The Fame Mons†er

"About fame: Look at the minds of those who seek fame, observe what they are, and what kind of things they avoid, and what kind of things they pursue. And consider that as the heaps of sand piled on one another hide the former sands, so in life the events which go before are soon covered by those which come after. " Book 7

Fame: A recurring theme in almost all of the literature that we have read this semester and one of my favorite subjects. In the Iliad we talked a ton about 'kleos', but today we're going to talk about straight-up fame. In the quote up above, Aurelius compares fame to sands on a beach. The new grains of sand cover up the old ones for a while, but only until more sand comes along to cover up those grains as well. This is probably the best description of fame I've ever heard.

Think about it for a minute. In today's music industry, everyone is concerned with the newest thing. If you wait too long between releasing singles people won't stick around and wait for you. They'll move right along to the next big thing. For example, a few years back Britney Spears was on the top of the world, but her star power fizzled out, her singles stopped coming and she went off the deep end. Now you rarely hear her music or even hear her name mentioned. People are more concerned with the newer 'grains of sand' that still have new material coming like Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Ke$ha. In a few short years, the 'fame' of this pop icon has been buried in the sand. This shows us how ludicrous the pursuit of fame is. Even though can be great while you have it, fame won't last forever.

"He who has a vehement desire for posthumous fame does not consider that every one of those who remember him will himself also die very soon; then again also they who have succeeded them, until the whole remembrance shall have been extinguished as it is transmitted through men who foolishly admire and perish. But suppose that those who will remember are even immortal, and that the remembrance will be immortal, what then is this to thee? And I say not what is it to the dead, but what is it to the living? What is praise except indeed so far as it has a certain utility? For thou now rejectest unseasonably the gift of nature, clinging to something else... " Book 4

In some cases, though, fame does last for thousands of years. This 'posthumous' fame, fame that lives on after death, is what the Greeks lived for. Think about Achilles, Agamemnon, Diomedes or any of the other characters from the Iliad. They lived for 'kleos', and they got their wish. Thousands of years later, a college from halfway across the world is writing a blog about them. If that's not true fame, I'm not sure what is. The question is: Does this fame make a difference in the long run? Well, it does make a difference in a lot of people's lives. People all around the world have studied their stories and learned of their deeds. Unfortunately, the pursuit of fame, what these men spent their life on, did not actually benefit them at all. Sure, they were remembered, whoop-de-doo. They're still dead.

Is it really worth it to be one of the most revered heroes in history and not get to enjoy any of it? To this, I have no answer. I've wrestled with this for a while, and the only conclusion I can come to is that it really doesn't matter. All that matters is how your life is lived on earth. Once you die, the repurcussions made by your life won't benefit you, or hurt you, and therefor won't matter. They will affect the world around you, though. So be careful how you're remembered!

So what did we learn today? You can tie together Aurelius and Lady Gaga? Fame in general is perplexing? The phrase "whoop-de-doo" is acceptable in blogs? All good answers. Tune in next week when I'll be writing my blog extremely early so I have more time to worry with my paper. Yay.

Until Next Time,
Benjamin Folse

PS: I commented on Lucas' Blog "Anima Mundi, without the Death"