On Greek Immortality

Ah ... the ancient Greeks. Their accomplishments - their epic poetry, their skill in fighting, their intelligence in philosophy, their pathos in tragedy and wit in comedy continue to be remembered. And this was their ultimate desire: to be remembered.

Where did the Greeks find the reserves for such great talent and art? In their appearances. Here, the bravery of a soldier running into battle was nothing, but the appearance of bravery was everything. Here the grief one endured in suffering was nothing, and the pathos on the stage was everything. And everything was done to be seen and heard by the others.

But could such appearances provide consolation in one's final moments? To the Greeks the answer was "Yes" ... in being remembered. This was the nature of Greek Immortality.

In the Greek view of Hades, certain people received punishment (i.e. sysaphus), but before Plato people didn't see death as a place where people were personally judged for their actions. To the ancient Greeks, Hades was the domain of the jibbering shades ... where the dead talked endlessly about one's accomplishments. The best one could hope for was to be remembered by the living and talked about by the dead.

When Odysseus went to the underworld and found the warrior Achilles - remembered and praised by all - his conclusion on death was this: better to be an obscure farmer and die after a long life than to die at the celebration of the many. Such is the case with all esthetics: the approval of the crowd - and here the approval of world history - is a terrible reward when one does not approve one's own choices.