Thymos and Manliness
Thymos ( Thumos ): " Thumos (also commonly spelled "thymos"; Greek: θύμος) is a Greek word expressing the concept of "spiritedness" (as in "spirited stallion" or "spirited debate"). The word indicates a physical association with breath or blood. The word is also used to express the human desire for recognition." - Wiki
I find this to be an interesting topic, personally, as I'm at a stage in my life where I feel like my inner thymos is the strongest. I have this inner rage, an inner force that seeks recognition. This is manifested, clearly, during my boxing training. I can sense it; it reveals itself when I'm training my ass off and don't have any more gas in the tank. It is what makes me push through hell, endure the pain, and finish strong and boldly.
The movie
Rocky ( Sylvester Stallone ) is a great example of thymus; Rocky starts out as bum, a social loser. He has potential and grit, or ' thymus ', but he was sort of screwed over in his prime by lack of proper boxing management. This inner thymus becomes stronger within him as people mock and humiliate him, he seeks to show the world what he is, truly, made of. And he gets that opportunity when the heavy weight boxing champion Apollo Creed challenges him to a match. You can see in Rocky's training and fights that he has spirit, he has " heart ". He never gives up, he pushes himself through hell, and goes out with a fierce roar. Rocky is one of the greatest cinematic examples of thymos.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Today, we don't, really, hear this word " thymos". The word " grit " is a very similar word in meaning, but even that word is becoming obscure and archaic. I think this has to do with the ongoing feminization process of modernity. Manliness is becoming eradicated and even mocked. The current Western ethos is dominated by
eros ( the feminine spirit ). No longer are young boys taught about the
way of men. There is no more mention of honor, or manly nobility; it's all about mindless consumerism, materialism, hedonism, and other hyper-feminisms.
I'm going to post a link to the website " The Art of Manliness "; it has a nice, edifying post about ' Thymos '. I'd also be interested in your inputs on this topic. Thanks.
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