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The Art of Manliness Continued attempts to pull the chariot back towards the earth. As the horses pull in opposing directions, and the charioteer attempts to get them into sync, his chariot bobs above the ridge of heaven then down again, and he catches glimpses of the great beyond before sinking once more. If the charioteer is able to behold the Forms, he gets to go on another revolution around the heavens. But if he cannot successfully pilot the chariot, the horses' wings wither from lack of nourishment, or break off when the horses collide and attack each other, or crash into the chariots of others.The chariot then plummets to earth, the horses lose their wings, and the soul becomes embodied in human flesh.The degree to which the soul falls, and the "rank" of the mortal being it must then be embodied in is based on the amount of Truth it beheld while in the heavens. Rather like the idea of reincarnation.The degree of the fall also determines how long it takes for the horses to regrow their wings and once again take flight. Basically, the more Truth the charioteer beheld on his journey, the shallower his fall, and the easier it is for him to get up and get going again.The regrowth of the wings is hastened by the mortal soul encountering people and experiences that contain touches of divinity, and recall to his memory the Truth he beheld in his preexistence. Plato describes such moments as looking "through the glass dimly" and they hasten the soul's return to the heavens. JOBS for TEAMS Interpreting the Allegory Plato's allegory of the chariot can be interpreted on a number of levels – as symbolic of the path to becoming godlike, spiritual transcendence, personal progress and attainment of "Superhuman" status, or psychological health.There is much one can ponder about it. Below we delve into several of the main points. The Tripartite Soul The chariot, charioteer, and white and dark horses symbolize the soul, and its three main components. The Charioteer represents man's Reason, the dark horse his appetites, and the white horse his thumos. We'll explore the nature of thumos in-depth next time, but for now, you can read it simply as "spiritedness."Another way to label the three elements of soul are as the lover of wisdom (charioteer), the lover of gain (dark horse), and the lover of victory (white horse). Aristotle described the three elements as the contemplative, hedonistic, and political, or, knowledge, pleasure, and honor. The Greeks saw these elements of soul as physical, almost independent entities, not so much with bodies, but as real forces, like electricity that could move a man to act and think in certain ways. Each element has its own motivations and desires: reason seeks truth and knowledge, the appetites seek food, drink, sex, and material wealth, and thumos seeks glory, honor, and recognition. Plato believed reason has the highest aims, followed by thumos, and then the appetites. But each soul force, if properly harnessed and employed, can help a man becomeeudaimon. Reason's job, with the aid of thumos, is to discern the best aims to pursue, and then train his "horses" to work together towards those aims. As the charioteer, he must have vision and purpose – he must know where he is going — and he must understand the nature and desires of his two horses if he wishes to properly harness their energies. A charioteer can err by either failing to hitch one of the horses to the chariot altogether, or by failing to bridle the horse, and instead letting him run wild. In the latter case, | 18 JobsForTeams1013_manliness.indd 2 www.jobsforteams.com 9/4/13 3:32 PM