Did You Know That Socrates Was Really A Hypnotist?
While it is quite noble to face death just to stand by your beliefs and convictions, Socrates is known as one of the greatest thinkers throughout history with a real knack for questioning authority. Unfortunately, this landed him a date with destiny that involved drinking the poisonous hemlock plant as a form of capital punishment. Throughout the years, analyzing text regarding his life and death, it has been suggested that Socrates may have used hypnosis. While alive, as well as just before his passing, hypnosis may have played a significant role.
Socrates is heralded as being one of the most prominent figures who shed light on and led the way throughout the ups and downs of western philosophy. His character and distinct way of thinking was known far and wide, gaining him quite a reputation. Although many friends surrounded Socrates, he also collected several enemies who mainly disagreed with his political views, among other things. Eventually, Socrates’ strong beliefs would lead to his death, as challengers gave him an ultimatum: “give up your principles or die.”
The man was so deeply rooted in his viewpoints that he chose to die rather than give them up, going with the ancient approach to lethal injection. Many skeptics wonder how Socrates found the strength to face such a scary fate, but a reasonable amount of information regarding his secret has been revealed. When reading passages from the Symposium, it seems that some of the best ideas that came to Socrates may have been products of spontaneous episodes of self-hypnosis.
Throughout the pages of classical literature, a wealth of evidence regarding self-hypnosis as a viable phenomenon has been uncovered. One of the most well known examples involves Socrates, as it seems he had a tendency to enter cataleptic trances. This is said to be the time where he was able to reach and contemplate the contents of his inner psyche.
Catalepsy is a condition that brings about rigidity of the body, as well as creates a decreased sensitivity to pain. If Socrates underwent these fits, he would have exhibited unresponsiveness, loss of muscle control, decreased breathing or limbs that stayed in the same position when moved.
The best instance connecting Socrates to hypnosis deals with a mention in Plato’s Symposium, where he describes Socrates as freezing in a state of deep meditation. On his way to a drinking party, which was also called a symposium during this time, he left members of the celebration anticipating his arrival. The host at the time, Agathon, sent a slave to see where Socrates was. When the slave returned, he exclaimed, “Socrates is here, but he's gone off to the neighbor’s porch. He’s standing there and won’t come in even though I called him several times.”
Agathon became impatient and orders, “Go back and bring him in!” but Socrates' companion, Aristodemus, disregards this request and states, “No, no, leave him alone. It's one of his habits: every now and then he just goes off like that and stands frozen, wherever he happens to be.”
Later, in the middle of dinner, Socrates arrives, where Agathon says to him, “ Socrates, come lie down next to me. Who knows, if I touch you, I may catch a bit of the enlightenment that came to you under my neighbor’s porch. It’s clear you've seen the light. If you hadn’t, you’d still be standing there!”
Even during his days of combat, Socrates is thought to have used deep meditative trances to exercise self-control on the battlefield. Additional descriptions of the unexplainable cataleptic trances of Socrates include a lengthy 24-hour stretch where he did not move for the entire time and was oblivious to the blistering heat and other distractions.
Whether or not these experiences were related to sleep-induced self-hypnosis or a mystical power overtaking his body is still a mystery. Yet, in conclusion, it is said that Socrates showcases one of the earliest recollections throughout European literature of entering meditative trance. This evidence also leads some to suspect that Socrates may have had a higher level of mind control (some form of hypnosis) preparing him for his journey toward death.
