The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1905-01-21
THE ANCIENT GREEKS
THEY WERE MASTERS IN THE
SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT.

titudc, but the Individual Could
Not Stand PrOHpcrity-One Brilliant
Exception Il the Rule.
The statues and literary master
pieces of Hellas, whose themes were
mainly legendary, are responsible for
the impression that the ancient Greek
was cast in the heroic mold. The he
roic Greek was a turbulent, master
full, egotistic demigod. He had no
counterpart in any historical figure AZ
cept Alexander the Great. who deem
ed himself a descendant of Achilles.
the sen nymph's son, and acted very
much like him.
The Greek of history was an uncom-
monty consistent republican. In the
tolerance he gave to individualism and
the capacity he showed-inside his city
state-for collective action he carried
the science of government and Of pO-
litical self control in some respects to
a height from which all subsequent
history is q descending slope. While
maintaining democratic standards, he
did not enforce nor bow to that tyran-
nou and narrowing public opinion
which in II wv time threatens to
cast all mel in much the same mold.
He found IL place in his scheme of
things for diversities of natural bent
for the effeminate dress of Alcibiades,
<I1 +,,J> ~ n;oro,oc tl,n ,.oi1i,,rc nP
Clebn, the austerities Of A%ristides, the
satire of Aristophanes. the arrogance
of Phocion. The democracy Of Athens
was " the democracy Of the dead
level. 1t meant opportunity. not a
steam roller.
AS creditable a story is told on tie
side of collective action. Greek politics
implied, as Mahaffy has observed. the
reasonable discussion Of the public. the
final decision of the majority, the sub
mission of magistrates and rulers to
the will Of the people," The Greek
''multitude' was tolerant. patient. 10y
al to it's leaders and capable, as it
showed in the ~Peloponncsian war, of
making exemplary sacrifices and Of in
itiating and maintaining Il course OF
action for a pvotracted period. The
whole population of Athens, for in
stance. abandoned the country and
took to their ships, leaving the enemy
to destroy their city and their posses
sions While they sought him and finally
conquered him OH the sea. For that
fortitude it would be impossible to find
q modern parallel.
The civic qualities are uppermost in
the great period Of Greek history-a
keen appreciation Of humor hat acted
as Il safety valve to the turbulence Of
assemblies, an aptitude at public
speaking which was useful in battle as
in council. Every free Greek was ut
once a legislator, an orator. a potential
admiral or general.
There was n capital defect in the
Hellenic character. The individual
Greek could not stand prosperity. AS
Grote put it, 1.-The effects Of a copious
draft Of glory on the temperament of
an enterprising and ambitious Greek
were perfectly m%addening." He was a
good loser. but nearly always a bad
winner. Almost every conspicuous
Greek of history became at the end Il
corruptionist OF a traitor. Miltiades.
victor Of Marathon. became a pirate
and died i'll Imprisonment. Themisto-
cles was negotiating to betray the Gre
clan armament to the great king the
day before he destroyed the Persian
fleet at Salamis. Alcibiades betrayed
in turn the Athenians. the Spartans
banished for embezZlement. The SYRIA
cusan leaders became tyrants when
could. OF all Greeks only limo
leon, the Corinthian who freed SYRIA
cuse. was at once honorable. fortunate
and acclaimed.
Although the Hellenic world fringed
he Mediterranean and the Black seas
from end to end. the significant politi-
cal history Of Greece is almost alto
the history Of Athens and Spar
ia. The great places Of heroic legend.
Ithaca and Pylos and Phthia and Ar
cadia and Argos and C%olcyra. the
Phaeakes' land" figure but family i'll
>aC AIStol 1CIl pSliOu. tIiCt was OliS
barren rock, Arcadia Il recruiting
ground for rustic mepcenaries and Ar
,os and Corcyra and such states as Ae-
Ola, Messena. Thessaly and the Achae-
IN League ancient prototypes of the {.
ude and turbulent Balkan states of to-
lay. The transitory pre-eminence of I
Chebes was the pre-eminence of it's ]
ne great soldier. Epaminondas.
Between them Spartans and Atheni-
ms wrote the great story of political t
'reece. The Spartans were more a t
brotherhood than a state, the q
zen dining in barracks and visiting /
heir families by stealth and all free G
despising wealth and any toll ex- c
.pt that of the gymnasium, the drill
round and the battlefield. They were q
proud, SHY, self contained. home v
eeping people, so i'll at ease and un- s
racticed in public speech that the q
'ord '%'laconic" has become Il proverb. c
heir cautious political sense. their II
discipline. their long lived dy-
asty and their u%hbToi7en maintenance
{ one form OF cOya1H;Hent stA,rneE