As Er watches dead souls choose new lives in Plato’s Myth of Er, he is surprised to see Odysseus chooses a life of a farmer. Instead of another life of greatness and fame, he chooses the middle path of an ordinary man.
Many thinkers and characters strive for greatness, and some even manage to achieve it (Core is a “Great Books” program, after all). But as Avram Alpert writes in his award winning op-ed, greatness is not necessarily good. While the good-enough life may not lead to fame and fortune, learning to seek the good is learning to find happiness where you are.
You may not be immortalized by the gods, but if you can enjoy little things like some good coffee, a book, or some unseasonably warm weather, you may be better off than Odysseus in the long run.
