Upanishads Vs Herodotus

The concept of living “the good life” means something different for everyone. There is a general understanding that living “the good life” is associated with unyielding happiness and lasting satisfaction. The exact meaning of this desired life was pondered by thinkers and philosophers for hundreds of years. They constructed principals of behavior, thought, and obligation that would categorize a person as “good”. Although some of these ancient philosophies about “the good life” had overlapping ideas, their concepts varied widely. This contrast of ideas can be examined through two major characters in two famous works: Aeneas in “The Aeneid” and Socrates in “The Apology”. Aeneas exemplifies the philosophy that the direct route to “the good life" is through faith, trust in the Gods, and family, while Socrates in “The Apology” emphasizes free will, and vast knowledge of life.

Cicero thinks that the happiest condition for a wise man to be in is when he or she makes a decision and sticks by it no matter the circumstance (Discussions at Tusculum 95). Cicero also says that an “insignificant, obscur[e], or unpopular” lifestyle will not prevent the wise man from being happy and pursuing the good life (Discussions at Tusculum 106). In Cicero’s version of the good life, men and women stick to their beliefs no matter what trials or torture they occur, and he believes that being morally good is the path to follow in order to live the good life.

The concern topic is an essay that concentrates on the fact of living a good life. It is from the reading of Epictetus, the strategy of good living could be introduced to the human being in this world. The teachings of Epictetus has based on the living a happy life such that the human beings are satisfied with their birth and their livelihood on the earth. His teachings mainly dealt with the happiness that is found from doing work and satisfying the life of the people from the earning.

Over time philosophers have always fought the same moral dilemma, the meaning of life. In 370 B.C. Aristotle lived in an era where war was related to power and the only thing that was an escape to him was his virtues and a ways to be virtuous. On the other hand we have Epictetus from 55 A.D. With centuries of views apart, Aristotle, a well known aristocrat, and Epictetus, a former slave that found philosophy as a way of life. Even though you might expect them to have different points of views, both philosophers coming from different times and different backgrounds still agree that knowledge can overcome any boundary. Both Aristotle and Epictetus fit under Mill’s theory of utilitarianism as they both teach and write books to benefit the greatest amount of people.

Hindus believe that ones circumstances in life are completely determined by his previous conduct, either in this life or in previous lives. This is called karma. By doing good deeds in this life, therefore, one can improve his circumstances in the future, especially in future reincarnations. (BG, p. 9,10) The final goal is to escape or be released from the cycle of reincarnation. Hindus will seek in life to be set free from birth, death, and rebirth, so that we exist in a state of pure impersonal being without a physical body. Jews, Christians and Muslims believe that man has only one life to live. In contradiction to the doctrine of karma, the Abrahamic religion believe that on earth, men often do not receive fair or just rewards for their lives they get their reward on judgment day. God will judge all men and declare our eternal rewards on the basis of our lives, whether we have lived it good or bad. After judgment, men receive their eternal destinies. The righteous receive eternal life, a state of bliss, in the presence of God. The wicked receive eternal punishment, suffering and sorrow, separated from God. In the Abrahamic religion the gift of life is received after we leave the earth, not on the earth. Finally Hindu’s and Abrahamic religions also differ on their concept of Salvation.

“Herodotus of Halicarnassus here gives the results of his researches, so that the events of human history may not fade with time and the notable achievements both of Greeks and of foreigners may not lack their due fame; and, among other things, to show why these peoples came to make war on one another.” Herodotus is considered one of the founders of historiography. It had long been argued that Herodotus was important for his military histories of Ancient Greece, but although his works focused on military and war he put specific emphasis on detailed factors that related more to the cultural aspects of Greek history.

Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, at an absolute basic sense, aims at the title of this course: the good life. In an age where philosophy and ethics were not largely developed, Aristotle aims to provide a universal standard for human flourishing and happiness, or the good life. His main argument is that all of our actions and goals are aiming towards human flourishment, but that each action falls into a range of virtues, where excess is one extreme and deficiency is the other extreme. The virtue that we all strive for, he states, is in the middle of these. For example, temperance is a universal human virtue, with pleasures and pains as the excess and deficiency. He states that virtues can be developed and learned over time and through practice,

The Hebrews believed that one must live a good life to make it to Heaven, the Egyptians had similar beliefs that one must be morally sound to make it to the afterlife. However, the Hebrews were different from the Chinese as they didn’t have worship their ancestors.

Heroic, Strong, Brave, Confident. A hero is these things and many more. Two heroes who are very alike are Odysseus from the Odyssey and Hercules from the Disney movie Hercules. Not only did they both battle fearsome monsters, they were both working against an angered Greek god and shared many common characteristics. Odysseus and Hercules may have been uncannily alike but in the beginning they had their differences in motive. Although towards the end their purpose became more alike than ever.

Life and human fortune was very instable in Mesopotamians’ eyes. People just observed death and afterlife from a distance and some made them into a series of myths. For instance, “The Epic of Gilgamesh” expresses its idea on eventual death. No matter how hard Gilgamesh tries to lengthen his life, his death is predestined. The Mesopotamians viewed afterlife as an inevitable end.

The good life has a plethora of definitions, and this is exemplified by how differently Aristotle and Plato viewed the good life. One particular characteristic of the good life that was revealed by all the works that the class has analyzed is knowledge.

The story is one of the most popular stories of Herodotus. According to history, Croesus was the king of Lydia from 560 to 547 BC until he was defeated by King Cyrus the Great (Martin, Herodotus & Sima 16). This was the same time that

I would now like to share my opinion and perspective on how I perceive the theories of Plato and Aristotle. In my view, the better solution to the problem of the ‘good life’ is Aristotle’s belief rather than Plato’s belief of the good life. Firstly, Plato’s

     To further display that Polemarchus’ definition of justice gives a better account of the “good life” I put forth my own definition of the “good life”. I have come to conclude through the lessons life has taught me thus far that the “good life” is one composed of love and understanding. Love of one’s self because with this I can maintain a sound mind and body, but without it I cannot love others. Love of family because

As Herodotus develops his History he diverges from the main aspect of his narrative many times throughout the text. Many wonder why Herodotus diverges from the main point by introducing minor characters who do not seem relevant to the central theme. Some consider this method of narrative confusing and pointless but I believe that Herodotus has a purpose for including these minor figures and that these characters help express Herodotus ideology towards proper moral and political systems. These minor figures are developed and manipulated by Herodotus in order to express his ideas and he is able to accomplish this because these characters are flexible in the sense that the readers (and listeners) do not have a