Monday, August 27, 2007

God and the Little Guy

To bring my blog almost up to date, I thought I'd repost this column that I wrote seven years ago during our annual pilgrimage to Lake Crescent. If you like this sort of thing, you should check out my Classics Corner archive blog, which I'm still in the process of completing.
From time to time, each of us needs to stand back, look ourselves in the eye, and ask, “What has the Protestant work ethic done for us lately.”

We at Classics Corner hid out at a mountain resort last week to do just this. For fun, we brought along Hesiod, a seventh or eighth century BC farmer-poet from the backwaters of Greece. As it turns out, Hesiod is one of history’s first workaholics, but even he says to rest in August, when work is done, the sun is hot, and “women’s lust knows no bounds.”

“Then,” he says, “ah then, I wish you a shady ledge and your choice wine.” He also recommends thick goat’s milk, freshly baked bread, the meat of a free-range heifer, and sparkling wine mixed with three parts water. Having none of these essentials on hand, we substituted scotch and tried to avoid fried foods.

While we did not find Hesiod’s remarks upon the habits of women to be particularly accurate, we were still obsessively drawn to Works and Days, his 829 line poem on how to work hard, marry well, lead an honest life, have good crops, and avoid drowning at sea or blaspheming the gods.

Hesiod’s poem is addressed to his lazy brother Perses, who bribed the local “gift-devouring kings” to lawyer the poet out of his inheritance. Perses is exhorted to end his scheming, get off his butt, and “Work!”

Ever since Prometheus egged the gods into hiding the “means of livelihood” in the earth, most of us poor humans have had to scratch out our precarious existence with constant toil. This, says Hesiod, is the way of the world. Life is struggle, he says. Get used to it.

From the perspective of our lakeside adirondack chair, we found all of this quite bracing indeed.

But we were drawn most to Hesiod’s obsession with justice. Having recently survived the prayer-soaked public coronations of Bush and Gore, we found the poet’s idea of a people’s god immensely appealing.

Belief in justice, says Hesiod, transcends the individual to concern the entire community. In an immoral world where might makes right, “grief and pain will find us defenseless,” and “evil doers and scoundrels will be honored.”

Hesiod believes there are spirits who function as the ethics police, invisibly roaming the earth and seeing that justice is served. When corruption is allowed to spread, he says, the entire community is punished, so everyone has an immediate interest in behaving morally.

Even Hesiod, however, has his moments of bitterness and doubt. “As matters stand,” he says, “may neither I nor my son be just men in this world, because it is a bad thing to be just if wrongdoers win the court decisions.”

In Hesiod’s world, god looks out for the little guy, and his faith in this keeps him an honest man. Hesiod’s practical mind would see a god of the rich, powerful, and corrupt as worse than no god at all. His is a useful belief, and 2,800 years later, with god half-dead, it still rings true.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

[url=http://49.bestruseduonline.ru/][img]http://stomsk.ru/mba.png[/img][/url]




Заочное образование в европе Заочное высшее образование владивостоке Высшее образование интернет вузы высшее образование интернет вузы Дистанционное образование в вузах россии Заочное обучение через интернет заочное обучение через интернет http://66.rubesteduonlinehigh.ru/6717/84154.html http://7.rubesteduonlinehigh.ru/11-11-201210/02-12-201294.htm http://64.bestruseduonline.ru/11-20125/11-2012103.html http://29.bestruseduonline.ru/Distantsionnoe-obrazovanie/Besplatnoe-distantsionnoe-obrazovanie-za-rubezhom--besplatnoe-distantsionnoe-obrazovanie-za-rubezhom.htm http://157.bestruseduonline.ru/1017/
[url=http://112.bestruseduonline.ru/24-09-20127/Internet-i-distantsionnoe-obrazovanie-referat.htm]Интернет и дистанционное образование реферат[/url]
[url=http://100.bestruseduonline.ru/12-11-20127/61.htm]Совмещение работы фриланса[/url]
[url=http://55.rubesteduonlinehigh.ru/28-11-201222/Kompyuter-obrazovanie-internet--kompyuter-obrazovanie-internet.html]Компьютер образование интернет компьютер образование интернет[/url]
[url=http://96.rubesteduonlinehigh.ru/961/Obuchenie-onlayn-angliyskiy.htm]Обучение онлайн английский[/url]
[url=http://4.bestruseduonline.ru/Kachestvennoe-onlayn-obrazovanie/11-201287.html]Спбгу заочное обучение[/url]
Второе высшее образование дистанционно спб Дистанционное обучение в мгу. стоимость
внутренне противоречивого, мучающегося, страдающего, постоянно



http://31.rubesteduonlinehigh.ru/11-20123/10-201260.html
http://161.bestruseduonline.ru/791/57.html
http://197.bestruseduonline.ru/331/1171.htm
http://31.bestruseduonline.ru/15-09-20128/137.htm
http://138.bestruseduonline.ru/02-10-201210/5431.html
http://189.bestruseduonline.ru/1/2433.htm
http://80.rubesteduonlinehigh.ru
http://66.rubesteduonlinehigh.ru/9823/30-11-2012133.htm
http://186.bestruseduonline.ru/12-20128/Distantsionnoe-obucheniegosudarstvenniy-diplom.htm
http://56.bestruseduonline.ru/3/09-201251.html

целостной системы психики и задаче, решаемой в данный момент
Принцип терпеливой настойчивости, оптимизма и доброжелательности
какого качества и в каком количестве производится, что и как меняется
Крылова, которая «лето красное пропела, оглянуться не успела, как зима
выполнения профессиональных действий — обязательное условие

http://www.liveinternet.ru/users/fultuwurla197311z5v/post252219440/
http://www.liveinternet.ru/users/spacatnaipos1977ky37/post251923131/
http://www.liveinternet.ru/users/fultuwurla197311z5v/post252218258/
http://www.liveinternet.ru/users/cusajudgmatch1982h54x/post252219829/
http://www.liveinternet.ru/users/fultuwurla197311z5v/post251923521/
http://www.liveinternet.ru/users/cusajudgmatch1982h54x/post252219677/
http://www.liveinternet.ru/users/spacatnaipos1977ky37/post251923098/
http://www.liveinternet.ru/users/etintrapget1986i6n64/post252217734/
http://www.liveinternet.ru/users/conemascnor1980a4jvg/post252219079/
http://www.liveinternet.ru/users/taitysrade1988cirg/post252220102/


[url=]http://www.liveinternet.ru/users/etintrapget1986i6n64/post252217808/ [/url]
[url=] игровой автомат бесалатно [/url]
[url=]http://www.liveinternet.ru/users/fultuwurla197311z5v/post252218115/ [/url]
[url=]Сайт здесь [/url]
[url=]Подробнее...[/url]

Anonymous said...

http://www.world66.com/member/komuli2009_imitrex zyrtec cetirizine hydrochloride side effects [url=http://www.world66.com/member/stapamna1977_levit]zyrtec cetirizine hydrochloride side effects[/url] obtenir la cetirizine hors haute what is cetirizine hcl 10mg used for assimiler cetirizine chlorhydrate 10mg comprimes http://cetirizine-vsh6735.eklablog.fr/vente-cetirizine-chance-tadalafil-cialis-20mg-cialis-20-mg-maximum-dos-a65802901 cetirizine 200mg [url=http://www.world66.com/member/famiti1975_vad_kos]get high off cetirizine[/url] getting high off cetirizine pouvez-vous une overdose de cetirizine hcl pouvez-vous obtenir haut sur la cetirizine http://www.protopage.com/generic-zithromax-online can you get high off cetirizine [url=http://cetirizine-fmf4459.eklablog.fr/]pouvez-vous obtenir du sirop de cetirizine hors[/url] zyrtec cetirizine hcl 10mg antihistaminique ne cetirizine chlorhydrate de la cause de l'hypertension arterielle cetirizine 10mg

Anonymous said...

http://everyoneweb.com/spymobile1987a64/#how_to_trace_stolen_iphone_4s turn cellphone into gps tracking device [url=http://everyoneweb.be/spymobile1980a108/#spy_kids_4_imdb_rating]free download blueware phone spy software[/url] spy kids 3 mission 3d wikipedia cell phone tracker app iphone sms spy without access to target phone http://www.world66.com/member/votich1968_telepho#free_spy_phone_software_windows_mobile how do you locate a cell phone number [url=http://everyoneweb.com/spymobile1989a18/#free_spy_software_for_iphone_4s]monitoring children s text messages verizon[/url] himym season 7 episode 14 cucirca spybubble installation blackberry apple spying on iphone users http://surveys.questionpro.com/a/TakeSurvey?id=3400132#how_to_spy_on_mobile_phone_free_software find a cell phone with gps for free [url=http://everyoneweb.be/spymobile1973a23/#cell_phone_surveillance_canada]cell phone spyware for iphone 4s[/url] wireless outdoor spy cameras for home spy kids imdb 4d spy call for iphone 4
http://surveys.questionpro.com/a/TakeSurvey?id=3400101#spy_kids_3_part_1_game_over [url=http://everyoneweb.com/spymobile1977a76/#2009_mobile_cell_phone_spy_software_suite]spy mobile software pune[/url]
#can_you_read_your_child_s_text_messages_online_tmobile

Anonymous said...

[url=http://spymobile36yd18.carbonmade.com/projects/4708506][img]http://emeds.biz/pics/spymobile.png[/img][/url]
phone trace wiki http://surveys.questionpro.com/a/TakeSurvey?id=3441029 spy call for samsung s3310 [url=http://archive.org/details/forferafhumph] can i spy on a mobile phone[/url] free cell phone number gps locator android spy v1.0 free download can you trace cell phone if turned off
mamoleptino321 http://archive.org/details/tsinatmomul http://archive.org/details/tersikenge http://www.world66.com/member/spymobile_y8c3tc3q/
free sms spy apps for iphone http://spymobilekn52lr.carbonmade.com/projects/4708555 wireless hidden camera iphone [url=http://spymobilerv2037.carbonmade.com/projects/4708526] can parents read text messages online at&t 2011[/url] spy wireless earpiece android sdk intercept sms free cell spy application
http://archive.org/details/erarracom http://spymobile50xm81.carbonmade.com/projects/4708504 http://archive.org/details/rucentvitmo
[url=http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=32774737&postID=2979354722563020239&page=1&token=1362982726325]cars 2 spy shifters transforming[/url]
http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=32526413&postID=1685867999420655307&page=1&token=1362975465645 http://aeuinhccm.upkadbwq.forum.mythem.es/apkh/ http://so-skidkoi.ru/forum/46--/21263-opjjr-swisnac-garbaciec-mpigz?limit=20&start=1260#24350 http://electriccircusclub.com/cookin-wdarku-j-london-jade-nvs-pix___friday-aug-17th-2012/#comment-10428 http://hbymxna.tcsq.qypvthu.loqu.forum.mythem.es/aaetkktih/tieraerzte/vernam/
top secret cell phone spyware http://www.world66.com/member/spymobile_ij8s58qs/ free mobile phone anti spyware [url=http://surveys.questionpro.com/a/TakeSurvey?id=3440678] call tapping software mobile phone[/url] phone spyware software free reliance controls phone out freeze monitor free mobile spy software uk