Next up on our journey to gift ourselves the equivalent of a free classical liberal education (liberal meaning “open minded”, not “blue haired shrieking Marxist harpy”) are the writings of Socrates, Plato, and Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.
You can download the electronic edition of Volume 2 in .pdf, .epub or .mobi HERE: https://archive.org/details/harvardclassics002elio/page/334/mode/2up
Socrates
First on the list, Socrates, has a soft-spot in my heart due to my own torture in graduate school comprised of this thing called “the Socratic method” where you’d have to stand up and state your point, and then the teacher would call you an idiot and rip apart everything you’d just spent the last week researching until you ran out of the classroom in tears. It turns out that surviving being subjected to the Socratic method is an excellent training ground for eviscerating leftist gobbly-gook.
Alas, Socrates was sentenced to death after they accused him of perverting Athenian youth when they began to question their political leaders and priests under his tutelage (hmmm, would that be like groypers teaching Gen-Z to push back against the woke narrative?).
The first work of Socrates that we shall read in Volume 2 is his “Apology” (as relayed by his student, Plato) which, as I read through it, is anything but an apology. It reads more like Socrates telling the corrupt Athenian politicians “I’d rather be dead than red.”
You can download the audibook version of Socrate’s “Apology” for free thanks to the kind volunteers at LibreVox HERE: https://librivox.org/apology-by-plato
And here’s a brief video biography of Socrates’ life:
Plato
Next up on this list are two more works by Plato (Socrate’s student). Unlike Socrates, who really couldn’t be bothered to form a school, Plato actually did tutor many youths with his revolutionary ideas and eventually founded a university. But mindful of what happened to his mentor, Socrates, he was a bit more diplomatic about how he scolded the Athenian politicans and power-brokers. There are two of his writings included in The Harvard Classics which you can download in audiobooks:
Crito: https://ia800606.us.archive.org/5/items/nonfiction024_librivox/snf024_crito_plato_bn.mp3
Phaedo: https://librivox.org/phaedo-by-plato/
I haven’t read these yet, but I’ll update this page once I get through it (maybe you will beat me, eh? I like to read the old-fashioned way, via paper books).
And in the meantime, here’s a funny little cartoon summary of Plato’s best and worst ideas
My notes: okay, I’ll admit it. These last two accounts of Socrates’ death turned out to be a real “slog.” My husband, on the other hand, who downloaded the audiobook editions for his long commute, burned through them like nothing. If you find yourself getting bogged down, don’t be ashamed to read the “Cliffnotes.” It’s better than giving up on the challenge because future readings get considerably better.
Cliffnotes for Crito: https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/e/euthyphro-apology-crito-and-phaedo/summary-and-analysis/crito
Cliffnotes for Phaedo: https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/e/euthyphro-apology-crito-and-phaedo/summary-and-analysis/phaedo
Epictetus
Next comes the Golden Sayings of Epictetus, a pagan stoic who founded a school which later had much influence on the early Christian church. George Washington quoted Epictetus often at Valley Forge, while Medal of Honor recipient Vice-Admiral James Stockdale stated that he was able to survive his 7-year ordeal as a North Vietnamese prisoner of war in Hỏa Lò Prison (the infamous “Hanoi Hilton”) by relying on Epictetus’ philosophy and wisdom.
You can download “The Golden Sayings of Epictetus” free at LibriVox HERE: https://librivox.org/golden-sayings-of-epictetus-by-epictetus/
I’ll come back and add my thoughts as I read through Epictutus as, I must confess, I know little of this man whose philosophy resonated with generals and leaders. But in the meantime, here’s a fascinating video about the “philosopher slave.”
My notes: after the roundabout tedium of Plato, I found Epictetus to be a breath of fresh air. This isn’t really a coherent single work, but rather a collection of wise statements somewhat similar to “Fruits of Solitude” by William Penn. Because these are so short, you can steal a glance at them piecemeal in those little stolen seconds. I can picture myself looking these up to quote at a later date.
Marcus Aurelius Antonius
And last we’ll be reading several pieces by, and about, the Roman general, conqueror, and Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antonius. While I’ve read excerpts from “Meditations”, this will be the first time I’ve read it from start to finish, and I am looking forward to it.
(Have I ever mentioned my military non-fiction bookshelf? It’s four feet wide, floor to ceiling, stacked two-deep with war biographies and histories).
There are three separate writings of his contained in The Harvard Classics which you can download in audiobook:
The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus: https://librivox.org/the-meditations-of-marcus-aurelius/
The above audiobook contains the “Introduction” and “Philosphy” written by George Long which is placed after the Meditations, themselves, in the written text.
Here is a brief video biography of Marcus Aurelius’ life to set the stage:
So read along, and I’ll come back once I’ve finished reading through the book to add my thoughts and give links to the next volume in the series.
Happy reading!