TECMESSA: "Tell me. Given the choice, which would you prefer: happiness while your friends are in pain or to share in their suffering?"
What an amazing example of the power of great culture. In our bat shit crazy times, it's really refreshing to take a hug step back and up to gain perspective on what it truly means to be human, to suffer as a human and have true compassion for one's fellow man.
The Healing Power of Greek Tragedy | Arts & Culture | Smithsonian: "“By presenting these plays to military and civilian audiences, our hope is to destigmatize psychological injury,” Doerries tells his audience. “It has been suggested that ancient Greek drama was a form of storytelling, communal therapy and ritual reintegration for combat veterans by combat veterans. Sophocles himself was a general. The audiences for whom these plays were performed were undoubtedly composed of citizen-soldiers. Also, the performers themselves were most likely veterans or cadets.
“Seen through this lens,” he continues, “ancient Greek drama appears to have been an elaborate ritual aimed at helping combat veterans return to civilian life after deployments during a century that saw 80 years of war. Plays like Sophocles’ Ajax read like a textbook description of wounded warriors, struggling under the weight of psychological and physical injuries to maintain their dignity, identity and honor.”"
Comments