Do We Need to Almost Die to Know How to Live? |
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Dear Classical Wisdom Reader,
It was exactly six years ago tomorrow that I almost died. It would have been an ancient death, just as it was the end of millions of women before me. My family was asked to fly in to say goodbye, a team of experts gathered around my bedside, anxiously waiting and unable to do much. At one point, I had only hours left...
It was at that moment (or perhaps earlier when I was going in and out of consciousness... I have no idea; time itself became irrelevant) I had a sort of vision... a feeling if you will. It was of a large tree with its branches first extended and then dripping down to the ground, where it connected to its extensive roots. |
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The "Tree of Life" is a very ancient and widespread mytheme or archetype in many of the world's mythologies, religious and philosophical traditions... going as far back as the Epic of Gilgamesh!
Mercifully it is more unusual to ‘give up the ghost’ in childbirth nowadays (at least in most developed countries), but historically it was sadly the norm. At its worst, one in three women perished in the act... and indeed as recently as 2010 the maternal mortality rate in India was a quarter!
Then, as in now, there is something both deeply tragic and poetic about leaving this world as another enters. The turnstile of life, its cycles and repetition, become so blatant and undeniable.
The first time I saw my phone again, you can’t imagine how everything contained in it, all that it represented, seemed so silly and unnecessary. Social media, the inbox numbers, whatever else was happening in the world paled in comparison to what just happened.
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Roman sarcophagus (ca. AD 190) depicting the triumphal procession of Bacchus as he returns from India, with scenes of his birth in the smaller top panels (Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland)
Is the birth of Dionysus a story about pre-eclampsia? The word "eclampsia" is from the Greek term for lightning and the first known description of the condition was by Hippocrates in the 5th century BC... in the birth of Dionysus, his mother Semele dies as a result of seeing Zeus’ lightning bolts... Zeus then saves the premature Dionysus by sewing him into his thigh until he is fully developed.
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Of course, I’m not the only one to have nearly died... historically this would have been all the more common, as well as the profound impact it has on one afterwards. A perfect example is the great Russian writer, Fyodor Dostoevsky, who on December 22, 1849 was taken to the public square to be shot. Having received a dramatic pardon at the last minute, the fortunate young man poured his newfound thoughts in a letter to his brother:
"Brother! I’m not despondent and I haven’t lost heart. Life is everywhere, life is in us ourselves, not outside.There will be people by my side, and to be a human being among people and to remain one forever, no matter in what circumstances, not to grow despondent and not to lose heart — that’s what life is all about, that’s its task." |
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A sketch of the Petrashevsky Circle mock execution...when Dostoevsky thought he was about to die.
A century later, Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl also had great insight following his profound suffering and near demise, writing that "everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances."
Now, for the classically minded among us (which I imagine is all of you...), this last sentence might seem very reminiscent of another philosophy, the ancient school of thought, Stoicism, in which many of its prominent members have endured great hardships and adversity before reaching a new level of understanding.
Indeed, Zeno of Citium (c. 334 – c. 262 BC), the very founder of Stoicism, only came upon his discovery of philosophy and thus the initiation of Stoicism itself, after surviving a shipwreck.
Seneca (4 BC – AD 65) sustained a long exile filled with grief and mourning before becoming the famous philosopher and teacher of Nero.
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Doesn’t he look like he suffered?? Baroque marble imaginary portrait bust of Seneca, by an anonymous sculptor of the 17th century. Museo del PradoEpictetus (c. 50 – c. 135 AD), perhaps most famously, was crippled from beatings in his days as a slave and suffered greatly before dictating his seminal Stoic works, Discourses and Enchiridion.
All of these examples, both ancient and modern, lead us to today’s inquiry and Monday mailbag topic. In fact, it’s a question we asked the prominent Stoic Philosopher and author of The Guide to the Good Life: The ancient Art of Stoic Joy, William B Irvine, in our recent Classical Wisdom Speaks Podcast:
Is suffering necessary for understanding? Do we need to almost die to know how to live?
As always, you can write me directly at anya@classicalwisdom.com or reply to this email.
Now, onto the value of Stereotypes - is there any? What role do they play? As usual, your fellow classicists have provided an extremely varied set of responses, below. |
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just over 10 years ago, I co-founded an organization called Classical Wisdom, along with Bill Bonner, owner of Agora Publishing.
Bill, like me, has a deep appreciation for the influence and the importance of the Classics.
And, from the beginning, our goal in founding this rather elite society was simple. We want to bring this ancient wisdom to modern minds.
That is, to spread the classics and bring the ancients back to life… and that is why I believe sharing this wisdom now is more urgent then ever…
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Monday Mailbag
By Readers of Classical Wisdom |
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Re: Stereotypes
I love stereotypes, most handy and often complementary in nature. There are cultural, physical and traditional traits common to nations or nation-like conglomerations and they are also well known over the world. So why bother? It can function as a way to mingle or start conversation without harm meant.
Anita S
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Re: Stereotypes
Stereotyping is the basis of fascism and also the basis of the revival of the religious fascism that's seen in some places in the world these days.
Whereas those who are practising racial fascism will label their intended victims, those who are practising religious fascism will use terms like sinners, infidels, heretics, etc
Of course all such terminologies are fictional and have no basis in reality.
Stereotyping is poisoning the world in big ways. Stereotyping is therefore the basis for persecution, murder and even genocides.
Yours sincerely,
Pieter J (PJ) |
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An 18th-century Dutch engraving of the peoples of the world, depicting the inhabitants of Asia, the Americas and Africa in their typical dress. Shown below are an Englishman, a Dutchman, a German and a Frenchman. Re: Do we NEED Stereotypes? Do they have value?
We also need cultural appropriation. Without it there would be no film, theater, painting, sculpture, literature, music, or indeed ANY art form.
Robert...
Re: Can stereotypes be helpful? Harmful? Do we need them or should we try to erase them, if that’s possible at all?
Stereotypes are nothing but racism practiced by alternative means. The Nazis thought as Teutons it was their duty to exterminate the so called Slavic race. The Austrians thought the same of the Serbs in WW1. The dirty little Jew and its caricature led to their demonization and holocaust. America used the dirty little Jap after Pearl Harbor to gin up for sacrifice and war. The same was done to Christians in Roman Empire and by the Catholic church against Protestants.
Red China used the same by the Red Guards fueled by Mao's rhetoric. Red China today stereotypes a century of persecutions to stir up nationalism and prepare for WW3. Aborigines and American Indian were almost made extinct by stereotyping. One poor aborigine was placed in a cage and displayed, I think at a zoo in New York City ,as a missing link. BLM does the same today and Coca Cola today says to be less white, another sad example of stereotyping.
If you want prejudice then practice stereotyping.
Stereotyping is an example of man's inhumanity to man.
Charles F |
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Police officers buying doughnuts and coffee, an example of perceived stereotypical behavior in North America.
Re: Sacrifice
The comments on sacrifice constituted a fun discussion. All of the comments, which probably said more about the respective writers than the nominal subject, added value. From my particular perspective, I enjoyed Adrienne K.’s take the most.
Charles L
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Re: Do we NEED Stereotypes? Do they have value?
What is the alternative to stereotyping people? Everyone being pinned down by being allocated an impersonal number? I would much prefer not, thank you. Uncertainty is fine by me.
As for 'personal sacrifice'. It has merit according to the 'motive' of the person doing it. Apart from that, it has also been said that, "No one does anything or takes any form of action in life, no matter what it is, unless they think IT BENEFITS THEM."
Geoff
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Re: Do we NEED Stereotypes? Do they have value?
I went to a local writers' panel discussion many years ago. One of the panelists was a goateed man with wire-rimmed glasses. One was a pale woman with long raven hair. And one looked like the pleasingly plump mother of the family next door.
One of them wrote "Star Trek' novels, another fantasy, and the third hard science fiction - and, yes, they were exactly who you'd expect them to be from appearances. Sometimes stereotypes are on the mark.
Kevin
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