To be honest, this blog is about a type of mission I want to strive after. There are three sources from where I learned about this mission (which I’m calling “The Greek ideal”):
- Da Vinci and Michelangelo. My Dad introduced me to these guys when I was in the fifth grade. They captured my imagination. I loved that they were not just artists, but poets, musicians and scientists.
- Baldassare Castiglione’s book The Courtier. Later in high school when taking Modern European history, I learned the man who had distilled the philosophy behind “The Renaissance Man” was Baldassare Castiglione (1478-1529) in his book The Courtier. I always had a vague sense a Renaissance Man was a well-rounded person. But in that book Castiglione got specific. He listed six components a Renaissance Man must have:
- Artist
- Scholar
- Warrior
- Gentleman
- Citizen
- Christian
- Mott Greene’s chapter “Thales and The Halys” in his book Natural Knowledge in Preclassical Antiquity. I read this chapter in college, and discovered this Renaissance Man idea derived from ancient Greece. What fascinated me was how Greene argued the Greeks didn’t think this ideal was reserved for the few. Part of the Greek culture was to be a polymath. That made me realize anyone can be a Renaissance Person. How? Those six components aren’t just components of The Renaissance Man. They’re six capacities all humans have by virtue of being human.
Again, I can’t tell you how much this idea inspires me. This blog is dedicated to striving after that ideal. And it’s a place where I’d like to place my other blogs and writings.
The Greek Ideal 