The Allegory of the Chariot

by Brett & Kate McKay

What is a man? What sort of man should I be? What does it mean to live a good life? What is the best way to live and how do I attain excellence? What should I aim for, and what training and practices must I do to achieve those aims? uch !uestions have been as"ed for thousands of years# $ew men have grappled with them more, and provided "eener insight to the answers, than the philosophers of ancient %reece# In particular, &lato's vision of the tripartite nature of the soul, or psyche, as explained though the allegory of the chariot, is something I have returned to throughout my life# It furnishes an unmatched symbol of what a man is, can be, and what he must do to bridge those two points and attain andreia (manliness), arte (excellence), and finally eudaimonia (full human flourishing)# *oday we will discuss that allegory and its meaning# While an understanding of the whole allegory and the pondering of it can bring great insight, the ultimate goal of this article is in fact to lay the foundation for two more posts to come in which we will uncover the nature of the one component of &lato's vision of the soul that has almost entirely been lost to modern men+ thumos#

The Allegory of the Chariot

In the Phaedrus, &lato (through his mouthpiece, ocrates) shares the allegory of the chariot to explain the tripartite nature of the human soul or psyche#

*he chariot is pulled by two winged horses, one mortal and the other immortal# *he mortal horse is deformed and obstinate# &lato describes the horse as a ,croo"ed lumbering animal, put together anyhow-of a dar" color, with grey eyes and blood.red complexion/ the mate of insolence and pride, shag.eared and deaf, hardly yielding to whip and spur#0 *he immortal horse, on the other hand, is noble and game, ,upright and cleanly madehis color is white, and his eyes dar"/ he is a lover of honor and modesty and temperance, and the follower of true glory/ he needs no touch of the whip, but is guided by word and admonition only#0 In the driver's seat is the charioteer, tas"ed with reining in these disparate steeds, guiding and harnessing them to propel the vehicle with strength and efficiency# *he charioteer's destination? *he ridge of heaven, beyond which he may behold the $orms+ essences of things li"e Beauty, Wisdom, 1ourage, 2ustice, %oodness 3 everlasting *ruth and absolute Knowledge# *hese essences nourish the horses' wings, "eeping the chariot in flight# *he charioteer 4oins a procession of gods, led by 5eus, on this trip into the heavens# 6nli"e human souls, the gods have two immortal horses to pull their chariots and are able to easily soar above# Mortals, on the other hand, have a much more turbulent ride# *he white horse wishes to rise, but the dar" horse attempts to pull the chariot bac" towards the earth# 7s the horses pull in opposing directions, and the charioteer attempts to get them into sync, his chariot bobs above the ridge of heaven then down again, and he catches glimpses of the great beyond before sin"ing once more# If the charioteer is able to behold the $orms, he gets to go on another revolution around the heavens# But if he cannot successfully pilot the chariot, the horses' wings wither from lac" of nourishment, or brea" off when the horses collide and attac" each other, or crash into the chariots of others# *he chariot then plummets to earth, the horses lose their wings, and the soul becomes embodied in human flesh# *he degree to which the soul falls, and the ,ran"0 of the mortal being it must then be embodied in is based on the amount of *ruth it beheld while in the heavens# 8ather li"e the idea of reincarnation# *he degree of the fall also determines how long it ta"es for the horses to regrow their wings and once again ta"e flight# Basically, the more *ruth the charioteer beheld on his 4ourney, the shallower his fall, and the easier it is for him to get up and get going again# *he regrowth of the wings is hastened by the mortal soul encountering people and experiences that contain touches of divinity, and recall to his memory the *ruth he beheld in his preexistence# &lato describes such moments as loo"ing ,through the glass dimly0 and they hasten the soul's return to the heavens#

Interpreting the Allegory

&lato's allegory of the chariot can be interpreted on a number of levels 9 as symbolic of the path to becoming godli"e, spiritual transcendence, personal progress and attainment of , uperhuman0 status, or psychological health# *here is much one can ponder about it# Below we delve into several of the main points# The Tripartite Soul *he chariot, charioteer, and white and dar" horses symboli:e the soul, and its three main components# *he 1harioteer represents man's 8eason, the dar" horse his appetites, and the white horse his thumos# We'll explore the nature of thumos in.depth next time, but for now, you can

read it simply as ,spiritedness#0 7nother way to label the three elements of soul are as the lover of wisdom (charioteer), the lover of gain (dar" horse), and the lover of victory (white horse)# 7ristotle described the three elements as the contemplative, hedonistic, and political, or, "nowledge, pleasure, and honor# *he %ree"s saw these elements of soul as physical, almost independent entities, not so much with bodies, but as real forces, li"e electricity that could move a man to act and thin" in certain ways# ;ach element has its own motivations and desires+ reason see"s truth and "nowledge, the appetites see" food, drin", sex, and material wealth, and thumos see"s glory, honor, and recognition# &lato believed reason has the highest aims, followed by thumos, and then the appetites# But each soul force, if properly harnessed and employed, can help a man become eudaimon# 8eason's 4ob, with the aid of thumos, is to discern the best aims to pursue, and then train his ,horses0 to wor" together towards those aims# 7s the charioteer, he must have vision and purpose 9 he must "now where he is going 3 and he must understand the nature and desires of his two horses if he wishes to properly harness their energies# 7 charioteer can err by either failing to hitch one of the horses to the chariot altogether, or by failing to bridle the horse, and instead letting him run wild# In the latter case, &lato argued, ,the best part <8eason= is naturally wea" in a man so that it cannot govern and control the brood of beasts within him but can only serve them and can learn nothing but the ways of flattering them#0 Obtaining Harmony of Soul *he masterful charioteer does not ignore his own motivations, nor the desires of thumos and appetite, but neither does he let his two horses run wild# >e lets 8eason rule, ta"es stoc" of all his desires, identifies his best and truest ones 9 those that lead to virtue and truth 3 and guides his horses towards them# >e does not ignore or indulge them 9 he harnesses them# ;ach horse has its strengths and wea"nesses, and the white horse can lead a man into the wrong path 4ust as the dar" horse can, but when properly trained, thumos becomes the ally of the charioteer# *ogether, reason and thumos wor" to pull the appetites into sync# Instead of having ,civil war amongst them,0 the deft charioteer understands each role the three forces of his soul play, and he guides them in carrying out that role without either entirely usurping their role, nor allowing them to interfere with each other# >e achieves harmony amongst the elements# *hus, instead of dissipating his energies in contradictory and detrimental directions, he channels those energies towards his goals# 7chieving this harmony of soul, &lato argues, is a precursor to tac"ling any other endeavor of life+ ,having first attained to self.mastery and beautiful order within himself, and having harmoni:ed these three principles, the notes or intervals of three terms !uite literally the lowest, the highest, and the mean, and all others there may be between them, and having lin"ed and bound all three together and made of himself a unit, one man instead of many, self.controlled and in unison, he should then and then only turn to practice if he find aught to do either in the getting of wealth or the tendance of the body or it may be in political action or private business, in all such doings believing and naming the 4ust and honorable action to be that which preserves and helps to produce this condition of soul#0 *he foundational nature of gaining mastery over one's soul, &lato continues,

,is the chief reason why it should be our main concern that each of us, neglecting all other studies, should see" after and study this thing3if in any way he may be able to learn of and discover the man who will give him the ability and the "nowledge to distinguish the life that is good from that which is bad, and always and everywhere to choose the best that the conditions allow#0 7 man that ma"es this pursuit his aim, and allows it to guide all his thoughts and actions, ,will gladly ta"e part in and en4oy those which he thin"s will ma"e him a better man, but in public and private life he will shun those that may overthrow the established habit of his soul#0 Taking Flight and Progressing in Our Journey 7s you'll remember, in the allegory of the chariot, the chariot falls from the heavens when the horses do not receive ade!uate nourishment from the $orms, or when the horses rebel and the charioteer does a poor 4ob of directing them# *hey lose their wings, and must stay on earth until they regrow 9 a process which is hastened by remembering what one saw before the fall# &lato believed that discovering all truth was not a process of learning, but of remembering what one once "new# >is philosophy may be interpreted literally as saying we had a preexistence before this life# But it also has meaning in a more figurative sense# We get off trac" in becoming the men we wish to be when we succumb to vice (being overpowered by the dar" horse), and we tend to succumb to vice when we forget who we are, who we want to be, and the insights into those two pieces of "nowledge we have already attained and experienced# ?oing things that remind us of the truths we hold dear "eeps us ,in flight0 and progressing with our lives# $or more on this important sub4ect, I highly recommend reading+ >old $ast+ >ow $orgetfulness *orpedos @our 2ourney to Becoming the Man @ou Want to Be, and 8emembrance Is the 7ntidote

Understanding the ark Horse

In order to train and harness the power latent in the forces of his soul, a man must understand the nature of his ,horses0 and how to utili:e their strengths and rein in their wea"nesses# 7 man's dar" horse, or appetites, are not difficult to understand/ you have probably felt its primal pull towards money, sex, food, and drin" many times in your life# But despite our intimate ac!uaintance with our appetites, or perhaps because of it, the dar" horse is not easy to properly train and ma"e use of# ?oing so re!uires achieving moderation, or as 7ristotle would put it, finding the ,golden mean0 between extremes# 7 man who lets his appetites run completely wild is the unabashed hedonist# >e does not see" to rein in the dar" horse at all, letting him pull the chariot after whichever pleasure crosses its path# *his is the man who lives for nothing higher than to eat good food, get drun", have sex, and ma"e money# >e see"s after effemini:ing luxury with abandon and will do anything to get it# With no chec" to his behavior, the result can be a giant gut, pic"led brains, massive debt, and a prison sentence for corruption# 7 life wholly dedicated to the satisfaction of one's bodily and pecuniary pleasures ma"e man no different than the animals# 7ristotle called such a life bovine, and &lato argued that the result of letting oneself be dominated by his appetites ,is the ruthless enslavement of the divinest part of himself to the most despicable and godless part#0 uch

a man, &lato submitted, should be ,deemed wretched#0 An the other end of the spectrum is the man who sees his physical desires as wholly wrong or sinful 9 troublesome or evil stumbling bloc"s on the path to spiritual purity or enlightenment# *his man see"s to nullify his flesh, and cut off its cravings for pleasure entirely# *his is the man who spends so much of his life thin"ing of sex as sinful, that he can't turn off that association and en4oy it, even after he is married# >e averts his eyes from women as living porn# $ood is merely fuel# >e often seems flat, sterile, and closed off to others, though often you can sense the bottled impulses bubbling beneath the surface that he's tried so hard to deny# 7nd because of the lac" of a healthy outlet, that bubbling often becomes a toxic stew that will one day burst forth in a decidedly unhealthy way# &lato believed that the appetites were the lowest of the forces of the soul, and that allowing the dar" horse to dominate and enslave you would lead to a base, unvirtuous life far from arBte and eudaimonia# @et he also argued that the dar" horse, if properly trained, imparted 4ust as much energy to the pulling of the chariot as the white horse did# *he chariot that soars highest ma"es use of both horses side by side# 7 would.be ace charioteer neither entirely indulges his dar" horse nor wholly cuts him off# >e harnesses and directs the energy in a positive way# Between the two extremes of unchec"ed hedonism and the iron.fisted s!uashing of bodily appetites lies a middle way# *his is the man who maintains a sense of sensuality and earthiness, who ma"es room for the pleasures of body and money but puts them in their proper place, who, as ?r# 8obin Meyers puts it, is able to find ,the virtue in the vice#0 >e en4oys sex thoroughly, but does so within the context of love and commitment# >e en4oys good food and drin", without mindlessly engorging and imbibing# >e appreciates money, and that which it can buy, but does not ma"e ac!uiring it his central aim# *he dar" horse, when properly trained and directed, can lead one closer, not further from the good life# &leasures satisfied with discretion ma"e a man happy and balanced, and "eep him feeling healthy and motivated enough to tac"le his higher goals# 7nd the appetites themselves can lead directly to those loftier aims# *he desire for money, when "ept in balance, can lead to success, recognition, and independence# Cust, when properly directed, leads a man to love, and &lato believed that beholding one's lover was a central path to recalling the Beauty of the $orms, and regrowing one's wings for another trip into the heavens# *hat is the nature of the dar" horse 9 a force that can be used for both good and ill, depending on the mastery of the charioteer# It is fairly easy to grasp, if not always to live# But what of the white horse, thumos? *hat is another matter# *here is no word in our modern language e!uivalent to this ancient concept# We have here rendered it ,spiritedness,0 but in truth it encompasses much, much more# It is to that sub4ect we will turn next time#

!ot Thumos"
Cast wee" we explored &lato's allegory of the chariot, which the ancient philosopher used

to explain the tripartite nature of the soul or psyche# In the allegory, a chariot (representing the soul) is pulled by a rebellious dar" horse (symboli:ing man's appetites) and a spirited white horse (symboli:ing thumos)# *he charioteer, or 8eason, is tas"ed with harnessing the energy of both horses, getting the disparate steeds into sync, and successfully piloting the chariot into the heavens where he can behold *ruth and become li"e the gods# We presented the allegory not simply because of the insights it can offer into the nature of man and how we may progress in our lives, but even more importantly, to lay the foundation for a discussion of thumos# While the other components of &lato's vision of the soul have ready modern e!uivalents, there is no word in our language that truly corresponds to thumos# *his is most telling# When a culture lac"s the word for something, it is because they lac" the concept of it# *he %ree"s believed thumos #as essential to andreia $ manliness% It is mentioned over seven hundred times in the Iliad and the Odyssey# &hilosopher 7llan Bloom called it ,the &entral natural passion in men's souls#0 If we have lost the ability to recogni:e, appreciate, cultivate, and utili:e one of the three main components of our nature, we should not be surprised when negative conse!uences follow# When one hears of a lac" of virility, fight, energy, and ambition in modern men, of a malaise of spirit that has settled over our sex, what is really being spo"en of is a shortage of thumos# $or millions of men, thumos lies dormant, an energy source left untapped# It is as if each of us had a potential Kentuc"y ?erby.caliber thoroughbred waiting in the stable, ready and eager to run, but we "ept him loc"ed away, only trotting him out for pony rides at children's birthday parties# 8ecovering an understanding of thumos, and its role as the vital life and energy source of men's souls, will be our tas" today#

(hat Is Thumos"
7s we mentioned last time, &lato envisioned the three components of one's soul as independent entities# *humos was thought to be the most independent of the bunch# *he %ree"s believed it was found in animals, humans, and the gods# *humos could act separately from you, or in cooperation with you 3 as an accompaniment, tool, or motivation behind some action# Because it was a distinct part of yourself, you could tal" to it, tell it to endure, to be strong, or to be young (thumos was associated with the passion and power of youth, but older people could have it too)# In the Iliad, 7chilles spea"s ,to his great.hearted thumos0 when anxious about the fate of &atroculus# >e also delights his thumos by playing the lyre# *he %ree" philosopher ;mpedocles called thumos the ,seat of life#0 If it left you entirely, you would faint, and permanent separation meant death# *humos li"ewise constitutes the ,seat of energy that &an fill a person ,0 and serves as the active agent within man# It is the stimulus, the drive, the 4uice to action 3 the thing that ma"es the blood surge in your veins# &hilosopher am Keen got at the idea with his concept of ,the fire in the belly#0 *he 8omans held a similar belief, e!uating energy with virtus, or manliness# ,*he whole glory of virtus,0 1icero declared, ,resides in activity#0 What is the nature of this energy and where does it lead? *he %ree"s saw thumos as serving several distinct, yet interrelated functions# 7s with honor, it is a concept that was once so implicitly understood that it did not have to be explained, and attempting to

describe it at a great remove ma"es what was once a natural, lived experienced seem much more complicated# *he best we can do is illustrate it from its different angles, and hope that the pieces resonate and come together into a recogni:able mosaic# Note: In this post we use phrases like, The reeks believed!" This is not to imply that the ancient reeks were monolithic in their philosophy # di$$erent ideas on manliness and thumos e%isted& 'hat we have done here is distilled out the core threads o$ thumos on which there was a good amount o$ agreement, and woven them together along with our own interpretation&

The Fun&tions of Thumos Seat of Emotion

*humos is both the sour&e of emotion and the emotion itself% *he agent and the function are fused# *humos births and embodies things li"e 4oy, pain, fear, hope, and grief# *humos is also tied up with love# *he %ree"s would say you could love someone ,out of your thumos#0 Thumos is most &losely asso&iated) ho#e*er) #ith anger% In %ree" writings thumos ,seethes,0 ,rages,0 and ,boils#0 It is a special "ind of anger 9 activated when a man's honor is violated, when his reputation is on the line, when his family and property are threatened# It drives a man to stand up for himself, for his country, for his loved ones# *he anger of thumos can not only be directed at others and external enemies, but also towards oneself# Thumos makes you angry at yourself #hen you fail to li*e up to your prin&iples and &ode of honor% &lato uses the example of a man who sees a pile of corpses, loo"s away, and "eeps on wal"ing, but then returns to ga:e upon it again# >e is angry with himself for giving into a base inclination# *humos can ma"e you indignant of your own desires, if those desires compel you to do something contrary to the dictates of 8eason#

Drive to Fight
*humos not only produces anger, but then channels that anger into the impulse to fight# When Destor, King of &ylos, recalls his past exploits, he says, ,My hard.enduring heart <thumos= in its daring drove me to fight#0 *humos motivates warriors before and during combat# *he %ree"s said courageous soldiers had a ,valiant thumos0 during war# In (even )gainst Thebes, it is said that before battle the soldiers' ,iron.lunged thumos, bla:ing with valor, breathed out as if from lions glaring with the war.god's might#0 Ealor here is translated from andreia 9 manliness# The #arriors' thumos bla+es #ith manliness in anti&ipation of the fight% 7 man of thumos glories in a fight 9 whether against others, the elements of nature, or his baser desires 3 as a way to test his mettle and prove himself#

Courage, Steadfastness, Indomitability

Ance a man is in a fight, thumos spurs him on, motivating him to stay in the arena and continue fearlessly striving for victory# *his ,gameness0 is a !uality of thumos man shares with the beasts# In am heridan's exploration of The *ighter+s ,eart, he observes the centrality of gameness in dogfighting# ,We almost don't care how good the dog fights,0 he notes, ,the fight is 4ust an elaborate test to chec" his gameness#0 7dds a dog

trainer heridan spea"s with+ ,%ive me a game dog any day, a dog that bites as tissue paper but "eeps coming bac" and I'll ta"e him#0 Fearless indomitability is central to the success of the human warrior as well, who must not lose heart as the heat of battle intensifies, and his morale flags# *o encourage their respective armies to fight harder in the midst of combat, 74ax and >ector ,stirred up the thumos and strength0 of each of their men# &lato did not see human gameness as being of the same "ind demonstrated by animals, however# 8ather, he argued that man's thumos, at least when properly trained, is born of a rational type of courage 3 that man is andreios (manly) when his thumos ,holds fast to the orders of reason about what he ought or ought not to fear, in spite of pleasure and pain#0 In other words, when engaged in a worthy fight, you neither rec"lessly underestimate real threats that should be feared, nor overestimate threats that shouldn't be feared, and are not swayed from your course by either the satisfaction of pursuing blind revenge nor the fear of being hurt and the love of comfort and luxury# &lato argued that andreia meant con!uering fear and pain of any sort 9 being the "ind of man , #ho &onfronts misfortune in all &ases #ith steadfast enduran&e#0

Evaluation, Discernment, Decision-Making

o thumos "eeps you in a fight that your 8eason has decided is indeed a worthy one# But how do you ma"e that determination? &lato believed, as 7ngela >obbs put it, that ,courage involves both emotional commitment and evaluative belief, an intellectual and emotional appreciation of what things are worth ta"ing ris"s for and in what circumstances#0 *humos plays a role in both the emotional and evaluative parts of that e!uation# 7s we mentioned last time, the tas" of 8eason as the ,charioteer0 is to ta"e stoc" of his own desires, and those of his two horses, and then to choose to satisfy only his best and truest ones 9 those that lead to virtue and arte, or excellence# 8eason's ally in this tas" is his white horse, or thumos, which can be trained to help ma"e this "ind of 4udgment# hirley ullivan offers examples of this function of thumos in %ree" literature+ ,Thumos is mentioned in connection with several intellectual activities# *hese include pondering) thinking) kno#ing) deliberation) planning and per&ei*ing% Often too a person puts things into thumos for &onsideration% Adysseus Fponders evils in his thumos' for the suitors# 5eus Fthin"s about events' in his thumos as he watches the battle of *roy->ermes Fdeliberates in thumos' how to ta"e &riam safely from 7chilles' camp# 1irce tells Adysseus Fto plan in his thumos' the course he will ta"e after passing the irens# *elemachus tells &enelope that now that he has grown up, Fhe perceives and "nows in his thumos' good and evil# It is in thumos that >esiod tells &erses to Fconsider' the value of the competitive spirit#0 Thumos is the pla&e in #hi&h you ponder possibilities , and at the same time, it helps you "now and understand which of those possibilities to choose# It's related to gut feelings and intuition 3 what 2effrey Barnouw calls ,*is&eral thinking0 3 and it also has a prophetic !uality 9 giving you a sense of foreboding about where a decision may lead, or something bad to come# I personally believe you can "now a decision is right when both your mind and heart agree 9 when your 8eason and thumos align# When you feel that swelling of the heart,

that course of excitement and inspiration running through your veins, that's thumos telling you you're on the right course#

Ambition and the Drive for ecognition and !onor

In contrast to the lower desires of the dar" horse simply for pleasure and material wealth, thumos see"s independen&e over possessions and sensuality, and re&ognition and honor over security# *humos desires pride and prestige for its own sa"e# *his drive for recognition will motivate him to ris" much, even his own life, for his reputation, and also for the reputation of a group to which he is devoted# &lato calls thumos ,the ambitious part <of the soul= and that which is covetous of honor#0 *humos pushes a man to despise medio&rity and to #ant to e,&el his fello# men) to dominate) and be the best of the best% *humos is ultimately what drives a man to see" glory) and abo*e all) lega&y% o now we can see that while thumos is often translated today as spiritedness, heart, passion, will, courage, anger, boldness, or fierceness, it is really a combination of all those descriptions and yet still something more 9 something that no modern word is able to fully convey# &erhaps the best and simplest definition I've come across is , energeti& thinking that leads to a&tion#0

Harnessing the (hite Horse

2ust li"e the dar" horse of our appetites, the white horse of thumos can be used for either good or ill# *he %ree"s called it both ,dar".faced,0 ,vain,0 ,terrible,0 ,greedy,0 and ,pitiless0-as well as ,courageous,0 ,noble,0 ,"indly,0 ,moderate,0 and ,strong#0 &roperly harnessed and guided it has even more potential to lead a man towards eudemonia, or full human flourishing, than the dar" horse, but if allowed to run wild, it can lead a man to destructive ends# It's up to the charioteer to steer his thumos in a noble path#

"nused #humos
*he charioteer may err by failing to hitch the white horse to the chariot at all, or not exercising him to build up his strength# *he %ree"s said that a man's thumos could be ,sluggish,0 and certainly there are a good number of men today who match that description# 7 man lac"ing in thumos is the ,nice guy0 who can't stand up for himself when others push him around# >e is placid# Dothing arouses him# >e has no ideals for which he fights and no real drive or ambition in life# >e is content with mediocrity, or at least doesn't have the will to figure out how to ma"e things better# >e's the "ind of guy who thin"s the whole idea of ,manliness0 is really rather silly and feels he is above the "ind of ,unenlightened0 competitions and 4oc"eying for position that occur amongst men, when really, deep down, he's simply ashamed that he doesn't thin" he could ma"e the cut and stand among them#

"nbridled #humos
7 man may also run to the other extreme of failing to rein in his thumos at all# *he %ree"s called this ,yielding to thumos,0 or letting one's thumos ,run beyond measure#0 *he conse!uences of letting one's white horse run wild vary# When the

%ree"s used thumos in a negative sense, it was most often in the context of the emotions, which they thought of as passions# Being ruled by one's passions could be dangerous if it usurped the role of 8eason and overruled a man's rational faculties# Af the emotions, anger was the most important to chec" and channel, and restraining anger and restraining thumos #ere &losely &onne&ted # Ane type of man with unbridled thumos is he who wants to fight everyone about everything# *he guy at the bar who starts a shoving match if he simply thin"s you loo"ed at him funny# >e's filled with anger, but it has no specific target 9 it's 4ust boiling inside him all the time, and the littlest thing can set it off# *humos is much li"e fire 9 control it and it becomes an enormous power, handle is loosely and it can burn you and consume everything you touch# $or the %ree"s, 7chilles was the archetype of a man who yielded too much to his thumos# 7chilles' thumos imparts many good !ualities to this consummate warrior/ he is strong, brave, aggressive when wronged, driven to success, and nearly invulnerable# But his white.hot anger and concern for honor sometimes lead him to stubbornness and dishonor# *he Iliad describes him as being moved by menos <anger= and overweening thumos,0 and its first two lines tellingly read+ , ing, %oddess, of the rage of &eleus' son 7chillesGthe accursed rage that brought great suffering to the 7chaeans#0 When 7gamemnon robs 7chilles of his war pri:e and lover, Briseis, 7chilles bristles at this dishonor and refuses to fight or lead his troops# Before he slays >ector, his nemesis pleads for an honorable burial, but 7chilles roars in reply+ ,my rage, my fury <thumos= would drive me now to hac" your flesh away and eat you raw 9 such agonies you have caused meH0 >e then "ills >ector, ties him to a chariot, and shamefully drags his lifeless body around the gates of *roy# Because of such acts, 74ax says that 7chilles has let his thumos become ,savage, implacable, and even straightforwardly bad,0 and 7pollo labels his thumos as ,arrogant#0 The !reeks also #arned that unbridled thumos &ould be -foolish. and -flighty). &arrying a man after one flash of inspiration after another # *hey were spea"ing to the second type of man who leaves his thumos unbridled 9 he who gets a new idea, burns with excitement for it for a few days or wee"s, but doesn't have the drive to "eep it going# >e !uic"ly gets bored and moves onto the next thing he's ,super passionate0 about# >is thumos is always chasing after one thing or another without clear aim or purpose#

#humos "nder the S$ay of the Dark !orse

Besides failing to utili:e the white horse, or letting it run wild, an additional problem the charioteer must avoid is letting his thumos get in.sync with the dar" horse, rather than the other way around# 7s you'll remember from last time, the white horse, when properly trained, becomes the ally of the charioteer# Ideally, 8eason and thumos wor" together to pull the rebellious dar" horse in line with their mission and cadence# When there is a conflict between what 8eason "nows is right, and what the appetites want to do, thumos springs into action to defend 8eason's aims# But if 8eason isn't careful, the dar" horse can get the white horse to team up with it instead# When this happens, what you get is what we'll call ,spirited hedonism0 3 something the %ree"s saw young people as especially susceptible to# *humos feels the desire to do great things, to be passionate, to ta"e on adventure and ris", and live life to the fullest, but the dar" horse ta"es this motivation and shunts it off into a narrow and inferior channel 9 the mere penchant for partying hard# *humos wants to really live, and the appetites convince

him that nights out getting smashed at the same bars, repeated on an infinite loop, is real living# &art of this man bemoans the fact that he never really seems to go anywhere or see anything, but the dar" horse !uiets that concern, saying he really is living it up, while encouraging him to get another drin"#

#humos %ro&erly Em&loyed

Thumos) properly trained and harnessed) &an be one of man's greatest allies 3 inspiring and guiding him, stirring him up, and driving and urging him on towards the pea"s of greatness# It can perceive his possibilities and ma"e them real# *he %ree"s believed that a man experienced true happiness ,in thumos#0 The #ay to best make use of thumos is -simple/. dire&ting it to#ards its natural aims 0 that #hi&h is noble and fine) honorable and e,&ellent% &lato believed that thumos was made to ,fight on behalf of what seems to be 4ust,0 and the %ree"s saw this force of the soul as essential in ma"ing moral choices# In the poetry of Bacchylides, 7pollo declares that the #ay to -delight thumos. is by -doing holy a&ts1for this is the highest of gains#0 In order to get thumos to pursue noble aims, &lato argued, you had to tea&h it to respond to 2eauty) Truth) and !oodness# *his can be done, I believe, by learning to use, and finely tuning your innate radar for such things# When you encounter what is %ood, you can feel it resonate in your soul and swell your heart# Interestingly, one of the functions the %ree"s assigned to thumos was the producer of ,reverent awe#0 The proof that something is !ood is that it helps make you a better man 0 it bears good fruit% *he more your thumos pic"s up on these signals, and responds to them, the better it gets at doing so, and as this virtuous cycle continues, your thumos grows ever stronger and you progress as a man# Thumos does not simply dra# you to that #hi&h is good) it inspires you to fight for it# *humos' natural home is the battlefield# Its most essential nature is that of an aid to courage, strength, and indomitability for the warrior in combat# But its spur to fight operates off the battlefield as well# It drives a man to stand up for his ideals) &herished &auses) and moral &hoi&es% It also fuels his desire for re&ognition) honor) and status 9 the drive to become the best of the best in any arena of competition 9 whether sports, profession, or even simply life itself# In any situation #here you &hoose not to ba&k do#n from your beliefs and goals despite opposition) and refuse to gi*e in #hen others try to &rush you) thumos is by your side% *humos is also what drives a man to fight for a life less ordinary 9 one filled with more ris" and adventure# *humos is that source of vitality that pushes a man to live life as fully as possible, to drin" deep from it, to choose ,the strenuous life0 over self.indulgence and mediocrity#

#humos and #echnical Skills

In whatever "ind of fight a man is engaged, &lato argued that the a&3uirement of te&hni&al skills 0 mastery 0 &an a&t as a stimulus to &ourage and an aid to thumos # *raining gives a man confidence that can bolster him in the midst of stress and

opposition# $or example, the more a soldier has been trained in and has rigorously practiced the arts of war and defense, the more he is able to fall bac" on that training in the heat of the battle, and the less li"ely he is to become paraly:ed or give up# 7s >obbs puts it+ ,*echnical s"ills on their own will not ma"e for courage/ nor can they provide thumos, if thumos is altogether lac"ing# *hey can, however, help bolster thumos and ma"e it more effective-&lato does not confuse techni!ue with virtue, but he is clear.eyed about the need to provide the best possible environment for virtue to develop#0

Thumos 4eutered
Why is it that many men seem so lac"ing in thumos today? *humos is a potent force 9 left wild it destroys, but harnessed it creates& *he thumos of man is responsible for the lion's share of society's progress# @et in our modern day, instead of helping men to harness their thumos for positive ends, society has decided it is better to neuter the force altogether# *o protect some people from getting hurt, we've tried to breed it out of men, even if it means its positive effects will be sacrificed along with the negative# It is li"e getting rid of electricity, and all the benefits that have come with it, because some people get electrocuted# $rom an early age, boys are taught to sit still, to be !uiet# &hysical fighting of any "ind results in suspension# 1ompetition is frowned upon because it means some will be left out and feel bad# 8ewards and recognition are distributed e!ually/ everyone is given a pri:e to avoid hurt feelings# 7s a result, boys feel less motivated to fight to rise to the top# We've unfortunately come to thin" of elements of thumos, li"e anger, as entirely bad# Instead, what we need is an understanding that anger is neither bad nor good 9 it's all in how it's directed# *here is such a thing as righteous indignation# *he anger that drives one to stand up for that which is 4ust and right# If you snuff out the force that ma"es bad men hurt the wea", you also eliminate the force that moves good men to protect the vulnerable# &lato argued that you didn't breed fierceness out of men, you trained it# Men of the warrior class, he argued, should be trained to neither be watchdogs who bar"ed at everything 9 even innocent noises 3 nor watchdogs that only whimpered and rolled over when someone invaded the house# They #ere gentle #ith those they kne#) and fier&e #ith strangers of ill5intent% *heir thumos was ready, if needed, to fight#

Thumos Seeking 6ole 7odels

I can imagine that much of this seems very abstract and it may be hard to see how it applies to your own life# What can help ma"e it more tangible is observing how thumos has operated in the lives of other men# &lato believed that thumos naturally see"s heroic role models# *hese role models can inspire thumos, and also, as >obbs put it, ,gi*e life shape and stru&ture#0 Aur own lives can seem li"e an amorphous stream 9 it's 4ust one thing after another# We see the world through our own eyes, so it's hard to get a real perspective on how we're doing and where we're at in our 4ourney# Because we can view them as outside observers, it is much easier to see the shape and structure of the lives of others, especially when you can read their biography and ta"e in the sweep of their lives from start to finish# It's easy

to identify the different seasons they went through, their rises and falls, the important turning points# We can see how certain choices they made led to certain outcomes# 7nd we can get a sense of the "ind of things it's possible for a man to accomplish and what sorts of aims we might see" in our own lives# 2y studying ho# other men throughout history su&&eeded 8and failed9 to harness their thumos) #e &an get a sense of the nature of thumos and ho# to guide our o#n #hite horse% With that in mind we will conclude this series with a case study of the life of 2ac" Condon, who stands as the perfect example of both the power and perils of thumos# By examining the influence of thumos on a modern man, hopefully you will be able to much more easily grasp the nature of thumos and how you might cultivate it in your own life# IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII (ources Plato and the ,ero: -ourage, .anliness and the Impersonal ood by )ngela ,obbs The /aws o$ Plato 0y Plato, Thomas /& Pangle Psychological and 1thical Ideas: 'hat 1arly reeks (ay by (hirley 2arcus (ullivan Odysseus, ,ero O$ Practical Intelligence: 2eliberation )nd (igns In ,omer+s Odyssey by 3e$$rey 0arnouw 4etrieving Political 1motion: Thumos, )ristotle, and ender by 0arbara 5o6iak