4 ms·
hard not to interpret these steppe horse cultures as being the centaurs of mythology. lots of pet theories but this idea that much human language originated wi
by motohagiography 2y ago
hard not to interpret these steppe horse cultures as being the centaurs of mythology.
lots of pet theories but this idea that much human language originated with them implies further to me that horsemanship was the origin of western ethics of stewardship and morality. riders require a unique ontology that includes sophisticated communion with other beings, and it's literally the approbation of nature. mythic surely, but it may also have some predictive power. fun stuff
- samirillian 2y agoDoesn't Strauss like centaurs?
- motohagiography 2y agoI haven't read him. but the competence in it is so rare these days that the understanding has been reduced to being on the spectrum of yoga and pilates vs. its history as a much deeper classical art
- samirillian 2y agoXenophon's Cyropedia talks about Persians becoming centaurs when they get horses but Strauss has some esoteric reading about the centaur being some flawed creature, meant to symbolize a combination of the medes and persians i don't know. Machiavelli (who strauss calls an evil teacher of evil) references Chiron who, unlike the most centaurs, was wise. Machiavelli says the prince should be like that or understand that Man himself is like that, part beast and part man.