Python Liberation Front

Greeks, Liturgy, Drama, and Alphabet compared to Computers, Internet, the Web

I would welcome any comments or discussions about the Greeks, my book review, or especially about the implications of the Greeks constructing an aphabet usable for literature and philosophy, and easy enough to learn to promote mass literacy; and the possible parallels with our times, computer technology and the web.

Also, in particular, I am intrigued by the beginnings of Greek drama, and the original aspects of how the "liturgy", or chorus and audience responses to soloists and actors, fostered the growth of new dramatic forms and later of all of Western drama.

You do not need to have read the book in order to comment or discuss; just jump right in and let me know that I'm all wet for whatever reasons! ;-)))

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Techne

Ok, I am going out on limb a little bit with this post, but a long while ago I read a book by Donald Knuth that included the definition of a Greek word, "techne". The word means something like "art" as in craftsmanship, and of course is the root of our modern English word, technology.

I am going to start a new category of post on my Blog, called Techne, but I am going to re-define the word to mean technology selected with practical concerns in mind, with down to earth, practical, even political considerations taken into account; a sort of "all things considered" approach to technology advocatism.

I guess my scripting languages post will become the first of the series. look for more real soon now...

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I Saw the Movie "Troy": Thoughts on East vs. West

Troy

I watched the new movie "Troy" this weekend. I recommend it, it's worth watching; but it highlights a gap between our times and classical Greek times.

Still, it perhaps represents the first in an ancient and continuing series of battles between East and West. The Greeks were in some ways the first cultural expression of what we have come to call Western civilization. And even though Troy was only right next door in Asia Minor, still in this movie, and in the Iliad and the Odyssey, I believe that Troy symbolizes waht we have come to know as the East.

The Greeks invented the Western way of total war, that has so dominated the planet ever since that we see it still today in American military hegemony. The Greeks invented drama and western literature, western philosophy and arts.

I hypothesize a dichotomy (a very Greek thing to do, by the way) between things Western and Eastern, as highlighted by these two lists of opposing (but related) characteristic:

West-East

male-female

individual-community

yin-yang

science-religion (art?)

thought-feeling

sensing-intuition

Of course this is provisional, partial, etc. But there are basic differences between East and West. Maybe I have missed the most important ones, and gotten some wrong. What do you think?

I think that if we are ever to have peace on earth, it will require a peace between East and West, and a marriage combining the best aspects of both.

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