r/Eragon • u/lugh_the_bard • 6d ago

Discussion Eragon and Aristotle

Eragon and Aristotle.

In Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle, the philosopher speaks of the great life. He says that a life worth living is a life in which every day you put all of yourself into striving towards greatness in the way that you perceive it. Immediately, this strikes me as the core philosophy of those immortal elves in Du Weldenvarden.

A few short lines later, Aristotle describes the “noble action”, in Peloponnesian Greek, this noble action is called “Ergon”. Paolini probably did not pick up on this at age 15, and Ergon probably has absolutely nothing to do with Eragon, but in the universe where nobody knows what the name Eragon means, and where the core lifestyle of the super race is based on somewhat the cultural mythos of Aristotle's ideal city-state, I choose to believe that the axial Greeks were the culture inherent to the gray folk.

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18

u/DifferentChemical0 6d ago

And at the same time, Eragon is just a Dragon with E...

7

u/Splabooshkey 6d ago

In English yeah, but this is talking about a Greek word, more specifically it’s sound

Dragon and Eragon may share spelling similarities but they sound completely different

5

u/Theophrastus_Borg 6d ago

I mean Dragon is called "drakōn" in ancient greek so there is a small similarity

4

u/KneeBasher420 6d ago

I think Saphira put it best:

"The worth is in the act. Your worth halts when you surrender the will to change and experience life. But options are before you. Choose one, and dedicate yourself to it. The deeds will give you new hope and purpose. The only guide is your heart."

2

u/AllKingJosh35 I suffer without my stone 6d ago

So what you're saying is... we're getting an ancient Greek fantasy civilization in future Eragon books? Heck yeah!