Forgotten Stoic Apollo and the Task of Stewardship

Sophrosyne literally means the reining in of our practical wisdom: controlling our baser desires and impulses in pursuit of a higher goal through the acquisition and training of self-knowledge, self-mastery, having soundness of mind. For centuries, Sophrosyne itself was a central aim in Greek philosophy and life. Over time, its centrality dissipated, or rather, various aspects of the task of Sophrosyne were approached and translated under different names: moderation, prudence, self-mastery, temperance, modesty, minding one's own business. Apollo's instruction to Solon of Athens was: Keep the Mid-Seat and Be Thy Vessel's Guide. The mid-seat, a mid-point, a middle from where the helmsman or steward may observe all sides, and as above, so below. Man in relation to the Gods, to his growing statehood or polis, to his fellow man. And man in relation to his own life, his own time, his own circumstances. A new inner and outer awareness erecting promise of new social order. A new task to accomplish: Cultivate Sophrosyne. Learn to be a charioteer, or a steward of your own ship and guide it to its given destination. Contents 1. Introduction to Sophrosyne 2. Apollo's Gift to the Seven Sages--Cultivate Sophrosyne 3. The Helmsman in Homeric Hymn 7 to Dionysus--Take Courage, You Radiant Man, Reached by a Force from Afar 4. Sophrosyne in Homer's Iliad--I Will Go Before Thee and Make Smooth All the Way for the Chariots 5. The Awakening of Achilles--Whoever Obeys the Gods, to Him do They Gladly Give Ear 6. Democritus: Fragments--Impose a Law onto Your Soul 7. Socrates--Every Human Being Needs Sophrosyne, But Especially...Us! 8. Aristotle--Habits Make All the Difference 9. Plutarch--Lest He Let Fall From His Hands the Crimson Thongs 10. Bernard of Clairvaux--Let Us Make Use of Our Four-Horse Chariot 11. Thomas Aquinas--Right Reason With Respect to What is Doable 12. Maintenance of Our Chariot--To Become Truly Virtuous is Hard Work (includes: Beware the Second Attack) 13. Benjamin Franklin's Sophrosyne--A Task of More Difficulty Than I Had Imagined 14. Plotinus and the Limits of Sophrosyne--Leave the Temple Images Behind Appendix--The Delphic Maxims--Choose the Divine Further Reading and Bibliography