The Role Of Fearlessness In Aristotle The...

The courageous person and the cowardly person arent simply black and white. Fearlessness does not necessarily go hand in hand with bravery, and fear does not immediately qualify a person as cowardly. Aristotle, in Nicomachean Ethics, has many guidelines when it comes to what makes a person brave or not, and what can appear as bravery on the surface may not actually be what it seems. This very truth is evident in the Greek tragedy The Oresteia by Aeschylus, specifically in The Liberation Bearers when we examine the role of Orestes. Orestes is not brave, which benefits Aeschylus main point of the tragedy, as he becomes a more relatable character. In theory, killing his mother appears to be a brave action by Orestes. Aristotle states†¦show more content†¦The problem with facing a fear out of passion is the lack of awareness the person has for the situation. In a fit of passion, a person is not aware of the dangers of the situation. Blinded by emotion, its nearly impossible to be rational about what a person is facing, meaning that they arent being courageous because a courageous person is aware of the dangers of the situation and still goes ahead with the task. The main outline that Aristotle gives to the courageous person is the idea that courageous actions, of course, are not painless ones, but they are ones where the person should be pleased with the outcome. Obviously, a person isnt going to be happy to do the actions, but the outcome should be satisfying. This notion does not meet the outcome of Orestes actions. In fact, it would appear that Orestes feels extreme guilt over killing his mother. Although this isnt directly stated, its apparent in the way that he continually justifies his actions afterwards. When weve done something that we truly know was not the right course of action, we tend to talk ourselves into the idea that it was justified. In todays society, we might equate this sort of justification with what wed tell ourselves after stealing, for example, a piece of clothing. Our argument might revolve around the fact