Sphinx

Does it make any difference if it’s the Greeks citing Thucydides with respect to the current crisis, rather than non-Greek (mostly anglophone) commentators? Of course; not because they have any special claim to his ideas, but because they’re speaking of their own problems and sense of identity using the cultural resources that seem best suited to the purpose, rather than imposing lazy classical stereotypes on another. If nothing else, it’s likely to be more interesting… As noted in a previous post, classical references seem to have been fairly few and far between in Greek popular discourse around the crisis (though I should stress that my ability to read modern Greek is so poor that I’m entirely reliant on colleagues for this impression, and maybe it bears more investigation), but then that isn’t very surprising: Thucydides has almost always been a writer for the intellectual few rather than the slogan-chanting many. I am enormously grateful, therefore, to @kirjalax for passing on a reference in the first report of the Truth Committee on Public Debt established by the Greek Parliament in April. The introduction concludes:

In response to those who impose unjust measures, the Greek people might invoke what Thucydides mentioned about the constitution of the Athenian people: “As for the name, it is called a democracy, for the administration is run with a view to the interests of the many, not of the few” (Pericles’ Funeral Oration, from the speech in Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War)

Interesting as an indication of the line that was subsequently taken in calling for a referendum to bring the people directly into the process of deliberation and negotiation. Interesting also that this was the quote (in a different translation) chosen for the opening of the ill-fated draft European Constitution – maybe a coincidence, maybe an attempt at a subtle reminder to the rest of Europe of the values that supposedly underpin the whole community…

Read Full Post »