The soldier is the prototype of the Hero, who, as EY notes, embodies
a special code of discipline and duty and puts his life on the line
for the group. Bad soldiers, whether villains, fools or cowards
violate one or more of these ideals. I say "prototype" deliberately.
Other heroes, e.g., doctors "fighting" disease, muckrakers "fighting"
corruption, political leaders "fighting" poverty or injustice,
prophets "fighting" sign, philosophers "fighting" unreason are spin-
offs of the soldier ideal. They, too, embody special disciplines,
perform special duties, and undertake special missions, often at
mortal risk.
John McCreery
On 2005/08/11, at 14:01, Eric Yost wrote:
Any suggestions as to why the soldier is historically so attractive?
---
Lots of suggestions but no definite thesis.
1) The soldier protects the families in one's group or nation from being slaughtered or raped by soldiers from other groups or nations.
2) Following a code of discipline and duty, the soldier exhibits an intensity that is often missing in ordinary peaceful life. (Consider the leaf-hidden code of the samurai, and its modern treatment in Robert Stone's novel, _Dog Soldiers_.)
3) The soldier is simply an alpha-male, and in a patriarchal society, alpha-males get all the attention and respect.
4) It's in the interest of a society to valorize its soldiers since a society needs a lot of them to maintain borders and mount a credible defense against invasion.
5) Soldiers are not uniformly treated with respect. Consider Hasek's _The Good Soldier Svejk_ or the "Miles Gloriosus" of Plautus. Bad soldiers are often held up for more ridicule than nonsoldiers.
Remembering what Zorro did to Sergeant Garcia, Eric
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