Self and Soul A Defense of Ideals

The Iliad is a great poem of aristocracy— natu ral aristocracy, Homer’s
heroes believe, and overall the poem confi rms them. Homeric man
values beauty and prowess, and Nature, at least as Homeric
man sees her, does as well. Force rules in Nature as it does on
the plains of Troy; beauty shines forth in the natu ral world and in
the human world launches a thousand ships. The Homeric gods
are aristocrats and love what the heroes love. They too are fascinated
by beauty and courage. Mortal men are dear to the gods when they
show their bravery in the face of the one terror that the gods will
never have to encounter, Death.
Yet it is from aristocracy that one of the most profound rebuttals
to the heroic ethos arises. Gautama, the one who will in time be-
come the Buddha, descends from a noble lineage. He comes from a
region of South Asia where the Aryans have not achieved domina-
tion and where the caste system has not taken full hold. His father
is a potentate; his family is known for its power and its in de pen-
dence. Shortly after Gautama’s birth, his father summons Brahmin
soothsayers to predict the boy’s future.
The soothsayers concur on one matter: Gautama has a remark-
able destiny before him. This is an extraordinary child. But it is not

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The Saint