- Altered states of consciousness:Ancient accounts describe Socrates entering prolonged trances, sometimes for hours, where he would become completely still in deep contemplation. One story recounts him standing for an entire day and night while lost in thought, and even praying at dawn.
-
- Divine guidance: Socrates claimed to receive a divine sign or voice—a daimonion—that warned him against certain actions. He also stated that much of his life’s work was a mission from the gods.
- Belief in a higher reality: Plato’s dialogues, which present Socrates’s ideas, suggest that he believed in a spiritual reality beyond the physical world. He is described as having a spiritual connection to a higher, more beautiful heaven, and a belief in the immortality and pre-existence of the soul.
- Philosophical contemplation:Socrates’s pursuit of truth and virtue can be seen as a spiritual quest. His emphasis on the care of the soul over material desires aligns with mystical practices that focus on inner growth.
- Rational vs. mystical: Some argue that any “mystical” aspects of Socrates are too intertwined with his rational, dialectical method to be separated. They see his use of myth as a tool for, or a limit to, logic, rather than proof of mystic experience.
- Plato’s portrayal: It is challenging to distinguish the historical Socrates from the character created by his student, Plato. Plato’s philosophical views may have influenced how he presented Socrates, possibly emphasizing certain aspects to support his own theories.
- After Socrates was executed by drinking hemlock, the Athenians were said to have been haunted by regret. According to the tale, some years later, moneychangers set up stalls near the old Agora, close to where Socrates used to debate and question passersby.One night, a shadowy figure — barefoot, with a cloak draped loosely around him — was seen walking among the stalls. The coins on the tables began to rattle and scatter, and the air filled with a sharp scent, like crushed hemlock.
The merchants claimed the figure whispered:
“You trade gold and silver, but not truth. Which of these will you take to Hades?”
By morning, some moneychangers supposedly fled their booths, saying the spirit of Socrates had cursed their dishonest dealings. Others mocked the story — until, as legend has it, one who mocked most loudly was found the next dawn with his scales overturned and his coins melted into a solid lump.
From that time, people said that Socrates’ ghost haunted the marketplace, driving away greed and corruption. Later storytellers, especially during the Byzantine and Ottoman eras, revived the tale as a moral allegory — that even in death, Socrates continued questioning Athens’ conscience.
-
the Night Wanderer of the Agora
They say that when the moon is full and the marble of the Stoa of Attalos glows pale silver, a figure in a rough cloak appears near the ruins where the old moneychangers’ stalls once stood. He walks slowly, barefoot, his face hidden in shadow. If you listen carefully, you can hear the faint clinking of coins — not falling, but trembling, as if afraid.
The spirit stops beside the empty tables and whispers to the night:
“You measure profit by weight, but who will weigh your soul?”
-
The Legend of Socrates and the Moneychangers
After Socrates was executed by drinking hemlock, the Athenians were said to have been haunted by regret. According to the tale, some years later, moneychangers set up stalls near the old Agora, close to where Socrates used to debate and question passersby.
One night, a shadowy figure — barefoot, with a cloak draped loosely around him — was seen walking among the stalls. The coins on the tables began to rattle and scatter, and the air filled with a sharp scent, like crushed hemlock.
The merchants claimed the figure whispered:
“You trade gold and silver, but not truth. Which of these will you take to Hades?”
By morning, some moneychangers supposedly fled their booths, saying the spirit of Socrates had cursed their dishonest dealings. Others mocked the story — until, as legend has it, one who mocked most loudly was found the next dawn with his scales overturned and his coins melted into a solid lump.
From that time, people said that Socrates’ ghost haunted the marketplace, driving away greed and corruption. Later storytellers, especially during the Byzantine and Ottoman eras, revived the tale as a moral allegory — that even in death, Socrates continued questioning Athens’ conscience.
-
Origins and Meaning
- No ancient source (Plato, Xenophon, Diogenes Laertius) records it.
- It likely emerged as a moral parable in Byzantine Greece — part of a tradition of haunted philosophers and saints who punished avarice.
- In modern Athens, some tour guides or local storytellers still repeat the myth near the Ancient Agora or Stoa of Attalos, calling it “Το φάντασμα του Σωκράτη” — the ghost of Socrates.
