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Tuesday, 02 January 2007 14:14 |
| | Sophie Mills |
By JOHN NORTH
HENDERSONVILLE ÇƒÓ Imperial Athens of antiquity and the United States, with its current occupation of Iraq, share a striking number of commonalities, particularly in their views of themselves as "liberators," according to Sophie Mills, chair of the UNC Asheville Classics Department.
Mills compared imperial Athens with todayës U.S. during a Dec. 2 lecture that revolved around Thucydidesë quote, "Not by receiving kindness but by doing it to others do we acquire friends."
Her
talk, part of the monthly Great Quotes series, drew about 45 people to
UNCAës Kellogg Center. The series is co-sponsored by the UNCA
Philosophy Department and the Institute for Applied Philosophy. An open
discussion followed her presentation.
Mills, born in
London, England, holds a doctorate from Oxford University. She is the
author of four books, including "Euripides: Bacchae," published in
2006. Her research interests include Greek and Latin literature, Greek
tragedy, Greek history and Greek and Roman imperialism.
Mills began her 35-minute address by noting that "doing kindness is something out parents taught us."
However, for her
presentation, she said she would "rough out" a few aspects of Athenian
imperial ideology and, finally, address the rationale for the United
Statesë involvement in Iraq.
The aim of her
address, Mills said, was to explore the analogy between imperial Athens
and the United States, especially in reference to the latterës role as
the worldës sole superpower.
As for Athens, she noted that the Greek city "existed as a power" from 479 to 404 BCE, culminating in Athensë defeat by Sparta.
"A huge body of
ideology rose up to justify its dominance over other states," Mills
said. For example, Athens spawned the concept of the "civilizing hero"
ÇƒÓ someone who was strong, intelligent and always fighting on the side
of the right and defending the less powerful.
Under the
Athenian ideal, she noted, "Athens is a civilized and civilizing city ǃÓ
the best of all Greek states ... Itës a claim of strength and of being
just." However, Mills stressed that, under such a scenario, "knowledge
and power must be used in tandem."
She then asked, rhetorically, "How do you get your subjects to endorse your claims?"
The origins of
the Athenian empire go back to the sixth century BCE, she asserted.
"For Athens, its extroverted, activist foreign policy was critical to
its later dominance as a city."
To that end,
Mills cited Thucydides (circa 460 BCE to circa 400 BCE), an ancient
Greek historian and the author of the "History of the Peloponnesian
War," which recounts the fifth century BCE war between Sparta and
Athens to the year 411 BCE. His aforementioned book is widely
considered the first work of scientific history. "History of the
Peloponnesian War" tells of the human world as produced by men acting
from ordinary motives, without the intervention of the gods.
Mills said that
Thucydides represents moral order and the concept that "right
vanquishes might." Also emerging was the notion that "it is morally
better to not be actively an aggressor, but to be a defender."
Whatës more, she said, many in Athens believed that an unexpected victory would be taken as a sign of a blessing of the gods.
Such a blessing
was exemplifed when Athenians refused to knuckle under to the Persian
hordes in the Persian War and, instead, unexpectedly conquered their
enemy.
In 489 BCE, Athens experienced a "big victory ÇƒÓ a victory of Greek right over barbarian might," Mills said.
In stories that
are intended to prove Athenians are better than other Greeks, morality
is upheld and virtue rewarded. Such stories also show "Athens has the
ability to punish the wicked ÇƒÓ a big claim," Mills noted.
As in the works
of Virgil, with their idealized claim of what it means to be a Roman,
the Greeks, in their stories, portrayed themselves as good ÇƒÓ and
barbarians as bad, she said. Moreover, Athens is depicted as uniquely
Greek, spreading agriculture around the Greek world.
In addition, "Athens claims law itself had its origins there," Mills said.
Thus, Athens saw itself as being generous in giving Greek law and agriculture to its subjects, Mills claimed.
After the Persian War, Athens was the acknowledged leader of Greece.
However,
eventually, rather than send men to Athens for a contribution to the
Greek fleet, the city-states started just sending money... As a result,
the fleets became increasingly Athenian in their composition.
From Atheniansë point of view, to wish not to be part of the Athenian empire was seen as disloyalty and ingratitude, Mills said.
Imperial Athens
felt that the Athenian empire was the godsë reward for its efforts, as
evidenced in the Athens-Sparta War. "The Athenian power was translated
into a moral imperative," she observed.
The imperial
Athenians felt that "we are civilizers and loved by the gods ÇƒÓ and
thatës why we have this" lofty position, she said.
Ultimately, the
position morphed into one of "helping our friends," Mills noted.
"Athensë only thought was that it canët stop helping others in need."
The UNCA scholar then turned to what she termed parallels with U.S involvement in Iraq.
She noted that 27 justifications have been presented by the U.S. government for the war in Iraq.
Included in the 27 are five main justifications, which she cited as follows:
ï Itës a war on terror.
ï A desire to prevent proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
ï A lack of United Nationsë inspections.
ï Saddam Hussein was an evil dictator.
ï A need to liberate the people of Iraq.
"All of these, I
submit, are directly Athenian ÇƒÓ the archetype of the civilizing hero
aspiring to save the world," Mills asserted.
Five months
after the 9/11 tragedy in New York City, "multiple articles appeared in
the press of Saddamës horrors with his people in Iraq," she noted.
"Liberators are
civilizing heroes who burst through the bonds of oppression to help
others," she said. "But there is no such thing as a free liberation ǃÓ
youëre expected to show appreciation for liberation ÇƒÓ gratitude."
Finishing on a
wry note, Mills said that "there was confidence that the U.S. could
quickly topple Saddam and that the (Iraqi) people would be grateful."
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