A Repeat of History?

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A Repeat of History?

In 481 BC, Xerxes, the Great King of Persia, set out on a military expedition against the city states of Greece, and specifically against Athens. Nine years earlier, that city state had defeated the forces of Xerxes’ predecessor, Darius, at Marathon and sent the Persians limping home.

According to the historian Herodotus, Xerxes amassed a force of over 6 million, including baggage carriers, cooks, slaves, and various other attendants necessary to address the needs of the Great King’s massive land and naval forces, which numbered over a million. With that kind of power behind him, thought Xerxes, he couldn’t lose. Despite warnings from Demaratus and others who knew well the ability of the Athenians and Spartans to defend their homeland, Xerxes drove on, and, of course, was eventually defeated at Salamis and Plataea, after winning only a pyrrhic victory at Thermopylae.

What interests Herodotus in all this is no less than the character of Xerxes himself, for it was the inherent belief of the king that massive power is the answer to everything. Greatness, he thought, had been bestowed upon him by the Persian Empire, and that greatness consisted primarily of victory through numbers. What he failed to take into consideration, says Herodotus, was the Greek concept of Nemesis, that undefined power that rights the universe by bringing those who consider themselves indomitable and on a level with the gods crashing down into the slough of humiliation and defeat.

And so it was with Xerxes, who, according to Aeschylus’ “Persians,” returned to Persia a beaten man, accompanied by his scraggly bunch of defeated warriors.

Not long after these events, Athens herself learned the same hard lesson, when, in a war with Sparta that lasted over thirty years, she too was defeated and her spirit broken. Relying on her magnificent naval forces, Athens set out to establish democracies in colonies that were associated with the more oligarchic Sparta. In short, she was out to make the Greek world safe for democracy.

Unfortunately, however, somewhere along the way she lost sight of the grandiose and principled scheme of things and decided that when city states demurred and wished either to remain neutral or retain their association with Sparta, she would force them over to her side. As a result, whole island populations of males were slain, while women were made slaves and children left destitute. The massacre of the people of Melos, a neutral state, is an excellent example of an Athens gone mad with her desire for conquest.

Thucydides, who chronicles the great Peloponnesian War, draws from it many of the same conclusions that Herodotus came to in his study of the Persians. That is, nations which are driven to world conquest by hubris, or excessive pride in their own military and political prowess, inevitably bring havoc upon themselves.

In the end, Athens, now made overly greedy by her successes, launched a fatal expedition to the island of Sicily. Lured by a few seedy city states and the promises of riches, her expedition became bogged down almost immediately, and the Spartans had little difficulty defeating her forces as they scrambled inland.

Prior to the expedition to Sicily, there had been a great debate in Athens about its efficacy and necessity. But the naysayers were shouted down, deemed rather unpatriotic, and sent packing. There would be no way, said the generals in favor of the foray, that Athens could be defeated.

Well, Athens was defeated, not only militarily, but socially and artistically as well. By the end of the 5^th cent. BC, the city that achieved unparalleled artistic heights in literature, architecture, painting, and political foresight was but a shell of its former self.

And both Herodotus and Thucydides, as well as any number of other writers, will tell you that it was hubris or Nemesis which did it. Countries and the mortals who inhabit them may create standards of civilization unheard of before them. Yet, if due to their success and a resultant overweening pride, they begin to think of themselves as having reached a level reserved only for the gods, their demise is assured.

So it is with the United States, which seems to be moving inexorably toward an unnecessary rendezvous with Nemesis. Though we have dabbled in the affairs of other countries – mainly in Central and South America – before, we have never taken it upon ourselves to pre-emptively strike another nation without provocation.

It seems now, however, that, as a result of the attacks on 9/11, the present administration has decided to fulfill what it considers some sort of manifest destiny by using its formidable power to bring to heel those nations and peoples it considers a threat to our security. Convinced that they rule the most powerful nation on earth, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the whole crew of corporational executives behind them, have decided that, for whatever reason, they will brook no opposition in their quest for political and economic dominance.

And that may be a fine goal, as long as they can persuade the American people with truth and justice that the path along which they are taking this nation is the right one.

As it turns out, however, what we’ve been getting appears to be one lie after another. We were told first that we had to take out Saddam because he harbored weapons of mass destruction and was on the verge of assembling nuclear weapons. That has turned out to be a lie, and a whopper at that.

Then the administration convinced the majority of an unheeding public that Saddam was a participant in the events of 9/11. That too is a lie. A big lie. There is absolutely no evidence that Hussein had any part in the attack on the towers.

But, like Xerxes, George W. Bush insisted on taking vengeance on someone. And it was with some rectitude that he ousted the Taliban from Afghanistan, though what has been left in the wake of that is utter chaos, a return of the warlords, including the Taliban, and a needless loss of American lives.

Unable to locate bin Laden, Bush then turned his sights on Iraq – a battle that had evidently been in the works even before 9/11, if the right wing think tanks are any indication of what is really going on behind the scenes in this administration.

Finally, we were told that we were going to Iraq to “liberate” the Iraqi people. And so we have, in what may turn out to be Bush’s Sicilian expedition. This “liberation” motif is also a lie, as is well attested by the utter mess in which Iraq finds itself now, though at least the oil fields are secure. And Haliburton, along with Bechtel, is on the job, making millions as a result.

Like Xerxes and the foolish leaders of Athens, Bush is pushing this country to the limits of its goodness. But you know that hubris and Nemesis are soon going to come into play when George Bush and his handlers land a plane on an aircraft carrier, and he swaggers out in Air Force garb and begins quoting Isaiah about the second coming of Christ.

As was the case with Athens, this country, which is now in an economic shambles as a result of corporate greed and the incessant pandering of the right wing to the demands of the corporations which are really running the place, will soon find itself not only destitute of means, but of power as well. Insatiable in its desire for riches, America under George Bush and his militaristic advisors is heading for a grand collision with Nemesis.

The gods are getting angry, and with good reason. That the American people have allowed themselves to be snookered by one lie after another coming from the mouths of people who think they are here by divine right is foolishness incarnate. That we allow these people to remain in power is the ultimate in stupidity.

When King Croesus, one of the richest and most successful rulers of the ancient world, asked Solon of Athens who he thought was the happiest man alive, Solon surprised the king by mentioning several commoners who had effected deeds of great bravery. They were all poor, but they all had courage and were men of honor. Croesus, of course, was aghast, since he was sure Solon would tell him that he, Croesus, was the happiest man on earth.

Not long after, Croesus lost his kingdom to the Persians.

And so it is with Bush & Company. Basking in the adoration of a brainwashed public, they have foolishly proclaimed their own rectitude and made themselves happy. Unaware of the hubris which surrounds them and their actions, they wave their flags, mouth their platitudes and spread the lies which seem to justify their prideful behavior.

Yet, the gods are watching, and they are not happy.

May 28, 2003