Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Long Time Gone

I was recently reading a book by Sheldon Cheney on the history of the theatre first published in 1929. It's always interesting to read old books to understand how people had different assumptions. Statements that went unchallenged, even unnoticed, stand out today.

The whole introduction to Greek Tragedy reads that way. Even the title, "Tragedy: The Noble Greeks," is almost unimaginable today. Here are a few lines: "No other state has ever reached the standard set by the Hellenes in those accomplishments esteemed by men to be most high, most desirable, most beautiful." "There is world recognition that for a considerable period the people of Hellas solved better than any other the problem how to live their lives reasonably and finely." "In this present period of reevaluation, at the end of the first quarter of the twentieth century, when sophisticated commentators are taking cynical delight in demolishing old human and racial idols, pointing out the flaws in everything that mankind has esteemed, there is little attempt to pull down Greece." "There is, indeed, no other development in human life to match this one."

I was going to comment on these superlatives--the mindset that made them possible, the mindset today that doesn't--but looking at them, I think I'll just let them speak for themselves.

PS Here's something going in the opposite direction that I'll let speak for itself. I saw this in the IMDb comment section for Across The Universe: "The Beatles' music had a huge effect on me; from the fateful day that my friend accidentally copied the first three tracks of "Revolver" onto my computer, a love affair was born."

2 Comments:

Blogger ColumbusGuy said...

You want to read nonsense superlatives, read Frankfurter's "The Commerce Clause." Take hankies, though; the man is having an orgasm over the New Deal, and couldn't be more delighted to have discovered, through rigorous legal, almost scientific analysis that the 100 year old corpse of Marshall agreed with him.

It must have been the style of the times. Can you imagine having been a teacher and grading such stuff?

3:58 AM, October 17, 2007  
Blogger New England Guy said...

From a long-departed relative's attic,in my early teens, I had a set of the Encyclopedia Britannica (or it might have been other English publication) from the 1910s or so. Not only the political/historical articles (I believe Germans were referred to as Huns without any explanation {so it must have been post-World War One) and Oliver Cromwell was the "Fine Gentleman" who prevailed over over decadent ideas (from France !)but the nature/scientific always seem to take issue with competing theories praising one and damning others as clearly in error. (It was either a Whig or Tory view of the world- I'll admit I could never keep them straight). I think it must have either been an outgrowth of the birth of the popular press as largely partisan instruments or a belief that it was worse than death to appear wishy-washy on any issue.

Unfortunately, the 'rents tossed the moldy collection while I was off enjoying higher education (I believe Farnsworth, Prosser and Epstein on Torts now occupies that shelf in my mother's basement)

5:45 AM, October 17, 2007  

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