Who is the noble charioteer

And when in like manner it has beheld and taken its fill of the other objects which constitute absolute reality, it withdraws again within the vault of heaven and goes home. And when it comes home the charioteer sets his horses at their manger and puts ambrosia before them and with it a draught of nectar to drink. Reynold Brown, Ben-Hur. Photograph: [Public Domain] Wikimedia Commons Eternal life The centrepiece of the text, however, is an account on the immortality of the soul.

Evil and ignorance in the soul, however, make the wings wither and disappear: When it is perfect and winged it moves on high and governs all creation, but the soul that has shed its wings falls until it encounters solid matter.

The divine madness of erotic love In a further dialogue about the awakening of love in the lover for the beloved, Socrates recounts how the horses react when the soul encounters the sight of a beautiful boy and the passion it bestirs: So they draw near, and the vision of the beloved dazzles their eyes. Photograph: [Public Domain] Wikimedia Commons Allegory of the charioteer in Eastern literature Plato was not the only philosopher to use the metaphor of the chariot.

When truth is revealed As with all allegories and metaphors, their purpose is to point to something higher and more noble, which once understood may be unbridled and put to bed: Nevertheless, the fact is this; for we must have the courage to speak the truth, especially when truth itself is our theme.

Actually Laurie knows him Ralph was house master back at school and Laurie had a crush on him though he didn't know to call it that. Now as he gets to spend time with Ralph while he has his evening passes, Laurie understands that it's possible to love and touch. Yet he still longs for Andrew who represents innocence lost. In the end I won't tell you which horse wins but it's a serene ending with an undertone of loss as well.

It is a subtle, poignant, extremely honest portrayal of gay love in the time when it was still a crime. I loved every line. May 30, Podga Podga rated it it was amazing. It's impossible for me to rate certain books objectively, because of the life-changing impact they had on me. I read The Charioteer in , when I was I knew I was different, but not in a way that bore mentioning or even secret acknowledgement in the ulta-macho Greece of that time.

The only gay man I was aware of was a guy, who sold feather dusters around the centre of Athens; he was campy, outspoken, mocked, and it scared me that I might be like him. Even though I didn't understand all the It's impossible for me to rate certain books objectively, because of the life-changing impact they had on me.

Even though I didn't understand all the subtext until years later, reading The Charioteer led me to understand what I am and what I might become. These aren't heroic characters, though they can be that, too. They're sometimes decent, sometimes petty. They drink too much, hide their fears behind rigid ideologies and codes of behavior, and in their effort to define their own place in the world, spend a lot of time judging others.

And against the backdrop of war, it's easy to forget how very young they all are. But they remain deeply, incontestably human, a depiction of gay men I'd never seen until that time. I don't know if first-time readers today would have the same reaction. It can be a slow book, with a lot of introspection about issues, which have, in many societies, been resolved today. I liked the pace, because at the time I was working through some of the same issues, and I still like it today, because I still don't know if I have answers to some of the questions The Charioteer helped me formulate back then.

It's a romance, of sorts, but not really; rather the backdrop of loving and being loved serves to bring all the other emotions and feelings to the surface and to make them especially sharp. Oct 28, Kristen rated it it was amazing. This is my all-time favorite book, for many reasons that are hard to explain.

I'd recommend it for anybody who a enjoys literary fiction b is socially open-minded and c doesn't need to be hit over the head with plot developments. Some people have said that Mary Renault is too reserved, or too subtle in her descriptions of a scene.

But I think she was a genius at capturing the real, honest essence of people and relationships. She's a master at communicating all those things that go unspoken, which can mean everything to a relationship. If Renault has any flaw, it's almost that her characters are TOO good. It's hard not to fall in love with all of them Jan 17, Erastes rated it it was amazing Shelves: gay-historical. That I love it, is a given. The Charioteer is the thread and metaphor which runs throughout the book.

The Charioteer of Phaedrus handles two horses, one runs smoothly and obediently, the other fights against the control — it is up to the charioteer to make them run as a pair. View 1 comment. Where do I start with this one?? Haunting, evocative, brilliant writing, which easily captures the tense atmosphere and gloomy, subdued mood of the early WWII years extremely well.

Yes, it is a love story of sorts, although there is no HEA. Ralph is in charge of the Merchant Navy vessel that has picked up several injured survivors from the Battle of Dunkirk in , and Laurie just happens to be one of those survivors.

Andrew was a CO [conscientious objector] who was being 'volunteered' to help out as an orderly in the hospital that Laurie was convalescing in. Laurie was smitten, and up until meeting Ralph again at a party [and there I really felt Laurie's awkwardness and perhaps a little touch of embarrassment at the 's equivalent of today's 'meat' market], was perfectly happy to drift along in an almost dreamlike state imagining how the future could be.

Andrew's character was almost too good to be true really I could really imagine this one being narrated in the kind of voice that BBC announcers in the 's used to have Sep 04, Charles Edwards-Freshwater rated it it was amazing. First read of September and it was a good one! There's a lot to absolutely love here - beautifully woven relationships, gorgeous prose, characters with a great psychological First read of September and it was a good one!

There's a lot to absolutely love here - beautifully woven relationships, gorgeous prose, characters with a great psychological depth to them - the whole scenario is very real. Some reviewers have stated that the supporting cast of gay men are all bitchy queens and this is offensive, but to me I think that's not necessarily the case - anyone will know that people with this sort of personality do exist, but even so, characters such as Bunny had a certain depth to them - a sad inability to keep up with the Plato-spewing glorified main gay characters which manifested in petty actions.

It all seemed very authentic. Renault also has a fabulous way of writing a paragraph full of meaning that you really need to knuckle down with and reread a couple of times to fully understand. In a more ordinary story this would be frustrating, but here it echoes the secrecy of the gay characters and their need to remain hidden.

Things are kept on the down low even to the reader, and in a way where you have to strip back the layers to really understand what's going on. Masterful stuff. There is an argument that this makes the story feel antiseptic and without sexual desire, but I disagree here too - it's a sort of closed desire, a pure kind of attraction - it's subtle but powerful. My only real problem with this novel is that it didn't end how I wanted it to - although the ending is definitely on the more positive side.

I think I too was suckered in by the other candidate of the love triangle and felt that Laurie deserved better, but I see how this ending does make more sense in the grand scheme of things and, perhaps, is more romantic in some ways. A landmark piece of gay literature that deserves more attention. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

A review is not possible, not for me anyway, because the book is so rich and complex I don't think I have the means to write about it. Just a few thoughts. I can't explain how pervasive Laurie became page after page. I thought I was keeping an equal distance from him and the other characters, but when I got to the end, I realized I wasn't able to detach my point-of-view from his and he totally, totally convinced me of his perceptions, so much so that I thought Ralph had really spoken to Andrew.

I A review is not possible, not for me anyway, because the book is so rich and complex I don't think I have the means to write about it. I read the last chapter with dread, shock, worry and being sorry and mortified.

Laurie is divided between the love for Andrew, which Laurie seems to want to keep innocent and spiritual, and the love for Ralph, which is physical and brings with it the participation to a circle of gay men, that Laurie seems not to be able to accept, because it seems to exclude them from the rest of society. The writing is subtle and beautiful, it's not only to be read, but also to be contemplated.

We are so used to being open, but the constant tension of what is said or left unsaid, because the concern for social propriety was so ingrained in the characters, makes you always hyper-aware of each word. There are moments of obscurity, but also moments of revelation. You are expecting something, and it happens under your eyes without you realizing it. You are in the dark, then the author sheds a light, until it becomes blinding. Dec 21, Aitziber rated it really liked it Recommends it for: Nabokov fans.

Recommended to Aitziber by: Fatima. Shelves: language-english , challenge , sexuality. I'm not sure that my review can ever do The Charioteer justice. One look at other people's reviews and it'll be immediately apparent that Renault has touched her readers deeply, and I'm no less than everyone else.

The Charioteer is a novel to be savored. It works on more than one level, and in fact it's one of those books that can be re-read to discover what you missed the first, second, third time around. When you have finally extracted all the meanings you are able to, it is time to read The P I'm not sure that my review can ever do The Charioteer justice. When you have finally extracted all the meanings you are able to, it is time to read The Phaedrus and understand all the references that Renault makes to it.

I was deeply moved by this novel. I feel that I barely scratched at the surface of it, and yet I was already so ensnared by it. I love a book that tricks you, and while I wouldn't say that Renault is a trickster, she definitely writes so that Laurie's confusion is extended to the reader, and so that what we think we know, or want, is not true at all. And if a book can do that to us, so shall we ask ourselves, what if life has also done?

Apr 18, Sophie rated it it was amazing Shelves: fiction , favorites , lgbtq. Oh dear god. I spent the last hour tearing frantically through the last 50 pages of Mary Renault's The Charioteer and now I'm so endlessly relieved, I have no words. I was actually sobbing just now because, god. This book. This was so, so beautiful. To think I might never have read it - I don't care how melodramatic it sounds, but I discovered this book by pure accident, because I was looking for stuff on Alexander the Great because I have been interested in Ancient Greek lately because I liked t Oh dear god.

There was only a very short description of it in our database - something like A homosexual love story set in WW II or something, but together with a biographical note on the author it was enough to make me curious, so I ordered a cheap used copy online. I don't think I've ever been this surprised by a book. This is such a piece of beauty - I was in a bit of a daze at work today because I couldn't stop thinking about it, couldn't stop wanting to read more and trust me when I say there is no crueler place to work than at a bookstore when all you want to do is finish your book.

It's a story set at a hospital for the wounded during WW II, and the main character, Laurie, is torn between two very different men.

The book was first published in , something I kept having to remind myself about because it didn't feel like it at all.

I really do have to catch up on my queer history, because I didn't realize a book like this was possible, then. Did I mention it's beautiful? Because it is. Even though in some parts homosexuality is discussed rather openly, a lot of it is hidden in this - you can't quite call it subtext, I don't think, it's more like - you always know there is a hidden meaning, and although I was able to decode parts of it, I was left bewildered by others.

Even so, the language was beautiful. And the love story was so full of longing and desire and just pure feeling it just about took my breath away. And it wasn't just that, there were those passages, sentences that make reading the best thing ever - the kind of sentences in which you recognize yourself and it's such great comfort to know you're not the only one, and you're given words and it's just such a treasure.

It's really wonderful. Aug 01, Falkor rated it really liked it Recommends it for: Fans of romance, esp. Shelves: 20th-century , fiction. While recuperating in an English hospital, he is entangled in a love triangle.

On one side is Andrew, a pious, naive young conscientious objector who works in the hospital as an orderly; on the other is Ralph, an old school friend who, despite having many affairs with men and women while traveling the world in the navy, still harbors strong feelings for Laurie.

Laurie is paralyzed with indecision. She seems to illustrate Homer's idea of the good wife and mother; she is loyal, loving, and concerned for her family, and is willing to accept the decisions of her husband. Antenor A Trojan nobleman who unsuccessfully advocates the return of Helen to the Achaians. Astyanax The infant son of Hektor and Andromache. Chryseis Daughter of Chryses, the priest of Apollo. She is the "war prize" hostage of Agamemnon until Apollo demands that she be returned to her father.

Pandaros A good archer, but a treacherous man; it is he who breaks the truce in Book IV. He seems content to allow the Trojans to fight for him. He is reprimanded for this by Hektor more than once. His reputation is that of a "pretty boy. Poulydamas One of the Trojan leaders; a very able and clear-headed military strategist whose advice to Hektor is usually not heeded. Priam King of Troy. He is very old and no longer able to command his army in the field, but his great courage is seen when he travels to the Achaian camp one night to ransom Hektor's body.

He is a noble and generous man, one of the few Trojans besides Hektor who treats Helen with respect and courtesy, despite her infidelity to her husband and the war caused by her actions. Gods differ from mortals primarily in their immortality. They are unaware of the fear of death and sometimes seem unable to grasp the pain and horror that fighting and dying bring to mortal warriors.

The gods have ichor, an immortal fluid, rather than blood; they eat ambrosia and drink nectar. They live on Mt. Olympos, though in the Iliad Zeus often watches the battle from Mt. The gods can and do change shape and interact with humans.

Occasionally, the gods fight humans and suffer wounds, but this doesn't cause the gods any real harm, because the gods cannot bleed or die. The Greek gods are all anthropomorphic: They look like humans, although they are taller, larger, more beautiful, and they often exhibit human emotions such as anger, envy, and deceit. Zeus The supreme god and king of Olympos. His duty is to carry out the will of Destiny, so he is officially neutral in the war, but he is sympathetic toward the Trojans, particularly Hektor and Priam, and he supports Achilles against Agamemnon.

Of all the gods, he alone seems able to change fate, though he chooses not to because of the disruption to the world that would be caused. He is married to Hera with whom he is often in disputes. Hera Sister and wife of Zeus. Then, bodily health specialists come. They are followed by prophets or mystery cult participants. Further, poets or imitative artists come. Craftsmen or farmers are the next in the raw. The prelist stage of enlightenment is occupied by sophists or demagogues.

Finally, if a charioteer is unable to guide a noble horse and an opposite one leads, a human soul may become a tyrant. This classification has nothing in common with the theory of reincarnation. Plato just wanted to show the level of degradation in case a charioteer is unable to cope with his task. Considering the three characters of human soul in detail, it is possible to stress the following issues.

Each of these characters performs particular roles. The first character is the charioteer. He is responsible for necessary balance between two horses and the choice of the necessary direction.

He is also called as the lover of wisdom. The second character which plays a significant role in human souls is the first horse.

This horse is noble one, and it is considered as the lover of honor. The second horse is the lover of lust, the direct opposition of the first horse. Therefore, the ability of these three characters to cooperate in one soul creates a personality who either reaches enlightenment or does not do it.

Starting a detailed analysis of the charioteer, it should be stated that he is responsible for directs two horses, he tries to reason the black one to follow the white one. Being the reason, the wisdom of the soul, the charioteer is responsible for the way a chariot drives.