[lit-ideas] Re: Joyce on Rome
- From: "Andy Amago" <aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 7 Apr 2006 11:10:49 -0400
> [Original Message]
> From: Robert Paul <robert.paul@xxxxxxxx>
> To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: 4/6/2006 11:03:26 PM
> Subject: [lit-ideas] Joyce on Rome
>
> > James Joyce once likened Rome to "a man who lives by exhibiting to
> > travelers his grandmother's corpse." In addition to which, Rome was a
> > brutal, brutal society. Is that what they've done for us?
>
> Joyce was talking about contemporary Rome, the city, not about the Roman
> Republic.
>
Joyce was in fact talking about contemporary Rome, about the way Romans
live on their former glory, and I suppose they have something to be proud
of, ancient Roman brutality aside. I once knew a Greek man, no
intellectual giant (he actually was a realtor). He did the same thing. He
was kind of strange in that he knew there was something special about being
Greek, but he didn't quite put it together that the specialness lay in
antiquity. It's not like he was even born here. I imagine everybody does
that. We still point to our Founding Fathers as if we were responsible for
their existence. The English ride on the glory of their past. In fact, I
think pride is a good thing. When people are proud, as opposed to being
arrogant, they tend to be calmer, less warlike. The U.S. I think is
arrogant. But then so were the Soviets, so is pharma, so is Congress.
Probably the Muslims too. Omar, what do you think? Arrogance seems to be
the defining condition of humanity. It comes from a place of hollowness I
think.
> Robert Paul
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