Youth (4)

Quint and I quickly settled into an apartment located near the
various philosophical schools where I would attend. There
was the proper Academy that taught the philosophy of Plato,
and there was the Stoa that conveyed the concepts of Stoicism.
Both these great ancient schools were still in existence, in
that both actually began their course in the city of Athens.

Plato lived nearly five centuries before I was born. He was
a student of Socrates. And Zeno of Citium first expressed his
philosophical ideas even earlier than Plato. He taught in
Athens' ancient Stoa Poikile--a walkway of columns and
frescos. Hence the school of Stoic philosophy became
known as the "Stoa."

However, the schools--designed to teach us young students--
were mainly a conglomerate that evolved to teach the *basics*
of these major philosophies. Beside Plato and Stoicism, there
were also other conglomerate schools that represented the
philosophy of Epicurus and the mysticism of Pythagoras.

Right off I knew that I was in for some pretty "heady" lessons.
I would have rather enjoyed my stay in Athens otherwise than
listening to lectures, studying, but I felt obliged to try in the face
of father's investment sending me here. At least I wasn't alone
with my scruples, in that I found a goodly number of my fellow
students felt similarly pressured.

Nonetheless, at least some small exposure to these great
philosophies was better than none. In my more mature years
I would come to appreciate this year's experience in Athens.

Right off I was exposed to Pythagoras' concept that the entire
physical world could be explained in terms of numbers. Alas,
I would start with "numbers." I had a hard enough time putting
to memory Roman numerals when younger, so all this number
business was not my forte.

As for Plato, he felt that the world in which we lived was no
more than a "reflection" of the Real World, which consisted
of abstractions and forms (or ideas). At my age, at the time,
I had a difficult time coming to terms with these somewhat
ethereal ideas. And when it came to Plato's emphasis on
Socrates, I was completely lost when it came to applying the
Socratic method of questions and answers in order to arrive
at truth.

I was more comfortable with Stoicism. This philosophy focused
on "virtue." It was about living honorably, doing one's duty,
living bravely in the midst of challenges. This seemed to me
to be an understandable approach to life. It was practical,
though many years later I would come to understand Stoicism
in a deeper, spiritual sense.

Epicurus' philosophy boiled down to "pleasure and pain." He
believed that we need take care of our soul. Pain was a negative,
something to be avoided; and pleasure was a positive, a good to
be pursued. I didn't disagree with the basics; however, many
followers of this school of philosophy advocated hedonism. It
could boil down to no fear of death, so go out there and engage
in sensual self-indulgence! As of yet I hadn't been exposed much
to "wine and women," so maybe it was just as well I didn't know
what I was missing.

After all the study at this conglomerate of schools, I guess I came
away more in tune with the Stoics. Essentially I still "lived in my
head." I paid more attention to my own inner voice, my own
personal proclivities. And back then, in my later youth, the
teachings of the Stoa connected better with who I felt to be.

Even so, at this point in my life, I was not inclined to be a
philosopher. However, Quint was! During the two months
during mid-summer--when our lessons were curtailed--I went
with Quint to Corinth, where he made arrangements to study
as a "serious student" at the Stoa in that city.

Much to my surprise Corinth was far larger than Athens. No
wonder it was the capitol of the Province of Greece! On holiday,
I took my leisure visiting some of the attractions in this huge
city. One that I found fascinating was Corinth's Temple of Apollo.
And I found it equally fascinating that I actually was interested in
this religious cult.