Tsk, that’s “princessor,” takk. And Des is just engaged in his favorite pastime of taking the piss out of everything that is not related to princessor. The rest of the philistines can be ignored; if they want to turn up their collective nose at Dead White Males, it’s their loss.

Colin: First point taken, although I’d talking about hegemonic/dominant/popular segments of hegemonic/dominant societies rather than a monolithic totality. I also have nothing against reading old stuff for new ideas, it’s just that it doesn’t really matter where the old stuff comes from, it’s the ideas that matter.

Nor is it even necessarily a question of a “changed understanding of the ancient Greeks” but of better ways to understand the world. Think of the Book of Exodus. It’s certainly a window into a particular historical past, but it has also been a powerful tool for thinking about slavery in more recent periods. Then think of Oedipus, Plato’s Republic, Sappho’s love poetry, all tools for thought … do people go to see King Lear only out of an antiquarian interest in Elizabethan England?

The theory of Democratic Peace was, and a brief glance at the ancient Greeks would swiftly debunk that theory…

I agree with you up to a point. Much, probably most, of what is likely to be discovered will be relevant mainly to us geeks. But there is still the possibility that something will turn up of interest to the average layperson.

Western society can be characterised as ahistorical in some ways, yes, but political decisions are still “framed” and justified through historical references. As such, a deeper understanding of history can only work to our advantage.

Right. I’ll shut up now.

(/delurk)

And I hope
“There’s nothing wrong about finding out more about the past, just that it doesn’t have much of an effect beyond finding out more about the past.”
was a deliberate flamebait, not a genuine display of ignorance… :p

(/flamebait)