Only the historian of the future can say for certain whether present hostilities worldwide are a precursor to World War III (like the Balkan Wars to WWI) or even its first phase. Still, if history is any guide and the ancestral knowledge imparted unto us (especially the Hellenes) any counsel, several conclusions are fairly apparent.
Almost everyone agrees that peace is always preferable to war. Euripides leaves no doubt in his quintessential antiwar tragedy ‘Iphigenia in Aulis’ that noble and patriotic rhetoric is often a front for base, deeply personal motives. Agamemnon, fearing his brother Menelaos would usurp him now that Helen had left (Menelaos was a son-in-law, with no inheritance rights to the Spartan throne), became so consumed with power he wouldn’t even spare his daughter Iphigenia to ensure that the expedition to Troy was carried out.
But Euripides did not subscribe to the black-and-white thinking of the post scholastic-era West or the Manichaean dualism of the East. That same drama contains a more discreet, yet equally damning accusation against the Clytemnestras of the world… who act as if they aren’t part of the same hypocrisy. Today’s debates and protests could have been far more intellectually stimulating if fewer universities stopped rejecting Classical Greek studies because they aren’t compatible with woke ideology, and more Greeks supported them, even though they aren’t compatible with a materialistic mentality that’s made our Community far less multidimensional.
Surely, someone would have recalled Aristotle’s timeless teaching that “to seek the useful everywhere does not suit high-minded and free people.” (Politics, Book VIII, 1338b 2-4).
This duality is particularly pronounced in our era, whether observed in the virtue signaling of the West or the Islamofascism of the East. On the one hand, the supposed moral superiority of people who decry American imperialism, but have nothing to say for similar, more brutal acts of imperialism or even genocidal ethnic cleansing wreaks of hypocrisy. It’s perfectly fine to disagree with the U.S.-Israeli operation in Iran either for moral or strategic reasons, provided that the same stance be adopted when it comes to similar issues (e.g., the persecution of minorities in the Middle East, particularly Christians). Some European nations like Spain, whose Premier fancies himself as some sort of hero because he publicly stands up to Donald Trump, is particularly offensive because at the same time he unapologetically supports the Turkish economy and military with lucrative deals despite their serious human rights violations and occupation of a fellow EU member state. Moreover, the EU helps bankroll the regime of Turkish puppet al-Julani in Syria, despite the ongoing persecution of the nation’s indigenous Christians and other minorities. Some morality…
No matter where one stands on the decision to strike Iran, it’s hard to defend a regime as repressive as Tehran’s. The fact alone that people are free to protest and publicly exercise criticism in Western nations, while their Iranian counterparts are imprisoned or killed by the myriads, while people are sentenced to death for merely seeking their freedom is indefensible, even if it isn’t the underlying reason for the war.
Let’s not forget that in the Gospel passages of Holy Week, Christ reserves some of His harshest criticism for the Pharisees… Current developments may be hard to label historically, but Pharisaism clearly abounds. Perhaps the pursuit of utilitarianism and blind adherence to ideology has led to this seeming political, social, and metaphysical dead end. In the face of all this, Hellenism is once again called to offer its unique worldview as a way out. With its traditional pursuit of measure and its capability toward magnanimity (closely tied to the concept we call ‘philotimo’), there seems to be a growing need to fill the global gap left by the pervading mentality of duality.
The feast of Pascha further underscores and reveals Hellenism’s potential (perhaps even sacred duty) to share its worldview with humanity. What modern Hellenism lacks in geographical size, population, and financial wherewithal, it more than makes up for with the spiritual and cultural treasure that it has been called to safeguard and share with humanity. The ‘philokalia’ of Holy Week’s services that merge beauty with simplicity and modesty, the profoundness of the notions and concepts that are tackled throughout the week, and the Risen Christ’s ultimate triumph over Hades, proclaiming that death is trampled down by death, is fittingly Hellenism’s greatest reference-point.
No political rally, no protest or march, or any other ‘movement’ can come close. Magnanimity, love of freedom (most importantly, freedom over death!) and the ‘madness’ to pursue these things are definitive qualities of Hellenism, deeply ingrained in Hellenes’ spiritual/cultural DNA. True to its recurring role in human history, Hellenism must share this compass with a world that has lost its way. Christos Anesti!
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