Masks and healing in ancient Greece |
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Dear Classical Wisdom Reader,
It wasn’t at the hospital or even amid a global pandemic but at the theater that healing took place in ancient Greece, according to translator George Theodoridis. There, masks were used on stage instead of on the streets.
Mr. Theodoridis has translated all of the extant plays of the fifth-century BCE Athenian dramaturges as well as many of the Lyric poets. He argues in today's article that Greek playwrights cauterized society’s wounds on stage in pursuit of collective healing.
This of course raises the question: can creativity be a social corrective? The idea has stuck around—from artist Sam Durant’s plans to install a huge military drone above New York to Bansky’s polemical graffiti, art continues to offer catharsis, criticism and, at times, controversial correction.
The question is…does it work? Perhaps individual experiences can shed light on the collective. So, has art ever offered you healing? Not to say it can magically repair a broken limb, but perhaps it can help mend a broken heart. If that’s been your experience -- or if you have otherwise felt healed by the arts -- do write in and tell me about it!
Looking forward,
Kristin Deasy
Senior Editor
Classical Wisdom
kristin@classicalwisdom.com |
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The Healing of Athens
By George Theodoridis, Contributing Writer, Classical Wisdom |
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Once a year Athens went to the theater to heal herself.
Once the two Persian attacks were done, once the last barbarian soldier left Plataea and Mycale, once the last Persian ship was driven out of the waters of Salamis, a burgeoning epidemic of arrogance overtook Athens.
The Athenians had established the Delian League, an alliance which incorporated some 300-odd cities, all paying tributes of either money or men or ships as a means of boosting Greece’s military and build an adequate protection against a possible further revenge attack from Persia.
That League became, in fifth century terms, quite considerable in size. With Athens its unquestionable ruler, the once-small Attican city became the engine of a powerful empire—initially benign, but soon an oppressive, colonial power much like the one they had just repelled.
Initially too, the treasury was placed on the uninhabited island of Delos, Apollo’s sanctuary island, but it took little time before it was moved to the temple of the goddess Athena, the Parthenon, in Athens’ Acropolis. |
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Athens’ Parthenon
In Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, there is a wonderfully hilarious exchange between the Athenian woman Lysistrata and a prominent politician, The Magistrate. Their dialogue shows just how wise Lysistrata was to guard the treasury. |
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