By Neil Burton
The Roman emperor Augustus commissioned Virgil to write the Aeneid, which was considered the foundational myth or national epic of ancient Rome, and Virgil's best work. The poem tells the story of Aeneas, the son of Venus and the Trojan prince Anchises, as he leaves burning Troy and tries to fulfill his destiny, which was often predicted to go to Italy and follow the legacy of the Romans, who would rule then the whole known world.
After escaping from Dido's clutches, Aeneas finally arrives in Italy, to be betrothed to Lavinia, daughter of King Latinus – who was, however, promised to Turnus, King of the Rutilians. So war breaks out, culminating in a duel between Aeneas and Turnus.
At one point, Aeneas kneels Turnus, who begs him to spare his life. But then he sees, Aeneas sees that he is wearing the belt of his friend who fell in battle, so he kills him very angry. Although Aeneas eventually surrenders to fate and fulfills it, he is constantly overwhelmed by his emotions, even to the end when he kills Turnus.
This stoic conflict itself is the source of some of the most sensational lines in the "Aeneid": "Fear is the proof of a degenerate mind" (Degeneres animos timor argujt). It is worth remembering that the "Aeneid" was written in honor of Augustus, who, although not very Stoic, was at least a fan of the current of Stoicism. Before becoming emperor, Augustus was tutored and mentored by the Stoic philosopher Athenodorus Cananitus.
When he grew up, Athenodorus begged him to let him leave the royal court. As he was getting ready to run away from Augustus, he gave the emperor a piece of advice: "Whenever you get angry, don't say or do anything before repeating the 24 letters of the alphabet to yourself." As soon as he heard these words, Augusti took him by the hand and said: "I still need your presence here!".
Seneca on Anger
How could Aeneas have controlled his anger using Stoic principles? And how can we do this in everyday life? The expert here is the Stoic philosopher Seneca, who wrote a seminal work on anger, apparently after his brother Novatus asked him, "How can man's anger be appeased!"
Anger, says Seneca, is a bad habit that people tend to pick up from their parents. When a child who grew up in Plato's house, returned to his parents, and when he saw his father shouting at him, he said: "I have never seen this in Plato's house!".
In general, anger is contagious: if we're surrounded by people who get angry all the time, it's hard not to lose our temper, even though we might normally be gentle types. For this reason alone, we should prefer the company of gentle people, who manage to maintain emotional balance.
Even wild animals become tame under a peaceful environment. We must also resist our self-centered tendency to believe the worst about others. Often the people we are most likely to get angry at are actually the ones who are trying to help us.
Although of course, not as much as we would like. In their minds, they are just trying to do what they think is best for them, and we, with our anger, are trying to interfere with that effort. This is why they tend to get angry back at us.
If what they are doing is not in their best interest, then we should calmly explain this to them, rather than losing our temper. As for the things that make us angry, they are often just a bit of a nuisance, and do us no real harm.
Luxury dulls the mind, and undermines our sense of perspective. Therefore, people who are used to luxurious living, are more prone to anger over trivial things.
Many people think that anger is a display of virtue or a spur to virtue; mostly, that it can replace virtue in those who lack it. In fact, anger and grief only add to our existing pain, and often do more harm than the things from which it was born.
Out of anger, Alexander the Great once killed his close friend who had saved his life. But out of anger, Medea slaughtered her children. According to Seneca, anger is a short-lived madness, and differs from other vices.
"Whereas other vices stir up the mind, anger turns it upside down. An angry man is like a collapsing building, which has turned into ruins, even though it crushes what it falls on" - says Seneca.
Human beings are born to give and receive help. Those who are unwilling to control their anger and work with others for the common good are like bees in a beehive, feeding on the honey of others without producing their own honey.
For all these reasons, the Stoic must never be angry: he can feel the beginnings of anger, but then reject this passionate feeling that threatens to destroy reason, calmness and dignity.
To regain perspective when we are angry, or to regain logic, we can ask ourselves, "Am I expecting too much from the world?" or "How will anger help me?". But the surest cure for anger is delay in reaction, as it gives us a much better chance of refusing to reveal our passionate impression.
Note: Neel Burton, psychiatrist and philosopher. Lives and teaches at the University of Oxford, England.
Originally published on bota.al
