The god’s endorsement of Socrates may have come by the chance drawing of a lot, as we have seen. Or it may have come as an inspired utterance from the priestess. If the latter, why single out a so-far minor thinker for Apollo’s commendation? In fact, there are a number of historical parallels in which a rich and famous man is told by the oracle that the happiest man in the world is not him, but some unknown peasant.
King Gyges of Lydia, we are told, asked the oracle at Delphi if anyone was more fortunate than he. The oracle answered, Yes, Aglaus of Psophis, a small farmer in Arcadia who had never traveled beyond his remote village but had everything he needed.[37] This nobody from nowhere is certified to be more fortunate than the richest man in the Aegean. The revelation puts the proud man in his place. Further, there is a tale of each of the seven wise men, including Thales, deferring to the others’ wisdom, unwilling to claim first prize for himself.[38 No human is truly wise, and the most fortunate individual is the one who is content with his lot in life and thinks little of himself. In the fifth century BC, with sophists making extravagant claims about their mental prowess and educational expertise, Socrates is the humble Aglaus the Arcadian, the nobody who knows his place.[39] Some scholars think that the oracle favored Socrates because he was about the only philosopher or sophist of his time to support religion and traditional values.[40] Others believe the oracle favored Socrates because he was pro-Spartan and antidemocratic, as were the leaders of Delphi.[41] The priests of Delphi, then, might have had reasons to promote Socrates. If they had an agenda. Or the oracle may have resulted from the chance drawing of a lot.
[37].Valerius Maximus 7.1.2. Compare Herodotus 1.30, who has Solon of Athens give a similar put-down to Gyges. See Herzog 1922, Gigon 1947:93-103 on this and related motifs.
[38].Callimachus fr. 191 Pfeiffer = DK 11A3a.
[39].Herzog 1922; Gigon 1947:93-103.
[40].Nestle 1948.
[41].Strycker and Slings 1994:78.