"What is 'Living Well'?"
When money, power and empire are just not enough...
“I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well.”
~ Alexander the Great, student of Aristotle (356 – 323 BC)
Ohrid, Macedonia - "Money... power... empire... all much in the news of late, all fleeting in the end. But let us forget the distractions of the world for a moment and ask instead... What does it mean to “live well”?
We are here in Northern Macedonia, accompanying dear wife on a tour of the ancient sites. (Anya publishes a newsletter dedicated to the classics, which you can check out here.) The region is a veritable treasure trove of historical intrigue, having been at times under the control of various Greek and Indo-European tribes (Paeonians, Illyrians, Molossians), the conquering Persians (under Darius the Great), and the Macedonians (under Philip II and his son, the aforementioned Alexander) before being absorbed by the Romans in 146BC. Later, after the fall of the Roman Empire (toward the end of the 5th century), came various warring Slavic tribes... then the Byzantines... the Bulgarians... the Serbs... the Ottomans... Money... power... empire... and, inevitably, decline. But back to the question at hand...
A Day in the Life: During the day, before it gets too hot, we visit the ancient sites... like the Theatre of Ohrid, a Hellenistic-style amphitheater built during the 2nd century BC, which happens to be conveniently located right outside the window above our desk...
Later, in the afternoon, we wander down the hill, through the cool pine forest and along the winding paths, toward the lakefront. There, on pebble beaches beneath the Church of Saint John the Theologian at Kaneo, holiday makers lounge on the sun chairs and drink the local rakija.
Yesterday, we watched as a small armada of boats deposited a wedding party on one of the wooden jetties along the beach. The bride, a pretty blonde in traditional white, was surrounded by her maids, all in blue satin. The groom, a plump fellow with dark, curly hair, smiled the smile of someone who knows he’s getting away with something.
The merry crowd alighted to the applause of the locals, then made their way up to a private restaurant balcony, overlooking the lake and the approaching sunset. A band played traditional Macedonian music on lute and flute as the friends and family danced, raised their glasses and sang along. Is this “living well,” we wondered?
On Human Flourishing: In his major work on the subject, the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle advanced the concept of eudaimonia, most often translated as “flourishing.” According to Alexander the Great’s teacher, eudaimonia involves living according to reason (rational thought) and cultivating virtue (arete) through habit of action in our daily lives. “We are what we repeatedly do,” he wrote. “Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
Virtue, Aristotle reckoned, is found by adhering to the “doctrine of the mean.” Courage is the mean between cowardice and recklessness, for example; generosity the mean between stinginess and garish extravagance. Readers will recognize the concept echoed elsewhere, too... in the “rational moderation” of Stoicism, the “harmony” of Confucianism and Buddhism’s “Middle Way,” among others...
Recognizing that humans are “social animals,” Aristotle also encouraged community and friendship based on mutual respect, along with deep philosophical contemplation, what he considered the “highest form of happiness.” Family... mutual respect... virtue... are we getting closer?
Our own dear father, wise and fighting fit in the prime of his 60s, gives his son the following advice. (Readers might also find it useful.) “Walk more than you eat. Save more than you spend. Listen more than you talk.” Sage counsel, indeed.
The World is Not Enough: Likely, there are many paths to being healthy, wealthy and wise... and, judging by the observable population at large, many more to being fat, broke and stupid. But in the end, the health nuts lay alongside the boozers as the rich occupy the same cold ground as the paupers. As for the morons, the graveyards must be full of them. (Spend half an hour on social media or watching the “news” for proof.)
As for Aristotle’s most famous student, after conquering vast swathes of the known world (Greece, Egypt, much of India...) Alexander the Great was dead at 32. Most historians reckon it was Malaria or Typhoid that cut him down, or perhaps a rare, autoimmune condition. Others blame the booze, noting that the famous imbiber was on something of a bender during his final days. From Plutarch’s Lives: “He spent the night and the following day in drinking with Medius, and after bathing late, he went to bed with a fever, and remained under its influence during the night.” Fitting, perhaps, that on his grave was the famous epitaph... "A tomb now suffices him for whom the world was not enough."
Moderation then, dear reader... in sound company... and under ample philosophical contemplation. Now, off to lunch..."
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