Congratulations! You are: an Ancient!

Ancient philosophers share an unabashed elitism. Although the Greeks are considered to have invented democracy, they would have laughed to scorn many of our 21st-century democratic ideas. Ancient moral philosophy is slightly more hedonistic than anything that followed it; the Ancients had strict ideas about right and wrong, but the obsessive pursuit of perfection, the compulsive need to do one’s duty no matter the cost, belong to later eras. Being good was neatly tied up in the Ancient mind with being happy.

Rather than criticizing the work of their predecessors, Ancient philosophers found themselves alone in a bold new world. Their first attempts at studying the world are still some of the best. This is the era of Herodotus, the father of history, Euclid, the father of mathematics, and Plotinus, the father of meaningless metaphysical bullshit.

Some typical ancient philosophers: Plato, Aristotle, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Plotinus, Herodotus, Euclid

Some ancient artists: Homer, Virgil, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Pindar, Sappho, Praxiteles

Typical ancient art forms: epic poetry, lyric poetry, farce, satire, sculpture, dialogue.