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Mithridates Vl
Imperfects Public Relations
12
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Posted - 2013.05.14 10:14:00 -
[1] - Quote
It has been said that the Imperfects favour quality over quantity but rarely do we elaborate on what that means. For a definition of quality, I am going to refer to the Ancient Greeks. In its day, Athens was the central nexus of rational thought. It was the sole sanctuary for philosophers in a world of barbarians. There, they knew about Quality. They called it "Arete".
Arete doesn't translate directly into English. It means quality, but it also means virtue and heroism. Interestingly enough, neither of these words mean what you think they might mean either!
Odysseus, the epitome of Greek heroism was not a damsel-saving, bad-guy-foiling, righteous do-gooder. He was actually a bit of a jerk, cheating on his wife, lying, spitting in the face of the Gods and just generally storming about the place stomping ALL of the faces. He was both a man and a beast (or a troll) and he celebrated both of these things and was celebrated FOR both of these things. He wasn't ashamed of his trolling, wild side; rather, he made it into one of his virtues. That is quality. It's acknowleding who and what you are and pursuing excellence in THAT.
These Athenians spent most of the month worshipping Apollo, who was pretty much in charge of light and reason and harmony and logically stated rational positions. Then, two days out of each moon, they were like "you know what, screw Apollo. You know who's awesome? Dionysus, god of PARTY HARD." They knew that a man has to romance his inner troll so they'd have massive freaking parties which consumed the whole city in a festival of drinking and dancing and drumming and chanting, which might involve massive amounts of violence and human sacrifice and generally just getting your freak on. They weren't just having a party, they were celebrating the parts of themselves that they spent the rest of their time suppressing. Their fear and anger and unrestrained desire. It wasn't just rebellious teens, either, participating in this. Basically everyone was out there flipping tables.
The Greek Hero understands that for proper functioning, this part of ourselves must be exercised. He balances the Apollonian and the Dionysian, the warrior and the philosopher, the nice guy and the scoundrel. Balance is found in accepting the ebb and flow. One side of this will always be favoured and it's in working towards this harmony that we acknowledge our imperfection. In the same way that Socrates was the wisest of men because he knew the limits of his knowledge, so are we the elite in acknowledging our imperfection and fully embrace the natures of our members. |
Mithridates Vl
Imperfects Public Relations
12
|
Posted - 2013.05.14 10:18:00 -
[2] - Quote
BL4CKST4R wrote:Mithridates Vl wrote:It has been said that the Imperfects favour quality over quantity but rarely do we elaborate on what that means. For a definition of quality, I am going to refer to the Ancient Greeks. In its day, Athens was the central nexus of rational thought. It was the sole sanctuary for philosophers in a world of barbarians. There, they knew about Quality. They called it "Arete".
Arete doesn't translate directly into English. It means quality, but it also means virtue and heroism. Interestingly enough, neither of these words mean what you think they might mean either!
Odysseus, the epitome of Greek heroism was not a damsel-saving, bad-guy-foiling, righteous do-gooder. He was actually a bit of a jerk, cheating on his wife, lying, spitting in the face of the Gods and just generally storming about the place stomping ALL of the faces. He was both a man and a beast (or a troll) and he celebrated both of these things and was celebrated FOR both of these things. He wasn't ashamed of his trolling, wild side; rather, he made it into one of his virtues. That is quality. It's acknowleding who and what you are and pursuing excellence in THAT.
These Athenians spent most of the month worshipping Apollo, who was pretty much in charge of light and reason and harmony and logically stated rational positions. Then, two days out of each moon, they were like "you know what, screw Apollo. You know who's awesome? Dionysus, god of PARTY HARD." They knew that a man has to romance his inner troll so they'd have massive freaking parties which consumed the whole city in a festival of drinking and dancing and drumming and chanting, which might involve massive amounts of violence and human sacrifice and generally just getting your freak on. They weren't just having a party, they were celebrating the parts of themselves that they spent the rest of their time suppressing. Their fear and anger and unrestrained desire. It wasn't just rebellious teens, either, participating in this. Basically everyone was out there flipping tables.
The Greek Hero understands that for proper functioning, this part of ourselves must be exercised. He balances the Apollonian and the Dionysian, the warrior and the philosopher, the nice guy and the scoundrel. Balance is found in accepting the ebb and flow. One side of this will always be favoured and it's in working towards this harmony that we acknowledge our imperfection. In the same way that Socrates was the wisest of men because he knew the limits of his knowledge, so are we the elite in acknowledging our imperfection and fully embrace the natures of our members. I don't think this belongs in this forum section. It can be moved, then. That's what we're paying these mods for.
It's not really a declaration of war, either, so ill fits the War Room. It's just the opening to a general discussion. |
Mithridates Vl
Imperfects Public Relations
12
|
Posted - 2013.05.14 10:23:00 -
[3] - Quote
Commander Tuna wrote:You guys are so full of yourselves and for no good reason either. Ten points to Gryffindor if you figure out what the actual message in the OP is. |
Mithridates Vl
Imperfects Public Relations
12
|
Posted - 2013.05.14 10:25:00 -
[4] - Quote
iceyburnz wrote:I thought Arete refered to the asthetic quality of conflict/battle/struggle where two opponents are evenly matched and skillfull matching blow for blow demonstrating thier art and as a consiquence giving spectators a visual treat.
Greek Virtue is a massively broad concept. Your thing is part of it too. |
Mithridates Vl
Imperfects Public Relations
32
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Posted - 2013.05.17 07:52:00 -
[5] - Quote
Updated with link to part two. |
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