Modern times
For this one thing above all I would be praised as a man,
That in my words and my deeds I have kept those laws in mind
Olympian Zeus, and that high clear Empyrean,
Fashioned, and not some man or people of mankind,
Even those sacred laws nor age1 nor sleep can blind.
A man becomes a tyrant out of insolence,
He climbs and climbs, until all people call him great,
He seems upon the summit, and God flings him thence2;
Yet an ambitious man may lift up a whole State3,
And in his death be blessed, in his life fortunate.
And all men honour such; but should a man forget
The holy images, the Delphian Sibyl's trance,
And the world's navel-stone, and not be punished for it
And seem most fortunate, or even blessed perchance,
Why should we honour the Gods, or join the sacred dance4?
The fit servant springs straight from the pages of the gospel (Luke 17:8, 19:26), yet it concerns me that we, I mean us modern men, care absolutely naught for any other form of obedience than for the obedience to the principle of fitness. I'm aware of all the theatre surrounding other principles, aware too of outright sabotage against the principle of fitness, yet I know of no political group that believed in anything other than fitness.
Aren't we a little presumptuous? For having distilled all of life's challenges down to one solution? Trying harder and letting the better man win?
It seems ironic. Nobody can blame the ancient Greeks for not having honoured fitness. Yet if Sophocles' play is any indication, the ancient Greeks would have been appalled by its single minded pursuit by modern men, would most assuredly considered us a bunch of horsemen and not a civilisation. And to think that Christianity has brought this change?
Well, perhaps modern men will find it in themselves to stand up for more than it, eventually.
That in my words and my deeds I have kept those laws in mind
Olympian Zeus, and that high clear Empyrean,
Fashioned, and not some man or people of mankind,
Even those sacred laws nor age1 nor sleep can blind.
A man becomes a tyrant out of insolence,
He climbs and climbs, until all people call him great,
He seems upon the summit, and God flings him thence2;
Yet an ambitious man may lift up a whole State3,
And in his death be blessed, in his life fortunate.
And all men honour such; but should a man forget
The holy images, the Delphian Sibyl's trance,
And the world's navel-stone, and not be punished for it
And seem most fortunate, or even blessed perchance,
Why should we honour the Gods, or join the sacred dance4?
- principles remain,
- rulers pass,
- service excuses hubris,
- a) principles serve,
b) people pursue their interest.
The fit servant springs straight from the pages of the gospel (Luke 17:8, 19:26), yet it concerns me that we, I mean us modern men, care absolutely naught for any other form of obedience than for the obedience to the principle of fitness. I'm aware of all the theatre surrounding other principles, aware too of outright sabotage against the principle of fitness, yet I know of no political group that believed in anything other than fitness.
Aren't we a little presumptuous? For having distilled all of life's challenges down to one solution? Trying harder and letting the better man win?
It seems ironic. Nobody can blame the ancient Greeks for not having honoured fitness. Yet if Sophocles' play is any indication, the ancient Greeks would have been appalled by its single minded pursuit by modern men, would most assuredly considered us a bunch of horsemen and not a civilisation. And to think that Christianity has brought this change?
Well, perhaps modern men will find it in themselves to stand up for more than it, eventually.
Labels: 25, formalisierung, geschichte, gesellschaftsentwurf, gesellschaftskritik, gesetze, institutionen, rezension, wahrnehmungen, ἰδέα, φιλοσοφία
Eingetragen Am/um
11:22
