This volume explores agonism in Plato on all of these levels, inviting the reader-as Plato does-to engage in the megas agōn of life. And at its highest level, it is divine: the human soul is a chariot that races toward heaven. On a third level, it is metaphorical: the athlete’s struggle illustrates the struggle to be morally good. On another level, it is mimetic: Socratic dialogue resembles intellectual wrestling. On one level, agonism in Plato is explicit: he taught in a gymnasium and featured gymnastic training in his educational theory. Likewise, Plato’s philosophy combines competition and cooperation in pursuit of the goal of wisdom. To win, you needed to cooperate with your teammates and keep the delicate flame alive as you ran up the hill. It was competitive, yes, but it was also sacred, aimed at a noble goal. In the Panathenaic Games, there was a torch race for teams of ephebes that started from the altars of Eros and Prometheus at Plato’s Academy and finished on the Acropolis at the altar of Athena, goddess of wisdom. Through progressive adaptations in adherence to various unorthodox conditioning methodologies, Milo of Croton became the most dominant Olympian3 Wrestler of all time, one who went on to crown a martial career as a revered military Commander. Born in Croton2, Italy, in 559 BC, he had been predicted by prognosticators to arrive as the mortal son of Zeus, with a direct lineage to the mighty Hercules. Esteemed for his unfathomable prowess, he was called by the ancients, Milo1. As he paced the track, the imposingly muscular strongman welcomed his cheering fans to slap the loins and tug the tail of his colossal bovine pet. In stadiums routinely packed with tens of thousands, the Crotonian wrestler would enter the arena, then walk the entire oval, amazingly carrying a full-grown bull on his back. PROLOGUE - What does it mean when a man’s name is remembered thousands of years after his death? - By the completion of this story, perhaps long before, you will learn many answers to that question.
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