—
There were originally three muses in classical mythology — Melete, Mneme, and Aoede — each emerging beneath the thoughts of men and bestowing on them not only apparent discoveries, but methods through which they would accordingly change their whole system of thought. Through this contact, they would relate the instinct of growing wiser and develop the popular conception of it. It is this instinct of men, that which requires no prevision, that which is surprised in itself to achieve an end in the circumstance of the species, that has been called into question.
I am talking about the essentiality of Man. His thirst for discovery, His passion, and His symmetry. Those who believe in this classical model will agree that the realization of this symmetric man is a matter of coming to as it were, rather than a modern agreement. They would also agree that the New Wave of abstract ideas is inadequate, and seeks chiefly to re-argue the prototype. Men are constantly being asked to modify their image: The popularity of contact sport and physical fitness has declined, the internet has diminished the value of courtship, film, and television have sought to rewrite gender roles, all of which are attributes concerned with our manifestation. In the past, our image of self came in the absence of a nearest relation. Statues were commissioned out of marble, and from this concrete picture came something to be generalized. Men only had to look up to the standards on display in the form of marble to number themselves among one bodily picture.
This ekphrasis that he stood before provided him with the condition and situation of the particular I. There were predecessors and successors. The concrete definiteness resulted in the development of his personality, without the addition of other processes of thought. The image, which was in a certain sense non-abstract, was freed from any one situation and took its place in a higher order. This solid image served as the basis upon which our physiology was to be inscribed. It exacted from us nothing but pure logic. And although it is not by any means a monopoly of the human race, it shows in itself the fruits of those highly organized beings it sought to depict.
In contrast to this distinguished image, the image of the male that is given to us today through television and other media is vague. He is made content, composite and questionable. His tasks are seemingly unnecessary. Rarely does he stand with sword and shield behind his beliefs, and the question of whether his tasks arise from necessity is missing from the narrative. He is given many appearances to choose from, rendering him unrecognizable to other men. He is forced into isolation and solipsism. He, in turn, becomes vague. He goes in search of himself only to find that he is in constant need to declutter his image. His introspection turns into practice, and in this search, he loses his recollection – his connection to the single body.
What this restructuring will embody in the near future is not easy to say. I am inclined to think that over time it will result in the diminished representation of traits that were hard-wired into our evolution. We could fail to determine ourselves through a de-cultivation of our preservation instinct.
Before we settle on this path of self-defilement, let us stand back and relate to our image of the past. Let us go down with an attitude of mind that best likens ourselves to that of the explorer, and be convinced of ourselves by that which is evident in great men. If we fail to see ourselves classically in the present, we will have nothing to be seen by those of us to come.
—
What’s your take on what you just read? Comment below or write a response and submit to us your own point of view or reaction here at the red box, below, which links to our submissions portal.
◊♦◊
Sign up for our Writing Prompts email to receive writing inspiration in your inbox twice per week.
If you believe in the work we are doing here at The Good Men Project, please join us as a Premium Member, today.
All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS.
A $50 annual membership gives you an all-access pass. You can be a part of every call, group, class, and community.
A $25 annual membership gives you access to one class, one Social Interest group, and our online communities.
A $12 annual membership gives you access to our Friday calls with the publisher, our online community.
Need more info? A complete list of benefits is here.
Photo Credit: Getty Images