124 Ancient Ideals
hero is Achilles, who is always ready for death. True courage to
Plato is not being without fear: true courage is based in knowledge.
It is knowing what to fear and what not to fear.
In The Republic, the heroes— who are akin to Homer’s heroes—
have a place of honor. The thinkers are made of gold. The warriors
are men and women (in Plato there are women warriors, too) whose
spirits are composed of silver. Plato understands the importance of
the warriors to the state and understands something too about their
inner lives. They are (like the guardians) a class apart; they are (as
all the male citizens of Sparta below a certain age were) professional
soldiers. They spend their lives in training and in combat. For this
their fellow citizens look upon them with reverent gratitude. The
warrior class in Plato is a class of heroes.
And Plato comprehends them well. What they want most is not
wealth or possessions; gold coins mean about as much to the war-
riors as they do to true phi los o phers. Both have evolved beyond the
Self ’s hunger for lucre. Warriors live for esteem. They exist to in-
cite awe and inspire praise in others; this is clear all through Homer,
and it is not lost on Plato. So the fellow citizens of the warriors deck
them with garlands and give them k isses in recognition of their brave
deeds. When the warriors go into battle, their children watch from
surrounding hillsides to applaud their bravery and urge them on to
noble achievements.
Plato understands that there is something theatrical in the war-
rior’s makeup, and he wants to give it opportunity for expression.
(Recall Achilles’ need to have all the Greeks and Trojans watching
when he duels with Hector.) Plato’s warriors live within an epic
context. They are characters in dramas, mortal dramas, seen by all.
They are duly celebrated and held in something approaching
reverence.
But they do not rule. Ruling is for phi los o phers, who are akin to
fi ghters in their spiritedness (and so understand them), but in whom