Glebe Collegiate Institute - Lux Glebana Yearbook (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)

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Socrates N HIS immortal Aeneid, Virgil said, Of arms and the man I tell . How- ever, it is not of great battles or heroes that I tell but of a man who,though he lived twenty-five centuries ago, still exerts an iniiuence on posterity. His life and career are somewhat obscure except to those who have studied Ancient History and Phil- osophy, and I feel it would be valuable to bring him forward in greater detail to everyone. His name is Socrates, philoso- pher of Ancient Greece. iklkvlf Socrates was born in Athens not later than the year 469 B.C. In his youth he received the usual education, being instructed chiefly in music and gymnastics. Later through his own efforts he learned mathematics and the doctrines of the leading Greek philosophers. He followed his father's profession as young men do nowadays and became a sculptor of no mean ability. As was the duty of a pat- riotic Athenian, he took part in military affairs, serving for some years at Sauros at Potidaea, where he saved the life of the celebrated Alcibiadesg moreover, he dis- tinguished himself at Deleum and at Am- phipolis by his courage and endurance. When he took part in public affairs he was equally courageous, standing firmly for what he thought right, at one time against the demands of the populace, at another against the unjust commands of the Thirty. He became convinced, however, that his divinely appointed task and patriotic duty was neither military nor political but ed- ucative and gave the remainder of his life to teaching sounder views on ethical and political subjects. As he left no writings his ideas and methods must be learned from the reports of his devoted disciples Xeno- phon and Plato. Socrates did not form a school or expect people to come to him. He walked about the streets, the market place and the gym- nasia conversing with all, artisans, phil- osophers, poets, politicians, rich or poor about their affairs and their ideas of right and wrong. One of his sayings was Fields and trees will not teach me anything, The life of the streets will . His attitude was that of a seeker after truth. Unlike most Greeks he did not love reputation but professed ignorance and by systematic questioning and by treating the most obviously-mistaken opinions with the LUX GLEBANA patience of Job, he argued his opponent first into a doubt of his own wisdom and thence into a new and better opinion. It was not simple ignorance that Socrates thus combatted but ignorance which mis- took itself for knowledge. Although he did not stress religion as the path to good conduct, he was a deeply religious man performing the orthodox re- quirements of the gods piously. But here again he sought for truth. He questioned the traditional accounts of the gods, given by Homer and other poets. How, he asked, could Divine Beings, the source of all good, commit acts that would disgrace the worst of men? It was a purified religion that he taught and he felt, like the Hebrew prophets, that a divine voice showed him the way. . Socrates discussed many things-trying to discover the true nature of beauty, truth, friendship, courage, honesty, virtue and knowledge. To him, men were wicked only through ignorance. He sincerely believed no man was willingly bad, and that all men could be brought to believe in and practise virtue by learning its true nature. He waged a life-long war against vagueness of thought and laxity of speech. The best rulers, he said are not the richest or the most powerful but the wisest. So he spent much time instructing the Athenian youths who were to be responsible in the future for the conduct of the state. Socrate's method of arguing by interro- gation was later known as the Socratic method and was famous all over the Ancient World. Many of the men with whom he argued, however, resented being discom- fitted by him in public and although Soc- rates had only a desire to help them, they felt they had been made ridiculous and could not forgive him. Socrates made other en- emies by his harsh rebukes when great wrongs and injustices were done in the state. On the whole, Socrates' appearance and mode of life were not such as to make him popular. His figure was short and thicksetg he was snub-nosed, had prominent eyes and thick lips. He looked both coarse and stupid. Then he dressed in beggarly fashion, often went cold and hungry. Those who knew him well, loved him 3 they saw in him one who was at once master, counsellor and friend. One of them said, He was a man so pious he never did any- thing without taking counsel of the gods, so Page 21

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course 150 miles long. The 'drst race in 1912 was won by a French Deperdussin racer which attained the phenomenal speed of 45.75 m. p. h. However, in 1931 Great Britain, with a team from the Special High Speed Squadron of the R. A. F. consisting of Orlebar, Boothman, Hope, Long and Leech, Strainforth and Snaith won perma- ment possession of the trophy. Boothman and Strainforth were the lucky officers to pilot the fast machine in successive flights. The R. A. F. had developed it stations in the near and far East by that time and when revolution broke out in Afghanistan, the service was responsible for saving many foreigners from the capital, Kabul. Need- less to say the R. A. F. machines have been of inestimable value on the North-west Frontier, supressing the turbulent tribes- men of that region. By 1935 the Royal Air Force was using many obsolete machines. True, the Hawker Super-Fury was at the peak of its form, but many other types should have been discarded years before. Thus when Mus- solini played his hand in Ethiopia, the British were forced to say pass , although the Navy was strongly assembled in the Mediterranean Qwith scarcely enough am- munition to fire a single salvo per ship.J Since then Great Britain has been wide awake and looks with grave concern at the pre- parations of her cousin in the North and former friend in the South. Her armaments are being rapidly increased and the R. A. F. is not the last in preparing for trouble. Aircraft factories have sprung up all over England and are being worked day and night to bring Britain's air strength up to that of Germany's. Germany has a great number of aircraft but their equipment is mediocre. General Goering himself says there is no use putting a lot of money into expensive machines because most of them will be destroyed in the first few months of the war. This is contrary to Britain's policy and by the time we have reached Germany's might in num- bers we will double their strength by the efficiency of our equipment. Many cities, however, believe too much stress is being laid on speed. In a special test a few Weeks ago a fast modern machine was ordered to fight a duel with a 1918 Sopwith Camel . After the scrap the films in the camera guns were developed and it was discovered that the modern machine was theoretically shot down while the 1918 Camel did not have a bullet hole in it. Reason?-The modern ship took one-quarter to half a mile to turn whereas the Sopwith Camel could turn on the proverbial dime. Page 20 Now we are sitting on a powder magazine with the powder trail already laid and the spark waiting to be struck. If it should come to war, the R. A. F. will again do its part as it did in 1914 and the winged war- riors will fly again as they did in those happy-go-lucky-days of twenty years ago- no not quite! This time they will ily faster and in larger groups, but I doubt if this new way will appeal to the gallant lads who flew out so recklessly those autumn days of 19143 theirs was the last great frontier and theirs, too, the motto they helped to form with their blood, Per ardua ad Astra - Through difliculty to the stars . 20221412 A Song of the Sea Over the sea the dawn is breaking, Over the sea the birds awaking, Over the sea the ships are making Their solitary way. Over the sea the gulls are screaming, Over the sea the cormorants winging, Over the sea a breeze is singing To the sailing ships. In the sea the trout are drowsing, In the sea the salmon browsing, In the sea the shrimp is rousing From contented sleep. Over the sea we two are flying, On the sea our faces vying, In the sea to view the striving Of the luckless cod. E. LESUEUR. Sk if wk How to Write EEP practising the use of words, making them say what you want them to say-as a Violinist keeps practising his instrument. Words are your instrument. If you use them to say what you really mean when you speak and when- ever you write, you have learned the secret of Literature. Get your instrument ready. Keep it in tune. Learn to say simple things well to give the true sense of them. From Laboratory of English by JEANETTE LEE. LUX GLEBANA

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just that he never did injury to any man but was the benefactor to his associates, so temperate he never preferred pleas- ure to rightg so wise in judging good and evil he was never at fault. But these disciples although they num- bered among them many famous men- Plato, Crito, Alcibiades, Xenophon, Phaedon. Euclides of Megara and Aristippus, were not merely unable to save him from the tragic fate which came upon him but were in away contributing causes of his downfall. In Athens at the time there were two extreme parties-the Aristocratic or Oli- garchic and the believers in Unmixed Dem- ocracy. Between them stood a middle party-which advocated a Limited Dem- ocracy and which had as its adherents the most thoughtful men of the time. Socrates was a moderate,and the spreader of moderate ideas. Hence, the extreme parties united in an effort to have him put out of the way and because of his oddity and the activity of his enemies, they succeeded in their unjust attempt. Socrates was accused first of denying the gods recognized by the state and secondly of corrupting the youth of Athens. His accusers were Meletus the poet, Auystus the tanner, and Sycon the orator. They were narrow-minded men who feared new ideas but they were also members of the extreme democratic party and while the accusations were on moral grounds the real cause of the persecution of Socrates was political. Socrates, instead of trying to conciliate his judges, defied them. He was found guilty by a small majority-280 to 220- of the 500 jurors. With such a number of jurors, mob psychology could easily have been used and their passions appealed to. Socrates, however, did not stoop to such means, and when Meletus proposed capital punishment, the accused gave his answer strongly and forcibly. There is no doubt that, if he had suggested a lighter penalty, his plea would have been accepted. But, to the amazement of all present, he declared openly that he should not be condemned, but supported by the state since it was in the state's welfare that he was working. He was willing, however, to pay a small fine of one mina. His judges were exasperated and the voters returned with a greater ma- jority against him. Then, in his famous address known as the Apology of Socrates, the philosopher professed his contentment with his own conduct and the sentence. Page 22 Even in his last speech, he tried to teach his listeners as he had in the streets. He knew not whether he would pass away to a dreamless sleep, or a new life in Hades, where he would have the opportunity of testing the wisdom of the heroes and ancient sages. But in either case, he esteemed it to be a gain to die. Under ordinary circumstances, the con- demned was to drink the poison hemlock on the day following the trial. In the case of Socrates, however, the rule that no one should be put to death during the absence of the sacred ship to Delos, made a delay of thirty days. During this time, he conversed freely with his friends, and looked forward to his death calmly and bravely as such a great man should. An escape was arranged by Crito, but Socrates refused to take advantage of it, saying that the verdict, though contrary to fact, must be obeyed for it was the verdict of a legitimate court. On the day of his death, he asked the jailor if he might not pour some of the poison out of the cup as an offering to the gods. The jailor, not real- izing that he was joking, replied that only the necessary amount of poison had been mixed and none should be wasted. Smiling, the old man-for Socrates was now over seventy,- drank it immediately though he had until sundown, and after walking up and down for a few minutes, he lay down and prepared to die. The numbness caused by the poison, gradually crept up from his lower limbs, and when it reached his heart, that great soul of wisdom passed into the un- known, certain that he had done no wrong. Hsvkvk Autumn The cold wind shakes the shivering trees, Dead leaves rustle under my treadg And sullen skies sulk down at meg . Even the sun has fled, In autumn. I see the dry, brown corpses stand That once as flowers made us gay: And in the trees deserted nests Whose birds have flown away In autumn. But though the earth seems dead and drab From out the ground the plants will creep, When spring shall whisper sweetly. Meanwhile they need their beauty sleep In autumn. RUTH AGULNIK-3J. Lux GLEBANA