So, let me just start by saying I love how thought-provoking the material in Great Books is. The concepts we’re reading and discussing are deep and rich; even though these events happened thousands of years ago, the struggles the characters go through and the questions they ask are ones we still wrestle with today, in some form.
One of the most prevalent topics in society today, since the beginning of time, is: what is happiness, and how do people find it? While reading Bacchae, one statement the chorus makes really made me stop and think. “Happy is the man who has come away / safe on the beach from a storm at sea, / happy is the man who has risen above / trouble and toil. Many are the ways / one man may surpass another / in wealth or power, / and beyond each hope there beckons another / hope without number. / Hope may lead a man to wealth, / hope may pass away; / but I admire a man when he / is happy in ordinary life” (902-911). I was drawn to this passage because it places more emphasis on happiness than on hope. The text implies that hope, while it may bring some success, such as “lead[ing] a man to wealth”, may only be temporary (908-909). The man who is happy “in ordinary life” is described as being admirable (910-911).
The idea of “being happy in ordinary life” is very interesting to me (911). What kind of “ordinary life” things is Euripides talking about? Is it subjective happiness, such as the happiness I feel when I drink strawberry lemonade? Or is it happiness most people feel about certain things like getting a good grade on an assignment or when it's finally below 90 degrees outside? The happiness described at the beginning of the text is that of a man who has just come out of a scary or trying situation (902-906). His happiness comes from making it out of a tough situation alive. We’ve all heard stories about people who had a close encounter with death and afterwards had a greater appreciation for “the little things”. Taking time to stop and smell the roses, to realize what you have to be grateful for is a wonderful thing that contributes to happiness. I do think that sometimes we become so caught up with looking to the future, what we're hoping for - graduation, jobs, starting a family - we make the things in our lives now seem less meaningful; and the text implies that the only thing after hope is more hope (905-909). So, is hope pointless? Should we abandon hope altogether since it doesn't seem to have a reward?
If hope is pointless, if the final result of hope is just more hope, how is my faith affected? As a Christian, I am called to hope - my hope that the trials and pain of this life are nothing compared to the glories of Heaven. I think as Christians we are called to hope because with that hope we can truly be happy. While we know that there are better things waiting for us when we get to Heaven, we have happiness because of that hope. Hope is not pointless. There is a chance we could get caught up in hoping for a better situation and miss life now, but hope also has the potential to be what keeps us keep going. I think we need hope to have happiness in the little things and the big things. Happiness from ordinary things is temporary; however, the happiness from ordinary life feeds into our lasting hope.
Happiness and hope are like peanut butter and jelly - either one by itself is good, but together, life is better.
Catherine, you made a great point about the need for hope in our lives! As Christians, hope will always be a great source of comfort to us when happiness seems far away. And although those small moments of "ordinary" happiness—like drinking a nice big glass of strawberry lemonade—are ephemeral, maybe they're God's way of hinting at the much greater happiness that awaits us, if only we continue to hope. As I just read in Plato's Republic, "Hope...is mightiest to sway the restless soul of man."
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to reading (and hearing) more of your insights!
—Danni
Catherine,
ReplyDeleteThis writing is absolutely beautiful. Also, I find it amazing that, out of all the horrifying things in this book, you can pick one of the only (maybe the only) good things that is said. Considering your input in class, I shouldn't be surprised that you managed this, but it still kind of shocked me when I started reading. Probably because immediately before reading this we were talking about my blog post which was definitely egging on the horrible tendencies of Dionysus. The good things I took away from Bacchae and the good things you took away are two entirely different things. Usually I completely disregard other people's opinions as wrong if they don't agree with mine, but I enjoyed this, and I actually think you're very, very correct.
-Other Catherine
Dang Catherine, back at it again with those thoughtful blog posts!
ReplyDeleteNo, but seriously, this was a very inspiring piece to read about. We all need hope in our lives because it gives us something to look forward to in the future. When I have my bad days that never seem to end, I place my trust and hope in Jesus that He will bring me out of it. When everything seems down and my faith pointless, it is the hope that God will deliver me from this earth one day that keeps me going. Without hope, what do we have? This was really well-written and you managed to take something good out of the Bacchae (which is an impressive feat on its own).
I look forward to reading more of your blog posts! Love you!