The Saint 95
the scriptures of what has come to be called the Axial Age proclaim.
Yet both of these states bring on unity of being. They bequeath joy,
full presence to life, immediacy. Those who have committed them-
selves to the ideals are made complete, rather than walking sites of
contending elements. The life of the hero and the saint may be short;
Jesus dies young, so do many of those who have emulated Achilles,
emulated Hector. But while they last, those lives are charged with
meaning. Such fi gures can lead lives of constant allegory, as Keats
said of Shakespeare. Ever ything they do has an archety pal status—
they aspire to be living in and sometimes even creating patterns for
virtuous human action that will continue on through time. Every
achievement of theirs becomes a standard to guide and inspire
others.
The hero and the saint are both wanderers in the world. When
he is told that his mo ther and bro th ers and sisters are outside the
temple where he is preaching, Jesus says to the crowd: You are my
family. You are my mo ther and father; you are my bro th ers and
my sisters. “Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister
and mo ther” (Mark 3.35). To live the life of Soul, it is often necessary
to walk away from the pleasures of the home. Achilles is not happy
knowing that he will never see his father Peleus again, but he accepts
the fact as part of the hero’s destiny.
The hero and the saint wander the earth. They go not where they
wish to go, but where they are needed. Achilles and his descendants
go to war all over the globe; Jesus and his true followers visit the
suff ering men and women, who need the gospel of compassion,
wherever they may be. The heart can become full only when one
separates oneself from one’s origins and turns in the direction of
the ideal.
Neither the hero nor the saint cares much for material wealth.
The hero is happy to amass trea sure, but the trea sure he collects is
chiefl y a signifi er. It tells the world about his achievements. Each