I’ve spent one hell of a lot more time analyzing Homer’s Iliad over the past few days than I really cared to (that’s actually why there wasn’t a post on Friday). I’ve learned about hubris and fate and the warrior code of honor and the way men and women related, and let me tell you, snore. One concept did get me to sit up and take notice, though: arete. Arete describes the realization of excellence in a person. As far as Homer was concerned, “to strive always for excellence and to surpass all others” is the ideal experience of the human condition. That’s Homer’s meaning of life, in a nutshell, his 42. It’s all about pursuing the other guy, and beating him, and earning an awesome reputation. It’s about being singularly driven to prove your excellence. Be all that you can be, fulfill your ultimate potential, and possess arete.

Now, I know Homer was talking pretty specifically about the warrior-elite rampaging around the Mediterranean in 1200 BCE, all brass armor, bulgy muscles, prominent nipples grarr, but this idea sounds awfully familiar to me, right now in 2007 CE. In fact, it sounds like the vicious cycle of the relentless pursuit of success that drives so many frazzled, stressed out Americans today.

Is there a connection? You bet your ass there is.

The ideals of the United States, indeed all of western culture, are rooted in the cultures of the ancient Greek city-states. Why? Well, the philosophers and intellectuals of ancient Greece were the first to come up with… well, philosophy. And reason. And scientific thought. And secular humanism. Those Greek thinkers figured that the universe adhered to some sort of order, and that with sufficient work, people could understand that order.

Fast forward to the Enlightenment, that period of time between the Renaissance and the Victorian era, more or less. Every (rich) man worth his expensive education was absolutely enthralled with science, and scientific thinking. The Enlightenment loved Greek philosophy, and embraced the ideals of that earlier time. It just so happens, right in the middle of all that rampaging rationalism, a lot of (rich) educated men living in a British colony decided to rebel and found their own nation. A new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

“So,” I hear you mutter, “ancient Greek intellectualism is fundamentally embedded in the fabric of the United States. So what? And what does this have to do with Homer and arete and my ulcer?” I’m glad you asked.

All those deep-thinking Greeks had their own education. Along with art and music and rhetoric and (snerk!) phys-ed, they studied Homer’s works. If you could read, you read The Iliad and the Odyssey — it’s like today, when every kid who goes through high school studies the plays of Shakespeare. Homer was a cornerstone of the ancient education, and the ancient educated people took those lessons to heart. All those values, especially arete, informed the rational secular humanism that informed the ideals upon which this country is founded.

The result is that we live in a culture that teaches that if we work as hard as possible, we can achieve the pinnacle of our potential, and win. It’s a part of our cultural DNA, and almost impossible to escape. This extends into the even more modern concept of Social Darwinism, which assumes that since our position is dictated by what we’ve done and how hard we’ve worked, you therefore deserve whatever lifestyle you get.

There’s a problem with this philosophy, though. It assumes that every American gets an equal shot at success, for one, and second of all it breaks down in the face of the acceleration of technology and efficiency. Up until the Industrial Revolution, methods and expectations didn’t change a whole lot between generations. Innovation happened at a fairly serene pace, and the “win conditions” didn’t move all that far from one time to another. Today, the bar is being reset daily. We have to constantly work harder just to stay in the same place, let alone advance, and forget about winning. Even seriously rich people are feeling the pressure. It’s no wonder we’re stressed out and exhausted.

So what can we do about it? Stop. Just stop. Rest. Reflect. Consider. Meditate. Be willing to lose. It won’t be easy, though, I promise. You need to work against the cultural training you’ve gotten your entire life, everything your parents taught you and about 2400 years of history pushing you in the opposite direction. It’s tough, but it’s not impossible.

The most important thing you can do for yourself critically examine your motivations. Why are you doing what you’re doing? Do you have goals you’re working like a maniac to achieve, or are you just trying to win? Take some time to figure out just what it is you want to do with your life, and figure out the steps to make it happen, and do that. Stop worrying about what you need to be “successful” and figure out what you need to be happy. Define your own win conditions.