Colloquium in Supplici Injustum

Introduction

Odysseus slowly weaved his way through the dense crowd, doing his best to avoid being recognized - something he had grown quite adept at even in his own home. He hated these parties, and usually had a litany of excuses ready to retire upstairs early or even abstain from coming down altogether to avoid them. This time, though, the son of Laërtes had to suffer through the seemingly endless stream of snobbish greetings and one sided conversations about the week’s events with Ithaka’s elite, at least for a while anyway. Odysseus had real company attending, and it was about time to find them. He ducked out the back door of his palatial estate and into the warm evening, typical of a Greek summer. Pretending not to hear the shout of his name from some drunken fool whose father’s money had once again gotten him into the King’s home, Odysseus walked on, and finally spotted the men he was looking for. Just as he was about to call out to them, Odysseus was stopped by the same man who rudely yelled his name a second before, and must have been following him. He was rambling on about the criminal who had recently escaped from prison and evaded capture once again earlier in the week, putting quite a fright in most Ithakans along the way. Odysseus politely brushed the drunkard off, but now remembered to bring up the threat of the escapee to the wise friends he was about to join. Their opinions were greatly valued by many across the world. He looked on to the table where they sat, and felt a sudden twinge of nervousness. As much as he enjoyed the company of these men, he knew of their intelligence and skill in the craft of argument, and as he sat down he also knew they would probably end up with opposite opinions somewhere along the line on this night.

1

In the first half of the two-part dialogue, Odysseus greets and makes small talk with two old friends, the great philosopher Socrates and the political and spiritual activist Mohandas Ghandi. During the course of their conversation Odysseus sparks controversy by remarking that an escaped convict is, in his words, lucky. The ensuing argument debates whether this man is truly lucky, with Ghandi and Socrates taking the side that he is not.

ODYSSEUS: Gentlemen. Welcome to Ithaka.

SOCRATES: Yes, yes, thank you my good man. Your home is breathtaking. Mohandas and I were just discussing it.

GHANDI: It is quite nice, friend. I am happy to have finally seen it.

ODYSSEUS: So sorry to have kept you two waiting, I was held up inside.

SOCRATES: I was wondering where you were, seeing that you invited us here.

GHANDI: What is?

ODYSSEUS: Throwing these parties, talking to these types of people, it’s just not my favorite part of the job.

SOCRATES: Understandable. You are a man of action, always have been, and these parties are representations of inaction.

ODYSSEUS: Being that man of action isn’t helping me too much anymore.

GHANDI: Remember Odysseus, “action is no less necessary than thought to the instinctive tendencies of the human frame” (Brainy Quote). You will always need to be that man.

ODYSSEUS: Sensible, yet, unfortunately, not applicable at the moment.

GHANDI: True. What is it you invited us for anyway Odysseus? I doubt it was just to enjoy the amazing food and wine.

ODYSSEUS: Honestly, just for the company and to distract myself from these worthless fools, at least for a little while.

SOCRATES: Fools, maybe, but not worthless. I myself have picked up on some interesting tidbits from them.

ODYSSEUS: Having to do with a certain escaped convict, I presume?

SOCRATES: Yes, that would be it. You don’t seem concerned, however.

ODYSSEUS: I’m not. The island isn’t that big and if he leaves, lucky for him and us, he’s someone else’s problem.

GHANDI: You think he is lucky? What do you mean exactly by that?

ODYSSEUS: Well, he isn’t suffering in prison anymore and he has a chance to reinvent himself. He may never be punished for his crimes.

SOCRATES: And this is lucky?

ODYSSEUS: Yes, isn’t it?

SOCRATES: Then the man in the cell next to him, who has been unjustly imprisoned, is in a worse situation than the escapee?

ODYSSEUS: Of course he is. You don’t believe so?

SOCRATES: No son, I am afraid not. And the fact that you do absolutely astounds me, after your experiences in the world.

GHANDI: Calm down Socrates, “a 'No' uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble” (BrainyQuote).

SOCRATES: Once again you have tethered my temper Mohandas. You have proved “I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance” (BrainyQuote).

ODYSSEUS: Again, quite sorry, this is the least favorite part of my duties.

GHANDI: That is just fine friend. “Not being faultless myself, I won't presume to probe into the faults of others” (BrainyQuote). Go on Odysseus.

ODYSSEUS: My experiences with Kalypso (Homer 83) and Kirkê (Homer 165) have taught me that punishment and detainment near the lowest depths of human suffering, Socrates.

SOCRATES: Yes, your fraternizations with goddesses must have been terrible.

ODYSSEUS: Ahh, but they were. “I entered Kirkê’s bed of love…But no pleasure came. I huddled in my mind elsewhere, oppressed” (Homer 176). The imprisonment of the witch was unjust, and the worst I have ever felt. Worse than any attack of conscience after wrongdoing, I can tell you that.

SOCRATES: Please, Odysseus, I thought better of you. “A system of morality which is based on relative emotional values is a mere illusion, a thoroughly vulgar conception which has nothing sound in it and nothing true” (BrainyQuote).

GHANDI: I am not so sure of that Socrates, remember “action expresses priorities” (BrainyQuote). Were Odysseus’s thoughts in the bed of the goddess really these relative emotional values you speak of?

SOCRATES: That matters not. We are drifting here from the heart of the debate.

GHANDI: Not drifting, circling more like.

SOCRATES: Agreed.

II

After circling the heart of the argument for a while and letting Odysseus make his case, the master of dissuasion Socrates has had enough. He is out to prove the King wrong, and will not allow himself to fail. Ghandi looks on, amused, throwing in the occasional comment or inquiry to act as a moral guide for both men.

ODYSSEUS: I’m afraid I still don’t quite understand what you are saying here, Socrates. How could you possibly rather be the man sitting in his cell without cause than the free man?

GHANDI: You may be a bit confused Odysseus. Of course you would rather be a free man than an imprisoned man, but morally would you rather live free with sins weighing upon you or imprisoned with no such sin to speak of?

ODYSSEUS: I have to say I would still rather be the free man.

GHANDI: Then it is there we disagree, my friend.

ODYSSEUS: And you as well, Socrates.

SOCRATES: And me as well, I am afraid.

ODYSSEUS: Ok, but I still don’t quite understand how you two come to the conclusion that the imprisoned man is in a better position.

SOCRATES: Well then, take an original situation. A man enters a bank just after a second man had stolen large amounts of valuables from the vault. At this point, which role would you rather fill?

ODYSSEUS: The innocent man, of course.

SOCRATES: Ok, now after the robbery the innocent man is arrested for the crime after being spotted leaving the bank around the correct time. Which man would you rather be at this point?

ODYSSEUS: The robber.

SOCRATES: What changed?

ODYSSEUS: Well, the innocent man was arrested. I would like to stay out of prison.

SOCRATES: Yes, but now you are a bank robber, does that not conflict with your morals?

ODYSSEUS: It does.

GHANDI: Then you are willing to sell your morals based on the decisions of laws and government?

ODYSSEUS: You are twisting my words, and besides, if an innocent man is arrested then the laws are unjust to begin with.

GHANDI: That may be, but “if an unjust law is itself a species of violence, then arrest for its breach is more so” (BrainyQuote).

SOCRATES: Let us look at this from another direction. Odysseus, would you say you have morals that you live by?

ODYSSEUS: Of course.

SOCRATES: And those morals are virtuous?

ODYSSEUS: In my mind they are.

SOCRATES: And they are strong?

ODYSSEUS: I would think so.

SOCRATES: And these morals would conflict with, let’s say, robbing a bank?

ODYSSEUS: They certainly would.

SOCRATES: Yet at the threat of imprisonment, you would completely rid yourself of these morals?

ODYSSEUS: I can’t say I would.

SOCRATES: But you have already said you would fill the shoes of the bank robber when given the choice, and you have based your argument on the fact that you would rather live freely unpunished than lead an unjustly imprisoned life. Explain yourself.

ODYSSEUS: Well, just because I have gone unpunished for a crime does not mean I have ridded myself of all morality, does it?

SOCRATES: That answer can only be supplied by you, my friend.

ODYSSEUS: How so?

GHANDI: It is simple. Does leading a life of lies and continuing to go on unpunished conflict with your original set of morals?

ODYSSEUS: I have never really brought my mind to that point, to be honest with you. I can’t say for sure.

SOCRATES: If that is the case, then I don’t believe this argument can continue. Its validity and premise hinge on your answer.

GHANDI: I’m not so sure Odysseus can’t come up with an answer based on a current set of morals. He knows the feeling of imprisonment, and I am sure he has done wrong and not been punished before. Is imprisonment worth that awful conscientious feeling?

ODYSSEUS: While imprisonment has and continues to haunt me, I am inclined to accept the sensible and intelligent argument of you two, which dismantled mine. I would rather be the innocent man after all.

GHANDI: You are a great man Odysseus, to admit your folly. Remember, “as human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world as in being able to remake ourselves” (BrainyQuote). Not to mention you lasted longer in verbal battle with Socrates than many-a-philosopher.

SOCRATES: These little debates of ours are good, for all of us. As you have found out, “the unexamined life is not worth living” (BrainyQuote). We all must look within ourselves not only answers, but for the questions themselves. . . .