March 12, 2009
Living
The last lap
By Gary Hayden
'What a drag it is, getting old."
- The Rolling Stones, from Mother's Little Helper
Nobody wants to grow old but we have little choice in the matter.
Everyone who lives life to its full term must eventually reach old age. The old-time French crooner Maurice Chevalier put it well: 'Old age isn't so bad when you consider the alternative."
Since I am a mere 44 years old (and therefore in the prime of life) readers might question my credentials to write on this subject. I intend to rely heavily on the good sense and long experience of a grand old man: the Roman statesman, philosopher and orator, Cicero (106BC to 43BC), whose treatise On Old Age is a veritable treasure house of wisdom.
Cicero dedicated his wonderful treatise to his friend Titus. He wrote it to cheer and encourage both Titus and himself, and to relieve them of 'the burden of impending or at least advancing age'.
He must have been very satisfied with the finished product. It is a brilliant piece of literature and philosophy and still very much admired today. Most importantly, it succeeds beautifully in its avowed purpose: relieving the 'burden' of advancing age.
Cicero wrote: 'To myself, indeed, the composition of this book has been so delightful that it has not only wiped away all the disagreeableness of old age, but has even made it luxurious and delightful too."
Although the treatise was written more than 2,000 years ago, it still has the power to cheer, encourage and inspire us today.
First the bad news...
What I love about Cicero is that he does not try to palm the reader off with a load of sentimental mush or shallow 'feel-good' thinking. He takes a long hard look at old age, identifies precisely what it is that makes some people dread it so and then tackles each difficulty and worry head-on.
I intend to follow Cicero's lead, which means beginning with the bad news. There are, Cicero said, four reasons for old age being thought unhappy. First, that it withdraws us from active employment; secondly, that it enfeebles the body; thirdly, that it deprives us of nearly all physical pleasures; and lastly, that it is the next step to death.
So, in the first place, old age is said to withdraw us from active employment. An elderly acquaintance once said to me: 'When you are young, life is busy and full. You go to work, you raise a family, you have plenty of friends. Everything's great." Then he sighed and added, 'Before you know it, you are old and everything changes..."
In the second place, old age is said to enfeeble the body. Cicero cites the example of Milo of Croton, a champion wrestler who was famous throughout Greece for performing feats of strength. As an old man, Milo is said to have burst into tears while watching athletes in the public arena, bitterly lamenting the loss of his own youth and vigour.
In the third place, old age is said to deprive us of nearly all physical pleasures. Here, Cicero has in mind the 'gaiety of the theatre, the luxury of feasts and the caresses of a mistress'. In other words, the sensual pleasures of wine, women and song.
Finally, in Cicero's words: 'There remains the fourth reason, which more than anything else appears to torment men of my age and keep them in a flutter - the nearness of death."
This fear of death is twofold: First, there is the dread of extinction; and then there is the dread of the actual process of dying. The older we get, the more present and real these worries can become.
Next, the good news...
Cicero's penetrating analysis of the problems and worries associated with advancing age makes depressing reading. However, better things are just around the corner. Much better things.
In my next three columns, I hope to show how the great Roman statesman and philosopher manages to portray old age in a far more positive light. I believe that it will make inspiring reading.
Gary Hayden is a freelance writer who specialises in education, science, philosophy, health, well-being, travel and short fiction.
This is the first in a series of four articles about a subject that affects - or someday will affect - all of us: old age.
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