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What a wonderful book on the ancient Greeks! Very informative and highly interesting. After reading some of the plays of Aristophanes, Euripides, Sophocles, Aeschylus and some of the Socratic dialogues of Plato, some modern books, including The Trial of Socrates, by L.F. Stone, I am starting to get a feel for ancient Athens and Greece. Add this to some of Nietzsche's thoughts and arguments against Socrates and for Greek tragedy and there is a great and inspiring culture and way of life to be admired greatly.
H. D. F. Kitto's book, The Greeks¸ is a great history book and an introduction to the Greek character, way of thinking, lifestyle, the art forms of comedy and tradedy, the Greek abitlity to accept fate of suffering, injustice and death, and yet see the divinity of this human life, fully living this life, to know thyself without excess. Also, how the political democracy, the polis is so intertwined and bound in and through out the Athenian culture, and through out Greece.
Now it's the polis, (city-state) the government of the people that truly fascinates me and I find it an amazing concept and this is what was known as democracy and is so far from what we have in our modern day. The polis was more than a political party, it was a community, both religiously (non-dogmatic religion, and this is very significant) and also a social and ethical entity with a high degree of flexibility and the ability to reverse previous decisions that were deemed to be faulty, such as the outcome of the city of Mitylene. All adult Athenian citizens were to partake in the polis and had an open voice in contribution. In turn they were listened to and had an active participation. The rich, the poor, the tradesman, the farmer, the aristocrat, all co-mingled and were completely aware to each other's functions, there was far less ignorance here as to what really was occurring - no secrecy between governmental departments as we have in modern day. There were no professionals, all were amateurs, no representatives, all represented themselves, no high-paid attorneys, all defended themselves, judged themselves and were balanced from being partisan by having such a commingled segment of society in active participation. It was truly an incredible governing system. This was a living community. And in this respect, it brings to mind a phenomenon defined as `community' by M. Scott Peck in his book, A Different Drum. It was truly a remarkable system that has never been repeated.
In turn the Greeks thinking consisted of very weighty matters with responsibility and this can be seen reflected in both the Greek tragedies and comedies. Some have written such thinking off as fatalism, but this is not the case, as such fatal destinies as in the oracles are coupled with the individual's freedom to choose within and bring about beauty and justice inside the limits of human existence. And this can be seen in the weaknesses and limitations of the gods themselves. For the Greek religion was far removed from the dogmatisms found in the monotheism of Western civilization. Symbolism and religiosity was thriving unlike the dead arid rationalism that permeates both secular and religious thinking of our day.
Now there are certainly downsides to the polis, and the Greek way of life as in the existence of slavery, in women's limited rights and in an Athenian league that policed the other islands and cities, in which such a small review does not permit me the space to relate on in what you will find in Kitto's book who goes into an excellent analysis of this and is a superb book to read.
Ultimately, it was when the polis got too large, too corporate and starting policing the other states to conform to the Athenian League in order to receive protection against the Persians. When Sparta requested the end of an embargo against them trading with Megara, Athens refused, so Sparta attacked, starting with the city of Thebes. And after two oligarchy take-overs, the weakened restored democracy of the fourth century developed into a lethargic disinterest in the polis, the Athenians interested in other things. Here the trust in a professional speech writer, Philip, the king of Macedonia, against the advice of the Athenian Demosthenes brought on his successor, Alexander the Great and the end of Greek freedom. Clearly, there is a modern day parallel in the U.S. However, it was with the invent of professionalism, sophism and individualism toward the cosmopolis rather than the polis along with the specialization of military tatics which favored the Athens polis taxing the others. This requried the professional over the amature and the end of the polis.
"To attend to that business of the polis was not only a duty which a man owed to the polis: it was an absorbing interest too. It was part of the complete life. This is the reason why the Athenian never employed the professional administrator or judge if he could possibly help it. The polis was a kind of super-family, and family life means taking a direct part in family affairs and family counsels. The attitude to the polis explains, too, why the Greek never, as we say, "invented" representative government. Why should he "invent" something which most Greeks struggled to abolish, namely being governed by someone else." p. 129
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