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Kindle Notes & Highlights
A person already inclined to a more ascetic life becomes even more ascetic, loses sight of and deprives herself of enjoyments that may also be part of her role in life. Luxuries are not necessary, but a rich emotional and intellectual life, enjoyment of the arts or of nature is well within the bounds of what’s intended for us.
Homer said: All men have need of the Gods.[30]
But Solon also says: If by your own actions you have suffered most grievous calamities, do not place the blame for your lot on the Gods.
In his words: Pursue worthy goals. Solon is not talking about ordinary learning, but the learning of the philosopher, who knows, as he says, that: It is most difficult to know the measure of wisdom, which alone holds the end of all things.
Because as Solon says: The mind of the immortals is hidden in every way from men.
There is no contradiction when we remember that, again quoting Heraclitus: Human nature has no insight, but the Divine has.[36]
This can only happen in that quiet space Marcus Aurelius points us to when he commands: Look Within.[39]
One Man of Ten Thousand The Links between Heraclitus, Solon and the Stoics One man is as ten thousand to me, if he be the best. Heraclitus, Fragment 49.
Epictetus is said to have referred to Heraclitus, as we are told in his Enchiridion (Handbook or Manual) and simply calls him “divine”:
Not only did Epictetus call Heraclitus divine, he outlines how Heraclitus became divine. Heraclitus became divine by being able to separate himself (his lower self) from himself (his higher self).
Marcus Aurelius has numerous references to Heraclitus and his fragments, many of which he knew by heart:
From Solon:
Sleep is not a figure of speech or a metaphor but should be taken quite literally: man is asleep, all the while he imagines he is awake. Sleep is the condition of man as he is—a condition of bondage.
As we are, we are incapable of controlling our emotions, our attention, our thoughts and we are slaves to our base appetites and addictions. We live in a completely subjective world. Heraclitus is extremely direct and brutal about this. We are truly absent while present, in what Solon calls the bondage of sleep.
This is our reality but it is also liberating because once this sleep is deeply understood we can also see a way out.
A higher state of consciousness is possible and is our birthright. Solon says:
No precise date is known for any event in Solon’s life, and as we only have a hypothetical understanding of events and institutions of his period, a proper biography of Solon is impossible.
Solon was born in Athens in the second half of the seventh century BCE, either in 640 or 639 BCE
his date of death in 560 BC...
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Solon is said to have lived until age eighty.
We know that Solon was a merchant in his youth, and he may well have chosen the life of a merchant in order to travel, to gain life experiences, self-reliance, resourcefulness and courage.
Solon’s poem, known as Salamis, was originally hundred verses long according to Plutarch, but only the following three short fragments survive:
Plato is said to come from the same family tree as Solon, as he claims to be a descendant of Dropides, the brother of Solon. It is not known if Solon was ever married or had children.[61]
Solon became the archon of Athens for a period of one, two or three years, during which he made significant legal and economic reforms.
As a leader Solon rejected absolute power by refusing to become another tyrant or dictator which he easily could have done (and was, in fact, expected of him), the ultimate demonstration of moderation. Solon said about this:
Already in his own lifetime, Solon’s character, deeds and sayings were legendary and Solon enjoyed a reputation for wisdom that has no equal in Archaic Greece, apart from his contemporaries Thales, Bias and Pittacus.
Solon’s poetry, until recent appreciation, has long been undervalued and simply dismissed as not very good (“Good lawgiver, shame about the poetry”).
Self-scrutiny is not only a tradition of the Stoics but is a principle of all Greek philosophy.
As a Delphic maxim orders: Never tire of learning.
What we have to learn first of all is virtue. Solon said: Virtue is a thing no one can take away. Solon says: How blind is man in future things. Seek to learn constantly while you live.
Let not your tongue outrun your thought. Solon also suggest caution:
Rich men without wisdom are but sheep.
The intellectual principle of the Greeks is not individualism but ‘humanism,’ to use that word in its original and classical sense.
Here are some more of Solon’s sayings:
We can only measure our knowledge to the degree we are able to put our understanding into action.
Take the mid-seat, and be the vessel’s guide.
Taking the mid-seat refers taking the place of the observer, the ruling faculty.
As we first begin to observe ourselves we may not be able to make the changes we so wish to see. For some time, we must be content to merely observe. We are almost helpless in our inability to exert will power and we must be happy with gradual progress.
Solon's remarks on the development of will power, read back.
Solon says: It is a slow process for all souls to learn and absorb knowledge and wisdom.
So how can we act in accordance with our true nature? How can we tame our lower selves and prevent hubris, prevent extremes and excesses?
Plotinus, a Neoplatonist, who lived from 204 to 274 CE puts it very well in his Letter to Flaccus:
Take the mid-seat, and be the vessel’s guide.
Take the Mid-Seat, and be the Vessel’s Guide Solon on Governing, Part I—Laws
Rule, after you have first learned to submit to rule. Solon
The middle geometric or Dark Age (from 1075 to 750 BCE) had essentially obliterated the population to a level of perhaps one-third of its population in the sub-Mycenaean Age (1125-1050 BCE).
What developed, under Solon, was a more democratic polis or city-state, where rather than a king or tyrant or oligarch, the citizens would rule.
It is very hard for us today to fathom how radical that notion was.
Essential to understanding Solon’s view, is the fact that wealth is not just dependent on luck or fate but a gift from the gods.
Solon effectively ended slavery and replaced the earlier Draconian law code with a more humane code.
Solon called law: That perfect blend of force and justice.
