--- title: "Civilization #9: Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides as Prophets of Democracy transcript" description: "Source-synced transcript archive for Civilization #9: Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides as Prophets of Democracy." source_title: "Civilization #9: Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides as Prophets of Democracy" published_at: "2024-10-17" source_class: "episode" public_url: "https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/" markdown_url: "https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript.md" text_url: "https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript.txt" source_url: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw" data_url: "https://jianglens.com/data/lens/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw.json" --- # Civilization #9: Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides as Prophets of Democracy transcript - Source: [Civilization #9: Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides as Prophets of Democracy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw) - Published: 2024-10-17, day precision - Human transcript page: [/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/) - Episode page: [/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/) - Transcript Markdown: [/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript.md](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript.md) - Transcript text: [/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript.txt](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript.txt) - Episode JSON: [/data/lens/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw.json](https://jianglens.com/data/lens/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw.json) ## Transcript ### 0:00 seg-0001 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0001` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0001](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0001) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=0s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=0s) Okay, so we will do a quick theater today. Now, as a society, every society has a problem. The problem is, how do we organize the thinking of the people within our society? Okay, how do you create an identity? And in modern society, there are three institutions that create a collective identity for society. Okay, so the first would be what? Exactly, thank you, schools, right? So public schools, you're here to learn about the history of China. You're here to learn about the politics of China, right? The idea is to make everyone think alike or have the same basic knowledge and worldview, okay? What's another institution that does this in society? The media, right? Okay, so the media. Okay, so mass media. So when you turn on the TV, when you read a Chinese newspaper, it's presenting a particular worldview. And when you absorb this worldview, you become more Chinese, right? And what's the last institution that helped us form a collective identity in China? ### 1:32 seg-0002 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0002` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0002](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0002) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=92s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=92s) Entertainment, right? Mass culture. This includes, you know, TV shows. This includes movies, okay? This includes books. Does that make sense? So through these three institutions, societies can create a national identity. And depending on your society, you create a different worldview, right? So in America, Americans would want to create an individualistic identity, whereas in China, we want to create a collectivist identity, okay? So what I will show you today is Greek society, Athenian society was doing the same thing, okay? Okay? It was doing it through theater. And the main function of theater was to create an identity as a democratic citizen, okay? Democratic citizen. Why do we have a democracy? What does it mean to live in a democracy? What is your responsibility as a citizen to be in a democracy, okay? So that's what theater does in Athens. So let me give you some background about theater. ### 2:49 seg-0003 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0003` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0003](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0003) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=169s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=169s) Theater was the form, the basic structure of Athenian society. So there are two months of the year when everyone went to the theater, okay? So once in winter and once in the summertime. And they were called the festival of Dionysus, okay? Dionysus was the god, the Greek god of the theater, of art, of music, of society. And they were called the festival of sex, of wine. And so the festival of Dionysus, there were religious elements to it, but it was mainly about watching theater. And through the process of watching theater, Athenians created a national identity that they all believed in, okay? So this happened twice a year for one month. And it was free for everyone. So it was the rich who paid for all the plays, too. To be performed. And that's how the rich, their aristocratic families, won favor from the people. In fact, Athenians considered going to theater the greatest birthright of being an Athenian, okay? ### 4:05 seg-0004 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0004` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0004](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0004) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=245s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=245s) That was the privilege and the right of being an Athenian. It was the highest honor in Athens to participate in the festival as a playwright. And every festival, there'd be two, there'd be two competitions. There'd be two competitors, okay? And they were called the protagonist, okay? And antagonist. So today, we know that protagonist means the hero of a novel. Antagonist means the villain of a novel. But back then, all this meant was, you were the first competitor, and then antagonist was the second competitor, okay? And the entire point of theater was to promote democracy in Athens. And they did that through many mechanisms. First of all, whoever won the festival was decided by popular vote, okay? The entire process of theater was democratic. So there are no professional actors in Athens. People were selected from the community to act out the play. And everyone participated in watching the play. In fact, the largest amphitheater, these are all amphitheaters, outdoor theaters in Athens, could hold 10,000 people, okay? ### 5:28 seg-0005 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0005` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0005](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0005) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=328s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=328s) 10 to 15,000 people. The maximum population of Athens was 50,000 people, okay? So this is a huge community event that brought everyone together. And they loved the theater. The three most famous playwrights in Athens at that time were Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, okay? And these were really playwrights, poets, but they were first and foremost prophets of democracy. They were teachers of democracy who told the Athenian people, why do we have democracy? Why is democracy good? And how should we protect and promote our democracy? All right, so in their plays, the very heart and soul of their plays was about the promotion of democracy in Athens. And these three were the most admired of all the playwrights. Everyone at that time wanted to be a playwright because that was the highest honor in Athens, okay? ### 6:39 seg-0006 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0006` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0006](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0006) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=399s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=399s) So to win first place at the Festival of Dionysus is like winning the Nobel Prize in physics today, okay? So what I will do now is go over the most famous plays so we can understand how they promoted democracy through their artwork. But are there any questions so far before I continue? ### 7:10 seg-0007 - Speaker: UNKNOWN - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0007` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0007](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0007) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=430s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=430s) Yes, it's an amphitheater. ### 7:20 seg-0008 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0008` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0008](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0008) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=440s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=440s) Okay, so that's a great question about acoustics. We call this acoustics. So how the theater was designed was like this, okay? You have the stage, and then the theater was designed like this, like an oval, okay? So in other words, the sound was captured in like a cavern in a cave, so there was resonance. But obviously, you were required, okay? You were required to shout out the words slowly so everyone can hear, okay? That's the first thing. Second thing is these plays were so popular, everyone memorized the lines, do you understand? So they already knew the content of the plays, but they wanted to participate in the community aspect of the play. It doesn't make sense. So the two things is the theater was designed in a way so that sound traveled very freely. Okay? So you can hear it in the theater, so everyone can hear, but also, everyone memorized the lines anyway, okay? ### 8:18 seg-0009 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0009` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0009](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0009) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=498s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=498s) Does that make sense? Okay, great question. All right, any more questions before I continue? All right, so let's talk about Ishulis, okay? Because he was really the first of the major playwrights. And he wrote a play called Oresteia. And I will explain to you the plot of the Oresteia before I explain to you the meaning and the interpretation of the play, okay? So all these plays comes from Greek mythology, because everyone knows mythology. And so what the playwrights did was they took material from Greek mythology and packaged it in a contemporary context to explore modern themes, okay? All right, so Oresteia, the play is set in a place called Argos. And during the Mycenaean period, okay, so this is before the Bronze Age collapsed, Mycenaean Greece, Argos was the most powerful city in Mycenaean Greece. And when the king died, he left the throne to his eldest son named Atreides, okay? ### 9:29 seg-0010 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0010` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0010](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0010) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=569s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=569s) But often what happens in these cases is the younger brother refuses to accept the authority of the eldest, and he rebels, okay? So war was fought over the Argos throne, Atreides won, and then his brother comes and begs, for forgiveness. And Atreides, being the king, says, you're my brother, I'm a benevolent king, so I will forgive you. And to show that I forgive you, I will host for you a banquet and a feast, okay? And so the younger brother is very happy about this. But during the feast, before the feast, what Atreides does is he kills all the sons, all his younger brother, and he cooks them. And during the feast, he feeds it to his younger brother. And when his younger brother finds out about this, okay, he dies after this, but before he dies, he curses Atreides and says, curse upon you and your house, because a feast is a contract between you and the gods, okay? ### 10:43 seg-0011 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0011` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0011](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0011) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=643s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=643s) When you hold a feast, you promise to God, this feast will be peaceful. And so people trust you and come and eat your food. So when you poison your food like this, you are in the son of the gods, so I curse you and your entire house, okay? And then he dies. But before he dies, his son, Agittas, okay, Agittas, escapes, okay? So his only remaining son is Agittas. And Agittas is responsible now for eventually the death of his family, okay? All right. So Atreides becomes king. He has two sons who inherit his throne, okay? The first is Agamemnon, who becomes king of Argos, and he is the king of kings. He is the one who will start the Trojan War and launch an invasion of Troy, okay? And his brother is Menelaus, who becomes king of Sparta. And they both marry sisters, okay? They marry two sisters. Agamemnon marries Cladamestra, and Menelaus marries Helen, okay? ### 11:49 seg-0012 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0012` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0012](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0012) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=709s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=709s) This is important because, remember, Helen runs away to Troy, and Menelaus tells his brother, Agamemnon, gets upset, and they agree to organize this massive Greek army to invade, destroy Troy, and get Helen back, okay? But when they're about to set sail for Troy, there's no wind, and Agamemnon knows the gods are not happy with them, okay? So Agamemnon consults a fortune teller who tells him how to win the favor of the gods. He tells Agamemnon, you have to sacrifice your daughter, Iphigenia, and at this point, Agamemnon should be like, I'm not gonna do that. I'm not gonna sacrifice my daughter, Iphigenia, so that I could go to Troy, and why do I wanna go to Troy in the first place, right? Helen's not my wife, it's Menelaus' wife. Not my problem, right? I should just give this up, because obviously the gods don't want me to go. That's what he should do, but instead, he's like, fine, I'll sacrifice my daughter, okay? ### 13:00 seg-0013 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0013` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0013](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0013) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=780s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=780s) So he kills his daughter, Iphigenia. The wind is released from the skies, and they set sail to Troy, okay? And we know what happens. They're there for 10 years, and they end up destroying Troy. Who's really pissed now? Who's really angry now? Who's really angry about all this? Cladamestra, right? The wife of Agamemnon, because their daughter has been killed for no reason, okay? So Cladamestra, while Agamemnon is away for 10 years, she plots her revenge. What she does is she finds Aegytus, and they become lovers, okay? And they plot how to avenge the death of Iphigenia. So 10 years later, when Agamemnon comes back from Troy victorious, Cladamestra kills him, okay? And she makes Aegytus now king of Argos. The problem is that Agamemnon has a son named Orestes, and Orestes, during this time, was exiled from Argos, okay? And now Orestes, upon hearing the death of his father, he's now honor -bound to kill his mother. ### 14:28 seg-0014 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0014` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0014](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0014) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=868s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=868s) Now, obviously, he doesn't want to do that, okay? So he's struggling emotionally about what to do. So he consults Apollo, who is basically the god of justice. And Apollo tells him, you are right and just to want to avenge your father, okay? So Orestes goes back to Argos, and he kills his mother, Cladamestra, and Aegytus. And now he's king of Argos. The problem now is, because he's killed his mother, there are these demons called the Furies who come up from the underworld, and they begin to haunt him, okay? They're torturing him. And Orestes becomes so tortured, he runs away from Argos. And he's trying to run away from the Furies, but the Furies refuse to let him go. And Orestes says to them, I killed my mother in order to avenge my father. That was the right and just thing to do. And the Furies say to him, we are old gods. ### 15:37 seg-0015 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0015` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0015](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0015) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=937s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=937s) We are responsible for maintaining order and structure in the universe. One thing that you cannot do is kill your parents, especially your mother. By doing so, you are breaking the order of the universe. Therefore, we will haunt you for the rest of eternity. We will not let you go, okay? Orestes goes, talks to Apollo, and Apollo tries to intercede on behalf of Orestes. And the Furies say to him, you are a young god. You are a new god. We are the old gods. We are much older than you are. We are much wiser than you are. You have no authority over us. We don't care about justice. We don't care about the laws of men. We care about the laws of the universe. And Orestes has broken the laws of the universe, okay? So now Orestes is in a lot of trouble. And so, in an act of desperation, the last thing he does is he runs to Athens, where Athena is. ### 16:39 seg-0016 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0016` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0016](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0016) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=999s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=999s) And Athena is the goddess of wisdom. So Orestes tells Athena, the goddess, his story, and he begs for her help, okay? And Athena takes pity on Orestes, and she says, basically, I'm going to convene a jury, okay, of 500 Athenian citizens. And you will tell, you will make your case before them. The fairies will make their case before them, and they will decide whether or not you are guilty, okay? So both Orestes and the fairies make their case, and morally speaking, both cases are compelling, okay? Right? Because even though Clytemnestra killed Agamemnon, the fact of the matter is, Agamemnon was an asshole, right? Agamemnon, killed the daughter for no particular reason. And then he went off to Troy and killed a lot of people for, like, no reason as well, okay? So both cases were very strong. And so at the end of the day, 250 Athenians decided Orestes was guilty, 250 decided he was innocent, okay? ### 17:55 seg-0017 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0017` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0017](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0017) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=1075s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=1075s) So it's what we call a hung jury, okay? It was divided evenly. So what then happens now is, Athena comes in and says that, because you are deadlocked, I will be the deciding vote. I vote in favor of Orestes, okay? So now Orestes is free to go home and live his life in peace. Now the fairies say to her, no, no, no, no, no, no. We don't accept your laws, Athena, okay? And then Athena says to them, fine, you guys. I'll make you a deal, okay? Right now, you're demons, and everyone fears and hates you, but I will now make you stand for justice, truth, and righteousness so that we, the Athenian people, will worship you and admire you, okay? And the fairies say, okay, that's a pretty good deal, okay? So the fairies accept this deal, and Orestes is allowed to go home, and the story ends, okay? ### 18:58 seg-0018 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0018` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0018](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0018) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=1138s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=1138s) Does that make sense? So that's the story. So what's the relevance of this story? Well, for Athens, it tells them where democracy comes from, okay, right? Athena, the goddess herself, gave democracy to Athens, right? But it also tells them what a tremendous gift this is, because by giving the Athenian people democracy, it basically gave them the power of gods, right? Because when you have these 500 jurors, each of them has the same power and authority of the god Athena herself. Athena can only cast one vote, right? Okay? And so what this is telling the Athenian people is the gods gave you democracy, honor them by taking it very seriously, okay? When you vote, do so very seriously, because when you vote in a good way, meaning you've fought very clearly over your decision, then you bring justice, truth, you bring justice and truth and righteousness into the world, okay? ### 20:13 seg-0019 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0019` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0019](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0019) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=1213s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=1213s) Does that make sense? And that's why I say Aeschylus is a prophet of democracy, because through this play, he is telling the Athenian people where democracy comes from, what's important, and what they can do to ensure democracy stays in Athens. Okay? Any questions so far about this? All right? Okay. Let's move on to Sophocles, okay? So, Sophocles wrote many plays. His most famous is the Oedipus Trilogy, okay? Oedipus Trilogy. Now, you may have heard of the Oedipus Trilogy, but I will summarize the story for you, okay? So what happened is, in the city of Thebes, a king and his wife, they have a young son, and as is the custom at that time, they go see a fortune teller. And the fortune teller tells them, your son is going to kill you, the father, and marry the mother. And the king freaks out, and he's like, I don't want that. So he tells, he orders his soldier to go out and kill the baby, okay? ### 21:26 seg-0020 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0020` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0020](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0020) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=1286s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=1286s) And the soldier takes the baby, and again, it's just a baby, like, you know, maybe a few days, a few weeks old. He goes out in the woods. He goes out in the woods, and he's supposed to kill the baby. But he's a soldier, and he feels it would be dishonorable to kill a baby. So what he does is, he just leaves the baby in the woods, and runs away, thinking maybe the wolves will come and eat the baby, okay? Instead, a shepherd from another city comes and finds the baby, and he takes care of the baby, okay? He goes home. In this city, the king and the queen have no child. They have no son. They have no heir, okay? So the shepherd presents the baby to the king, and the king names him Oedipus. And Oedipus grows up to the point to be a very strong, very noble, very handsome young man. ### 22:20 seg-0021 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0021` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0021](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0021) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=1340s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=1340s) When he is of age, he goes and talks to a fortune teller. And the fortune teller tells him, I am sorry, but you are cursed. You are cursed to kill your father and marry your mother. So Oedipus freaks out and says, I don't want to do that. I don't want to kill my parents who love me. So he runs away from his city, okay? And he's going to Thebes. And on the way to Thebes, he gets into an argument with an old man and his friends. And he kills all of them, okay? And this old man happens to be his real father, the king of Thebes. He goes into Thebes, and everyone's crying. And Oedipus asks what the problem is. And the citizens there tell him, well, our king is dead, and also there's a Sphinx, an evil demon who is haunting us, okay? ### 23:17 seg-0022 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0022` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0022](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0022) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=1397s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=1397s) So Oedipus volunteers to challenge the Sphinx to a duel. And the Sphinx asks Oedipus a riddle. If Oedipus can get it right, the Sphinx will go away. But if Oedipus gets it wrong, then the Sphinx will eat Oedipus, okay? And the riddle is, what walks in the morning with four legs? What walks in the afternoon with two legs? And then what walks in the evening with three legs? And the answer is, black man, okay? So it's a very famous riddle. Oedipus gets it right, and the Sphinx loses, and he flies away, okay? The people of Thebes are so thankful, they make him king of Thebes. If you're king of Thebes, you marry the queen of Thebes, okay? So he's done this. He's married his mother, and he killed his father, okay? 20 years later, there's a plague in Thebes. And Oedipus, now the king, knows that somehow he's angered the gods. So he ### 24:25 seg-0023 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0023` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0023](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0023) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=1465s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=1465s) talks to a fortune teller, and the fortune teller tells him, well, the gods are angry at you because you've killed your father, and you've married your mother, and you've had children of your mother, okay? So all your children are products of incest. So the gods are angry at you. So what Oedipus does is, he blinds himself, and he exiles himself, okay? To die somewhere else, okay? Now the problem now is, who inherits the throne? So his eldest son is supposed to inherit the throne, but he has another son named Polyneses. Polyneses. Who rebels, and he fights for the throne. The two brothers kill themselves in battle. Okay? They kill themselves, fight each other, and now Creon, who is the brother, to the dead queen, the queen has killed herself, okay? He now inherits the throne. Okay? And the first thing he does is announce that the dead king will be given a state funeral. Okay? ### 25:33 seg-0024 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0024` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0024](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0024) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=1533s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=1533s) We will honor him. But Polyneses, who rebelled against the king, and who caused all this suffering and misery in the world, he will not be given a funeral. He will not be buried. And the reason why is, Greeks believe that only by burying the dead can they find peace in the afterworld. Okay? So it's a very serious thing not to bury the dead. Antigone, who is the daughter of Oedipus, and the sister of Polyneses, she finds out about this, and she thinks this is unjust. Polyneses has done a lot of bad things, but no one deserves this. Okay? So she secretly buries Polyneses. Creon finds out and demands Antigone to be arrested. And Creon says to her, how dare you defy my laws? How dare you disrespect my orders? And Antigone says to him, your laws are unjust. And Creon says, the laws are the laws. Without laws, there will be complete chaos. And Antigone responds by saying, human laws must conform to justice. ### 26:55 seg-0025 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0025` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0025](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0025) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=1615s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=1615s) There are these laws in the universe that are divine, unwritten, and immutable. And we must respect these laws. Human laws cannot override these laws of justice. Okay? And this makes Creon very angry. And so he sentences her to death for disobeying him. Okay? The problem is, Antigone is the fiancee of Haman, who is Creon's son. So Haman, the prince, comes and begs his father to relent. And Haman says, can you please forgive Antigone? And Creon thinks his son has betrayed him. Right? Your love for Antigone has blinded you from seeing the truth, from doing what is right. And Haman responds and says, father, I'm not doing this for Antigone. I'm doing this for you. And the reason why is, the people of Thebes fully support Antigone. They think she is a hero. They think she is just and right to want to bury her brother. ### 28:08 seg-0026 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0026` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0026](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0026) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=1688s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=1688s) They think you are a tyrant, father. And Creon says, should I obey the mob? Should I, the king, listen to the mob? And then, Haman says, no, you should listen to what is right and just. Creon gets very angry and kicks Haman out. But then, Creon has a change of heart and he doesn't know if he's done the right thing. So he talks to a fortune teller. And the fortune teller tells him, Antigone is right in this situation. You have to save her. If you don't save her, if she dies, the gods will be very angry at you. And that scares Creon. So Creon and his guards, they look for Antigone. But when they find Antigone, she's in a cave and she's dead. She's killed herself because she doesn't want to be executed. And weeping over the body of Antigone is Haman. He's crying. He's so depressed and sad. And Creon sees his son crying and he tries to put his hand on him and console him. ### 29:21 seg-0027 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0027` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0027](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0027) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=1761s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=1761s) The moment that Haman sees his father, he becomes so angry, he lunges at him with his sword. Okay? But he misses. And when he finds out he has failed to kill his father, in his anger and in his grief, he kills himself. So both Antigone and Haman are now dead. And when Haman's mother finds out about this, she kills herself too. And now Creon is alone. He's alone in the world. Okay? Does that make sense? Okay? So, does this story make sense to you? All right. Now, what does this story mean? Well, remember, Athens is a democracy. And so, this is a message that's very much anti -king. Right? Like, let's not have a king because kings do stupid things. And why do kings do stupid things? Because of hubris. The problem with kings, with monarchy, with power, is people develop hubris, arrogance, right? ### 30:26 seg-0028 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0028` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0028](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0028) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=1826s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=1826s) Violent, excessive arrogance. And that makes them do stupid things. Like, listen, like, refuse to listen to what is right and good and just. That's why kingship is a bad thing. That's why we, Athenians, have democracy and not a king. Okay? So that's the first message. The second message is basically, the world works when the old give way to the young. Okay? The old must always listen to the young. So, remember that in the Aristeia, the play ends with the Furies, the old gods, giving way to the new gods who bring justice into the world. Okay? The Oedipus trilogy ends in tragedy because the old king refuses to give way to young people. Okay? So the other message is, society works. There is truth and justice in the world when the old give way to the young. Right? So those are the two main messages of this play. Any questions so far? Before I move on. ### 31:47 seg-0029 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0029` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0029](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0029) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=1907s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=1907s) Oh, that's a great question. Why do people trust the fortune tellers? Because remember, everyone's religious. So the fortune tellers speak on behalf of the gods. Okay? They're called seers or prophets or uh, divine need horse. Okay? So their job, what makes them special is, they're able to interpret the will of the gods. And that's why the kings listen to them. Okay? And remember, this is, for most of human history, um, humans were extremely religious people, including the Greeks. The Greeks were especially incredibly religious. Okay? Does that make sense? All right. Okay. Any more questions before I move on? All right. Let's talk about, um, Euripides. Okay? And Euripides was, he's the youngest of these three. And he's the least, he was the least prized or the least respected in Athens when he was alive. Okay? And the reason why is, as you can see, there was the, uh, in the Oedipus Rex, um, trilogy, they celebrate Athenian democracy. ### 33:07 seg-0030 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0030` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0030](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0030) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=1987s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=1987s) But Euripides, he criticized Athenian democracy. All right? So, the example is, in 415 BCE, and this is the height of the Peloponnesian War, okay? He put on a play called Trojan Woman. And this play is about the aftermath of the Trojan War. So, at the end of the Trojan War, all the Trojan men are killed. Right? And the custom is to enslave the Trojan, uh, woman. Okay? So, uh, one character is Hecuba. And Hecuba is the queen of Troy. And Priam, um, her husband, he, he's been killed. Okay? Hecuba is a tragic figure because, um, she's seen all her sons die. And then, one of her daughters has been sacrificed, killed, uh, for Achilles. Achilles died in, in the war. And Achilles is dead. So, they sacrificed a young girl who's a princess of Troy, Hecuba's daughter, in order to accompany him in the afterworld. So, either, uh, so all her daughters have either been killed by the Greeks or they've been enslaved. ### 34:21 seg-0031 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0031` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0031](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0031) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=2061s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=2061s) Okay? And been forced to be the mistress or concubine of the Greek, uh, heroes like Odysseus. Okay? Then you have Andromache. Andromache um, is the wife of Hector, the prince of Troy who died at the hands of Achilles. Okay? So, she saw the death of her husband and she has a young baby. And this young baby is only a few months old. But, he's a boy. And the law at that time is all boys must be killed because the Greeks fear if he goes up and he's a, and he's the son of Hector, right? He might want revenge. Okay? So, Andromache must witness the Greeks killing um, her son who's only, again, only a few months old. And then, and then Hecuba is dragged away to be a slave, to be basically a mistress, a lover of a Greek general, Odysseus. ### 35:22 seg-0032 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0032` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0032](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0032) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=2122s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=2122s) And so, Hecuba must portionally bury the dead child. Okay? And so, it is a play that made everyone in Athens weep. What makes this play powerful is that the year before, 416 BCE, and this is, again, during the height of the Pelagian War, Athens was attacking everyone, okay, including Melos, an island called Melos. And when they attacked Melos, they killed all the men and enslaved all the women. So, in many ways, the children and women is a direct response to what happened in Melos. Okay? Euripides is telling the Athenian people, do you see how terrible we are? We are a terrible people. Do you see all the hurt and suffering we've brought onto the world because of our empire? Okay? Now, obviously, the Athenian people didn't like this play, and so he lost in the competition to this obscure nobody, okay? And Euripides got really angry about all this. He was very bitter about all this. So he exiled himself to Macedonia, okay, where he died. ### 36:37 seg-0033 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0033` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0033](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0033) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=2197s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=2197s) Okay? He died away from Athens. And his last play, he wrote his last play called, the Bacchae in Macedonia. And after he died, his friends brought this play back to Athens. And this play, Bacchae, is considered his masterpiece, his best play. Okay? So again, what I will do now is I will explain to you the plot of the Bacchae, and then I will explain what the interpretation is, okay? All right. So, there's a god, there's a god named Dionysus. Another name for Dionysus is Bacchus, okay? So, the Bacchae are people who worship Dionysus, the god of theater, of music, of festivals, of wine, of sex, okay? Now, Dionysus, the legend is, he was born in Thebes to a Theban princess. And his father was Zeus, the king of the gods, okay? Zeus likes to go around and rape women, okay? Dionysus. But when the princess of Thebes announced that she's been impregnated by Zeus, no one believed her. ### 37:55 seg-0034 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0034` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0034](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0034) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=2275s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=2275s) Everyone laughed at her, okay? And the people of Thebes refused to worship Dionysus. Now, Dionysus is worshipped all around the world, including in India, as far away as India. So, Dionysus has always been bitter about all this, okay? He's bitter about the fact that his wife, his mother was insulted by the Theban people. He's also bitter about the fact that Theban people don't pay homage to him, okay? So, he plots his revenge. What he does is he disguises himself as a wanderer, okay? A stranger. And he makes the woman of Thebes insane, okay? He makes them worship him. And what they do is they run off to the mountains where they have sex orgies, okay? They're having, like, sex. They're doing all these crazy things in the worship of Dionysus. The king of Thebes, his name is Pentheus, Pentheus, he hears about this. He hears about all this chaos. ### 38:59 seg-0035 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0035` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0035](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0035) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=2339s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=2339s) And he decides, you know what? I'm going to get my army, go in the mountains and kill everyone, okay? Because the Bacchae are too disruptive. They are amoral, okay? And he's about to do this, but then Dionysus, the wanderer, tells him, hey, I'll make you a deal. Don't kill the Bacchae. I want to take you into the mountains and together we can watch them have sex together, okay? We can watch their sex parties. And Pentheus says, okay, that's interesting, okay? So together the two go into the mountains and they hide behind a rock as the Bacchae are about to worship Dionysus. Pentheus is hiding behind a rock and he can't really see that clearly, okay? But he's really excited. He really wants to see the Bacchae in action. So Dionysus says, why don't you climb that tree and that tree will give you a better view of all the action, okay? ### 40:02 seg-0036 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0036` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0036](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0036) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=2402s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=2402s) So Pentheus climbs the tree and he hangs by the branch, okay? And he has a very clear view of the Bacchae who are in a circle. Then what Dionysus does is he lowers the branch so like Pentheus is now in a circle of the woman. And Dionysus commands the woman to kill Pentheus, to rip his body apart, okay? And when the woman in that circle is actually Pentheus' mother, all right, okay? So Pentheus dies in the mountains. The people of Thebes are now very anxious. The king has disappeared. The women of Thebes are in the mountains. Then Pentheus' mother comes back and she's running, she's really excited, okay? And she's holding the head of Pentheus. And she's shouting to the people of Thebes, look how wonderful I am. Look how brave and courageous and strong I am because I'm holding a lion's head. By my bare hands, with my bare hands, I killed a lion and ripped the head off his body. ### 41:12 seg-0037 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0037` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0037](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0037) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=2472s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=2472s) Here it is, okay? And it takes a very long time for the people of Thebes to convince her, that's not a lion's head, man, that's your son's head, okay? So this is an extremely weird play, okay? Very weird. And there are different interpretations of what this means. And I'll tell you my interpretation, right? So think about this image, okay? A mother holds the son's head in her hand and she's celebrating how brave she is, right? Now, I think this is a metaphor for war and empire. And the reason why is, war and empire happens when old people send their children to die, to fight and die for their glory. Does that make sense? Right? So this image of a mother holding the son, holding her son's head and shouting to the whole world, look how brave I am, look how great I am, okay? ### 42:27 seg-0038 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0038` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0038](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0038) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=2547s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=2547s) It's really a metaphor or an image for war and empire, okay? Because remember, the Pelagian War is really about building empire, right? Athens wants to build its empire and it's sacrificing its young people in order to accomplish this. So the Bacchae is a direct criticism of the Athenian Empire and it's direct criticism of the Pelagian War, okay? Does that make sense? All right. So some further evidence to support this interpretation is in 431 BCE, the Pelagian War between Sparta and Athens started. And about a year afterwards, a lot of Athenian men are dead. And it is the custom at that time to honor the war dead by holding a huge state funeral, okay? So the state Athens will pay for the burial of all its war dead. During this huge funeral, about Pericles later on, but Pericles, he's basically the first citizen of Athens, which basically means he's the king of Athens, okay? And he gives his funeral oration during this time. ### 43:50 seg-0039 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0039` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0039](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0039) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=2630s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=2630s) And the funeral oration is considered by many to be the greatest speech ever made, okay? It is beautiful. It is extremely eloquent. It's very powerful. In the speech, he says this, Athens is the greatest place ever. And that's because we celebrate excellence. Athens is a place where anyone can come and through hard work, through talent, can achieve greatness. We are an open, tolerant, cosmopolitan people. We have a democracy where everyone can participate in the civic life, the political life of Athens. That's what makes Athens glorious. Therefore, we must protect our democracy through war. It is good that the young go out and fight for our empire, our democracy, because that's what gives meaning to their lives. These men who are dead before us, they are and defending our democracy. And we should have all young men go and fight for us. OK? That's a speech. That's literally what he says. So, ### 45:16 seg-0040 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0040` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0040](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0040) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=2716s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=2716s) Euripides was probably in the audience, right, because everyone was in the audience when the speech was given, OK? And he reimagines his funeral as the mother holding the son's head and saying to the world, look how brave I am. OK? What Pericles is really saying is, we're an empire, an empire is so good because it brings glory to the old people. And so, the young must protect the glory of the old people by dying in a war. Does that make sense? OK? But, if you think about it, OK, even though Euripides is criticizing Athenian democracy, what he's really doing is also trying to defend Athenian democracy. Because a democracy only happens when citizens are engaged in a process of argumentation, debate, and self -reflection. And so, what Euripides is really trying to do is put a mirror before Athenian people, and he's saying to Athenian people, look how awful we are. We can do better. ### 46:35 seg-0041 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0041` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0041](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0041) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=2795s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=2795s) And that's what a democracy really is. It's an open and honest discussion about how we can be better. OK? And again, these three, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides are considered the three greatest playwrights in Athenian history. And these plays are actually still performed today. OK? So the Orestia, Oedipus Rex, and the Bacchae are still performed in theaters around the world today. That's how amazing they were. So, any questions? Oh, OK, great question, OK? So, the Bacchae, how do other scholars interpret the Bacchae, right? OK, so there are different interpretations, but the most common interpretation is it is a play that explores the idea of religious yield, religious devotion, or religious fanaticism, OK? Does that make sense? That's the most common interpretation. This play is really about the power of religion and faith and how it drives us into madness, OK? That's the most common interpretation. Another interpretation is, well, Dionysus is the villain, OK? ### 48:18 seg-0042 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0042` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0042](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0042) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=2898s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=2898s) He's not really the villain, but he's the main focus of this play. And Dionysus in his life, Euripides was participating in the festival of Dionysus hoping to win first place, right? To be the protagonist, to win first place. But most of the times he lost because he kept on offending the Athenian people, right? So another interpretation is this play, Bacchae, it's a satire on the power of Dionysus and of theatre in general, OK? It's a direct criticism of the festival of Dionysus. And what Euripides is really saying is, the festival of Dionysus, it's not about art and reflection and democracy. It's really just a wild sex party that's trying to please everyone, OK? So you can also interpret this as a direct criticism of democracy itself. Democracy is just a wild sex party, right? So these are the two major interpretations that it is, that Bacchae, it's about the power and dangers of religious devotion, fanaticism, OK? ### 49:43 seg-0043 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0043` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0043](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0043) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=2983s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=2983s) And also the play, Bacchae, it's a direct attack on the idea of theater itself and democracy, OK? But I don't see it that way. I think the most likely explanation for me is, it is a direct criticism of empire, OK? And you can believe whatever you want. And that's the power of Athenian theater. There are different ways to interpret it, OK? So even today, modern audiences are still amazed and inspired by Great, great question. OK, so revenge. OK, you're right in that all these plays have the idea of revenge, OK? And the reason why is if you think about human motivation, what really drives us, right? What really drives us to violence? Well, it's revenge, OK? So revenge is the main plot device we use to drive action. It's what motivates us to do violent things. And that, that's why throughout all these plays, revenge is a common theme, OK? But a very, very common, but another very common theme is the idea of hubris, right? ### 51:14 seg-0044 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0044` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0044](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0044) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=3074s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=3074s) Hubris. Arrogance. And this is what the Greek tried, this is what the Greek playwrights focused a lot on. What they discovered is things go awry in society when the leaders, when the elite, when the kings, they develop hubris, OK? And it leads to bad judgement. But what they also discovered is hubris is just a part of human nature, OK? If you put someone in a position of power, he or she will always felt hubris. So, hubris is basically the most common theme throughout all these plays. And you're right in that revenge is also a very common theme as well. So yeah, there are these common themes. And the reason why is these playwrights, these poets, they're trying to explore what it means to be human. They're trying to decipher the essence of being human, OK? They're trying to look into the human heart and trying to figure out what makes us human, basically. ### 52:20 seg-0045 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0045` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0045](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0045) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=3140s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=3140s) And all humans are alike, OK? OK? Any more questions? Yeah, the Athenians, OK, so the thing about Euripides was that we today, scholars will all agree all these three, Euripides was the most talented, meaning his use of poetry, his use of metaphors, imagery, it was the most imaginative, OK? We also agree that he is the most shocking, OK? His ideas, the way he presents things, it is the most visual and imaginative, OK? So, in terms of peer talent, he's the most talented. But, when he was alive, OK, he was an extremely arrogant person who believed theater should be about awakening people, should be about challenging people's sense of reality, OK? It should be about education and edification. And these people tend to be hated by contemporaries, OK? But, after they're dead, later generations respect them, respect them more. So, even though Cho Jung Won did not win first place, the Bac Chai did win first place. ### 53:53 seg-0046 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw@transcript:v1#seg-0046` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0046](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-96hzwlozdhw/transcript/#seg-0046) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=3233s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96hzWlozdHw&t=3233s) And that's because well, Euribides was dead, OK? And they were able to see the genius and imagination of the Bac Chai much more closely, OK? Does that make sense? OK? So, Euribides basically had his image, his reputation was rejuvenated after his death. But during his lifetime, he was despised by a lot of people, OK? People respected his genius, but they didn't like the fact that he was so arrogant and candid, OK? And that's true for most of human history where, you know, if you are a controversial writer, you are not respected by contemporaries, but after you're dead, people appreciate your genius, because you are really famous writers. Any more questions? These are great questions, by the way. OK, great. So, next class, we will do Socrates and Plato, OK?