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Unlock Your Inner Hero: Self-Discipline Lessons From Mythology
Legendary Self-Discipline: Lessons from Mythology and Modern Heroes on
Choosing the Right Path Over the Easy Path By Peter Hollins
Hear it Here - https://bit.ly/legendaryselfdiscipline
00:00:00 Legendary Self-Discipline
00:01:20 Pandora’s Box and the practice of discretion and patience
00:13:42 Daedalus and Icarus and the merits of moderation
00:27:24 Athena and Arachne and the saboteur that is ego
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089G6MNQC
Fight temptation, tame your impulses, and learn to persevere.
We know we should use self-discipline, just like we know we should
budget more wisely, or eat more healthy. But just because we know about
something doesn’t mean we know how to do it.
See role model; copy role model. It's the quickest path from Point A to
Point B.
.#Arachne #Athena #Daedalus #DelosIsland #Icarus #EmperorAugustus #Epimetheus #Prometheuss #KingMinos #Pandora #PandorasBox #Zeus #RussellNewton #NewtonMG #PeterHollins #TheScienceofSelf #LegendarySelf-Discipline #UnlockYourInnerHero #Self-DisciplineLessonsFromMythology
Transcript
Legendary Self-Discipline:
Speaker:Lessons from Mythology and Modern Heroes on Choosing the Right Path Over the Easy Path By Peter Hollins, narrated by russell newton.
Speaker:Though every one of the stories that
Speaker:follow could be interpreted in many
Speaker:ways,
Speaker:we’ll be looking at them through a
Speaker:very practical,
Speaker:modern-day lens and asking what they
Speaker:can teach us today about personal
Speaker:development,
Speaker:ethics,
Speaker:discipline,
Speaker:mastery and maturity.
Speaker:These stories are not “true” in the
Speaker:sense that they ever actually took
Speaker:place,
Speaker:but they are true in that they tell us
Speaker:something deep and intimate about the
Speaker:psyches (incidentally,
Speaker:Psyche herself was also a Greek
Speaker:goddess!)
Speaker:of the storytellers.
Speaker:Can we glean some fundamental truths
Speaker:about human nature by looking at the
Speaker:stories we’ve been telling ourselves
Speaker:for millennia?
Speaker:Myths are potent,
Speaker:mysterious and have very dark,
Speaker:distant origins in the human mind and
Speaker:in our history.
Speaker:Reading them is a little like shifting
Speaker:through architectural ruins and
Speaker:imagining the places that people built
Speaker:for themselves in the past,
Speaker:and why.
Speaker:Can we see any echoes of our own
Speaker:humanity in these ancient stories?
Speaker:And if so,
Speaker:can we learn any powerful lessons from
Speaker:our distant ancestors about how to live
Speaker:a wise,
Speaker:fulfilled and moral life?
Speaker:Pandora’s Box and the practice of
Speaker:discretion and patience in the pursuit
Speaker:of knowledge.
Speaker:In Greek mythology,
Speaker:Pandora was the first human female,
Speaker:and she was made from earth and water
Speaker:in the workshop of Hephaestus,
Speaker:the god of metalworking,
Speaker:masonry and sculpture.
Speaker:Zeus had asked her to be made in an
Speaker:effort at revenge after Prometheus had
Speaker:stolen fire from the gods and given it
Speaker:to humanity.
Speaker:The pantheon of gods all gave gifts to
Speaker:the new woman,
Speaker:whose very name means “all gifts."
Speaker:Aphrodite,
Speaker:the goddess of love,
Speaker:gave her beauty,
Speaker:and Athena,
Speaker:the goddess of wisdom and war,
Speaker:gave her intelligence.
Speaker:Zeus,
Speaker:however,
Speaker:gave her the most curious gift of all -
Speaker:a stone jar (subsequently described as
Speaker:a “box”)
Speaker:that he told her to never,
Speaker:ever open.
Speaker:Zeus then sent Pandora with all her
Speaker:gifts to Epimetheus,
Speaker:Prometheus’s brother.
Speaker:Expecting revenge,
Speaker:Prometheus had told his brother never
Speaker:to accept any gifts from Zeus,
Speaker:but as you can guess,
Speaker:he welcomed Pandora and she then failed
Speaker:to resist and opened the jar to see
Speaker:what was in it.
Speaker:Flooding out of the jar came all the
Speaker:evils of the world - sickness,
Speaker:death,
Speaker:hatred,
Speaker:hunger,
Speaker:fear,
Speaker:sadness… Pandora quickly tried to
Speaker:close the box,
Speaker:but it was already too late.
Speaker:She had “opened a can of worms” and
Speaker:everything had already escaped.
Speaker:By the time she closed it,
Speaker:there was only one thing left inside -
Speaker:hope.
Speaker:Evil and pestilence had been let out
Speaker:into the fresh world,
Speaker:and for what?
Speaker:How should we interpret this myth
Speaker:today,
Speaker:thousands of years after its first
Speaker:telling?
Speaker:Scholars have picked apart the exact
Speaker:meaning,
Speaker:but we will likely have no need for the
Speaker:academic details here.
Speaker:The fable is certainly an evocative
Speaker:one,
Speaker:bringing to mind themes of Eve eating
Speaker:the forbidden fruit,
Speaker:or of Bluebeard’s wife opening a door
Speaker:in the castle she was told never to
Speaker:enter.
Speaker:It may even call to mind the story of
Speaker:Sleeping Beauty,
Speaker:who is also gifted many virtues of
Speaker:supernatural origin,
Speaker:as well as a curse from a more
Speaker:malicious source.
Speaker:We can wonder at the nature of the
Speaker:gifts—beauty and wisdom naturally
Speaker:seem like wonderful things,
Speaker:but in gifting a jar of evils,
Speaker:was Zeus intending these things to
Speaker:merely bedevil humankind or are they,
Speaker:in a way,
Speaker:gifts as well?
Speaker:This is made more curious still by the
Speaker:fact that hope is included as one of
Speaker:the evils,
Speaker:and it does not make it out into the
Speaker:world—is having hope an essentially
Speaker:good or bad thing?
Speaker:Though we will miss certain nuances
Speaker:here (our intention is not to conduct
Speaker:an academic analysis of the classics)
Speaker:we can engage with this myth as it
Speaker:stands,
Speaker:seeing what ideas and emotions it
Speaker:evokes in us.
Speaker:There are perhaps two interpretations
Speaker:here that may spring to mind.
Speaker:The first is that the evils of the
Speaker:world have come to be because of a flaw
Speaker:in a character who does not obey orders
Speaker:and do what they’re told.
Speaker:Pandora simply doesn’t listen.
Speaker:It’s not that she’s a bad person,
Speaker:she’s simply too curious.
Speaker:The gods,
Speaker:making their wishes clear,
Speaker:forbid Pandora from certain kinds of
Speaker:knowledge (just as Eve is forbidden
Speaker:from eating from the tree of the
Speaker:knowledge of good and evil).
Speaker:But who wants to be told that there is
Speaker:something in the world they are not
Speaker:allowed to know—especially when no
Speaker:reason is given for this rule?
Speaker:Unable to control herself,
Speaker:Pandora’s curiosity compels her to
Speaker:trespass and break a rule imposed on
Speaker:her by a higher authority.
Speaker:For this she is punished,
Speaker:and the lesson is clear - do as
Speaker:you’re told,
Speaker:rein in your nosiness and you’ll
Speaker:remain blissfully unaware of the bad
Speaker:things in life.
Speaker:In fact many myths and stories take
Speaker:this shape - the protagonist is too
Speaker:inquisitive for their own good,
Speaker:and wants to know things that are
Speaker:forbidden to them,
Speaker:only to be punished when they really
Speaker:experience that knowledge.
Speaker:The idea is that there is innocence in
Speaker:ignorance,
Speaker:but that knowledge is somehow painful.
Speaker:You can probably relate to this on some
Speaker:level—we have the tale of a nosy wife
Speaker:who wished she hadn’t pried in her
Speaker:husband’s secrets,
Speaker:or the shadowy C. I. A. agent who tells
Speaker:us,
Speaker:You can’t handle the truth.
Speaker:The other interpretation is a little
Speaker:more subtle.
Speaker:Zeus only embarks on this caper because
Speaker:he is already angry at how much humans
Speaker:know—they’ve received the fire of
Speaker:the gods which was forbidden to them
Speaker:(and Prometheus has much in common with
Speaker:Pandora in breaking rules to spread
Speaker:knowledge).
Speaker:Zeus did not merely unleash evils on
Speaker:the world,
Speaker:which he could have easily done.
Speaker:Rather,
Speaker:he gave humankind the choice.
Speaker:He must have known that in forbidding
Speaker:them,
Speaker:in concealing the evils in a jar,
Speaker:Pandora would open it willingly and
Speaker:unleash the evils on herself.
Speaker:This could well be seen as a
Speaker:punishment,
Speaker:but we can also see these things as a
Speaker:kind of gift.
Speaker:The allegory can suggest that something
Speaker:in humankind propels us to learn,
Speaker:to grow and find out more—in other
Speaker:words to be curious!
Speaker:It doesn’t matter if we are
Speaker:forbidden,
Speaker:or if higher authorities tell us not to.
Speaker:In fact,
Speaker:this might increase the appeal!
Speaker:But there is a price for knowledge.
Speaker:There is always a sacrifice,
Speaker:and nothing comes for free.
Speaker:Unlike the “good” gifts,
Speaker:which can be received easily as they
Speaker:are,
Speaker:the “bad” gifts come about as a
Speaker:result of free will.
Speaker:In learning more about the world,
Speaker:our eyes open,
Speaker:we cannot unsee what we have seen,
Speaker:and sometimes the things we learn may
Speaker:be very upsetting.
Speaker:Human progress,
Speaker:driven by curiosity,
Speaker:the desire to know and understand more
Speaker:and more,
Speaker:leads to the evils of the world.
Speaker:It’s akin to being expelled from Eden
Speaker:after learning “the truth."
Speaker:This can be seen as a lesson in
Speaker:maturity.
Speaker:Every parent wants to protect their
Speaker:innocent child from learning about the
Speaker:world too fast,
Speaker:from absorbing information that may be
Speaker:too much for them too soon.
Speaker:This myth is a stern warning about
Speaker:respecting the fact that knowledge
Speaker:often comes with a price.
Speaker:It is both a tale of what happens when
Speaker:you don’t obey wiser authorities,
Speaker:but perhaps also a lesson in how these
Speaker:things are inevitable—children often
Speaker:have to try out something for
Speaker:themselves to learn,
Speaker:and in learning that lesson,
Speaker:they incur some pain.
Speaker:If we bluster ahead merely because we
Speaker:have the free will to do so,
Speaker:merely because we cannot contain our
Speaker:curiosity,
Speaker:we may wade into territory that we are
Speaker:not equipped to deal with,
Speaker:and make choices we cannot undo.
Speaker:What is the correct attitude to
Speaker:learning,
Speaker:to progress and development?
Speaker:Humankind has been making
Speaker:advances—scientific,
Speaker:social and even spiritual—since the
Speaker:beginning of time.
Speaker:But some of these advances can be said
Speaker:to have come at an enormous price.
Speaker:Developments in physics are the result
Speaker:of an insatiable curiosity on the part
Speaker:of the scientists,
Speaker:but were used to create the atom bomb,
Speaker:poisons,
Speaker:new and deadly weapons,
Speaker:machines for control and torture—all
Speaker:things that can be said to be
Speaker:“evils” to humanity.
Speaker:We cannot go back,
Speaker:just as Pandora cannot put any of the
Speaker:world’s evils back in the jar.
Speaker:But many of us would say that even
Speaker:though development and progress is
Speaker:sometimes marred with poor judgment,
Speaker:harsh lessons and horrible realizations
Speaker:that can’t be undone—we wouldn’t
Speaker:necessarily want them to be undone.
Speaker:In other words,
Speaker:the cost was worth it.
Speaker:In our own lives,
Speaker:we can approach our personal
Speaker:development with a similar degree of
Speaker:consciousness and maturity - rushing
Speaker:ahead before we truly understand
Speaker:something or before we are ready for it
Speaker:is usually disastrous.
Speaker:We must rein ourselves in and exercise
Speaker:self-discipline.
Speaker:Seeking out knowledge simply because we
Speaker:are curious is fine,
Speaker:but learning must be undertaken with an
Speaker:understanding that sometimes the things
Speaker:we discover can be quite frightening,
Speaker:and will result in a loss of innocence.
Speaker:This lesson may come across as
Speaker:distinctly old-school to the modern
Speaker:reader.
Speaker:It’s the equivalent of an old woman
Speaker:sternly warning you to take heed of
Speaker:your elder’s advice,
Speaker:or else.
Speaker:But perhaps this is where the modern,
Speaker:particularly Western reader may most
Speaker:benefit.
Speaker:From our cultural context,
Speaker:progress is often seen as an absolute
Speaker:good,
Speaker:and knowledge is to be sought almost
Speaker:for its own sake,
Speaker:with nobody sparing a thought for the
Speaker:outcomes.
Speaker:The idea is that it doesn’t matter
Speaker:whether you should,
Speaker:but whether you can.
Speaker:But there are many Pandora’s boxes
Speaker:that have been opened in such a spirit,
Speaker:and now cannot be closed again.
Speaker:How can we use this wisdom in our own
Speaker:lives?
Speaker:Curiosity is a wonderful thing,
Speaker:and nobody would suggest you lose all
Speaker:wonder and interest in learning new
Speaker:things.
Speaker:Rather,
Speaker:when you embark on a new project of
Speaker:learning,
Speaker:be wise about it.
Speaker:Are you really prepared and ready for
Speaker:what you may learn?
Speaker:When we forbid young children from
Speaker:watching certain movies,
Speaker:for example,
Speaker:it’s not because we want to control
Speaker:them—it’s because we want to
Speaker:protect them.
Speaker:When they are old and mature enough,
Speaker:they can truly process what they see
Speaker:without harm.
Speaker:Can you exercise the same wise
Speaker:discretion for yourself?
Speaker:Self-control and self-discipline are
Speaker:paramount here.
Speaker:They can serve as the mental equivalent
Speaker:of treading carefully on a hike,
Speaker:and making sure you don’t embark on
Speaker:terrain you are not physically fit
Speaker:enough to endure.
Speaker:An obvious,
Speaker:practical,
Speaker:real-world example is that of the nosy
Speaker:spouse.
Speaker:They see their partner’s private
Speaker:journal that they are compelled to
Speaker:read,
Speaker:despite knowing it’s wrong.
Speaker:Curiosity gets the better of them.
Speaker:They soon know far more than they ever
Speaker:did—but the cost is that the
Speaker:“evils” that come from this
Speaker:knowledge are enough to damage the
Speaker:relationships forever.
Speaker:Consider also someone who asks their
Speaker:friend,
Speaker:“Tell me what you think of my
Speaker:screenplay,
Speaker:I want you to be really honest” and
Speaker:then is told,
Speaker:to their heartbreak,
Speaker:that the screenplay is garbage.
Speaker:On a purely practical level,
Speaker:there is the image of a precocious
Speaker:novice who is told by his teacher to
Speaker:focus on certain tools,
Speaker:techniques or texts that are
Speaker:appropriate to his level.
Speaker:In his arrogance,
Speaker:he rushes ahead and wants to know it
Speaker:all at once.
Speaker:He uses a tool that he can’t manage
Speaker:and hurts himself,
Speaker:or reads a text that thoroughly
Speaker:confuses or distresses him,
Speaker:or sets his progress back because he
Speaker:suddenly realizes how far he has to go
Speaker:and is demoralized.
Speaker:Curiosity is good,
Speaker:and so is learning.
Speaker:But self-discipline is invaluable in
Speaker:telling us the pace we should take in
Speaker:our development.
Speaker:Though we would like to believe
Speaker:otherwise in our modern and democratic
Speaker:times,
Speaker:not all knowledge is for all people at
Speaker:all times.
Speaker:There are remote and isolated tribes in
Speaker:pockets of the world that governments
Speaker:deliberately forbid any contact with.
Speaker:It’s because they know that
Speaker:encountering that much knowledge all at
Speaker:once,
Speaker:essentially millennia of progress in a
Speaker:single lifetime,
Speaker:would completely overwhelm and threaten
Speaker:these tribes.
Speaker:Rather they must be left alone to
Speaker:develop at their own pace.
Speaker:The wisdom,
Speaker:then,
Speaker:is in knowing one’s own limitations
Speaker:and having the discipline to be
Speaker:patient,
Speaker:to direct one’s curiosity through the
Speaker:appropriate channels.
Speaker:Try to guard against seeking out
Speaker:knowledge merely because you can’t
Speaker:contain your nosiness.
Speaker:Rather,
Speaker:plan your path to wisdom as though you
Speaker:were making your own carefully
Speaker:considered curriculum.
Speaker:Build on your knowledge in stages,
Speaker:take your time and digest what you
Speaker:learn completely before moving on.
Speaker:Lastly,
Speaker:the biggest lesson may come in the
Speaker:realization that knowledge inevitably
Speaker:brings with it a certain loss of
Speaker:innocence,
Speaker:a certain maturity.
Speaker:Approach this gently,
Speaker:thoughtfully and with awareness,
Speaker:and the “evils” of the world can be
Speaker:seen as lessons that give us wisdom.
Speaker:Daedalus and Icarus and the merits of
Speaker:moderation .
Speaker:Many of the Greek myths have the same
Speaker:flavor we find in the tale of
Speaker:Pandora’s box—warning against going
Speaker:too far,
Speaker:being too arrogant,
Speaker:and trespassing into the realms that
Speaker:more rightly belong to the gods.
Speaker:The famous story of Daedalus and his
Speaker:son Icarus is a prime example,
Speaker:and even today this theme survives in
Speaker:modern stories of special people who
Speaker:“flew too close to the sun” and
Speaker:failed.
Speaker:The story is simple.
Speaker:Daedalus was a master inventor and
Speaker:designer,
Speaker:trained by the mighty goddess Athena
Speaker:herself,
Speaker:and he was commissioned by King Minos
Speaker:to create a vast and complicated
Speaker:labyrinth.
Speaker:The purpose of the labyrinth was to
Speaker:forever trap the monster minotaur,
Speaker:who was half bull and half human.
Speaker:The existence of this aberrant creature
Speaker:is a complex tale in itself—powerful
Speaker:Minos was favored by the gods and given
Speaker:a white bull.
Speaker:They told him to sacrifice it,
Speaker:but he disobeyed,
Speaker:and in revenge the gods caused
Speaker:Minos’s wife to fall in love with the
Speaker:white bull,
Speaker:producing their monster child,
Speaker:the minotaur.
Speaker:To hide his shame,
Speaker:Minos needed a place to put this
Speaker:creature,
Speaker:and this is where Daedalus and his son
Speaker:come in.
Speaker:Having completed this glorious maze,
Speaker:however,
Speaker:King Minos imprisoned father and son
Speaker:inside it (Minos is clearly not the
Speaker:most ethical of characters!)
Speaker:to prevent anyone learning about the
Speaker:labyrinth at all.
Speaker:But crafty Daedalus concocted a plan on
Speaker:how to escape.
Speaker:Gathering feathers from birds and
Speaker:sticking them together with wax to make
Speaker:wings,
Speaker:the pair designed their escape—they
Speaker:would fly out of the maze.
Speaker:As they made their escape,
Speaker:wise Daedalus warned his son not to fly
Speaker:too close to the sun because the warmth
Speaker:would melt the wax and disintegrate his
Speaker:wings.
Speaker:They succeeded for some time,
Speaker:but after they passed Delos Island,
Speaker:Icarus forgot the warning and flew
Speaker:higher and higher.
Speaker:As Daedalus predicted,
Speaker:the sun melted the wax,
Speaker:the wings broke,
Speaker:and poor Icarus fell to the sea and
Speaker:drowned.
Speaker:This myth is a powerful one because it
Speaker:so clearly and simply explains rather
Speaker:complex ideas of overambition and human
Speaker:egotism.
Speaker:The warning takes the symbolized shape
Speaker:of flying “too high."
Speaker:In many languages and myths,
Speaker:those who are “down to earth,”
Speaker:“salt of the earth” or with their
Speaker:“feet firmly on the ground” are
Speaker:practical,
Speaker:realistic,
Speaker:and straightforward types.
Speaker:It’s the idea of ascension that
Speaker:belongs to lofty goals,
Speaker:rising up to new,
Speaker:better heights,
Speaker:grand visions and glorious achievements.
Speaker:These things are symbolized in all
Speaker:human psyches as belonging to the
Speaker:inviting but frightening realms of the
Speaker:air.
Speaker:Haven’t we all looked at the birds
Speaker:and dreamt that one day we,
Speaker:too,
Speaker:could break the earth’s hold on us
Speaker:and soar freely like them?
Speaker:But in this story,
Speaker:ascension—especially when it is
Speaker:unwise and unchecked—leads to
Speaker:disaster.
Speaker:Not only does Icarus fall back to
Speaker:earth,
Speaker:his fall kills him entirely.
Speaker:In going too high,
Speaker:we are punished and made to fall an
Speaker:equal distance back down again.
Speaker:We see modern-day Icarus characters all
Speaker:around us in the form of celebrities
Speaker:who rise to meteoric fame only to be
Speaker:dashed down to earth through one
Speaker:scandal or another,
Speaker:seemingly punished with a fall that
Speaker:corrects their overambitious ascent.
Speaker:Precocious child prodigies,
Speaker:overnight millionaires or superstar
Speaker:entrepreneurs have all charted this
Speaker:path of too high too soon.
Speaker:In interpreting this story,
Speaker:we can see that it’s not flight per
Speaker:se that is dangerous.
Speaker:Finding a clever and innovative way to
Speaker:solve problems is not strictly
Speaker:punishable,
Speaker:since the wise and crafty Daedalus
Speaker:survives using the very same tools and
Speaker:plan that his son does.
Speaker:He succeeds,
Speaker:perhaps,
Speaker:because he uses his wings purely as a
Speaker:tool to escape his predicament.
Speaker:He understands the limitations of these
Speaker:wings,
Speaker:and respects them.
Speaker:A crucial part of the story that is
Speaker:often left out is the extra piece of
Speaker:advice Daedalus gives to his son—that
Speaker:he is not to fly too low either,
Speaker:or the water will make his wings heavy
Speaker:and pull him down.
Speaker:So,
Speaker:what was the nature of Icarus’s
Speaker:mistake?
Speaker:Why did he have to pay his life for
Speaker:this mistake?
Speaker:Icarus does not use the wings purely as
Speaker:a tool.
Speaker:He doesn’t remain cognizant of their
Speaker:limitations—his limitations—and
Speaker:forgets the wise advice of his father.
Speaker:Can you picture young Icarus,
Speaker:whooping and soaring and feeling like a
Speaker:king after being trapped in the
Speaker:dungeon-like maze?
Speaker:Can you imagine the thrill of having
Speaker:wings?
Speaker:It’s easy to think of the youth
Speaker:forgetting that the wings are there to
Speaker:help him escape,
Speaker:and instead getting caught up in the
Speaker:delight of flying,
Speaker:showing off,
Speaker:“spreading his wings” and daring
Speaker:himself to greater and greater delights
Speaker:in the air.
Speaker:In other words,
Speaker:Icarus allowed his ego to overtake his
Speaker:common sense.
Speaker:His ambitions are understandable,
Speaker:but they were unbalanced,
Speaker:overreaching.
Speaker:They took him past his own limitations.
Speaker:His was a failure to maintain
Speaker:moderation—why?
Speaker:Perhaps,
Speaker:in tasting a little bit of freedom and
Speaker:the thrill of flying,
Speaker:he was seduced to greater and greater
Speaker:heights,
Speaker:well out of the bounds of the normal
Speaker:and practical.
Speaker:This elevated range is not sustainable.
Speaker:The heat of the sun (an eternal symbol
Speaker:of something godlike,
Speaker:rarified,
Speaker:ultimately powerful,
Speaker:life giving but not safe to stare
Speaker:directly at!)
Speaker:is too strong and destroys his wings.
Speaker:The wings here are the very things that
Speaker:allow him to reach the heights in the
Speaker:first place,
Speaker:but are undermined by too sharp an
Speaker:ascent.
Speaker:A modern parallel is a young rock star
Speaker:whose brilliant talent allows him a
Speaker:steep rise to fame.
Speaker:But he keeps on rising,
Speaker:getting closer and closer to his own
Speaker:“sun,” until the rigors of fame
Speaker:(exhaustion,
Speaker:drug use,
Speaker:poor mental health,
Speaker:money squabbles,
Speaker:family trouble,
Speaker:etc.)
Speaker:start to corrode the very talent that
Speaker:allowed him to find success in the
Speaker:first place.
Speaker:He “falls."
Speaker:A person suffering bipolar disorder may
Speaker:experience this same arc
Speaker:regularly—seduced by the sun in the
Speaker:form of overambitious and lofty goals,
Speaker:only to find the heights are
Speaker:unsustainable—and it’s a long,
Speaker:long way down.
Speaker:Icarus’s behavior is a warning to us
Speaker:all.
Speaker:We can imagine Daedalus trying to teach
Speaker:his son—yes,
Speaker:it’s tempting to go as high as you
Speaker:can,
Speaker:to stretch your abilities to the limit
Speaker:and beyond,
Speaker:but you need to respect your
Speaker:limitations or be destroyed by them.
Speaker:It may seem far more fun to go all-out,
Speaker:have grand plans and epic dreams,
Speaker:but in the long run these ambitions may
Speaker:actually be less sustainable than a
Speaker:path forged more moderately.
Speaker:The question of moderation turns up
Speaker:frequently,
Speaker:and not just in Greek mythology.
Speaker:The wise path is frequently the middle
Speaker:one - like Goldilocks’ perfect
Speaker:porridge,
Speaker:it’s not too hot or too cold.
Speaker:It’s just right.
Speaker:An implied corollary lesson in the tale
Speaker:of Icarus is that it would be just as
Speaker:bad to fly too low.
Speaker:Those people who have too few ambitions
Speaker:and who plod along too close to the
Speaker:earth can also suffer because of it.
Speaker:You get bogged down and perish all the
Speaker:same if you never challenge yourself,
Speaker:never rise to the occasion,
Speaker:never follow your dreams but instead
Speaker:stick close to the path well-trod by
Speaker:others.
Speaker:The best way is seldom the biggest,
Speaker:best,
Speaker:flashiest and most dramatic one.
Speaker:The best technique is rarely to go all
Speaker:out.
Speaker:Rather,
Speaker:it’s a question of appropriateness.
Speaker:Of balance and a light touch to discern
Speaker:when to push and when to hang back.
Speaker:The truly successful in life,
Speaker:the tale seems to suggest,
Speaker:know how to practice self-control and
Speaker:restraint,
Speaker:tempering the human urge to vault into
Speaker:the unknown without a care in the world.
Speaker:How can we apply these principles to
Speaker:our own lives,
Speaker:especially when it comes to moderation?
Speaker:It can be tricky when we live in a
Speaker:world that in many ways encourages epic
Speaker:and unsustainable levels of success.
Speaker:Surrounding us are stories and images
Speaker:of impossibly beautiful women,
Speaker:impossibly wealthy men,
Speaker:impossibly skillful scientists and
Speaker:creators,
Speaker:impossibly talented athletes and
Speaker:impossibly intelligent philosophers…
Speaker:We tell our children to dream big and
Speaker:lap up stories of rags to riches and
Speaker:the American Dream,
Speaker:telling us that an ordinary person can
Speaker:and even should aspire to the absolute
Speaker:peak of achievement.
Speaker:Not only does the intensity of this
Speaker:ambition frequently backfire (how many
Speaker:of us actually achieve it?)
Speaker:but for the few that “succeed,” the
Speaker:intensity is often damaging.
Speaker:We don’t hear as often the stories of
Speaker:successful entrepreneurs who have
Speaker:sacrificed everything at the altar of
Speaker:business,
Speaker:including relationships,
Speaker:physical health,
Speaker:even their sanity.
Speaker:We forget about the stars after they
Speaker:burn out and retreat.
Speaker:Ours is a culture that encourages
Speaker:people to always be more,
Speaker:more,
Speaker:more.
Speaker:The irony is that the more measured,
Speaker:mature (and to some,
Speaker:more boring!)
Speaker:approach actually has the better chance
Speaker:of lasting success and happiness.
Speaker:Fly,
Speaker:but not too close to the sun.
Speaker:Strive,
Speaker:develop and have goals—but temper
Speaker:these with realistic restraint.
Speaker:Daedalus never forgets what he is meant
Speaker:to be doing - escaping to safety.
Speaker:It’s this that is at the front of his
Speaker:mind,
Speaker:and not the wings themselves.
Speaker:Icarus’s downfall could also be a
Speaker:warning against narcissism and vanity.
Speaker:By becoming enamored with his own
Speaker:ability to fly,
Speaker:Icarus forgets what the wings are
Speaker:actually there for.
Speaker:Thus,
Speaker:an author that finds sudden and
Speaker:spectacular fame may get a big head and
Speaker:start to view his art more as ego
Speaker:stroking for his vanity,
Speaker:and not about the writing itself.
Speaker:To combat this sort of waywardness,
Speaker:we have to consistently be aware of and
Speaker:resist the temptation to go further
Speaker:than we should—or can.
Speaker:In all your goals and dreams,
Speaker:can you be honest with yourself and ask
Speaker:what proportion of the goal is simply
Speaker:for your own self-glorification?
Speaker:Have you ever tasted a little success
Speaker:and then ran with it,
Speaker:well beyond your limits?
Speaker:Self-discipline is difficult,
Speaker:and it’s most difficult to conjure up
Speaker:in the moments it’s most needed -
Speaker:those times when we feel seduced by the
Speaker:“big lights” of our own grand
Speaker:narcissism,
Speaker:the temptation to be a star in our own
Speaker:lives,
Speaker:to have a grand,
Speaker:thrilling life.
Speaker:This is,
Speaker:essentially,
Speaker:an immature state of mind,
Speaker:and one that the older Daedalus knows
Speaker:to ward against.
Speaker:A young man could be raised up out of
Speaker:poverty by being selected for a sports
Speaker:scholarship.
Speaker:He is praised by others and soon starts
Speaker:to enjoy the attention,
Speaker:relishing in his own natural talents
Speaker:and pushing himself further.
Speaker:He achieves some success and almost
Speaker:becomes addicted to it.
Speaker:Why not expand?
Speaker:He could put his name to popular brands
Speaker:to make more money.
Speaker:He finds himself “living large” and
Speaker:going into debt to live in princely
Speaker:homes,
Speaker:indulging in expensive and
Speaker:unsustainable habits.
Speaker:He stars in cameo roles on T. V.,
Speaker:his ego growing day by day.
Speaker:Some warn that he has forgotten his
Speaker:roots,
Speaker:and has lost touch with reality.
Speaker:He starts dabbling with politics,
Speaker:fancying himself as a businessman and
Speaker:philanthropist who wants to use his
Speaker:money to invest and start foundations
Speaker:and scholarships… You already know
Speaker:the end to the story!
Speaker:However,
Speaker:you don’t have to actually live a
Speaker:dazzling tale like this to derive value
Speaker:from the Icarus story.
Speaker:Every time you ignore your own limits
Speaker:in order to strive for some lofty goal
Speaker:purely for your own ego,
Speaker:you are like Icarus,
Speaker:failing to heed the advice of
Speaker:moderation.
Speaker:A good technique is to constantly
Speaker:maintain awareness of your motivations,
Speaker:and your real goals.
Speaker:Icarus could have done well to remember
Speaker:what he was doing—escaping.
Speaker:Don’t forget your own goals.
Speaker:What are you truly after?
Speaker:Don’t get distracted from that,
Speaker:no matter what tempting offers come to
Speaker:sidetrack you.
Speaker:Truly masterful and accomplished people
Speaker:know that the ego and naïve,
Speaker:youthful ambition can actually get in
Speaker:the way of achievement,
Speaker:rather than support it.
Speaker:Take yourself out of the equation and
Speaker:never forget to ask how you can be
Speaker:better,
Speaker:no matter how much success you feel you
Speaker:have and want to celebrate.
Speaker:Be moderate and measured.
Speaker:Drop notions of godlike glory and
Speaker:fame—you may feel like a champion for
Speaker:pulling an all-nighter working on your
Speaker:brilliant new business idea,
Speaker:but you’d be better off living a more
Speaker:balanced lifestyle,
Speaker:channeling your excitement
Speaker:appropriately.
Speaker:The choice may be between one
Speaker:all-nighter followed by a crash and a
Speaker:completely failed project,
Speaker:or a week of patient,
Speaker:balanced workdays and a successful
Speaker:project.
Speaker:“Pride comes before a fall” goes
Speaker:the old wisdom.
Speaker:Being too attached to the outcome of a
Speaker:goal can ironically undermine your
Speaker:performance.
Speaker:If you think of truly brilliant and
Speaker:accomplished people in this world (not
Speaker:the momentary celebrities,
Speaker:but the lifelong masters),
Speaker:their approach is slow-and-steady,
Speaker:and they work on their goal for the
Speaker:goal’s sake,
Speaker:not for their own glorification.
Speaker:They aren’t superstars,
Speaker:and they’re not failures,
Speaker:but rather they have found that
Speaker:perfectly moderate Goldilocks zone in
Speaker:the middle.
Speaker:Athena and Arachne and the saboteur
Speaker:that is ego.
Speaker:Let’s take a closer look at ego and
Speaker:how it can undermine even genuine
Speaker:talent.
Speaker:You don’t have to be a student of the
Speaker:Greek classics to notice that many of
Speaker:the myths have a consistent theme in
Speaker:the supposed correct relationship of
Speaker:humans to the gods - obedient,
Speaker:humble and deferential.
Speaker:There are many stories of what happens
Speaker:when mere mortals fail to know their
Speaker:place,
Speaker:but one of the most striking is the
Speaker:story of Athena and Arachne.
Speaker:Arachne was a shepherd’s daughter,
Speaker:who from a young age showed astounding
Speaker:skill at weaving.
Speaker:However,
Speaker:she was a boastful woman and didn’t
Speaker:acknowledge that her talents stemmed
Speaker:from,
Speaker:in part,
Speaker:the goddess Athena,
Speaker:who was patroness of weaving.
Speaker:To teach Arachne a lesson,
Speaker:Athena challenged her to a contest,
Speaker:but allowed her to gracefully bow out
Speaker:to save face.
Speaker:Arachne refused to step down,
Speaker:claiming that she was the best weaver
Speaker:and could beat even the goddess herself.
Speaker:Her attitude was what the ancient
Speaker:Greeks called hubris—an overreaching
Speaker:sense of arrogance.
Speaker:At the contest,
Speaker:Athena weaved classical scenes of the
Speaker:god’s rebuking and punishing mortals
Speaker:who believed themselves on their level.
Speaker:Arachne depicted the god Zeus
Speaker:deceiving,
Speaker:tricking and even seducing mortals—a
Speaker:very cheeky statement indeed.
Speaker:The goddess,
Speaker:seeing this and noting also that
Speaker:Arachne’s work was indeed better than
Speaker:hers,
Speaker:was furious.
Speaker:She destroyed the weaving and struck
Speaker:Arachne,
Speaker:who was so ashamed that she soon hanged
Speaker:herself.
Speaker:Athena’s stern punishment was to turn
Speaker:Arachne into a spider (indeed her name
Speaker:means spider in ancient Greek),
Speaker:so she could spin for all eternity.
Speaker:What are we to make of this tale?
Speaker:Here it’s important to note that the
Speaker:historical and cultural nuances of this
Speaker:story are complex,
Speaker:and carry themes of provoking authority
Speaker:and perhaps even a satirical poke at
Speaker:what was autocratic rule by Emperor
Speaker:Augustus at the time.
Speaker:Nevertheless,
Speaker:we can adapt this tale for more modern
Speaker:tastes quite easily.
Speaker:Though few today will claim to
Speaker:seriously believe in “the gods,”
Speaker:the truth is that we do function with a
Speaker:fixed idea of external authorities that
Speaker:rule over our lives—our “gods”
Speaker:could be government,
Speaker:the various powers that be,
Speaker:“the rich,” the culture at large
Speaker:and its norms and values,
Speaker:the economy,
Speaker:the law,
Speaker:even natural scientific principles that
Speaker:are felt to reign over us in a more or
Speaker:less non-negotiable way.
Speaker:By seeing the allegorical gods in Greek
Speaker:myths more as ideas,
Speaker:archetypes and beliefs,
Speaker:we can begin to uncover more depth to
Speaker:the story.
Speaker:Arachne’s transgression is clear -
Speaker:she’s arrogant,
Speaker:and immature.
Speaker:Her overconfidence allows her to see
Speaker:herself as the sole cause of her
Speaker:success,
Speaker:rather than acknowledging that luck,
Speaker:fate or the support of others might
Speaker:have played a role,
Speaker:too.
Speaker:Rather than being grateful for her
Speaker:abilities,
Speaker:she is cocky and boastful.
Speaker:She is like a student who precociously
Speaker:challenges their master,
Speaker:completely forgetting that the master
Speaker:has taught them so much of what they
Speaker:know,
Speaker:or a cheeky young child mocking his
Speaker:parents for being boring and uncool,
Speaker:not realizing that his parents are that
Speaker:way in part because they’ve worked so
Speaker:hard to provide for him!
Speaker:A crucial detail in this story is that
Speaker:Arachne is actually right—she is a
Speaker:better weaver than the goddess and
Speaker:proves it.
Speaker:She accurately shows an unflattering
Speaker:portrait of Zeus himself,
Speaker:criticizing his behavior to mortals.
Speaker:But this does nothing to stop the
Speaker:outcome of the story.
Speaker:In fact the goddess,
Speaker:doubly enraged by the impetuosity,
Speaker:punishes her even more harshly where
Speaker:she was willing to forgive in the
Speaker:beginning.
Speaker:Does this really mean that the tale is
Speaker:telling us to fold and submit to higher
Speaker:authorities,
Speaker:even when they are wrong and we are
Speaker:right?
Speaker:One of the lessons here is an
Speaker:uncomfortable one - being right
Speaker:doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get
Speaker:what you want in life.
Speaker:We can imagine a modern-day analogy - a
Speaker:plucky young intern joins a powerful
Speaker:company and starts to challenge the
Speaker:bosses,
Speaker:stepping out of line,
Speaker:disobeying orders and publicly
Speaker:disparaging the entire way the company
Speaker:does business.
Speaker:He may well be right,
Speaker:but those in charge aren’t likely to
Speaker:respond well to his attitude,
Speaker:and he may quickly find himself out of
Speaker:a job and even blacklisted.
Speaker:The fact that he legitimately knew
Speaker:better won’t figure into the
Speaker:story—it’s his nerve and
Speaker:condescending attitude that earn him a
Speaker:smiting from the “gods."
Speaker:The intern fails to properly understand
Speaker:that his role in the organization,
Speaker:his salary and his position,
Speaker:all come from those higher up.
Speaker:He may not agree with everything they
Speaker:say,
Speaker:but it is certainly unwise to
Speaker:flagrantly challenge them.
Speaker:Ultimately they still have the power,
Speaker:just as Athena has the power to
Speaker:completely destroy Arachne,
Speaker:whether she won the contest or not.
Speaker:This interpretation can seem a little
Speaker:discouraging to those who like to
Speaker:imagine that the world always rewards
Speaker:truth and honesty,
Speaker:but again here the more subtle message
Speaker:is the power of patience,
Speaker:moderation and self-control.
Speaker:Arachne simply doesn’t think about
Speaker:what she’s doing.
Speaker:She knows she’s right,
Speaker:she’s prideful and full of herself,
Speaker:and never stops to imagine how things
Speaker:may play out for her.
Speaker:Let’s imagine the gods and goddesses
Speaker:as more abstract principles.
Speaker:Have you ever known anyone who railed
Speaker:and fought relentlessly against,
Speaker:for example,
Speaker:the government,
Speaker:religion,
Speaker:culture,
Speaker:the law,
Speaker:other people in general?
Speaker:Those people who always felt themselves
Speaker:to be in the right,
Speaker:those know-it-alls who seldom respect
Speaker:others,
Speaker:in particular if those others are in
Speaker:positions of authority?
Speaker:This is a rebellious,
Speaker:haughty person who likes to push back
Speaker:against business as usual,
Speaker:the higher-ups… or anything,
Speaker:really.
Speaker:If we understand the gods to be
Speaker:symbolic principles of a natural
Speaker:universal order,
Speaker:a person who challenges this is someone
Speaker:who doesn’t respect forces greater
Speaker:than himself.
Speaker:Perhaps he’s a daredevil with no care
Speaker:for his own mortality,
Speaker:and essentially challenges the gods to
Speaker:a contest every time he performs some
Speaker:reckless stunt.
Speaker:Maybe he’s a haughty scientist who
Speaker:boldly claims that there simply are no
Speaker:“gods,” only the rational world of
Speaker:science,
Speaker:which he will soon get the better of
Speaker:using nothing more than his own
Speaker:intellect (a version of the myth
Speaker:that’s perhaps a little more relevant
Speaker:for modern audiences?)
Speaker:He might be a person who can’t be
Speaker:bothered learning about history or the
Speaker:lessons of his ancestors,
Speaker:and so condemns himself to repeat their
Speaker:mistakes (i.e. he is punished).
Speaker:In any case,
Speaker:a person who doesn’t properly respect
Speaker:the larger order around them,
Speaker:including the rank and position of
Speaker:their “betters,” is inviting a
Speaker:serious reprimand.
Speaker:Of course,
Speaker:nobody would suggest that there’s no
Speaker:room for challenging the old ways,
Speaker:for innovation,
Speaker:creativity and new ideas.
Speaker:And the myths don’t seem to say that
Speaker:the gods are unreasonable or have an
Speaker:illegitimate rule over mortals.
Speaker:Rather,
Speaker:it’s a question of attitude - Arachne
Speaker:has little self-control and zero
Speaker:humility.
Speaker:Her ego rages over her self-discipline.
Speaker:She is talented,
Speaker:but what does it amount to if she
Speaker:insists on being so haughty about the
Speaker:fact?
Speaker:We can learn from Arachne and her
Speaker:mistakes.
Speaker:The unfortunate fact is that all of us
Speaker:have to live in a world of hierarchies,
Speaker:and there will always be people in
Speaker:power who we are required to defer to.
Speaker:Beyond that,
Speaker:there are universal laws that we simply
Speaker:cannot push back against,
Speaker:and shouldn’t.
Speaker:The myth is not about whether this is
Speaker:wrong or right,
Speaker:however (or indeed about what’s
Speaker:“fair”).
Speaker:Rather,
Speaker:it’s about the smart way to deal with
Speaker:things.
Speaker:History is littered with people who had
Speaker:genius ideas but who lacked the tact
Speaker:and strategy to get them implemented.
Speaker:Diplomacy and the right attitude can go
Speaker:a very long way!
Speaker:If the myth of Arachne resonates with
Speaker:you,
Speaker:you might like to get in the
Speaker:self-discipline habit of setting aside
Speaker:the question of who is “right."
Speaker:It’s always a good idea in any social
Speaker:interaction to be respectful where it
Speaker:matters,
Speaker:courteous and humble,
Speaker:and understand that even if you are
Speaker:right,
Speaker:it’s seldom helpful to brag about it.
Speaker:The mark of maturity is knowing when
Speaker:and how to practice a little
Speaker:self-restraint—and how to hold your
Speaker:tongue even if you’re itching inside
Speaker:to prove that you know better!
Speaker:With wisdom,
Speaker:we find the discipline to act in the
Speaker:interests of harmony and good
Speaker:diplomacy,
Speaker:and we trump vanity or our ego’s need
Speaker:to feel vindicated.
Speaker:Do you ever carry on and on with an
Speaker:argument,
Speaker:unable to let it go unless you’ve
Speaker:thoroughly “won” and the other
Speaker:person acknowledges it?
Speaker:Take a page from Arachne’s book and
Speaker:let it go.
Speaker:At the end of the myth,
Speaker:Arachne is no longer human,
Speaker:and is condemned arguably to weave
Speaker:creations that are nowhere near as
Speaker:beautiful as the ones she once made.
Speaker:This is the old advice to never “bite
Speaker:the hand that feeds you."
Speaker:Arachne,
Speaker:for all her impressive skill,
Speaker:derives her talent from the gods,
Speaker:who can swiftly take it away again.
Speaker:Arachne’s falls from her arrogant
Speaker:position,
Speaker:and her ultimate humiliation is to be
Speaker:stripped of the skills she was so ready
Speaker:to boast about.
Speaker:In the same way,
Speaker:people who are arrogant and barge ahead
Speaker:without a second thought often find
Speaker:themselves in a much-weakened position.
Speaker:A daredevil young person may be
Speaker:overconfident and reckless with their
Speaker:own lives,
Speaker:but in doing so,
Speaker:the gods can take that life away again,
Speaker:showing that it always belonged to them
Speaker:in the first place.
Speaker:This has been
Speaker:Legendary Self-Discipline:
Speaker:Lessons from Mythology and Modern Heroes on Choosing the Right Path Over the Easy Path By Peter Hollins, narrated by russell newton.
