrection mythos starting with paganism and moving into musterium (not found in Gnosticism) Mithris Appolos Osiris But unfortunately only for gods not of men or for men
32	Historical Resurrection Christianity is based wholly in a historical event Resurrection of Christ Only religion of its type World changed Greeks absorbed the message of Teen Hodos Called Christians (at Antioch) as a musterium Religion that moved across the modern world faster and with greater acceptance than any other in history Based wholly in personal witness
33	Historical Resurrection Results Women’s equality End of slavery Greek rationalism Modern science Modern literature Modern politics
34	Women’s equality NT called for equality of all ekklesia All equal in the ekklesia: no male, female, slave, or free Beginning of Chivalry Beginning of Courtly Love Concept of Romantic Love between men and women Idea of sacramental marriage
35	End of slavery NT called for equality of all ekklesia All equal in the ekklesia: no male, female, slave, or free Christianity is the only group that repudiated slavery End of slavery seen as a Christian issue In history there have been slave revolts Only one war fought for the stated purpose to end slavery Only argument against slavery is Christian in nature based in ekklesia
36	Greek rationalism Scientific method Legal-historical method Logic From Greek culture became Western Civilization through Christianity Hellenization was dead (but never forgotten) by about 300-500 AD Roman culture filled with Greek ideas and propelled by Christianity moved into the rest of Europe Focus of NT writings
37	Modern science Modern science is based wholly in Greek Rationalism Christianity called for exploration of the world based on Greek rationalism Believed that understanding of the world could never conflict with Christian view of the world This was true until the Enlightenment Enlightenment was not a condemnation of Christianity as much as a vindication of the Christian view of the world Secular Enlightenment view accepted and tried to determine a secular basis for Christian view
38	Modern literature Gospels are the first documents in history that mix narrative and dialogs All modern literature based on them Reason NT written with narrative and dialog together First document in history where the words of a specific person and their narrative setting was important Greek logos to tellos Greek plays were religious and the basis for Christian mystery and passion plays
39	Modern politics Ekklesia Voted for Deacons Voted for Elders Assumption HS would work through people Prior to this all was by lot—including Athenian Democracy Representative government based completely on this idea Secular acceptance of a very religious idea
40	"Sophia shrugged her shoulders," Sophia shrugged her shoulders, “What is there to say, but that the historical sources are accurate? Just like this mission, our operative lived near the disciples and Jesus, for Jesus’ last year. Every word we could check, written in the New Testament and attributed to the Christ, was spoken by him.” She sighed, “We learned an amazing lesson about the memories of early literate societies—the authors did record truth and, in every case we have checked, the record was handed down almost flawlessly. That is part of the purpose of this mission—to confirm the veracity of Socrates period’s literature.”
41	"“So what of the..." “So what of the resurrection of Christ?” “I will tell you something of our program’s capabilities. Every word I speak and everything I see, hear, touch, feel, taste, and smell are being recorded in my body. Parts of my bones have been replaced with a memory array matrix. This matrix permanently records everything I experience. When I return, the people of my time will be able to relive my experiences through virtual reality.”
42	"“This was also accomplished..." “This was also accomplished during the first mission?” “Yes, that is why it caused such a powerful effect on the world. The whole world saw the living and breathing Christ resurrected and triumphant.” “Because of that, things are different in the future now?” “Different, and yet the same. The world has changed, people have changed, but faith and belief are still based in each individual’s heart.”
43	Ancient Literature Mnemonics Memorized—literature ensured memorization was absolutely correct Religion was primary reason for literature—ensure revelation was correct NT first Greek works with this particular concern Concern in other cultures—Hebrew Meant ancient man was very good an memorization and expected memorization to be a critical skill Proof denial of Enlightenment assumption
44	Age of Enlightenment Implicit assumption that everything passed down and that passed Historical-Legal tests was truth Question AoE wanted to answer What was fiction and what not fiction Novel brought this to the forefront
45	Enlightenment Since ancient documents were mnemonics—they were by definition the absolute words of the authors Since the authors asserted the documents were the absolute words of the speakers—and the other hearers were at least as good as memorization Therefore, that in itself is the answer to the AoE question The proof within the documents themselves as memorized first means they are precise quotations
46	The Dialogs What this allows us is a human eye view of the five Socratic dialogs that took place in the last year of Socrates’ life: Euthyphro Cratylus Crito Phaedo The Apology of Socrates The Second Mission includes retranslations of these works
47	The Dialogs We looked at the dialogs a little In The Second Mission they are Placed in context in history Retranslated into modern English Turned into conversations Made as understandable as possible Terms and ideas placed into a more coherent context – they are explained within the text
48	Ultimate Answer When we conclude this about these ancient documents Must also conclude the same about the NT documents Critical answer to the Enlightenment question
49	The Greek Likewise, we saw the Greeks as they lived in 400 BC Inside their homes Their entertainment Pastimes Symposia Cooking The Market The Lyceum The Agora We looked into their minds and culture
50	Summary Main character Alan Fisher was accidentally drawn into the second mission into time Through this we saw Greek times and events from the viewpoint of a modern man and the death and five dialogs of Socrates The great question from antiquity was answered… Ancient dialogs are actual words of the speakers not just polite fictions used to propel a philosophical proof or narrative
51	Next Time That’s all Christmas is coming and books make great gifts Centurion Aegypt The Second Mission The End of Honor The Fox’s Honor A Season of Honor