9781945186240

Apply this to life as a whole.
3. The resolute soul:
Resolute in separation from the body. And then in dissolution or
fragmentation—or continuity.
But the resolution has to be the result of its own decision, not just in
response to outside forces [like the Christians]. It has to be considered and
serious, persuasive to other people. Without dramatics.
4. Have I done something for the common good? Then I share in the
benefits.
To stay centered on that. Not to give up.
5. “And your profession?” “Goodness.” (And how is that to be
achieved, except by thought—about the world, about the nature of people?)
6. First, tragedies. To remind us of what can happen, and that it happens
inevitably—and if something gives you pleasure on that stage, it shouldn’t
cause you anger on this one. You realize that these are things we all have to
go through, and that even those who cry aloud “o Mount Cithaeron!” have
to endure them. And some excellent lines as well. These, for example:
If I and my two children cannot move the gods
The gods must have their reasons
Or:
And why should we feel anger at the world?
And:
To harvest life like standing stalks of grain
and a good many others.
Then, after tragedy, Old Comedy: instructive in its frankness, its plain
speaking designed to puncture pretensions. (Diogenes used the same tactic
for similar ends.)
Then consider the Middle (and later the New) Comedy and what it
aimed at—gradually degenerating into mere realism and empty technique.