Good Old Isocrates

[Nicator]

Hello all,It is interesting to read some of the quotes from Isocrates to Philip. "After defeating Persia, the only thing left to do is become a god"...and "Greece needs to be united underneath one hegemon to avenge the wrongs of Persia". I can just envision Isocrates and Philip talking late into the night with little Alexander sitting nearby listening in. The old philosopher giving patient advice to the brutal militarist. Makes for an interesting scene. Has anyone read any of Isocrates main material...if it in fact exists?later Nicator

[John.]

I read some of Isocrates' material. There's even a letter from Isocrates to 14 year old Alexander.I envision Isocrates as Yoda from Star Wars. (Even the first letter of his name is "Iota," (I Yoda).Isocrates was kind of teetering on treachery against his home city Athens by encouraging Philip and Alexander, and he had to be secretive.Did you know about the secret meeting between 98 year old Isocrates and 18 year old Alexander in Athens, after the battle of Chaeronea? Don't tell anyone.John

[John.]

More on Isocrates=Yoda...Remember that anti-Philip passage I quoted by Theopompus, where Theopompus is absolutely outraged by Philip's immorality?Well, Theopompus was Isocrates' pupil. Now I can see Alexander secretly visiting Isocrates in Athens. Isocrates: "Alexander, don't be seduced by the dark side like your father..."And Philip even draws his sword against Alexander, like Darth Vader against Luke, where Alexander cries out something about Philip being overturned when trying to go from couch to couch. Is Isocrates to blame for some of the friction between father and son?John

[karen]

Hi Nicator:Sure it exists -- it's on Perseus. "To Philip": http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/pt ... ech%3D5L&P,
Karen

[John.]

It's touching, really.Isocrates was trying almost his whole life to find someone to lead a force against the evil Persian Empire, for trying to enslave the Hellenes.He tried Jason, tyrant of Thessaly - but Jason got assassinated.He tried Philip - but Philip was overly involved with "the dark side."Finally, after the battle of Chaeroneia, when Isocrates was 98 years old, his champion came to him - Alexander.And so Isocrates could die, knowing the cause would be in good hands.I remember seeing that Star Wars movie when Luke meets Yoda. My god, are you OLD. Isocrates was really 98 years old when Alexander visited Athens. That is REALLY old! ... Maybe his energy was kept up by the sacred importance of his mission. The evil Empre must be defeated.John

[Nicator]

LMAO!!! Thanks for the interesting analogy John."In fact, men of high purposes and exceptional gifts ought not to undertake enterprises which any of the common run might carry out with success, but rather those which no one would attempt save men with endowments and power such as you possess."later Nicator

[John.]

I got too much Star Wars on the brain. What about the Ewoks? They were named after a local California Indian tribe, the Miwoks. Remember when they thought the robot C3P0 was a god, and started doing proskynesis to him? THAT was funny.- Which reminds me, no wonder Alexander might have thought he was a god. Like you quoted Isocrates above, whoever succeeded in defeating the Persian Empire would qualify as a god.John