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KulakRevolt  1yr ago (anarchonomicon.substack.com)   1333 thread views

We Are all Greeks now: Athens and the Invention of the Human

anarchonomicon.substack.com

Piece I wrote on the even now under-estimated impact of Grecco-Roman Culture, and how Modern Culture IS just classical culture with some odd conceits thrown in.

I Contrast Harold Bloom's "Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human" and his thesis that most of what westerners consider "Human Nature" are actually just cultural artifacts of how our culture has adapted Shakespearean psychological ideas and self conceptions... Which would not hold across cultures unexposed to Shakespeare or Shakespeare inspired fiction and narratives...

And I contrast Ancient Greek Texts with biblical texts, with shocking results.

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Cute thesis, I guess, but sloppy execution. Consider asking for a proofreader, or perhaps just taking your meds.

I was recently reading How I Taught the Iliad to Chinese Teenagers, a fascinating report (with accompanying syllabus). There were a few sections that actually made me think of you:

But most of all I focus on the mystery of their fall, the “Bronze Age Collapse” that littered the Greek isles with Mycenaean ruins, ruins that would have towered over the humble abodes of “Dark Age” Greece.
Homer’s Greeks lived in the ruins of a golden age. They had forgotten how to write and read, but they still remembered a time when the Aegean was full of great cities, wealthy kings, and enormous armies. The Iliad portrayed that golden world as it was imagined hundreds of years later—and explained why this golden age was no more. It is a true piece of post-apocalyptic fiction.

More importantly, it makes an excellent case that, yes, the Greeks had a visceral understanding of human nature.

Before class begins draw on the blackboard a series of concentric circles. Label the outer circle “mankind.” The next circle in, “The Argives.” The next circle in, “Friends-in-arms.” The final circle, “Patroclus and Achilles.” Last of all, in the very center of the circle, leave an unmarked dot.

After the standard round of quizzing and questions, explain that in today’s class we return to Achilles. Achilles is not the same person he once was. In literature departments they would call him a “dynamic character.” …. This is the scene where Achilles refuses to spare the life of Lycaon, the man who he had once taken captive before. In this speech Achilles says once “it warmed my heart a bit to spare some Trojans” but now “not a single Trojan flees his death.” Why? What has happened to Achilles?
The obvious answer: Patroclus is dead. But why would this drive Achilles to barbarity?
Tell the class that the diagram you have put up on the board is one way to conceptualize what has happened to Achilles. At some point in the past—say when Lycaon was taken captive—Achilles had affection for all mankind, respecting even those he fought. But war, by necessity, often forces those who fight it to view their enemies as alien, or somewhat less than human.

Erase the outer circle.

That still left Achilles with a large community of fellow soldiers, the army of the Argives. But his connection with this community was broken when Achilles was humiliated in the council of Book I.

Erase the next circle.

At this point Achilles still felt comradeship with the other commanders and close friends, who fought by his side for many years. But this comradeship now has conditions. Have the class read Book IX.748-750. What would cause Achilles to “hate” these old friends?
Have a student read aloud Book XVI.113-119 (“Oh would to god… you and I alone!”). Note how Achilles puts the Argives on the same plane as the Trojans.

Erase the next circle.

Now the only circle left is the one labeled “Achilles and Patroclus.” And indeed, that is what our passage says (“You and I Alone!”). Achilles’ entire world has been reduced to his relationship with one man, the one comrade to have stayed loyal to him as the Greek ships burn.
And now that man is dead.

Erase the final circle.

Have one of the students turn to page 502 and read lines 498-500 (“I am destined to die here…”). Remind students that this sentiment is the polar opposite of Achilles’ pronouncements in Book IX. The Achilles of Book IX said that nothing at Troy was worth dying for; the Achilles of Book XX says that nothing is worth living for.

It doesn’t matter that the Greeks lived in an alien honor culture, believed in angry sky warlords, and were limited to oral tradition. They knew human nature. The rest—all the linguistics and cultural references—are party tricks by comparison.

Consider asking for a proofreader, or perhaps just taking your meds.

You know better than this. One-day timeout.

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