This sounds like it might be a bit of a reverent-Western-scholar steelman such as might be taught in modern philosophy classes

That was roughly my aim, but I don't think I inserted any premises that weren't there. Did you have a complaint about the accuracy of my paraphrase? The really implausible premise there, namely that death is the opposite of life, is preserved I think.

As for reverence, why not? He was, after all, the very first person in our historical record to suggest that thinking better might make you happier. He was also an intellectualist about morality, at least sometimes a hedonic utilitarian, and held no great respect for logic. And he was a skilled myth-maker. He sounds like a man after your own heart, actually.