96 Ancient Ideals
piece of trea sure he owns has a story attached to it. He knows where
he won such and such a sword, who gave him this gold cup for brave
deeds. He also delights in distributing what he owns. Achilles,
presiding over the funeral games for Patroclus, takes plea sure in the
god- like activity of deciding who will compete, who wins and loses,
and who gets the prize— which he also delights in presenting. Pieces
of trea sure are signifi ers, tokens of glory.
The hero may in time return to a comfortable home— but the
pleasures of home matter little to him. Like Tennyson’s Ulysses, he
cannot stay still. Ulysses, back from Troy, sees that his son Telema-
chus is a prudent ruler, who loves the pleasures of the hearth. But
Ulysses is no such man—he understands it clearly. So he is off again
looking for adventure, looking for trou ble, even though he is old.
“Though much is taken,” he says, “much abides; and though / We
are not now that strength which in old days / Moved earth and heaven,
that which we are, we are.” Soon he will be journeying aga in, seek ing
adventure, seeking immortal deeds.
“Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s,” Jesus says, looking
at the coin. The true saint has no time for the coin of this world.
He does not seek wealth. To him wealth is an impediment. For, as
the Savior says, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a
needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. The
man who pursues wealth pursues many ends. He wants this suit of
clothes, that conveyance, such and such a dwelling. But the saint
seeks one thing. The saint seeks a life full of meaningful compas-
sion. The acquisition of goods, the piling up of wealth, only serves
to draw force from his proper pursuit. The saint lives—or tries to
live— beyond desire. The saint lives for hope.
For the individual who lives in the Self, desire is all determining.
He wants certain precise and par tic u lar objects. His life is deter-
mined by wants. He could almost write his autobiography based
on his desire for this or that object and his success (or failure) in at-