Do you cave in too easily to peer pressure? Struggle with self-control? Maybe the real issue is you're not listening to the ancient philosophers and poets who've been tackling this problem for centuries.
"How to Have Willpower: An Ancient Guide to Not Giving In," edited and translated by Michael Fontaine, professor of classics in the College of Arts and Sciences, brings together a pair of works by Plutarch and Prudentius that show how people can overcome pressures that encourage them to act against their own best interests.
Fontaine spoke with the Chronicle about the book, which was published Aug. 12 by Princeton University Press.
Question: Why do these works by Plutarch and Prudentius pair well?
Answer: Plutarch's "On Resisting Pressure" and Prudentius' "Armageddon in Mind" offer a complete picture of willpower because they provide complementary perspectives on self-control. Plutarch diagnoses our tendency to yield to external forces - to say yes to improper or manipulative requests, peer pressure and social shame - while Prudentius dramatizes the struggle we face between denying and giving in to our internal desires and drives and impulses. And since this pairing also bridges classical Greek philosophy and early Christian allegory, the result is a powerful, dual-perspective guide to self-mastery, rooted in ancient wisdom but strikingly relevant today.
Q: How would you describe the individual sensibilities of Plutarch and Prudentius? Where do they differ, and where do they overlap?
A: Plutarch is grounded and pragmatic; he's rooted in a classical Greek mindset. His focus is on organizational behavior and social psychology: why people-pleasers say "yes" against their better judgment and how they can learn to push back through concrete strategies. Prudentius, as a Late Antique Christian poet, writes in allegory. In his text, sword-swinging warrior women face off in violent single combat - think Mortal Kombat meets Christian ethics. It's cinematic and exciting, but deeply symbolic, too, so you really do have to think about what he's saying. They overlap in conviction: both affirm that human beings aren't helpless victims, that we have agency, and that we can successfully resist temptation through a concerted effort of the will.
Q: How does shame fit into all of this?
A: Prudentius says little about it, but for Plutarch, shame is a central concept. It's the powerful, primal emotion that often drives us into submission - not because we want to do wrong, but because we're afraid of embarrassment or disapproval. In other words, some of us feel ashamed to say "no" to an improper or uncomfortable request, so we say "yes" because it's the easiest way to make the feeling go away. People-pleasers live under constant pressure to avoid conflict, even at their own expense, and it leads them to leave big tips and stay late at work and even have sex when they'd rather not. The fix, says Plutarch, is to moderate these feelings of shame without becoming shameless people ourselves - that is, the kind of person who says no to any and every request, no matter how reasonable or proper. It's good to refuse to bend the rules for your relatives! But it's not good to refuse to help an elderly person carry something heavy - to tell grandma she can carry her own groceries.
Q: So, based on this ancient wisdom, what is a foolproof way to resist pressure from other people?
A: Plutarch says the next time you cave to some improper request, you should remember the horrible feeling - really remember it. Make a mental note of the remorse and regret, and think back to it periodically. "You see," he says,
"if out-of-towners remember when they trip on a cobblestone or sailors remember when they wreck off a headland, they become wary going forward. They protect themselves not only against those specific hazards, but similar ones, too. In the same way, you should dwell on the shame and harm that caving causes, and on the remorse and regret. If you do, you'll resist it in your own similar cases, and you won't let yourself knuckle under so easy again."
That strikes me as excellent advice.
Q: This might be a bold question, but what is one thing that you yourself require great willpower to resist? And what might Plutarch or Prudentius say about that?
A: Hands down, I struggle most with checking my phone and feeling the need to answer emails instantly. I'm horrible about both, and they're two sides of the same coin. Plutarch can help with the impulse to respond; Prudentius would tell me the compulsion to check is a form of pride, and the antidote for that is humility. In modern terms, that's to say that if I'm prone to FOMO, I need a reality check - both about my own life and ego as well as whatever I'm seeing on the highly filtered, highly curated internet.
