THE JOY OF GREEK TRAGEDY AND COMEDY

I recently undertook for myself the enjoyable task of reading and studying the entire extant corpus of Greek Tragedy (Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides) and Comedy (Aristophanes and Menander - not much of Menander is extant and what is are mostly fragmentary). One of the great themes that stands after such an endeavor is just how there indeed is "nothing new under the sun." Many of the same concerns, causes, problems, wishes, yearnings, and the like in the classical Greek era (4-6 centuries B.C.) are the same as concern us today. Only the settings have changed.

Of course, much of the classical and political thought of western civilization is yet permeated with themes discussed by the famous Greek tragedians, and, on the other hand, Aristophanes' comedies struck me as remarkable in their demonstration that human nature and behavior haven't much changed through the millennia.

There are of course great philosophical, political, and religious themes in these works. Of course, in that time Greece was divided up into various city-states and provinces, chief among them Achaia, Macedon, Attica, etc., with principal cities such as Athens, Sparta, Thebes, et.al.) And Greece vacillated over the centuries - in various places - with political paradigms of tyranny, totalitarianism, democracy (both representative and direct), monarchies, etc. (Read Aristotle's "Politics" for the definitive work on this). Naturally, every political theme and scenario that we deal with today was dealt with in their era, as well.

My feminist friends would enjoy plays such as "Ecclesiazusae" (Aristophanes), in which women take over the entire governing structure and men take a back seat. How many times have we all heard that if only "women could take over," things would be different?! And in the play, the women do take over, and,ultimately, not all that much changes in the end. The same human foibles that routinely take the souls of men hostage strike the women in the end, too. But the tables are turned, big time. And you thought this "women-taking-over-thing" was something new! "Lysistrata," "The Bacchae" (about the secretive Dionysian cult of women), and "Madea" (one pissed off woman!) are also great works with pronounced feminist themes. (Feminism is nothing new, guys.)

Of course, there are the great political dramas of the "Oedipus, the King," "Oedipus at Colonus," and many of the others. Themes such as the tension between war and peace, plenty and want, feast and famine, love and loss, democracy and the sacrifice of freedom, etc. are very pronounced in these timeless works.

It is also amazing just how vulgar Aristophanes is! There are constant references to flatulence, all kinds of whoredom, drunkenness, and general debauchery. I have no doubt that the social problems he addresses in comedic fashion are descriptive of life in his day. And they read like today's newspaper in our own free and libertine society. (Nothing new under the sun.)

Another great theme of the plays is the fact that, in this society, people could represent themselves in legal matters. (And it is astonishing the degree of litigiousness in this society, much like today, if not more so.) Therefore, they went off to take lessons from the Sophists in the art of diversionary rhetoric - all the better to win their cases in court!

One line from Aristophanes' play "Plutus" I thought was so apropos to American government today I had just had to copy out and quote here in my Blog. The character "Poverty" is speaking, and he is addressing the politicians and "orators" of his day.

Look at the orators in our Republics; as long as they are poor, both state and people can only praise their uprightness; but once they are fattened on the public funds, they conceive a hatred for justice, plan intrigues against the people and attack the democracy.

As succinct a polemic against big government as any that could be articulated today. And I hasten to add, another great argument for term limits.

TTC