Seven Deadly Sins

Funny how something as profound and key and knowledge and wisdom have their roots in sin. Think of the seven deadly sins - pride, envy, gluttony, lust, sloth, greed, and wrath. Now two of those - sloth and wrath - do not seem to apply. Certainly sloth, which if one desires knowledge will take you nowhere! But when one desires wisdom and knowledge as much as the men sitting around in this work, could be called perhaps.... lust? A desire do strong it could be called sinful? How about gluttony - a ravenous hunger to know more. Never satisfied, always seeking more, gorging oneself upon their desires. Pride and envy are motivators, we envy the knowledge we know someone or something has and are proud enough to believe we too can be enlightened. And finally, good old greed, all of the others combined into one nasty, gobbling mess. I suppose you have to stoop low sometimes to gain height.

Plato and Pederasty

As I read Symposium I was completely awestruck at how the ancient Greek view of love and sexuality was both completely foreign and entirely familiar at the same time. On one hand, these men made some beautiful philoosophical statements regarding love, one of my favorites being Eryximachus' statement that "Love is a deity of the greatest importance: he directs everything that occurs, not only in the human domain, but also that of the gods." Some of these statements struck me as uncannily parallel to certain passages of the New Testament concerning love, such as I Corinthians 13:13, compared to page 32 of Symposium, passage 195B - "Love - if I may say so without giving offence - is the happiest of them all, for he is the most beautiful and the best."

So I admit they don't match exactly, but there is still the parallel concept between the two that love is the most important feeling of all; a sweet, tender thought one might not expect coming from a group of old Greek men!

On the flip side, I was entirely shocked with these men's attitudes toward love affairs themselves. I think the one thing that struck me the most was this - the idea that a pederastic relationship with a adolescent boy was far more pure and desirable than any love affair with a woman! It is just terribly fascinating to me, because this view on homosexuality and, let's face it, - pseudo pedophilia - is so alien and to today's world. In modern society, where the morality of both concepts are very hot-button issues, it is simply amazing to me to think of a culture in which this kind of behavior was not only accepted but at times encouraged as the proper path to wisdom and manhood.
I haven't gotten past page 52 yet, and I am very curious to see whether or not these two ideas I brought up will be addressed further...

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Darkness and Light

"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy if life is when men are afreaid of the light."

This quote by Plato struck me. It made me think of the allegory of the cave, in which those born in darkness do not trust the reality of the light. Also, the use of the word tragedy was itnersting to me, seeing as how in class we have spoken of the definition of what the supreme tragedy is.

Walt Whitman - True Conquerers (AKA Antigone)

Old farmers, travelers, workmen (no matter how crippled or bent,)
Old sailors, out of many a perilous voyage, storm and wreck,
Old soldiers from campaigns, with all their wounds, defeats and scars;
Enough that they've survived at all—long life's unflinching ones!
Forth from their struggles, trials, fights, to have emerged at all— in that alone,

True conquerors o'er all the rest.

I thought this summed up Antigone because although Antigone was young, she was wise and transcendent beyond her years. She emerged from her final trial in death, but through her death she acheived more than she could have with her life. A true conqueror.

Old Vs. Young

My favorite of all the conflicts of Antigone. This is exemplififed in one of my favorite movies, the 1985 picture The Breakfast Club, and in one moment in the film in particular. After hours of bickering and fighting amongst each other, the students are finally united in defense against a common enemy - prevuous generations and what they expect of them. Sitting on the library stairs, they hold a symposium of their own, all learning from each other that even though they are all innately different people, their struggles are universal. A nerd is expected to be the perfect student, and wealthy girl to be the backbone of her parents, a young man a perfect athlete, and my favorites of all: two who are held to the complete opposite. Nothing is expected of them and yet this is just as controlling and damaging as the astronomical expectations of their more privileged coutnerparts. This scene is so difficult to describe, I highly recomend watching it for yourself. I think that may be the only real way to grasp the gravity of the conflict and how it is shown in the movie.

Antigone - Hero or 'wannabe' Martyr?

Now don't misjudge me - I admire Antigone greatly and think she is a worthy heroine, but there have been times as I have read this play when I have questioned her motives. It seems to me sometimes that it is glory and martyrdom she wants and not really what is best for her brother. Of course she would want him buried, no one would want a loved one to go ininterred and face the gruesome fates of unattended corpses. Yet still, her blatant subversiveness and reaction when Ismene tries to take some of the blame struck an odd chord with me. When Antigone is questioned by Haemon, for example, Ismene steps in and tries to share in the fate of her sister. But Antigone's reaction is not one of gratitude or fear for her sister's well-being, but rather blatant outrage that she is trying to steal some of her thunder. "No you may not die with me. Don't say you did it!/ You wouldn't even touch it. Now leave my death alone!" she screams at her sister. What I interpreted as I read these lines was "Oh no you don't, you had no part in his burial, don't even think about saying you did it with me and steal some of my glory!"

As I said, I admire her courage very much, but it seems to me that at some level Antigone is working toward her own agenda.