Not anymore, Mr. Hanover, if you haven’t noticed. You’re talking about the old days, before “mental health awareness”. Proof of this is the fact that Ms. Biles has been universally supported and applauded for dropping out. I doubt she was unaware of the change in public opinion that had occurred. I think she knew that she would find much sympathy and support afterwards. — Leghorn
Let me restate it then. The soul used to be conceived of as economy of the virtues and passions, the former aided by reason and ruling over the latter, as parsimony over luxury, temperance over insobriety, chastity over lust, etc,...and courage over fear. This economy is no longer believed in, and its elements have either been renamed or done away with altogether: the soul was replaced by the enigmatic “self”; the passions, generally bad qualities that needed restraining, were renamed “emotions”, which are not bad at all. In fact they ought to be “let out” because if you suppress them they will adversely affect not only your mental-, but even your physical-health.
In this new condition of the soul’s understanding it is little wonder that such perversions as this be heard: — Leghorn
What I find much less understandable is heaping praise on the athlete for bowing out for reasons of mental health. We don't say, "So admirable, so courageous" if an athlete drops out because of a badly sprained ankle, badly damaged hamstring, or a bad case of dysentery. We just cross the event off the list. I would expect the same for a mental health issue, not the weepy applause "poor thing, so courageous in her anxiety, depression" or whatever. — Bitter Crank
The idea that people should put their lives, physical or mental health or well being on the line in order to engage successfully in athletics is a curious one.
— Ciceronianus the White
Why, your namesake I think knew much better, for I am sure that Marcus Tullius Cicero was very familiar with the athletic contests described in both the Iliad and Aeneid. — Leghorn
Is it not the term psyche, which is the Greek word for soul? If we parsed these out, psychology is “knowledge of the soul”, and psychotherapy is “healing of the soul”. Wouldn’t you expect that he who has knowledge of the soul would also be the one who knows—if anyone does—how to heal it? — Leghorn
And speaking of changes in societal standards, I don't know what you mean when you say the soul was recently renamed the "self" and the passions "emotions," as if that is a modern day occurrence. The ancient Greeks spoke of the self and the emotions. Are you arguing that Biles is just part of this "modern" movement that started thousands of years ago? — Hanover
Lots of armchair athletes here — jgill
We are so strong as athletes, that we can lift the very armchair we sit on. — god must be atheist
"Which is the Greek word for soul"? Are you kidding? Please make clear how that could be, the Greek word being at least 1600 years older and certainly much older than that. And relying on translations of Greek words to establish meaning is a mug's game. The first task is to figure out just what the Greek word means, and that not-so-easy, or not easy at all. — tim wood
What I am not deceived about, I think, is that the various languages down through the philosophical tradition have attempted to translate the key terms of philosophy faithfully into their own languages. The most famous example is probably Cicero’s Latin terms to express those of earlier Greek philosophy. The assumption was that everybody was talking about the same things, just in different terms. Within this tradition, Greek psyche was translated animus by a Roman, and soul by an Englishman. — Leghorn
In fine, courage used to be overcoming fear. Now it is succumbing to it. — Leghorn
the kind of athletic contests favored by the Greeks lost favor with the Romans, certainly by Cicero's time, and were replaced in popularity by the ludi, games put on for the entertainment of the people. — Ciceronianus the White
You yourself note above that the meaning of soul has shifted even in a few years. — tim wood
Soul is a usual and facile English translation of the Greek word psyche, and not an accurate translation. — tim wood
I see online that the word "car" first appears in the 14th century, coming from Latin. Do you think you know what it means? — tim wood
But the mental health defense was a strategic way to take a much needed break and to recover, so as to be better able to compete in the final competitions. She could have said "I need to sit this one out, and save my energy for the final performance", but this would be bad for her PR, and I'm not sure it's even allowed by Olympic standards. — baker
if claiming a sprained ankle resulted in public ridicule, you would expect athletes to conceal that reason, but if one person came forward and admitted they were withdrawing for having a sprained ankle, that person might be looked upon as heroic for refusing to conceal it and just admitting she had that problem. — Hanover
This Vergilian galley race was inspired by the chariot race in the 23rd book of the Iliad, where Eumelos, after running far ahead of Diomedes, suffers the misfortune of smashing his yoke,
“...and Eumelos / himself was sent spinning out beside the wheel of the chariot / so that his elbows were all torn, and his mouth, and his nostrils, / and his forehead was lacerated about the brows, and his eyes / filled with tears, and the springing voice was held fast within him.” — Leghorn
You must play!...said Coach...he refused to play, we lost the match, and Coach never forgave him. — Leghorn
the old days ppl with health problems tended to conceal them. Only consider FDR in his wheelchair, carefully hidden behind the podium. Why did they do this? The fact that they did so proves they thought it shameful, like having sex or going to the toilet, or getting a divorce...all things that are no longer considered shameful... — Leghorn
Man once considered himself as a divine soul trapped in a corrupt body. — Leghorn
Soul is a usual and facile English translation of the Greek word psyche, and not an accurate translation.
— tim wood
So how would YOU translate it? — Leghorn
At least back then people took vaccines because they didn't convince themselves the polio vaccine was a tool of the government to control the people, or whatever the argument is today. — Hanover
Whatever. There you go. You don't even bother to inform yourself what the arguments for hesistancy about vaccination are. You just spew your contempt and hatred. It's just so enjoyable to do so, isn't it? Righteous indignation feels so good! — baker
You don't even know what my stance is, and you don't bother to know it. You just judge. Authoritarianism at its best. — baker
These men were not slavish mercenary gladiators, but free heroic souls, willing to suffer great harm and danger in order to be the best. Homer and Vergil describe their striving for glory, and their suffering of defeat, as examples to the men of their day of heroism, courage, and what must be risked in order to achieve the honor of victory. — Leghorn
No one thought FDR's polio was shameful — Hanover
Why do you wish to sort through history's garbage can of bad ideas and put them back in use? — Hanover
The moral of the story, however, is that you can translate, but that does not mean you get from the translation what was originally meant. — tim wood
So I remind myself that I do not know what και really means, or how an ancient Greek's mind worked while reading. — tim wood
For "always" I might substitute "often" or "usually." But we're on the same page here.Translation is always inferior to reading the original, — Leghorn
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