ALTERNATE WISDOM

Of the nine candidates for the hoi hepta sophoi club membership, Myson Of Chenae is the least established, and the most deserving of the title alternate member. The only one absent from the Webster’s Biographical Dictionary, he is a no-show in Herodotus’ Histories, and the venerable (this is an irony!) Diogenes Laertius seems to be the only one we can… unreliably draw from, although the statement that he was, indeed, one of the Seven is also attributed to Socrates by Plato in the Dialogue Protagoras. Plutarch mentions Myson in his Lives in passim, but does not include him in his own list of the Seven Sages.

Having said that, the only reason why I still have a separate entry on Myson of Chenae here, is that at least some respectable sources name him among the seven sages, and writing separate entries on each member or alternate member of that honorable club has become a solid matter of principle for me in this PreSocratica section. And thus, Myson’s “alternate wisdom” shall not find itself homeless.

There is a nifty story of Anacharsis during his travels coming to the Oracle of Delphi for a consultation and receiving the following statement from the Oracle:

Myson of Chenae in Oeta; this is he

Who for wise-heartedness surpasses thee.

In other words, the oracle informs Anacharsis that Myson is the wiser of them two. The only problem with this is that this anecdote is told by Diogenes Laertius, in his spurious biography of Myson. Needless to say, nobody else of the ancients seems to be aware of this story.

Geographically speaking, Chenae was a small place either in Laconia or on the island of Crete (the sources differ), and Myson was a farmer who lived until the age of ninety-seven. As for the telltale signs of his hoi hepta sophoi membership: wise aphoristic sayings, I was unable to find any from the sources which I have had access to, so far.

But so what? I am confidently accepting Myson’s alternate credentials on the strength of Plato’s authority.