Rejecting Tyranny
The opposite of autocracy isn’t necessarily democracy but very likely chaos, rapacity, and misery. Ancient Greek myths expose the tyrannical
Our modern challenges aren’t new and neither are the tools we have for meeting them.
I’m writing this blog for people who may never have thought about the essential relevance of ancient Greek literature to their own lives. Ancient Greek myths still speak to us today, if only we’ll listen.
As a professor of Classics, I spend much of my time in ancient Greece, and I emerge intermittently to a 21st-century reality of violent conflict in places both far and near. The ancient Greeks gave us ideals of human equality, freedom of speech, democratic government, and the rule of law, and we are squandering our inheritance. Centuries ago, Ancient Greek literature began to cultivate crucial survival skills of empathy, self-restraint, rational thought, and a far-sighted conception of self-interest.