but Alexias must go off to school....everyone is ill at ease and gossiping...he is relieved when it is time to burn off some energy in the gymnasium....they go out and strip off (remember this is Greece and all exercise is taken nude)...everyone is talking and yelling so loudly no one can hear so their instructor takes a few boys off to coach and set the rest to practising their wrestling moves.
Men who are not exercising, are strolling around the grounds arguing and debating who has committed this horrible outrage of destroying the Herms...Alkiabides is named as a possible suspect...gossip is that he broke the Herms in arrogance and a drunken spree...
(a bit of background...Socrates was Alkibiades's teacher, and people blame him for anything Alkibiades does wrong....he is not one to deal lightly with BS and tends to anger people who can not follow his logic so he is not well liked by the general populace)
So Alexias sees Socrates involved in a loud argument with a man and goes over to stretch his ears...the argument gets heated and the man gives Socrates a ringing blow on the head...everyone is outraged but Socrates is not...he nods at the man and says
"Thank you. Now we can all see the force of your arguement"
the man raises his fist to strike again and out from Socrates friends steps a young man...
"and caught the man by the wrist. I knew who it was, not only from seeing him with Socrates or about the city, but because there was a bronze statue of him in Mikkos's hallway, done when he was about sixteen. He was a former pupil, who had won a crown for wrestling, while still in school, at the Panathenaic Games. He was said too to have been among the notable beauties of his year, which one could still believe with no trouble. I saw his name every day, since it was written on the base of the statue; Lysis, son of Demokrates of OExone"
he calmly used a wrestling hold to force the man back and tumbled him down the steps and into the dirt of the wrestling grounds...much to the delight of the boys...
the men went about their conversation...and Alexias stood admiring Lysis...
then Lysis turned and saw him...
Kerry??
would you like to cover this scene for us??
LOL!
I would be pleased to.
There is a great deal going on here. Jess has already described the turmoil in the city. Because Sokrates is an associate of Alkibiades, and Alkibiades is being blamed by many for the desecration of the Herms; ergo, Sokrates, through association, is also being linked to the violation. Sokrates has a reputation for not necessarily being a particularly “religious” man. Because he is so publicly out there, in the agora, he is attracting attention and abuse.
Let us not underestimate the enormity of this despicable outrage.
It is an aggressive, forthright attack on the Gods - by mere mortals! Far more serious than common
vandalism. There’s a great deal of tension in the City. People are very stressed. Tempers are at boiling point.
How will the Gods get even? A man has lost his temper with Sokrates and is shouting at him. Sokrates holds his own, shouting back, though also using reason, trying to convince the man that Alkibiades should be considered innocent until proven guilty,
“The law of evidence for instance?” says Sokrates.
I smiled when the hot-head called Sokrates a cunning snake who could argue black white. I have no doubt that this is true, on both counts!
The man strikes Sokrates. How does Sokrates react? Does he reciprocate in kind or verbally? No. In reality, Socrates was known for his sense of humour and MR obviously knew this from her research, because she provided Sokrates with these words,
“Thank you. Now we can all see the force of your argument.” It made me laugh. Sokrates the pacifist, turning the other cheek, looong before Jesus Christ or Mahatma Ghandi!
At this point, we are introduced to
Lysis for the first time. He is in the company of Sokrates and comes to his defence. A noble young man. And we know he didn’t lose his temper because we are told that even as he was repelling the attacker’s advance, he retained a calm demeanour,
“as if he were sacrificing.” I loved that!
When Kriton tries to convince Sokrates to sue the street thug, Sokrates responds,
“Last year an ass bolted in the street and kicked you; but I don’t recall you suing him.” Priceless!
And he chastises Lysis also with,
“Just when he was starting to doubt the force of his argument, you re-stated it for him with eloquence and conviction.” That put the young buck, Lysis, right back in his place!
Though there are no overt fireworks between Alexias and Lysis at this meeting, there is a great deal of
simmering underlying sexual tension between them.
This is what we are told about Lysis:
* Alexias had seen him with Sokrates in the past. I’m guessing that Alexias thought he stood-out from the crowd.
* A bronze statue had been made of him when he was 16.
* Alexias saw his name “every day” on the base of the statue, so he must have been admiring it.
* Alexias comments that someone should do a new statue of him now that he is a man. This means to me that Alexias thinks he is beautiful and should be immortalised in bronze.
* He won a crown for wrestling.
* He was
“among the notable beauties of his year, which one could still believe without trouble.”* He was tall and slim.
* He is gracious and courteous. Well-bred. I know this because after he has defended Sokrates, we are told that he looks at Sokrates,
“as if with apology for his intrusion.“ * Alexias has seldom heard his voice (could be somewhat like
Ennis in this regard?!), except at the horse races, when his voice can be heard over everyone else. Alexias has made a point of listening for his voice! There are
sparks!
* Lysis is a man of fashion.
Metrosexual? He has the new look - a shaved face!
* I love this description which I am compelled to quote verbatim,
"His hair, which he wore short, lay half-curled against his head, and being mingled fair and brown, gleamed like a bronze helmet inlaid with gold.” He is beautiful, indeed!* The scene when Lysis turns around and catches Alexias staring at him is particularly charged with sexual dynamism,
“He smiled at me however, as if to say, ‘Come nearer, then, if you like; no one will eat you‘.” Delightful.
