The virtues of virtue
Did you have a nice weekend? I did, and now it's almost over. I haven't done anything much today, except knitting. I'm knitting a sweater, as I told you yesterday. What I didn't tell you is that it's my second attempt at knitting a sweater from this particular yarn, washing it, and having the sweater live to tell the tale. The last one I knitted with this yarn didn't live to tell the tale. It shrunk to an unbelievable size and chunkiness. I was really disappointed, since that sweater was a favourite, although a very new one. Anyway, this one will survive, because I intend to wash it by hand, always. I love the soft yarn, and it's incredibly light knitting and wearing, since it's thin and loosely spun (this also explains why it shrinks so easily). I bought too much of the yarn, just like last time, but I'll find some use for all of it, never fear.
I've been writing a lot about character in this blog, I notice. And I'm going to continue writing about it, because it interests me, and also because I don't think it's talked or written about quite enough. I discussed this topic in connection with literature earlier this year, and it's been at the back of my head ever since, I think. It popped up a few days ago, when I was reading the blog of a fellow fan of Craig Ferguson. She wrote about why she wouldn't allow any sort of abusive language on her YouTube channel, and since I agreed with her ideas and thought them to be well expressed, I went on to read about other things she wrote about. And one thing she wrote about were the virtues of chivalry. I may get back to them later, but I went off on a different tack today, because I found a list of virtues in ancient Rome. I'm afraid I can't give any references to specific authors, because Wikipedia wasn't clear on that point;). Seneca and Plato were mentioned, should you want to pursue the subject further.
I know I'm writing in memes, and I know I've apologized vaguely about it before. If you find more or less coherent writing on a specific subject tedious, you may want to skip forward a bit. Since I find it more fulfilling to discuss a subject than to just ramble on, I will indulge myself now and then...
The list of virtues I copied down in my notebook on things to write about (yes, I have a notebook for this blog), is alphabetical, and it begins with the word AUCTORITAS. The definition is 'spiritual authority', and it's explained as "a sense of social standing, built up through experience, PIETAS and INDUSTRIA". The word 'spiritual' seems to mean simply 'of the spirit' as opposed to 'of the body'. So auctoritas is an inner sense of social standing and importance, rather than having a commanding presence through being, for example, tall or muscular, or acting in an authoritative way.
I'll discuss pietas and industria more fully later, but to explain a little, pietas means religious piety, a sense of social and natural order, devotion to other people, and patriotism, while industria means industry, or hard work. A sense of self-worth, then, was evidently something you got by doing your duty by the gods, your country, and other people. This was clearly a society that didn't care about "doing your own thing" as much as we do today. Individuality wasn't what gave you a sense of self-worth: doing your duty and working hard was.
LJ is a very international place, and I have friends from Europe, America, Asia and the Pacific here. I don't know what your cultures are like, except for what you learn by reading and watching TV, both of which are highly selective and unreliable methods. But in my country, Finland, hard work has always been an important virtue. It's even a way of showing affection: men work hard to bring home money and comforts for their family, but they don't necessarily talk a lot about how they feel. Social obligations exist too, of course, and it's been a way of life here, to combine our efforts to help with getting the harvest in, or whatever the neighbours have needed at any time. But since we have always had a lot of room around us (we're only about 6 million strong, after all), we haven't really had to get along with other people as much as somewhere where the population is dense. We have a saying about the household living as it does and guests coming and going, with the implication, that if our ways don't suit you, you know what to do. We take our duties seriously, but then expect to be left alone.
Auctoritas is something built up by experience, as well. I think many of us would like to skip straight to the point in our lives, when people respect us, and give us large pay-checks, without our having to actually do something to earn that respect, or the money and position that go with it. Craig Ferguson put it well when he said, that everyone wants to be rich and famous, but the more important thing is what we do to get there. If you do something you enjoy, fame and money are a great bonus, but you have to work hard for both. No amount of success makes up for "malemployment", a new word I found on Urban Dictionary, defined as "When what you do for a living makes you want to kill yourself".
I think that auctoritas, like most of the other ancient virtues, is something worth cultivating. There's no harm, as far as I can see, in feeling self-worth because you do your duty and work hard. It doesn't mean you get to look down on others, either. In fact I think it may work in the opposite direction. Another saying we have here is "Know your own worth, and give others their due". If you can't respect yourself (and I find it hard to respect myself, when I don't act according to my standards), you don't want to give others their due, because then you have to acknowledge their superiority, and then you start envying them. But, as they say in the English-speaking world: "First deserve and then desire".
On a lighter note, it's not always strictly necessary to work hard to achieve fame. This from Wikipedia, the source of all knowledge worth having:).
Herostratus (Ancient Greek: Ἡρόστρατος) was a young man and arsonist; seeking notoriety, he burned down the Temple of Artemis in ancient Greece. On July 21, 356 BC, Herostratus set fire to the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus in what is now Turkey. The temple was constructed of marble and was built by King Croesus of Lydia to replace an older site destroyed during a flood, and it honoured a local goddess conflated by the Greeks with Artemis, their goddess of the hunt, the wild and childbirth. Measuring 130 metres long (426.5 feet) and supported by columns 18 metres high (60 feet), it was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Of course, it didn't go quite as planned:
Far from attempting to evade responsibility for his act of arson, Herostratus proudly claimed credit in an attempt to immortalise his name. To dissuade those of a similar mind, the Ephesian authorities not only executed him, but attempted to condemn him to a legacy of obscurity by forbidding mention of his name under penalty of death. However, this did not stop Herostratus from achieving his goal as the ancient historian Theopompus recorded the event and its perpetrator in his Hellenics.
It goes to show you that there's no such thing as bad publicity. Have a great week, and see you tomorrow!
I've been writing a lot about character in this blog, I notice. And I'm going to continue writing about it, because it interests me, and also because I don't think it's talked or written about quite enough. I discussed this topic in connection with literature earlier this year, and it's been at the back of my head ever since, I think. It popped up a few days ago, when I was reading the blog of a fellow fan of Craig Ferguson. She wrote about why she wouldn't allow any sort of abusive language on her YouTube channel, and since I agreed with her ideas and thought them to be well expressed, I went on to read about other things she wrote about. And one thing she wrote about were the virtues of chivalry. I may get back to them later, but I went off on a different tack today, because I found a list of virtues in ancient Rome. I'm afraid I can't give any references to specific authors, because Wikipedia wasn't clear on that point;). Seneca and Plato were mentioned, should you want to pursue the subject further.
I know I'm writing in memes, and I know I've apologized vaguely about it before. If you find more or less coherent writing on a specific subject tedious, you may want to skip forward a bit. Since I find it more fulfilling to discuss a subject than to just ramble on, I will indulge myself now and then...
The list of virtues I copied down in my notebook on things to write about (yes, I have a notebook for this blog), is alphabetical, and it begins with the word AUCTORITAS. The definition is 'spiritual authority', and it's explained as "a sense of social standing, built up through experience, PIETAS and INDUSTRIA". The word 'spiritual' seems to mean simply 'of the spirit' as opposed to 'of the body'. So auctoritas is an inner sense of social standing and importance, rather than having a commanding presence through being, for example, tall or muscular, or acting in an authoritative way.
I'll discuss pietas and industria more fully later, but to explain a little, pietas means religious piety, a sense of social and natural order, devotion to other people, and patriotism, while industria means industry, or hard work. A sense of self-worth, then, was evidently something you got by doing your duty by the gods, your country, and other people. This was clearly a society that didn't care about "doing your own thing" as much as we do today. Individuality wasn't what gave you a sense of self-worth: doing your duty and working hard was.
LJ is a very international place, and I have friends from Europe, America, Asia and the Pacific here. I don't know what your cultures are like, except for what you learn by reading and watching TV, both of which are highly selective and unreliable methods. But in my country, Finland, hard work has always been an important virtue. It's even a way of showing affection: men work hard to bring home money and comforts for their family, but they don't necessarily talk a lot about how they feel. Social obligations exist too, of course, and it's been a way of life here, to combine our efforts to help with getting the harvest in, or whatever the neighbours have needed at any time. But since we have always had a lot of room around us (we're only about 6 million strong, after all), we haven't really had to get along with other people as much as somewhere where the population is dense. We have a saying about the household living as it does and guests coming and going, with the implication, that if our ways don't suit you, you know what to do. We take our duties seriously, but then expect to be left alone.
Auctoritas is something built up by experience, as well. I think many of us would like to skip straight to the point in our lives, when people respect us, and give us large pay-checks, without our having to actually do something to earn that respect, or the money and position that go with it. Craig Ferguson put it well when he said, that everyone wants to be rich and famous, but the more important thing is what we do to get there. If you do something you enjoy, fame and money are a great bonus, but you have to work hard for both. No amount of success makes up for "malemployment", a new word I found on Urban Dictionary, defined as "When what you do for a living makes you want to kill yourself".
I think that auctoritas, like most of the other ancient virtues, is something worth cultivating. There's no harm, as far as I can see, in feeling self-worth because you do your duty and work hard. It doesn't mean you get to look down on others, either. In fact I think it may work in the opposite direction. Another saying we have here is "Know your own worth, and give others their due". If you can't respect yourself (and I find it hard to respect myself, when I don't act according to my standards), you don't want to give others their due, because then you have to acknowledge their superiority, and then you start envying them. But, as they say in the English-speaking world: "First deserve and then desire".
On a lighter note, it's not always strictly necessary to work hard to achieve fame. This from Wikipedia, the source of all knowledge worth having:).
Herostratus (Ancient Greek: Ἡρόστρατος) was a young man and arsonist; seeking notoriety, he burned down the Temple of Artemis in ancient Greece. On July 21, 356 BC, Herostratus set fire to the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus in what is now Turkey. The temple was constructed of marble and was built by King Croesus of Lydia to replace an older site destroyed during a flood, and it honoured a local goddess conflated by the Greeks with Artemis, their goddess of the hunt, the wild and childbirth. Measuring 130 metres long (426.5 feet) and supported by columns 18 metres high (60 feet), it was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Of course, it didn't go quite as planned:
Far from attempting to evade responsibility for his act of arson, Herostratus proudly claimed credit in an attempt to immortalise his name. To dissuade those of a similar mind, the Ephesian authorities not only executed him, but attempted to condemn him to a legacy of obscurity by forbidding mention of his name under penalty of death. However, this did not stop Herostratus from achieving his goal as the ancient historian Theopompus recorded the event and its perpetrator in his Hellenics.
It goes to show you that there's no such thing as bad publicity. Have a great week, and see you tomorrow!