Stoic Courage in a Spartan Queen: Cratesicleia

I have posted previously about the mission to Sparta of Zeno's disciple, Sphaerus. He had a great influence on Spartan king Cleomenes III, who was destined to be a great reformer and to attempt to return the soul of Sparta that was formed during the days of Lycurgus.

Not everything went well for Cleomenes militarily. At first he had unprecedented military success and conquered almost all of the Peloponnese, shocking the rest of Greece with his exploits. However, due to political maneuvering and intrigue by his enemies, everything that he gained quickly collapsed and he was abandoned by his allies. He was hemmed into Laconia.

At this point, the Egyptian king Ptolemy offered to help Cleomenes, but demanded that Cleomenes send his mother and children to Egypt as collateral. This request very much upset Cleomenes, which eventually drew the suspicions of his mother, Cratesicleia. She demanded to know what was going on, and he told her.  She laughed.

"Was it this which you frequently meant to tell me, but lacked the courage? Why ever don't you hurry to put me on board ship and send me off wherever you think this body of mine will be of the greatest service to Sparta, before old age disposes of it as it just sits here?"

So Cleomenes set off with her to put her on the ship to Egypt. He was visibly shaken as the moment neared, so Cratesicleia pulled him into the temple of Poseidon.

She embraced and kissed her son and then said: "Come now, king of the Spartans. When we emerge we want no one to see us in tears nor doing anything unworthy of Sparta. This is all that lies in our power; but our fortunes must be as heaven ordains."

And thus she boarded the ship for Egypt and ordered the sailors to make haste.

*Reference: Plutarch's On Sparta

Carl Sagan on Perspective...

The Pale Blue Dot

"We succeeded in taking that picture [from deep space], and, if you look at it, you see a dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever lived, lived out their lives. The aggregate of all our joys and sufferings, thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilizations, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every hopeful child, every mother and father, every inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every superstar, every supreme leader, every saint and sinner in the history of our species, lived there on a mote of dust, suspended in a sunbeam. 

The earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and in triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of the dot on scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner of the dot. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity -- in all this vastness -- there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. It is up to us. It's been said that astronomy is a humbling, and I might add, a character-building experience. To my mind, there is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly and compassionately with one another and to preserve and cherish that pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known."

-Carl Sagan

Marcus Aurelius on Forgiveness

When one of his most trusted generals and friends, Avidius Cassius, betrayed Marcus Aurelius and attempted to usurp the throne, Marcus had this to say:

"There is only one thing I fear, fellow-soldiers, for you shall be told the whole truth, — and that is, that either he will kill himself because ashamed to come into our presence or that someone else will do so upon learning that I am to come and am already setting out against him. For then I should be deprived of a great prize both of war and of victory, a prize such as no human being has ever yet obtained. And what is this prize? To forgive a man who has wronged one, to remain a friend to one who has transgressed friendship, to continue faithful to one who has broken faith. Perhaps all this seems incredible to you, but you ought not to disbelieve it; for surely all goodness has not yet entirely perished from among men, but there is still in us a remnant of the ancient virtue. And if anyone should disbelieve it, that but renders the more ardent my desire, in order that men may see accomplished what no one would believe could come to pass. For that would be the one profit I could derive from our present ills, if I could settle this affair well and show to all mankind that there is a right way to deal even with civil wars."

Learn by doing...

Why the Gods Envy Us

Musonius Rufus on Obedience to Parents

"Consider, then, a father who is neither a doctor nor acquainted with matters pertaining to health and sickness. Suppose he ordered something for his sick son that he thought would help but which was useless, if not harmful. Suppose, too, that the sick son knew this. If the son did not do what he ordered, is he disobeying his father and is he disobedient? This is unlikely."

- Lecture 16, Paragraph 2

One of the 10 Commandments is "Honor your father and mother." I don't think that honoring them means 100% blind obedience, as is expected in some cultures. I have seen in some Asian cultures, for example, that seniority is more important than correctness. This is even to the extreme example of "older" twins having authority over the "younger" twin.

Doesn't having a healthy child bring honor to the father and mother?

Doesn't having an educated child bring honor to the father and mother?

Doesn't having a morally upright child bring honor to the father and mother?

If the father asks the child to do something immoral, and the child obeys, aren't they both dishonored? But if the child picks the correct path, isn't the father honored for having raised such an upright child, despite the seeming disobedience?

If my father were to bring to me a multi-level marketing scheme and ask me to buy into it, and I knew that it was a fool's errand and would only lose him money, should I throw my money away to support my father? Or should I respectfully decline and let the scheme fail sooner, thus bringing my father back to reality?

Rufus, Musonius, and Cynthia Ann Kent King. "16. By Musonius, from the Lecture on Whether Parents Must Be Obeyed in All Things." Musonius Rufus: Lectures & Sayings. United States: Createspace, 2011. 65-68. Print. 

Raymond Tusk on Decision Making

"Decisions based on emotion are not decisions at all." 

-Raymond Tusk

"Chapter 12"

House of Cards

Raymond Tusk, a calculating billionaire, and Frank Underwood, a machiavellian Congressman, are walking in the woods. Underwood is secretly seeking the Vice Presidency, which is currently vacant. The president has tapped Tusk for the spot, but Tusk is reluctant. Underwood volunteers to travel to Tusk's home in an attempt to woo Tusk into accepting the President's offer. His real motive is to size up his new nemesis.

The juxtaposition in this scene is a great one. Though they have both ended up as powerful men, their chosen life paths are very different. Their clothing draws a more visual contrast of their characters. Also, their comfort level amongst God's creation is very telling. I wouldn't consider Tusk a Stoic overall, but he serves as a decent representation in this moment, especially when compared to such an unscrupulous anti-hero as Underwood.

Tusk and Underwood could not have achieved their goals more differently. Tusk is a billionaire and businessman who has used intelligence and hard work to build an empire around himself. He knows his own trade and has even taught himself Chinese to communicate with business partners. He also is seen in several scenes doing things for himself that he could obviously pay people to do. No personal chef here, Tusk is making his own bacon in the morning. Underwood is a career politician that has never really held a "real job." He has clawed his way up the political ladder through lies and manipulation. He enjoys the luxuries of his office, such as having his personal security detail.

The outward appearance of the two is an illustration of the differences within. Underwood is a portrait of the modern Machiavelli. He is wearing a neat suit and tie, with shiny shoes and a clean shaven face. Tusk, the billionaire, looks ready for a safari. His clothing appears comfortable and functional. He even has a pair of binoculars slung around his neck.

Apparently deep in the forest, the two gentlemen have very different comfort levels. Underwood is tense and confused about why they are walking in the woods. He even had off handedly remarked that he would've rather been touring one of Tusk's nuclear power plants. Tusk is at ease, strolling with purpose and direction. He knows where he is going and what he is looking for. Tusk laughed at the power plant suggestion, remarking that he much rather spend his time in the great outdoors.

A Stoic uses his reason and intelligence to make decisions, despite his emotional urges. This can result in worldly success for him, though he doesn't actively pursue it, per se. He dresses simply and functionally, not putting great emphasis on flashy possessions. The Stoic also loves and celebrates nature and sees his role in it. He will often look to lessons from the natural world around him to show him how he can live more in accordance with his own nature.