So who/what was Socrates?

Dan Millman has said he was an actual guy who worked at a gas station, but that in writing the book he took some liberty and put some of the wisdom he gathered from other sources and attributed them to Socrates. Whether the person of Socrates ever existed or not is probably besides the point, though. It is possible Millman actually made him up, but I guess that's besides the point.

First realization of a warrior?

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Last movie watched: Hot Coffee (7/10)

It's revealed who he was in the second book, The Journey of Socrates. I've never cared for the "based on real life story" but nevertheless, the way it is explained and the ending was terrific, I highly recommend it if you want to know more about Socrates.

Although I enjoyed the constant stream of wisdom that flowed from Nick Nolte's character, "Socrates," the film took a wrong turn with him right out of the gate by implying that he had the power to instantaneously levitate 15 feet. From there it gets even weirder. I felt this took away from his character rather than make him more intriguing. Mr. Miyagi worked so well in "The Karate Kid" because he was a believable character whereas the nature of Socrates in this movie is idiotically ambiguous.

A reviewer claimed Socrates was Dan's conscience and Socrates in the movie even suggests at one point that maybe he's just Dan's spiritual intuition. Well, if this is true, who's working the midnight shift at the gas station? Who throws Dan over the bridge into the creek at Berkley? We know it's an actual person because Dan was able to shop at the gas station and Joy, Dan's future wife in real life, obviously knows the wise old man. So is he a real person or Dan's conscience/spiritual intuition? The movie tries to play it both ways and seriously falters because of it.