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Sailing the Wine Dark Sea
According to Cahill, the Greeks' invention of the alphabet (or refinement of the Phoenician alphabet) into a potent intellectual tool was the beginning and the heart of their cultural expansion. Perhaps, in our own time, the arrival of computer technology and the web carries a similar promise, if only we can tease as much innovation from the web as the Greeks did from the alphabet.
But it is hard to consign the Greeks' invention of democracy (a Greek word meaning "rule of the people") to second place, even to so fine a contender as the alphabet itself. For the Greek city-state of Athens truly did refine direct democracy and their achievement can be seen as the bedrock and foundation of Western Europe's later development of democracy, and especially of the American experiment in indirect and representational democracy.
Yet of equally revolutionary significance is the Greek invention of total warfare, with highly organized militaries made up of hoplite soldiers and shrewd, calculating generals. This Greek way of warfare has been the foundation of the Western way of war ever since, right down to and including our current American military dominance of the planet. Cahill cites extensively from the brilliant and influential military historian Victor Davis Hanson and his book "The Autumn of War" to the effect that the western way of total warfare has dominated the planet ever since; and it appears that Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Chaney are well versed in Mr. Hanson's theories, not to mention Greek hubris.
The lessons for the USA in its war on terrorism alone are compelling, if not down right chilling. Central to the cultural echoes provided is a speech from Pericles, ruler of Athens at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War, a mighty struggle that lasted for 30 years, beginning with Athens at the height of its imperial, cultural and financial powers, and ending with Athens defeated and subjected to domination by Sparta and her allies, never again to regain the zenith of her glory and might.
At an annual ceremony honoring and burying the bones of her young war dead after the first year of the 30 years war, Pericles orated about the Greek forefathers, and he sounds a lot like a contemporary American politician:
"...generation after generation in unchanging and unbroken succession, they have, by their hard work and courage, handed down to us a free country... "
This comes from what is by far the longest of the many quotes Cahill intersperses in his book, and it sounds ever so much like George W. Bush. I admire the way the author intersperses these quotes without ever boring the reader. The quotes from such luminaries as Homer, Socrates, Plato and others are absolutely integral to the book and greatly enhance its character. If Pericles' speech above reminds us of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, so it must also remind us somewhat of our current President's oratory about the War on Terror.
The book is organized around chapters that bring together material in an organic way, not an academic way; with titles like: "The Warrior: How to Fight", "The Wanderer: How to Feel", "The Poet: How to Party", "The Politician and the Playwright: How to Rule", "The Philosopher: How to Think", "The Artist: How to See", and "The Way They Went: Greco-Roman World meets Judeo-Christian".
All in all, this is a quick read, a delightful and thought provoking exercise, and a worthwhile adventure. I highly recommend it. Be forewarned though, you may find yourself wanting to go on and read the other volumes in the series, including "How the Irish Saved Civilization", "The Gifts of the Jews", "The Desire of the Everlasting Hills" (about early Christianity), and the three forthcoming volumes, the next of which is promised to be about how the Romans became Italians. By the time all three future volumes are published, this promises to be a very accessible investigation into the making of the modern world and the impact of its cultural innovations on the sensibilities of the West.
I suspect that Slashdotters of all persuasions will enjoy reading this book; you can read more on related topics on my weblog and web site at http://www.awaretek.com/weblog/
You can purchase Sailing the Wine Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Mattered from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, carefully read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
"Hubris" is the word, though, you'd so right about that.
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
I thought Patrick O'Brian had finally gotten his due slashdotting.
As an example he spend 3 chapters talking about St. Augustin of Hippo juxtaposed to St. Patrick. What came out of it could be summarized in a few paragraphs.
St. Patrick became the first missionary following St. Paul and had little formal education.
Well educated St. Augustin stayed at home in Hippo and conjured up the City of God based on Allaric's sacking of Rome in 410.
Help fight continental drift.
We cant handle the TRUTH!
Even when it's about ancient Greeks.
Proof? In the movie Troy, starring Brad Pitt as Achilles, we have Patroclus, who, in the original Illiad, is Achilles' lover... in the movie, he's Achilles' cousin.
For what it's worth, I remember some years ago attending a paper conference for undergraduate papers in history. One person gave a paper on this author, specifically How the Irish Saved Civilization. The gist of the paper, and the discussion afterwards (which included professors), was that this author is more about selling books than writing good history.
The criticism went as follows. Pick an affluent ethnic group in a major book market, and pander to them, writing about how great they are. For example, think of all the Irish in the area of Boston and New York (major book markets), pick up your pen, and start writing. After that success, try the Jews.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
I actually haven't read any of his books (and for the record, I've nothing against either the Irish or the Jews!), I just remembered this criticism of the author and wanted to know from those who feel themselves capable of commenting whether this criticism holds water or not.
Any comments?
quiquid id est, timeo puellas et oscula dantes.
This book tells a story through the narrative of Homer and many other fine greek writers/orators. I recommend it to anyone seeking to brush up on the Classics. Included in the hardback, as with all his books, is a set of rather interesting photographs which document the subject.
Gifts of the Jews is quite good, too. You folks ought to give that a read, along with a great book titled The Source.
I'm not popular enough to be different.
Homer Simpson, The Simpsons
Silly me, I was happy and surprised to see a review of a -history- book in my favorite technical forum, only to find out that it's a thinly veiled screed. ... -Rebuilding- being the operative word. Not "salting the field of" not stealing their women and killing all their children. I'm all for political commentary and would have enjoyed seeing a review of a history book on slashdot but lets not masquerade political comentary as literary review.
"Dick Chaney" indeed. Ursy compares the Peloponnesian War and Greek "total war" (whatever they think that means) to "our current American military dominance of the planet". Tell that to the Greek subjects of that famous war. Think there was a lot of public concern about prisoner treatment in ancient Greek "total warfare"? Remember, one of the complaints now is the money that corporations are making on rebuilding Iraq.
The ancient Greeks, like everyone else, "stand on the shoulders of giants". But their own achievements obscure their own predecessors. Read some research like Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings, for evidence of global navigational skills of even more ancient peoples. If you don't think our Eurocentric history obscures the navigational achievements of prior civilizations, check out some of the Chinese global exploration prior to Columbus. Or documentation of African navigation among the Americas. Then there's the Pacific diaspora, which covered an entire hemisphere of Earth without "landmarks", at sea. Beware of Greeks bearing gifts: just where did they get them?
--
make install -not war
The war between Athens and Sparta ( and their client states ) might have had parallels in the Cold War. In which case it's the Soviet Union that had the fate of Athens.
The battle between Athens and Sparta was primarily ideological, NOT simply who wins and who loses like a video game.
The real conflict was World War II, which precisely mirrored the conflict between Athens and Sparta. Communists and Capitalist both believe on the surface that all men are equal, and that the state exists to maximize the material benefit of the people, as well as some form of representative government. This is essentially what Athens strived for, and even justified slavery on the terms that slaves sealed their fate by surrendering in battle or whatever.
Germany, like Sparta, believed none of those things. The opposite of egalitarianism is that people are NOT equal, and thus have different places in society. It is the hierarchical state.
I could go on and on, but its friday. The analysis of WWII along these lines provides IMMENSE insight into a recurrent theme since antiquity. The Athens versus Sparta battle is going on even today, and the moment we believe it no longer applies things will rapidly fall apart just as it did in Athens when they believed their petty democracy was supreme.
But it was in a lot of cases structured as a mentor/tutor older man/younger man relationship - not just any two guys goin' at it. While I agree that the Greeks had a much more open mind about homosexuality, and that we as a society should be much more accepting of sexual minorities, I'm hesitant to cling to the Greeks as a perfect model of sexual equality. In most cities, women weren't even citizens.
;) Speaking of church and state intersections, dig this. Yeesh.
And, yeah, fuckin' church, man.
Karma: T-rexcellent.
If you want a slimmer and less all-encompassing read on the prominence of Greek seafaring, I heartily commend to you The Extraordinary Voyage of Pytheas the Greek by scholar Barry Cunliffe. If you're not from Marseille or a classics student, you might never of heard of Pytheas, an inhabitant of that same city (at that time a greek colony called Massalia) who not only ventured to the Ocean beyond the Pillars of Hercules, but charted the French Atlantic coast, the British isles, and explored as far north as Iceland and the Arctic Circle and as far east - maybe - as Denmark.
Unfortunately, his book, On the Ocean, burned at Alexandria and survives only in quoted fragments, so we have to guess from these fragments - which blessedly include his longitudinal readings - the specifics of his journey. Using a thorough knowledge of Greek seafaring and Mediterranean naval culture, as well as a good handle on archaeology, Cunliffe takes you along Pytheas's hypothetical route, introducing you to the ancient peoples of France, the British Isles, Norway, and Denmark (no one in Iceland yet, sorry).
It's a pretty compelling story, one that's not usually told, and Cunliffe makes it eminently readable and enjoyable. And if you're like me, it'll make you want to go read the "On the Ocean" fragments in the original Greek, in the hopes of gleaning another hidden secret of this amazing exploration.
Karma: T-rexcellent.
Maybe I can throw something in here that most people don't realize: Every surviving account of democracy in ancient Greece is harshly critical of it. Greek democracy didn't have some of the features we take for granted -- for example, separation of judicial and legislative powers, or protection of minorities. In practice it often amounted to what was basically mob rule, and Greek critics of time wrote very perceptive accounts of how easily the mob could be swayed one way or the other.
I bring this up when I hear people say that founders of the U.S. constitution instituted a republic, as opposed to a pure democracy, because a democracy would have been too difficult given the limitations of the time. This is true, of course, but it's also true that the founders wouldn't have implemented a true democracy even if it had been feasible. The founders felt that a republic would be *better* than a pure democracy. The genius of the American experiment was the way they tried to blend aspects of oligarchy and democracy together in a way that ameliorated the worst aspects of each of those two systems (tyranny vs. mob rule).
Through which we model our own culture and ideas about ourselves. In the Illiad and Odyssey, we see ourselves and who we would like to be and what we should find repugnant. We don't follow the Egyptians, who's ways are rather alien to us now. And, we don't follow the Chinese who's philosophies are often too ephemeral for our gross tastes. We follow the Hellenese because their arts were physically emotional and their sciences were concretely logical. Naturally, most of us don't read this stuff first hand as the context may not be familiar. But, nearly every time you open a modern novel, go to a movie theater, or flip on the boob-tube, you'll see the descendents of Hellenistic arts (classical and post-classical) at its worst, and occasionally, at its best.
= 9J =
I lived in Greece for a year, specifically Chania on the island of Crete. The story I heard from the locals about retsina is that it was invented during the time Greece was ruled by the Turks. The Turks, being notorius drunkards (according to my Greek friends.) would confiscate any alcohol the Greeks produced. One patriotic Greek vintner started sealing all his wine casks and skins with pine pitch, to make it taste awful and spite the Turks. Turns out they wouldn't touch the stuff, so the Greeks started drinking it, being the only thing available to them. They eventually learned to love it, or at least claim that they do out of national pride.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton