Analyzing The Ways That Plato Is An Unusual Epic Hero

An Unusual Hero (An Analysis of the Ways that Plato is an Unusual Epic Hero) From the crooked heights of Troy to the winding streets of Athens, the ancient West was fascinated by epic heroes. Bards sang poems about the fleet footed Achilles and the cunning Odysseus. Every man, woman, and child knew the stories of Jason, Hercules, and Hector. However, there is one man who achieved fame akin to the epic heroes of olden times with neither strength nor skill. His name was Socrates. In ancient Greece, Socrates was the most famous celebrity. Today, Socrates is perhaps more famous than any epic hero. In an article entitled, â€Å"Celebrities of the Ancient World,† Robert Garland says, â€Å"The fact remains that Socrates was one of the best known Athenians of his day.† His disciplines of thought have influenced almost every aspect of modern society. Traces of Socratic method can be uncovered in modern school systems and in the media. Socrates is an unusual epic hero because he was ugly, he chose to use words over violence, and he realized the importanc e of education over glory. At the peak of his fame, Socrates was a very unattractive, old man. Robert Garland describes him: â€Å"He had a striking physical appearance, which his contemporaries compared to that of a snub-nosed, bald and ugly Silenus.† He adds, â€Å"Beauty is useful in the path to stardom. But so, too, is its opposite.† Socrates was most definitely the opposite of beautiful. Compared to epic heroes like Odysseus, who was tall andShow MoreRelatedKautilyas Theory10704 Words   |  43 Pages268-232 B.C.E.) was, and still is, astonishing. With a population of about fifty million people, the Mauryan Empire was larger than the Mughal Empire two thousand years later and even larger than the British Empire in India, extending in fact all the way to the border of Persia and from Afghanistan to Bengal.  7  (The map on the previous page shows the extent of the Mauryan Empire under Ashoka.) Pliny—borrowing from Megasthenes, the ambassador of Seleucus to Chandragupta—wrote that Chandraguptas armyRead MoreHumanities11870 Words   |  48 Pagesideas based on previous developments in art. This is why studying existing canons of great art is very important. *Some definitions of art according to philosophers: †¢ Art is that which brings life in harmony with the beauty of the world.-Plato †¢ Art is the whole spirit of man.-Ruskin †¢ Art is the medium by which the artist communicates himself to his fellows.-Charleston Noyes †¢ Art is anything made or done by man that affects or moves us so that we see or feel beauty in it