Plato talked about this in Phaedrus about the allegory of the Chariot [0,1]. I think it's a useful lens to view the desires we humans have, though not a perfect lens:

>First the charioteer of the human soul drives a pair, and secondly one of the horses is noble and of noble breed, but the other quite the opposite in breed and character. Therefore in our case the driving is necessarily difficult and troublesome. The Charioteer represents intellect, reason, or the part of the soul that must guide the soul to truth; one horse represents rational or moral impulse or the positive part of passionate nature (e.g., righteous indignation); while the other represents the soul's irrational passions, appetites, or concupiscent nature. The Charioteer directs the entire chariot/soul, trying to stop the horses from going different ways, and to proceed towards enlightenment.

In the modern west, we have an idea of 'Pious vs. Evil' that each of us tries to balance (super broad strokes here). However, I think the ideas of Plato are interesting because of the tripartite idea of Logos, Eros, and Thumos. Mostly, I think that Thumos[2] is a great way to look at things and categorize issues that we feel. Quickly:

> Thumos: a Greek word expressing the concept of "spiritedness" (as in "spirited stallion" or "spirited debate"). The word indicates a physical association with breath or blood and is also used to express the human desire for recognition. [2]

Thumos is neither good nor evil, but is something that can get away from you and needs to be controlled (by the Logos). For example: Achilles was overly thumotic and was thus killed by his desire for glory, blood, and honor; all thumotic traits. However, it was the thumos of Achilles drove him to be such a great warrior that we remember to this day. Also, the author Jack London was a thumotic person. He was always moving about, getting into scraps, trying to improve his writing, becoming famous. But that desire for greatness is what killed him as he literally worked himself to an early death while writing.

So, the energy that we have as men can be seen in this tripartite way of Logos, Eros, and Thumos, not just destructive or constructive. Having outlets that are 'base' (Eros) are as needed as having outlets that are 'spirited/honorable' (Thumos) and 'intellectual'(Logos).

[0] https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/what-is-a-man-the-al...

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chariot_Allegory

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thumos