i wanted to know you

“Homer does not flinch at showing the hardships and grief that come with being a warrior. But the lives of the Homeric heroes are full of meaning: they live in danger, yes, but they live with a fullness and intensity of purpose that it is not possible to match in the everyday world. In action, they are united within themselves and, at least in their own minds, united with the natural world, which (they believe) values what they embody: strength, courage, and beauty. Though the lives of the Homeric heroes are often short—Hector and Achilles both die young—they are replete with meaning. There is no danger that the true warrior will die feeling that he has never lived. The middle-class man, it’s been said, is the man who desires to live as long as possible. But is what he experiences in that quest really life—at least when you compare it to what Hector and Achilles enjoyed?”