Ancient Greek Philosophical Thought - Final Exam - Essay Example

On the foundations of the same belief, Socrates argues that the souls of philosophers and intellectuals will join the souls of deities many thousand years before the arrival of the ordinary humans due to the very fact that the philosophers’ souls are far refined and sublime than those of general pu.blic, and avoid vice and evil temptations by controlling their desires and discouraging their lust. Hence, Socrates has defined and determined the path and position of soul in his philosophic ideas, which are being endorsed and asserted by the future philosophers for the last several centuries to come.

Socrates has also elucidated madness in his second speech, where he argues that it is madness that urges temptation of love, friendship and even sexual desires. He is of the opinion that sexual relations between man and boy must be developed on the basis of true feelings of love, instead of mere lust and for the fulfillment of carnal desires only. Such type of insincere relationships will break mutual respect between the mentor and pupil, and every association will seek its connection in selfishness and materialism.

Hence, the great philosopher, in a terse manner, describes that the carnal desires are an essential part of human instinct, which can be controlled but could not be suppressed altogether. Here Socrates perhaps means emotions and passion equivalent to madness; it is therefore he cites the sun-god Apollo, the Seven Muses, and the harvest and fertility god Dionysus and the love-god Aphrodite, nature and form of the expressions of love are different for all the four, he submits. While explaining the concept of Eros, in his speech, Socrates submits to state that Eros or lust has direction connection with human soul.

It is soul that attracts towards Eros for one way or the other. Somehow, philosophers have control to resist the advancements of sexual desires particularly in case of pederasty, where an adult male is fascinated by the beauty of a youth. The king of gods Zeus had also experienced madness out of the sheer and absolute beauty of the Trojan young prince Ganymede, and he had abdicated the youth for his sexual desires and love too. However, unlike performing the same act of abdicating a beautiful person for one’s purpose, the philosophers’ soul control the madness and desires, and thus turns out to be refined and sublime in nature and acts.

Moreover, Socrates has also thrown light on rhetoric in his final speech, where instead of discouraging the politicians to take part in writing activities, Socrates allows them to do the same and thus read, write and deliver the speeches. However, instead of being mean and inferior, the writing and theme should be excellent and refined one. Hence, making an