Awakening to the Divine Double: An Introduction to Daimons in Greek Tradition

Yeah.

Yeah, sure.

Okay, great.

Well, uh, Ethan, it's really, uh, wonderful to be here with you and, and this is my first time teaching for The Lectern, so I'm excited to, uh, to work with this platform and, and to work with these students.

So it, it's an honor to be a part of this, uh, effort.

Uh, myself, my name's Charles Stang.

As Ethan said, I, uh, my, my day job is at Harvard Divinity School, where I teach, um, uh, almost exclusively graduate students.

Uh, and, uh, the course I'm offering here at The Lectern is a course I've adapted from one I taught at the Divinity School, uh, called the Daimon in Ancient Greek Philosophy and Religion.

So I'll come back to what a daimon is in just a moment.

Uh, but maybe I'll start by saying that, uh, John and I met several years ago, uh, after he had read m- my book, Our Divine Double.

And you know how voracious a reader John is and how generous a reader John is.

So I met him, and he was enthusing about my book, and it took me some time to really understand why that book had spoken to John in the way that it did.

Um, but that began a long, um, a longstanding friendship and collaboration with John, uh, uh, one part of which wa- were these, uh, Lectern dialogues that you mentioned, Eth- that he and I did a few, uh, couple years ago.

So let me say how I got interested in the, in this, uh, this concept of-

Yeah

... category or the figure of the daimon.

And, uh, and then I'll work, work my way to the, to the shape of this class.

So I was writing a book, uh, called Our Divine Double, that you mentioned, and in it, I had to wrangle with this very important chapter in the history of ancient philosophy, namely Socrates having, uh, told the assembled group of his accusers, uh, at his defense trial, um, that having told them that since childhood he had something daimon-like, daimonion in Greek.

That was a kind-

Hmm

... of voice and a kind of sign that s- um, told him what not to do.

Now, he, he mentions this daimon-like guardian or accompaniment, uh, to help explain to his accusers why he has not gone into politics, but instead philosophy.

So it's, it's a, it's an important part of his defense speech.

Um, now, that early dialogue of Plato's, The Apology, is thought to be probably the best record of the historical Socrates.

But Socrates, of course, is the main character in all of Plato's works, and Socrates the character goes on to say much more about that daimonion or daimon-like being.