Coping with Life
Uploaded by john03 on Oct 26, 2011
This paper briefly discusses what advice Homer and Machiavelli might give us for coping with politics. (2.5 pages; 2 sources; MLA citation style.
I Introduction
Earthly existence is difficult, but there have always been people to give advice about how to cope with it.
This paper examines Homer and Machiavelli to see what they have to say about the trials of living and how to withstand them. Both men are concerned, basically, with political struggles; the Trojan War, thought allegedly fought over a woman, also had great political and economic impact throughout the ancient world. (Recent scholars have concluded that there really was such a conflict.)
II Discussion
Homer’s great epic poems are basically stories in praise of heroes and heroic deeds, and this is really the way he appears to handle the political problems of the ancient world: through direct action, even combat. He is lavish in his praise of courage, and scathing in his descriptions of actions he considers cowardly. In Homer’s world, honor is the most important thing of all, closely followed by bravery. The Iliad is a poem about the use of force, and the heroic aspects of the men who use it; while the Odyssey is about the journey of one of the heroes of Troy as he returns home from the conflict. Although Odysseus isn’t always truthful (he in fact boasts of his skill at lying), he is always courageous.
Machiavelli is much less generous in his opinion of his fellow men. Homer seems to believe that men are capable of exceptional deeds, but Machiavelli seems to view men as venial and opportunistic.
He is a ruthless pragmatist, who favors the idea that a prince should do whatever it takes to succeed in his endeavors; whether that action is honorable or not doesn’t come into the equation. He is the one who coined the phrase “it’s better to be feared than loved,” and he suggests that if it’s necessary for a prince to break the law and use force to accomplish his goals, he should do so. Of course Homer also praises the use of force, but he is describing the clash of armies, not the leader of a state using underhanded tactics to subdue a civilian population, for instance.
III Conclusion
Homer is, I think, far fonder of men than Machiavelli. He has his heroes cope with the...