Athens' Sin Against Philosophy
| Publication year | 2023 |
| Pages | 18 |
| Citation | Vol. 52 No. 2 Pg. 18 |
THE SIDEBAR
Scene 1—A Trip Imagined
"What are you reading, Grandpa?" Jussi asked as he skidded to a stop and jumped off his bike.
Hiski had taken up reading outside since the weather turned warm. He sat on his wooden porch in the old wooden rocker, warming his aging muscles in the sun.
"About Athens' sin against philosophy," Hiski said with disgust edging his voice.
"Their sin? What'd they do?" Jussi's eyebrows peaked with curiosity at the mention of a sin against philosophy. These discussions of philosophy frequently turned into adventures.
Hiski sucked in deeply on his pipe. "It makes me a bit angry to think about." He blew out deeply, exhaling slowly to calm himself.
"They murdered him," he whispered to himself. "Our father, Socrates."
Jussi knew that Hiski would take several minutes to get control of himself, so he went inside the small trailer to peek into the fridge.
Usually Hiski was meticulous, with everything in its proper place. He was even more than meticulous; he was obsessive about order and cleanliness. But today the place was a mess. "Well not really a mess," Jussi thought to himself. "More like scattered." Books were lying haphazardly on the floor, counters, and chairs, like they had been tossed aside after a quick inspection. Notes in Hiski's perfectly squared writing were strewn over the tops of the books.
"I wonder what he was looking for," Jussi said aloud to himself while pulling an orange pop from the fridge.
"Jussi," Hiski spoke in that deep baritone he saved for moments he needed authority, "pour me a glass of scotch and come out here. I need to talk to you."
Jussi knew exactly what to do. Pour from the bottle on the counter by the bookshelf, pour it into the smoky grey glass that Hiski kept sitting next to the bottle, and fill the glass one-third full, no more, no less. Add one ice cube, and only one. Jussi once got a 20-minute lecture on properly appreciating the simple things in life when he added three ice cubes to the glass, because colder must be better he had thought. Grabbing his soda, Jussi carried the scotch outside and handed it to his grandpa.
"Kiitos," Hiski said, speaking Finnish, while staring down at the weathered deck beneath his feet. He moved back and forth slowly in the rocker, the deck creaking beneath him. A low rumbling came from his chest. Jussi had heard that sound before and it meant his grandpa was upset. Really upset.
"Just sit with me for a while, Jussi-polka. Your presence helps."
Hiski rocked and Jussi sat square legged taking sips from the bottle in his hand. Hiski finally breathed in deeply and said, "It is important that you understand Athens' sin so you can help prevent it in the future."
"Me?"
"You never know what the future holds, my boy. You never know, so you must prepare."
"A trip, Grandpa?" Jussi asked with excitement growing in him.
Hiski heard the new tone in his grandson's voice. Raising his eyes to Jussi's face, and with a grin beginning to turn up the corners of his mouth, he said, "A trip, my boy. A trip. Can you spare the courage?"
Hiski knew the answer before it even came out.
"Of course, Grandpa. A trip!"
Hiski smiled. He knew Jussi loved their trips to the past.
"But should we clean up the mess inside before we leave?" Jussi asked.
A blackness creased the edges of Hiski's eyes, just enough for Jussi to note, and then disappeared. "Just leave it, Jussi. I found what I was looking for."
"What's that?"
"The plan for Socrates's escape!"
Scene 2—The Trip Back
"Let's see if we can get it right this time, Jussi. One leap, tip backward, and then we are off."
Jussi ran toward the chair and leapt hard into Hiski's lap. The momentum tipped the chair backward, but it kept tipping, never falling to the floor. They began spinning round and round and round until the black circles appeared. The Doppler effect, Hiski had told him after their second trip. They spun until Jussi couldn't remember any more. And then he heard his grandpa's voice.
"Up Jussi, get up." Hiski grabbed Jussi's shoulder and rolled him onto his back. "You always pass out."
"I'm sorry, Grandpa—it's the spinning."
"It will get better soon enough."
Jussi wondered how Hiski knew this, but he believed the words his grandpa spoke. Jussi sat up and looked around.
"We're in the middle of a field, Grandpa. A wheat field."
"Obviously, my boy. We couldn't very well land in the middle of the city without raising suspicions, now could we?"
"What city?"
"Athens, of course. Now get up. And put this on," Hiski said, handing Jussi a single piece of clothing.
Jussi knew better than to question, so he stripped off his clothes and pulled the cloth over his head. It was a single covering that hung down to his knees.
Hiski handed him a belt. "Put this on, around your waist."
"Grandpa, this looks like a dress!"
"Yes, it does. It's called a tunic," Hiski said while pulling his own tunic on. "And put on those sandals next to you."
"Where did you get them?"
"While you were sleeping, that gentlemen right over there brought them for us," Hiski said, pointing behind Jussi to an elderly man sitting on a large stone.
Jussi turned around, inspected the man, then nodded.
"Pleased to have you here, Jussi," the man said in Greek. "Hiski has told me much about you."
"When?" Jussi wondered. There was much about Hiski he didn't know, Jussi thought to himself.
"What's that language?" Jussi asked Hiski, not even wondering why he understood it. He couldn't explain it, but he always understood the local language when they spun through time.
"Attic," Hiski responded. "A dialect of Greek, spoken in Athens."
"The language of Socrates and Plato," Jussi whispered in awe.
"Yes, my boy. We are here in Athens at the time of Socrates's trial."
"Who's that man?"
"Socrates's best friend, Crito. He is here to help us. Together we are going to try and free Socrates."
"Just us?"
"No, there are others. But not many. Come now, let's go."
Leaving their clothes in a sack by the rock Crito was sitting on, they turned east and followed Crito into the city.
Scene 3—Meeting Socrates
Crito led Hiski and Jussi through the walls of Athens and into the marketplace.
"This is the agora," Crito whispered to them. "We will find Socrates in the northwest corner, near the court. He is to be charged and tried today. So you came just in time."
They worked their way through the...
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