Eliade, Mircea. Myth and Reality. Trans. Willard R. Trask. New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1975.
“Since Hypnos is a brother to Thanatos, we see why, in Greece as in India and in Gnosticism, the act of ‘awakening’ had a ‘soteriological’ meaning (in the broadest sense of the word). Socrates awakens those who will talk with him, even though against their will” (126).
It is interesting to connect an awakening to a concept such as salvation. Certainly, the imagery and metaphor are there in the background of our collective mind. In the case of Socrates, he gave others salvation by awakening them from their own closed-off perceptions through his arguments. Another way this could be interpreted, however, is that every time we awaken, we are saved, and given another chance and a new day and a clean spirit. This means, that with the start of a new day, people are fundamentally good and have the potential to do good for one another on a huge scale. I think is an interesting philosophy that is rarely explored.
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