In this essay, I will talk about the Greek myth theseus and attempt to connect to our modern culture. I will compare a very important historical figure, Simon Bolivar, and compare him to Theseus and his story. The Central focus of this essay is that the Greek myth of Theseus illustrates that ones achievements deliver positive rewards, and a society that chooses to select leaders based on merit, instead of heredity, tend to be stronger above their peers, this can be for better or for worse.
First, we will talk about the myth itself and Theseus’ story before becoming king of Athens this is a long story, but I’m adding this to show Theseus showed his competence as a leader before becoming king, which is probably what lead him to found Story …show more content…
Their downfall only came when they were overwhelmed by the Spartans in the Peloponnesian war, for concessions, the Spartans took their colonies and set up an oppressive regime. Democracy was set up again in Athens but stagnated until they were conquered by Macedon. Now, Athens was not able to do much with their meritocratic system, due to their circumstances, but it did put the idea of democracy into western culture, springing back up in the enlightenment era.
One of those students of the enlightenment was Simon Bolivar, unlike Theseus, Simon really wavered when It came to things such as equality, democracy, and meritocracy, although he is very passionate about these things, he always gives himself too much power and it makes people like him less for it, and unlike theseus, Simon had to make tree journeys to his homeland and back until he learns what he wants for his nation. To give some backstory to what was happening in his life when he was born, the european colonies had started to revolt against their masters, Spanish South America had received a great number of these, and the Spanish had become more and more brutal in quelling every revolt, this was going on at around the time of Simons birth. Simon was born in Caracas to rich parents, …show more content…
France had been going through the French revolution at this time and Simon liked the ideas of the revolution, but when Napoleon crowned himself emperor, this greatly upset Simon, even though he too would do the same think himself. Simon went to Rome where he vowed to free his people from the Spanish oppression, after this, he took a short detour to the US were he would see a real, functioning democracy. Bolivar came back with perfect timing, France had just invade Spain, the king had abdicated, and there were many different claims to control over Spain. Bolivar joined a de facto government that supported the king's heir, they only let Simon in for the money he would bring to the cause. The Government sent him on a foreign mission to Britain, in order to get recognition. Simon failed this mission as he had passionately gave a speech to the foreign