“Life is a battle, is it not? How better to train for it than to be a soldier?”
–Telamon of Arcadia
In our last episode we talked about the gymnosophists or yogis … the “Naked Wise Men” of India … and of Alexander and his men’s affinity for these sages when they encountered them near the end of their journey of conquest.
Our solitary warrior Telamon is drawn to these yogis too. Why? Because he sees them as soldiers too.
Soldiers of the Inner War.
Here is Telamon, with Alexander and his brother officers, on the banks of the Hydaspes in India.
“Life is a battle, is it not? And how better to train for it than to be a soldier? For have you not noticed of these sages, my friends, that they are the consummate soldiers? Inured to pain, oblivious of hardship, each takes up his post at dawn and does not relinquish it for thirst, hunger, heat, cold, fatigue. He is cheerful in all weathers, self-motivated, self-governed, self-commended.”
“Are you saying, Telamon,” Alexander asks, “that your training as a soldier prepares you for the vocation of sage?”
Telamon replies, “These men are beyond me, my friend. I must apprentice myself to them for many lifetimes.”
We are talking here about maturation from archetype the archetype. The vocation of warrior does indeed prepare one for the evolution to that of the sage.
Telamon continues:
“The yogi’s remark that he has ‘conquered the need to conquer the world’ could not be more apt. What the sage means is he has mastered his daimon. For what is the daimon but that will to supremacy over others, which resides not only in all men but in beasts and even in plants and is, at its heart, the curse and essence of all aggressive life?”
This section ends with Telamon addressing Alexander. When you listen to this, hear it as if it were addressed to you, now, in this present age. I know when I read it, I feel like it’s addressed to me.
“Though you chaff me, my friend, for purposing to become one day a man of wisdom, you yourself share this ambition, and have since you were a boy. It was that which drew you to me as a child, when you used to trail me about the barrack yard, marching at my heels like a shadow.
“Further, I declare that this quality is what makes you superior to your father. Not superior as a commander, notice I say, although you are. Or braver as a soldier, although you are. You excel your father not for these reasons, but for your moral object, because you do wish to become a man of wisdom, whereas Philip was content to fight and fuck. Your sufferings too are greater than his, because it pains you to fall short of that which you know yourself capable. Your father recognized this. He knew you, even as a child, as his better. This is why he both loved and feared you, Alexander. And why you, like Hephaestion and me, are drawn to these sages of India and perceive in their aspiration the sign, if not the substance, of our own.”
Very thought provoking! thanks.
As much as this series has been instructional and entertaining as a discussion of the warrior archetype, how it applies to the life of an artist or other civilian, how we transition from archetype to archetype, and an introduction to the character of Telamon, I’m finding something else here that’s useful for us as storytellers.
They say that the climax in a story should be surprising, but viewed in retrospect as inevitable. I’m seeing that we’ve been taken on that kind of journey in this video series. Even though I’ve read everything Steve’s written, I admit that the character of Telamon had loitered in the periphery of my awareness. He wasn’t up front like Xeones in Gates, or Gent in The Profession, Bones or Selene in Last of the Amazons, or Chap in Rommel, Matthias in The Afghan Campaign.
Maybe we started out believing we’s be talking in a little more depth about things we’d read in The Warrior Ethos. But step-by-step, we’re led to the surprising but inevitable conclusion: a new story with Telamon in the lead.
This video series itself is a masterclass in story structure. Thanks for this gift, Diana and Steve.
While the world knows and admires Alexander, it’s Telamon who deserves our respect. It’s a rare individual who can move from one archetype to the next as did Telamon from Warrior to Sage. Gen Mattis is the rarity; most of our WW2 leaders like Eisenhower and Marshall commanded from London, instead of the battlefield before their civilian finales.
On a smaller scale I admire our Marines and soldiers 2001-2012 who fought in Iraq and Afg, many on numerous deployments, before mustering out to finish college, build a career, and start families. From kickass Artilleryman to loving husband and father.. is that not a modern version of Warrior to Sage?
Andrew,
Honestly, you last comment is why part of me thinks some type of conscripted–or at least so favorable (free tuition, VA loans, 50% increase in government job applications…a bit Heinlein-ish) that only the super elites or irredeemable sociopath choose not to serve. It profoundly goes against the thick libertarian streak in me–but the upside to individuals, families, communities, and our nation as a whole trumps my ideological lean towards smaller government and liberty.
I rationalize this from my own experience–and the truth that I wasn’t mature enough for liberty prior to my military experience. Something just occurred to me while writing this. For most of my adult life I have ‘longed’ for good political leadership that I could admire, use to model my own behavior. I think I may have been looking in the wrong places. It might be the artists. It might be the honorable entrepreneurs. It might be the innovators. Maybe politics have become so personally rewarding (read somewhere that most congressmen and senators leave office wealthier than when they entered…and yes, I deliberately chose not to capitalize) that the lure of power/wealth is too much for us mortals. Everyone becomes corrupt, and only those who stay out–or limit their exposure to 4-8 years can leave with integrity.
That said, I like Tulsi Gabbord, and I like Dan Crenshaw. I’d support a ticket with either of them as POTUS and the other as VP. I follow Bret Weinstein’s DarkHorse Podcast, and his effort at the Unity project was an idea I support. Let’s put the two top exec together from opposite teams.
In an ironic way, I almost see this very similar to the Commander/1SG, BC/CSM relationship.
bsn
bsn
Brian; I’d add Reps Jason Crowe, Col, and Seth Moultrie, Ma, Army, USMC with combat time in Afg and Iraq to your list. Both were ready to defend rheir collegues, as opposed to the ones sitting unmasked and infecting others
A mandatory draft, w/no exemptions except for serious medical issues is in order. Too nany knuckleheads out there screaming about patriotism yet are tbe last to volunteer gor anything except the chow line
And that’s what makes Telamon’s move from Warrior to Sage even more impressive. Being hired muscle is easy; being a Sage is as difficult as being a Warrior. And the discipline required to excel in each is awesome training to suceed in the 1st CivDiv!
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Wars may never have an end, not armed wars are also political, economic, .. When will we have real peace?
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I am admit that the character of Telamon had loitered in the periphery of my awareness.
Very interesting, explanatiaon point by point made this explanation easy to read
still new in here, but really this story got me excited to read it on a full story. could you guys point me to where i can start it ?
I’ve seen the video and listened to the explanation. it was very interesting, at first I didn’t know ‘the warrior archetype’, but after seeing the plot, I wanted to see from the first episode.
who do you think is the strongest character in the series ‘the soldier and the sage’?
Very interesting, explanatiaon point by point made this explanation easy to read thank [email protected]
Why you have a strong and never give up everyday?
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