THE MODERN Greeks have been dominating the headlines of late, but it’s extraordinary how much the ancient ones are still with us too. Take the recent comment of Siptu president Jack O’Connor, when he warned that although trade unions could probably defeat the Government’s plans for further spending cuts, this would be a “pyrrhic victory”.
The reference here, of course, was to Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, whose army defeated the Romans in 279 BC, but lost thousands of men and all its best officers in the process. Hence his bleak verdict afterwards: “One more such victory and we are lost.” Then there’s scepticism. Hardly a day passes now when we are not told that “the markets are sceptical” about something (often Greece). Thus market traders are deemed to be followers, no doubt unwittingly, of a philosophical sect founded in the 4th century BC by Pyrrho – no relation to Pyrrhus – who thought that nothing could be proved.
Literally, "scepticism" meant thinking for yourself. But as Bertrand Russell complained in his History of Western Philosophy, it naturally appealed to many "unphilosophic" minds. "Scepticism was a lazy man's consolation, since it showed the ignorant to be as wise as the reputed men of learning," Russell wrote of Pyrrho's era. More than 2,300 years later, scepticism's popularity is unabated.
So is that of another Greek philosophy of the same period: cynicism. This was founded by Antisthenes but made famous by his flamboyant pupil Diogenes, who gave up his worldly possessions, lived in a tub, and liked to go about in daylight ostentatiously carrying a lamp and telling anyone who asked that he was searching for an honest man.
Although their name was always an insult – it meant “dog-like”, probably from their indifference to social customs – cynics were quite high-minded people back then. It was only in modern times they got a bad reputation for things other than personal hygiene.
And yet, at least nominally, their school of philosophy is more widespread than ever. Only last weekend another trade union – the NUJ – accused the Government of being members. Specifically it claimed the exclusion of Nama from the reach of the Freedom of Information Act was
a “cynical exercise”. I don’t need to tell readers how popular yet another Greek religio-philosophical concept – Chaos – remains today, especially among journalists and AA Roadwatch announcers. Again, however, the concept has evolved somewhat from its origins.
To the ancients, Chaos was the dark, formless void out of which the universe emerged. Now it usually refers to delays in public transport. As I write this, the Icelandic volcano is causing “travel chaos” again, mainly in airports. But I wouldn’t be surprised if there was “traffic chaos” on the roads too this evening, probably as a result of small accident that temporarily closes the left lane of an exit on the Maynooth Road
roundabout.
The echoes of ancient Greece are everywhere. Not long ago, for instance, a letter writer on this page accused the Taoiseach of performing “verbal gymnastics”. In fact, this is a very popular sport among politicians generally, according to their critics. And it too we owe to the cradle of democracy.
The gymnasium had a central role in ancient Greece. It wasn’t just a place where athletes engaged in sport while wearing no clothes (the word derives from gymnos, meaning “naked”), although it was certainly that. But it was also a place for debate.
Philosophers often set up their schools in gymnasia, the aforementioned Antisthenes being an example.
It may be stretching a point about the abiding influence of ancient Greece on modern Irish life. But I can’t help noting that the pay agreement Jack O’Connor was arguing for when he warned about Pyrrhus was negotiated in – of all places – Croke Park.
And although nobody performs there naked (except perhaps that couple who were arrested in the middle of the pitch one night a few years back), what else is Croke Park but a modern-day gymnasium, dedicated both to the pursuit of physical excellence and the discussion of problems? My point, in summary, is that while nobody could question the accuracy of those Greek protest banners that recently proclaimed “We Are Not Irish”, protesters in this country could not return the compliment, credibly, even if they were so inclined.
We are definitely at least a bit Greek on this island, if only in the ancient sense. Indeed, by contrast with the marked lack of philosophy in latter-day Greece, there is perhaps too much of it here.
It was striking that even as Athens burned this week, the highest-profile demonstration in Dublin was that Facebook “Dirty Look” protest in which 50 people gathered outside the Dáil and made humorously angry faces at the Government, while shaking their fists. They plan a similarly polite assault on the banks soon.
Maybe attitudes will change here yet, as cutbacks deepen and more Irish people find themselves emulating the lifestyle of Diogenes, without trying. But so far, the dominant mood here continues to be one of stoicism. Which, by the way, is yet another school of ancient Greek philosophy, founded by Zeno in 308 BC, and no longer much popular in Athens.
- fmcnally@irishtimes.com