Honor Comes With A Price
“It is that Prometheus is the type of the highest perfection of moral and intellectual nature impelled by the purest and the truest motives to the best and noblest ends that makes him more apt to fill the role of poetic, and perhaps revolutionary, hero.”
Greek mythology tells a story of a Titan, Prometheus, who not only created mankind, but took it upon himself to look out for their welfare and prosperity. The story goes on to describe a conflict that occurred between Prometheus and the tyrannical god, Zeus. In a fit of anger, Zeus had suspended the use of fire among the humans, forcing them to consume raw meat and stalling their proliferation. Prometheus, in opposition to the highest god, stole fire from Mount Olympus and returned it to mankind. As a consequence of his rebellion, Zeus sentenced Prometheus to be chained to a rock for all eternity. Moreover, Zeus commanded an eagle to fly down and tear out Prometheus’ liver. As Prometheus was an immortal, his liver regenerated every day; and every day the eagle would return to devour his organs.
When Prometheus defied Zeus and brought fire as a gift to mankind, he wasn’t rewarded for his courage and nobility; he was condemned to eternal torment. Such is life. Greek mythology has a brilliant tradition of displaying the ugly and tragic truths of our human condition. Some versions of the myth even posit that Zeus offered Prometheus a deal to barter for his freedom, but Prometheus refused to serve the god. He maintained his resolve, didn’t beg for mercy, and never expressed any regret or bitterness for his actions or circumstance. For this, humanity has always revered Prometheus as one of its greatest heroes.
Doing the right thing is not easy, especially when it really matters. It’s risky, damaging, and may come at the cost of everything. But it’s how heroes are made. Many men dream of being heroic and courageous, of standing up to tyrants, defending their woman’s honor, or fighting the good fight. But while they dream these dreams, their daily reality is filled with lesser opportunities to shine and conquer, and they turn their back on them.
For instance, suppose a new HR initiative requires them to list their pronouns on their email signature, promoting a degenerate agenda, and they say nothing. Maybe they witness a shoplifter pocketing an item off a store shelf, and they simply look away. Perhaps they engage in compromising dialogue with a female coworker, despite having a faithful wife at home. Maybe a law enforcement officer is overstepping his authority, but they submit out of fear. And while they continuously fail to stand on conviction, principle, and conscience, they rationalize their cowardice away by convincing themselves that they will act honorably ‘when it really matters.’ It’s as if these men believe that they’ll rise to the occasion when the chips are down, so it isn’t all that important if they’re derelict in these mundane duties while things are going well.
From a technical perspective, this is wrong-thinking. If you can’t commit yourself to honor when it’s easy, what makes you think you can do so when it’s hard? Ethics must be trained. It isn’t enough to know right from wrong; one must continuously practice it. For example, you can know everything there is to know about weightlifting, but that doesn’t make you any stronger. You must consistently train your muscles. There will be struggle. There will be pain. There will be ups and there will be downs. But it’s all necessary to make yourself strong. Ethics are no different.
"We don't rise to the level of our expectations; we fall to the level of our training."
- Archilochus
Therefore, we must deliberately attend to our thoughts, words, actions, and habits. We must examine the deepest parts of our psyche and honestly evaluate our character. We must be constantly on-guard for opportunities to act rightly, seek justice, speak truth, and defend order. All of this must be incorporated into our daily regimen. We cannot shirk our duty in the moment under the false assumption that we will make up for it in the end. But we must always keep our end in mind and live in such a way as to have no fear of it. Memento Mori - remember that you will die.
As warriors, death comes easy for us. Many men can be committed to die for a cause. But it’s far easier to die for your convictions than it is to live for them. For death is but a single and final moment; it is in life that we bear the burden of our choices.
Prometheus committed himself to his actions and accepted fully the consequences. His story is that of the archetypal hero; a hero that all noble men aspire toward. If we have any ambition to act as Prometheus did, we must also commit ourselves to a lifestyle that will enable us to make such difficult and tragic choices when the time comes. Do not fool yourself into thinking that you will follow in the steps of this Titan without encountering the same suffering and sacrifice that he endured. Your training and preparation for that heroic moment begins now.
Being good at being a man, and moreover, being a good man, is no easy task. It’s a lifestyle that forces upon you many difficult choices and temptations. To be brave, to be righteous, and to act honorably, is a path that comes with many sacrifices and struggles and no promises of happiness or applause. But it’s the only path that leads to manhood, redemption, freedom, victory, and glory. If you aim to be the hero, you must choose the harder path, and not just at Armageddon, but every day of your life.
