The theatre of democracy

The city of Athens takes its name from its feisty patron deity Athena, the goddess of war and wisdom (among other things). She won the naming rights in a face-off with Poseidon, god of the sea, floods, horses and earthquakes. Athena won because she offered the city an olive tree as a gift while Poseidon’s present was sea water, not much use for drinking or anything else, the citizens reckoned. Athena won the popular mandate in what is construed as one of the earliest demonstrations of people power. And in keeping with the principles of democracy, Poseidon accepted defeat, albeit grudgingly.

Democracy, wisdom and war are linked in a complex web in ancient society. When battles were routine, it was important to have the god of wisdom on your side and hence Athena is the goddess of war and wisdom. Saraswati as the god of knowledge in India was indispensable on the battlefield; without her, generals lost their way. And in the early days of democracy, the rule of the people was primarily the rule of generals and soldiers. Hence the same god or goddess played patron to the system and the city.

The triumph of democracy — be it in the West or in the East — as a rule of the people, by the people and for the people has been a long journey in equality, tolerance and respect for all members of society. Today this form of democracy is facing its toughest test ever. Depending on which side of the liberal-conservative, right-left divide one sits on, democratic principles are being trampled upon with impunity by a majoritarian world or by the privileged elite. And in the cacophonous world of social media, it is often impossible to distinguish the lines that separate one from the other.

Perhaps that is the curse of Socrates. Forced by the citizens of Athens to drink hemlock after his trial (399 BC), Socrates was known to oppose several prominent democratically elected leaders of his city. He argued that it is not majority opinion that yields correct policy but rather genuine knowledge and professional competence, which is possessed by only a few. However, his students argued that his views were wrongly construed as anti-democratic where he was merely stating that crowds with the power to drive policy must possess the wisdom for it.

Agamemnon, the king who led the Greeks to war against the Trojans

Be that as it may, democracy was not an easy sell in any society. But theatre, poetry and myth all played an important role in driving home the implications of a democratic order. In the Oresteia by Aeschylus, for instance, the link between the gods, the old ways of life and the need to move to a new order are woven together quite deftly. From the murder of Agamemnon, the king who led the Greeks to war against the Trojans, to the court trial of his son, Orestes for murdering his mother Clytemnestra (Agamemnon’s wife and killer), the trilogy has Athena establishing the rule of law over the city and its inhabitants.

Agamemnon was killed by his wife upon his return from the war, who is then murdered by her son, Orestes, under orders from Apollo. Orestes has to kill his mother to avenge his father’s death, but that is matricide and hence attracts the wrath of the Furies. Athena steps in to organise a legal trial in a courtroom with 12 Athenian citizens as jury for the first time in the city’s history and then casts the deciding vote that ensures that Orestes is not killed. She also manages to calm the Furies down and changes their names to the Eumenides, or the kindly ones.

In ancient Greece, blood had to be avenged by blood. But as societies evolved, it was important to move away from personal vengeance and bloodbath and the plays served as an important tool in driving the new democratic principles that were being established. Using a goddess as a flag bearer of the new order sealed the deal in a way.

In a documentary on ancient Greece and democracy, Rosie Wyles, lecturer in classical history and literature at the University of Kent, says that for the Greeks at the time, there was no inconsistency in bringing the world of gods and myths to bear upon a principle in contemporary society. It helped drive the message home more effectively instead. Time for present-day society to relook at some of the old ways perhaps as people struggle to find the balance between human rights, nationalist interests, religious beliefs and democratic order.