From the time of Achilles (11th century BC) a hero was someone who would slay all round him in battle, during that time in the Greek world battle was more akin to sport which you trained at to become better, form was very important. We still have the concept of a hero as being someone who was good in war and we wear poppies for them and shame anyone not wearing one because we're elitist, tribal cunts. The word 'hero' has evolved to mean so much more and anyone can become a hero.
To those who get annoyed when someone types 'your right about that' and they have to add *you're* well Old Knudsen hates it when people type 'heros' you wouldn't type potatos so put a fucken E in there... heroes.
Generals and world leaders don't just decide who gets medals, now all sorts of civvies do and the acts of courage are no longer about killing the enemy and winning the battle. Yes so and so was very brave for fighting their cancer but many brave acts are really just things that you have to do. If you call time and end your life is that less brave? You don't have control over what others will think of you and if yer dead then what does it matter what they call you? If you value their opinion then that's different. Heroic acts are not what they used to be.
Bill Maher called the 9/11 bombers brave because it must take guts to fly to your fiery deaths. He got that one wrong because intent is very important if you want to call someone brave because that puts them up with those who are actually brave such as firefighters who don't want to die a fiery death but risk it all the time.
I was reading about a bloke who was dying of cancer but now he wanted to marry his partner and take all their kids abroad for the honeymoon. Yes it was a reason to set up a Go fund me page. The paper kept using the word brave and I wondered why. Was it because he wasn't crying or complaining? Maybe he does that in private or is past that. If you don't have a choice and you don't want to die you do what you have to do. Is that really brave merely because you are stoic about it? Putting on a brave face.
Achilles having a one weakness (his heel) and being killed by someone less noble figure (Paris) shows you how being a hero was changing from the 7th century on. Homer got to write how things were going to be remembered.
I see Hector as being the hero of the Trojan war not Achillies. Hector had to fight for his brother's actions and for his city knowing that he would being going to die. Self sacrifice for the sake of others became a popular heroic thing to do and something that civvies could do too on various levels that didn't always mean death.
Carton, a lawyer who thinks an aristocrat deserves to live more then he ... what a tough call.
A tale of two cities had English lawyer Sydney Carton secretly taking the place of a condemned man because he is less noble than the man and he'd do anything for a woman he loves that doesn't love him.
"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."
It may be noble but not a great example for those with low self esteem and survivor guilt. Maybe he would have been braver to face up to his own personal issues that made him want to drink. Dying is easy but staring life in the face can be a lot tougher.
Alexander was prone to drunken rages and carelessness in battle, he didn't lern too gud.
What do we know about Socrates and why am I talking about heroes? He lived around 4th century BC and was big with the mental masturbation known as philosophy. Most info on him comes from his students Plato and Xenophon.
Socrates in his youth was a soldier, a veteran of the Peloponnesian War. Mentioned for his bravery at the battle of Delium. He was also a stonemason who was attributed to have made the statue of The Three Graces (daughters of Zeus) that stood near the Acropolis until the 2 nd century AD.
A copy of the Roman copy of the three Graces.
He was a stubborn git who didn't believe in retreat in either the courtroom or the battlefield, even if it meant death. A product of his era? Greece was going through its downward spiral and was under subjection from Sparta so the next generations would not have been so gung ho as Socrates. He made a living out of teaching and took on the odd court room debate. Probably would have wrote into the local newspaper a lot and only bought the thing to see if his comments had been printed .... Of course Old Knudsen doesn't do that. Yes, they do get printed BTW.
Athens was going through a time of change and was trying to become its own entity away from Sparta. Democracy was being tested out and Socrates was against this silly idea. It was political infighting that got Socrates arrested with the charge of poisoning young minds (buggering young bums was legal) and not obeying the local gods.
Philosophy may be something that boring wankers do to get an easy degree now but then it actually meant something and was seen as dangerous.
Too much of yon thinking will make ya go blind. There was a reason that Hitler got rid of the academics first as ideas and ideals can be dangerous in the hands of the public, better to keep them like mushrooms, in the dark and fed on shit. Yeah democracy does suck for those at the top.
Socrates had the means to escape prison but he was old and teaching somewhere else would just have him pissing off people there too. Like Old Knudsen commenting online. He said that he broke his social contract with the city he lived in and would see the case through to set an example for others. He was sentenced to die by poisoning.
Plato referred to him as a Gladfly, they sting a horse to force it into action, Socrates was acting for the good of society by setting into motion events that people had to talk about, they couldn't ignore it. He took his punishment well and a numbness crept over him until death. He thought his death would make a difference.
His legacy was the teaching of many important people and a wisdom that exists even until today. Saying "The unexamined life is not worth living" is as true now as it was then.
True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing.
There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.
Beware the barrenness of a busy life.
I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.
To find yourself, think for yourself.
True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.
He was like the George Carlin of his day and has just as many Facebook memes to show for it. Times and attitudes may change but the human condition remains the same.
The death of Socrates reminds me of something else. Sure Socrates had reasons for not escaping such as it might be seen as him being afraid and would leave his friends in the situation of being punished, being old probably had him saying I'm too old for this shit. I understand him not wanting to escape.
The Bible which seen in comparison with the wisdom of Socrates seems really fucking dumb but those who wrote it may have had him in mind when it came to making up what Jesus did. After being betrayed Jesus milled around waiting for the bloody Romans to get him. He was told to run but didn't. I always wondered why he was so fucking dumb. Jesus would not have been given a cushy death. There is being brave but being stupid kinda takes away from that.
So a young 33 year-old didn't run because .... like Marshall Applewhite and David Koresh he had drank his own Kool aid???
Since it's just a story it doesn't have to make sense, it just has to inspire. Dying for our sins is pure ego, it's like those cunts that tell you they'll pray for you because they don't agree with you. Like Socrates, Jesus had to take his punishment like a man, a fictional man but still and man/god-ish thing.
Imagine if he was real, what kind of mind fuck did Mary do to him? She had anal sex with some rough goat handler but it leaked into her twat so she made up a story about God sex and Joesph who was desperate for some young girl action decided to believe it .... maybe they did a virginity check on her so her story must be true.
Joesph came from a long line of very important sand savages so he was a catch to ride the coat tails on. Mary brought Jesus up telling him how special he was and much of his life was dedicated to fulfilling the prophesies to make him the messiah, even cousin John got involved, it was a family business. Long family line to King David (even though he wasn't of Joseph's blood) check, ride a donkey into town check.
As for the miracles, photos or shut the fuck up.
Socrates wasn't a hero unless you count his military service, he was a boy loving bloke who was deep. Many people never reach that level of self awareness that he had and he did his job of making other think very well. Achilles would be the stereotype of a hero and as for Caitlyn Jenner ... not a hero, you don't get called what firefighters are for being an attention hoor. I don't care what gender or race people identify as, I'm just telling it like it is.
Jesus gets all glory. The King of kings, King of beers, Lamb of God, Light of the World, Son of man, Son of God and Son of David .... though the last one is a lie based on the story that they themselves tell.
Not very humble, more like a personal affirmation you are trying to convince yourself of. I am worthy, I am a good person, I do deserve better.
The Old Testament is as sprawling as World War Z except
the ancient writers couldn't research the areas of the ancient werld.
It maybe a tiny area but many people just didn't travel very far in
those days. They heard stories of foreign places and names and filled in
the rest.
The writers of the Bible seem like educated people (for being able to write alone) but they don't seem to be very deep thinkers. The New testament clearly shows the Roman and therefore Greek influence in writing style and the writers probably knew of Socrates and even Aesop the Greek fabulist who died in 564 BC.
Jesus was made into a hero for failing even though being tortured to death as a part of his cunning plan. Did God lie to him ... lol! Or did he think Joesph would spring him at the last minute?
A drunken Joesph: "Oh now I'm your father, well fuck away off and die, I was never good enough for you unless you want to use my family name to get into the carpenter's guild, it was all Yahweh this and Yahweh that but he never taught you how to carve out a gourd, he never taught you a left hook, he never paid for when you had to have the new and trendy sandals."
Influence in the ancient world interests Old Knudsen, if you understand history, not just the facts but what is behind the facts and who are writing the facts and what their angle is, then you might understand Influence.
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