ForsakenGods:Socrates David Manuel

Created for the Forsaken Gods pbp by Pseudoephedrine

SOCRATES' DAIMON

Socrates David Manuel

Traits

Reasoning 5

Forbidding Prophecy 4

Phasmata 3

Lover of Virtue 1

Belief: 5

Socrates' daimon has no equal in argument or solving problems, a trait he picked up from his association with Socrates. He is able to prophetically warn others that whatever they're about to do should not be done. Like all daimons, he is intellectual or aerial in substance, allowing him to change form and appearance whenever necessary. He's a sucker for anyone who claims to want to morally improve themselves, whether truthfully or not.

Realm

Socrates' daimon retreats to a replica of the agora (marketplace) of Athens.

Recuperating

These days, Socrates' daimon relaxes by getting into arguments on the internet. They "keep him sharp" (his tongue or his mind, he doesn't say).

Myth

"Socrates: ...There's a certain spiritual thing which, by divine dispensation, has been with me from childhood. It's a voice that, when it comes, always signals me to turn away from what I'm about to do, but never prescribes anything. And if some one of my friends consults with and the voice comes, it's the same: it prohibits him and won't allow him to act."

- Theages 128d

Description

Socrates' daimon looks exactly like Socrates did in life - an ugly, somewhat balding and paunchy middle-aged man of Mediterranean descent. He dresses shabbily too, in a slightly frayed business suit and scuffed shoes. He can change form when he pleases, but rarely does so. He usually puts on something vaguely angelic for impressing other gods, though.

Motivation

Socrates' daimon wants another Socrates. He wants a brilliant philosopher or thinker to latch onto and nurture into building an intellectual school like the Academy. Failing that, Socrates' daimon at least wants to encourage virtue and reason whenever he can.

Hm. How's about he pulled one over on Socrates and let him die so that Socrates' fame would grow and the daimon would become a god? But the plan backfired, and while he got small amounts of worship from the Academicians (Plato's school), he never got to Godhood. Eros, who started off a daimon and became a god, at least to the Greeks, would be his model.

Phasmata were basically what the ancient Greeks (esp. the Neoplatonists, who wrote extensively about daimons) called the various shapes that they thought daimons could take. I see it as, amongst other things, his combat ability if he needs one.

Daimons are strange entities. The Greeks pretty much used the term to refer to any spirit that wasn't a god or a hero, including the offspring of the Gods. Generally, daimons are involved in intellectual activities of any sort, and it's unclear whether the Muses are gods or daimons. Eros (Cupid) is also a daimon, at least according to Socrates, though the Neoplatonists think he's a daimon who became a god. Any emotion, any thought, any chance outcome, can be given to one by a daimon, though usually one has a single daimon - good or bad - assigned to one's self, who is responsible for how lucky, creative, smart, etc. one is. They're the basis for the Christian conception of the Guardian Angel, and the late Neoplatonists (who have both concepts) used them interchangeably.

Daimons aren't all good either - the term is the root of our "demon" for a reason. Daimons are rational though, no matter whether good or bad.

Teaching sounds about right. How's about being an assistant junior professor at a local university, teaching intro to philosophy?