Thank you for the reminder of Petrarch. I've been spending a lot of time recently reading and thinking about the Enlightenment. Most of my heroes are either from that age, or have consciously looked to that era for inspiration or emulation. Its almost hard to imagine what might have been had it not been for the renaissance reacquaintance with Greek and Roman thinkers.
Well said. The ancient Romans constantly reflected on the exempla offered by statesmen, soldiers, philosophers of the past; there were how-to's and how-not-to's, as human situations tend to repeat, and relationships tend to be very similar! People are still ambitious - rivalrous - treacherous - loyal or disloyal - hardworking or lazy - and there are instructive tales from which to learn.
Yes, most of these repeating patterns do seem to be timeless. It's not only that we haven't outgrown them 2,000 years later, but that it's hard to even imagine a future society, no matter how advanced, that will have completely outgrown them (though I imagine they'll have instituted much better education about dealing with these situations/emotions).
Thank you for the reminder of Petrarch. I've been spending a lot of time recently reading and thinking about the Enlightenment. Most of my heroes are either from that age, or have consciously looked to that era for inspiration or emulation. Its almost hard to imagine what might have been had it not been for the renaissance reacquaintance with Greek and Roman thinkers.
Well said. The ancient Romans constantly reflected on the exempla offered by statesmen, soldiers, philosophers of the past; there were how-to's and how-not-to's, as human situations tend to repeat, and relationships tend to be very similar! People are still ambitious - rivalrous - treacherous - loyal or disloyal - hardworking or lazy - and there are instructive tales from which to learn.
Thanks!
Yes, most of these repeating patterns do seem to be timeless. It's not only that we haven't outgrown them 2,000 years later, but that it's hard to even imagine a future society, no matter how advanced, that will have completely outgrown them (though I imagine they'll have instituted much better education about dealing with these situations/emotions).