19.6.19

Whose Quotation Is It?: "You Greeks Are Like Children"

Ancient Ruins
“You Greeks are like children.” An Egyptian priest has reprimanded Solon, a Sixth Century Greek diplomat, about why Egypt has been around for quite a while longer than the Greeks. The Egyptians are having none of that. Greek civilization at that time was still too young to boast of its own greatness. Grow up a bit, the Egyptian advises.
But what is the veracity of this quote and where does it really originate?
There is a general rule of thumb that if you read a quotation online purported to be penned by a famous writer, politician, or philosopher, it is best to be skeptical, especially if the quote is not cited with a reference to an actual book or solid source. Plato said it? Abraham Lincoln said it? Hillary Clinton said it? I'd be wary if the citation is not complete. It has happened to me several times that I found a quote that I liked (and even posted it here) only to later find out that its authorship is unknown.
A Quick Internet Search Has Yielded a Researcher’s Headache
A few years ago, I was an assistant to a political scientist - he needed someone to come to his house in Staten Island to work on a manuscript he was writing about emerging global markets. One job I had was to track down quotes he wanted to use in his book. “Research Solon's remarks about ‘You Greeks are like children’,” he told me. It was a seemingly easy quote to track down because I knew the story from History. Solon did indeed visit Egypt in the Sixth Century B.C.E. But who actually recorded the interchange between the priest and Solon: “You Greeks are like children …”?
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A quick Internet search showed that apparently, Plato was the one who immortalized the exchange between the Egyptian priest and Solon - but as I mentioned earlier, I could not find a hard source. However, I finally found the source - after doing a series of searches in the Complete Works of Plato - I found it. The quote comes from Plato’s Timaeus. In this book, Plato has Socrates and his friends talking about a bunch of things, but one strand that runs through the dialogue is the creation of the world. Solon appears in the dialogue because of Critias - one of Plato’s cousins! He tells the story of Solon visiting Egypt. An old priest stands up and says:
“‘Ah, Solon, Solon, you Greeks are ever children. There isn’t an old man among you.’ On hearing this, Solon said, ‘What? What do you mean?’ ‘You are young,’ the old priest replied, ‘young in soul, every one of you. Your souls are devoid of beliefs about antiquity handed down by ancient tradition. Your souls lack any learning made hoary by time.’” (Timaeus 22 b-c)*
*Plato,  and John M. Cooper. Complete Works. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2009. Print.

The Fragility of Passing Down Knowledge
Civilization is not guaranteed.
The priest goes on to tell a myth that explains why the Egyptians have retained more knowledge than the Greeks - basically, the priest says, the Egyptians have been able to escape both flood and fire raged on humanity by the gods. Where other civilizations advance and learn, they are either destroyed or they forget over time. The priest cites the myth of Phaethon as an example - which reads like the end-scene of nearly every Hollywood disaster movie. Phaethon was the son of Helios: moral of the story is don’t let your son ride your chariot (if you’re a Sun god). All hell will break loose. I look up at the sky and wonder if Plato’s Egyptian priest is right. In talking about creation he ends up talking about destruction. I love that last line and I can imagine an old priest emerging from the group and confronting the statesman Solon with this message. If knowledge is not “handed down by ancient tradition” then we lose the ability to share. And if we lose the ability to share we lose the ability to trust. Learning has not been made hoary by time! And by hoary he means grown over time like a sturdy stick my brothers would use when walking in the woods - nothing could break it.

5 comments:

  1. That's the part where the Priest says that the Hellenes are a 1000 years older than Egyptians and talks about Atlantis!We learn it in school i wonder why it was so difficult for you to find.Anyway that was the message that Plato wanted to pass to the rest of the world.

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    1. People no longer have a classical education for (reasons) so we end up with what we have now - a dark age where barbarians ape the customs of those who built our civilization with generations born who cannot repair, let alone build, what they have inherited.

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  2. Thanks for you comment. Yes, I am not sure why it was so difficult to find. But I agree with you that it is a fascinating excerpt from Plato's writings.

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  3. AnonymousMay 09, 2023

    Omg here they go trying to flood doubt around historical figures who spoke truth about these so called “Greeks” who achieved nothingness. They learned EVERYTHING FROM kemet soon they were in position to kick their teachers while they were down they did. And took all the books and put their names and images on them! And be honest for once! He actually said “ you Greeks are like children, always forgetting what we have taught you”. That’s what was said. Then y’all later made it seem like y’all asked him what did he mean by that? And he said he meant that Greeks had young souls? Don’t that sound like a bad clean up job by white people. The kemet priest said exactly what they thought of the Greeks that was studying at their feet. They clearly said that Greeks were child like people! Like a elementary teacher trying to make her students understand and focus long enough to learn something. That’s the Real history of Greeks not this romanticized culture of enlightenment to all mankind!

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