Aristageles: My good man, Caro, it pains me to see you like this. What in Zeus’ name is the matter?
Caro: I wish I knew.
Aristageles: But why such a perplexed look?
Caro: I have just spent a fair time of the day at the home of my friend Philon, and with his companions discussing the nature of wisdom. Having heard many fine arguments I feel little more than a fool.
Aristageles: Why so?
Caro: Many things were said, but of them I can make no difference to say “this is better than that” or “the evidence presented conclusively proves this argument”. I’m afraid that I am completely unwise about wisdom.
Aristageles: Well, what did they say about this most weighty subject?
Caro: Philippus said wisdom was something that could only be acquired by a select few, and only with great learning. The masses had no understanding of what it meant to be wise – only philosophers had this capacity. According to Philippus wisdom is a pure quality of mind, like the finest thread woven after all else is discarded.
Aristageles: Is that so?
Caro: Atharcus set wisdom with knowledge. The more we know, the wiser we are. One who is a blacksmith is wise about metals – their properties, how to handle and shape them. Or one who knows how to please his lovers is wise about love. The more we understand – about anything and everything – the wiser we become. Atharcus believes that wisdom does not exist purely in itself, but only as a higher register of knowledge.
Aristageles: Hmmm. He is a clever fellow.
Caro: Pellius said wisdom was vested in authority and tradition. By following the laws that have come down over the centuries, we take up the accumulated learning of our forebears. Consider the greatness of Athens, he said. Is that not a mark of the fruits of wisdom? All that remains is to obey authority with a respectful and cordial attitude.
Aristageles: I hope Pellius was respectful and cordial when pouring the wine amongst his comrades. Were there others who spoke?
Caro: Agistemon shouted in the middle of Pellius’ speech, his belly full of drink, that we were wasting our time discussing wisdom. He said it belonged to the past when there was war, people were hungry and you needed your wits to survive. Now all that’s required is skill to continue the plentiful supply of food, horses and slaves.
Aristageles: Was that all?
Caro: Yes, more or less. Maurus, Philon and I sat quietly and took it all in without offering an opinion.
Aristageles: And you say out of all that you cannot sort the good grain from the chaff, or tell which line of reasoning most worthy?
Caro: I confess I cannot.
Aristageles: Well, good fellow, will you permit me to entertain you with my thoughts? I hope I will not add to your confusion or plunge your mind into greater darkness.
Caro: Not at all, Aristageles. Your considered opinion is always welcome.
Aristageles: Well, then, let’s first define wisdom and then address the arguments one by one.
I would say there are two types of wisdom: one of the gods and the other of men. Do you see that sparrow over there pecking at crumbs on the ground? Is it not a wise little beast?
Caro: I should say not. It is simply doing what is in its nature – looking for food and eating it.
Aristageles: Come, Caro, you have little faith. The sparrow’s wisdom is of the gods. It is endowed with an instinct for hunting and gathering what is most beneficial to it. When you and I were born, did we not cry out fiercely when taken from our mothers’ wombs? Every newborn cries so that its helpless purple skin is swaddled to keep it warm, so that its mother and everyone else around pay it proper attention to keep it safe and well. How did we know to do this if not granted by the gods? Wisdom consists in knowing the paths of the good, and the gods are supreme in knowledge.
Now, there is a wisdom that belongs properly to men and it also is about recognising the paths of the good. Tell me, would a goatherd take out his animals when he sees a storm brewing in the sky, or a farmer plant seeds on stony ground? I should think not. They know that it would be of no benefit to do so because the conditions are not right. It is wisdom to see the paths of the good and to act accordingly.
Caro: I am with you in your argument thus far, Aristageles, but you are surely debasing wisdom to say that any goatherd or farmer is wise because they act according to plain reason. It has to be more than that.
Aristageles: You are right, it is more; but only by degree. Socrates was the wisest of men because he followed the paths of the good considerably further than the average Athenian. He tracked the good into the mind and pursued it all the way into the refined air of Ideas, that pure realm where the mind touches the gods. Few of us have the brilliance of a Socrates, but all of us can attune ourselves to the good in many different ways. We can be respectful and kind to other people; we can be moderate in our ways and means; we can speak up for what is right in the Assembly so that justice and fairness are the cornerstones of the life of our polis; we can honour and give thanks to the gods with a pure heart. All of these are the basis for wisdom and all are available to the highest and lowest in the land; as much to slaves as to aristocrats, and equally to those with little intellect as to the most learned.
Caro: Your reasoning seems sound, but is it not true that men have different notions of the good? The Persians, for instance, thought it good to conquer Greek cities, whereas we resisted. A man who treats his wife badly can say that he is doing the right thing, or someone who is greedy believe that ownership of houses and jewels leads to happiness.
Aristageles: Yes, fair point, Caro. I would say that the good is that which preserves and benefits life. Let me explain. When the Persians thought it good to attack Greek cities they were thinking of themselves and not the benefit of life in the broadest possible terms. They were hungry for power and wealth and showed remarkable hubris. Eventually they were defeated and in turn conquered and ruined. Had the Persians approached us more humbly, not as invaders but as fellow men wishing to learn from us and trade in goods and ideas, do you think we would have refused them? Such an approach would have been far more in accordance with the good and with true wisdom. It does not benefit life to spread enmity, war and conquest; only peace and mutual interest preserve wellbeing.
So also to one who mistreats his wife or his slaves, or has any other kind of vice and thinks he is doing the right thing – he must ask himself some appropriate questions. Is what I am doing or thinking respectful and kind? Does it benefit wellbeing for all? If he is honest, the answers will reveal the truth. If he cannot work it out, he need speak to others and perhaps together come to a satisfactory conclusion. Sometimes the good is not arrived at easily or won with a minimum of effort, but the rewards are always great.
Caro: It is well reasoned, Aristageles.
Aristageles: Now, what of the arguments of your fellows? It was Philippus, I think you said, who stated that only philosophers and the learned few could be wise. I hope you will not be offended when I say that I have spent many hours at symposia with philosophers and thought afterwards I could have learnt more from watching a sparrow. Bombast, word plays, tortuous arguments that meander with no consequence are too often the shoddy tools of those who think they have something important to say. Dear Caro, to have read much and talked much is no guarantee of wisdom.
Caro: Ha! Then you must have met some of my comrades.
Aristageles: I confess I have not, but the point is that wisdom, like the air we breathe, is pure and is available to everyone regardless of whether they have studied philosophy or even know how to read the word.
Now, Atharcus it was who said that wisdom was knowledge. Would we really think that a blacksmith who is a master in his craft is wise simply because he knows all there is to know about iron and bronze? What if he used his skill to make weapons for the invading Persians? If he does not make use of his talents and knowledge for the good then no wisdom can come from him. It is the good that is the final authority and not cleverness or technical mastery; otherwise we would have no need for laws or justice. But I’m afraid that men are often seduced by knowledge, and fluffing themselves up like cocks because they have mastery in this way or that they behave shamefully to others and displease the gods. Do you remember Arachne, the young Lydian woman whose skill in weaving was so great that she had the temerity to challenge Athena to a contest? Athena changed her into a spider so that her weaving was of true benefit. Knowledge is nothing if it is without humility and aimed at the good.
Caro: Fine, Aristageles. But what about the argument of Pellius, who said that wisdom belonged to authority and tradition? Of all, this one to me has most merit. When I think of Thales, Heraclitus, Pythagoras and all the great philosophers, I see how much I and all Greeks have benefited from their thought. I look at the public buildings of Athens, our grand festivals, our system of democratic government that is envied by so many, our naval fleet, and reflect that no other city remotely rivals this one. Is all this not the product of wisdom, accrued over the ages, for the benefit of all; and should we not acknowledge and celebrate it?
Aristageles: By Zeus, we should! And yet, at the same time, I am troubled. Our fine city put to death Socrates, the greatest mind of his generation, not by a travesty of justice but by the fair working of the celebrated laws of this land. Our fine city sent thousands of good men to their deaths for the folly of supremacy over the Aegean, only to be thwarted and punished. How many mothers, wives, children howled with grief over the barren graves of their loved ones in all those years that we warred with Sparta? Yes, here in Athens there is wisdom in good measure; but also power hunger, greed and ignorance. It is up to young people like you, Caro, to weave the strands of inherited wisdom into a new garment that will sit much more comfortably on the shoulders of all men and women.
Caro: I will reflect on your words, Aristageles. And what of Agistemon, who said we had no need of wisdom anymore?
Aristageles: He profanes the gods. Can we do without the light of the sun or without water to drink? In good times or bad, wisdom is sunlight shining in our soul, pure spring water quenching our thirst for life.
Caro: It is well said.
Aristageles: Thank you, dear friend.
