Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
The Death of the City is not a Comedy

The Death of the City is not a Comedy

Last updated on: September 26, 2019 at 5:33 am by John Mark N. Reynolds

The Death of the City is not a Comedy 2019-09-25T21:59:34-04:00 John Mark N. Reynolds

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The society might have been dying, but he won a few comedy prizes.

Aristophanes was hilariously waggish having mocked a few philosophers, perhaps, getting one killed, a theist who refused to move with the times, but Aristophanes was funny. His city would dead as an independent state in about fifty years, he saw the rot that would ruin her, but he made jokes, good jokes, and so he endures. Why?

Aristophanes helped nobody decide wisely, yet he had a few good quips. He amused a city to slumber so they would not recognize the comedy was a tragedy.*

Reading Frogs this term has been painful. This is a play for a powerful city, a people in a golden age that is about to end disastrously. The brightest and best, men like Alcibiades, have been corrupted and serve self over city. “Not to worry,” the new sophists cried, “we have a more sophisticated morality than your parents! And by the way, have you paint your tuition?”

As for Socrates and his attempt to start discussions, to examine presuppositions, Aristophanes had a response:

So it’s not smart to sit and chat

With Socrates, tossing aside Artistic merit, shedding all

That’s best of the tragedian’s art.

To fritter away all one’s time

On quibbling and pretentious talk,

And other such inane pursuits,

Is truly the mark of a fool.

The comedy Frogs is written around a competition between the old writers and the the new. The important thing, after all, when the city is dying was to adjudicate who was the greatest playwright, report breathlessly on the ancient equivalent of the Tony Awards, while being witty. If the city died, because education had left citizens corrupted, then sniff and sneer:

I loathe a citizen who acts so fast

To harm his country and yet helps her last,

Who’s deft at managing his own success,

But useless when the city’s in a mess.

Say this, sassily, and sashay off to a symposium to celebrate your prize. The city will, almost surely, last your time, and the leaders like to be tweaked, if you are not too serious about the criticism. Call all sorts of names, but give the “lions their meat.”

Innovate by giving the slave a voice, making him insubordinate, and having him crack wise. Do not let him go too far and challenge the very notion of slavery. To avoid the appearance of elitism, cater to the elite but work in quite a few fart jokes. Nobody is an elitist, who tells fart jokes. Most of all subordinate the gods of the cities to an agenda wholly ambitious in terms of verities, but likely to win the theater award at the next festival.

Aristophanes wrote when Athens could have gone forward, but imperialism destroyed democratic dreams. He might have been a prophet, but he settled for prophet and passed a perfumed wind instead of following the truth where the truth led. Just make sure to throw in a lot of cultural references, play to nostalgia shamelessly if it is the right sort, and you will be a wag in your day.

Mock traditional religion, but don’t go too far. Your reward will be an audience.

And prizes!

All this seems relevant, but how?

Just so, when men are needed by the nation,

The best have been withdrawn from circulation.

Men of good birth and breeding, men of parts,

Well schooled in wrestling and the gentler arts, 730

These we abuse, and look instead to knaves,

Upstarts, nonentities, foreigners and slaves–Rascals all!

Honestly, what men we choose!

There was a time when you’d have scorned to use

Men so debased, so far beyond the pale,

Even as scapegoats to be dragged from jail

And flogged to death outside the city gates.

Misguided friends, change now, it’s not too late!

Try the good ones again: if they succeed,

You will have shown that you have sense indeed;

And if things don’t go well, if these good men

All fail, and Athens comes to grief, why, then

Discerning folk will murmur (let us hope):

‘She hanged herself, but with a first-rate rope!’***

———————————-

*See the end of Plato’s Symposium.

**I am grateful for the freshman at The College for the ideas that generated this devotional.

*** Aristophanes, Frogs. (Penguin Classics)

Spiritual Reflections

Previous Post

September 25, 2019

On Doing What We Know (Guest Voice: Jill Bergen)

Next Post

September 27, 2019 Musical Ambrose

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Apologetics Art Culture Education On Books On Education Philosophy Politics Pop Culture Spiritual Reflections Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 July 2025 June 2025 September 2024 July 2024 June 2024 December 2023 June 2023 September 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: John's Gospel does not record any parables.

Select your answer to see how you score.

FALSE TRUE

Books by This Author John Mark Reynolds

See All Titles »