While living in Hong Kong, I was amused at the looks I got from the locals whenever I pulled out my family picture to introduce myself. In a culture where parents typically choose to have one or two children, the sight of a family of twelve left astonishment etched on their faces. Nevertheless, it was easy to see in my various interactions with the Chinese that they have a culture were family tradition is at the core. The Greeks?
In this article, Eric D. Bernholc shows how by examining Greek literature we see that family has been an important part of Greek culture since ancient times. However, in the examples I researched, there didn't always seem to be "love at home". For instance, the story of Tantalus, the son of Zeus. Although just a mere mortal, he was permitted to eat the food of the gods. However, he lost his good standing when he killed his only son and tried to feed him to the gods. He was later punished severely for his brutality.
The vibe I got from my readings was that family is an important element in Greek culture, but not necessarily something that was cherished or celebrated.
At the same time, one might say that the fact that the Gods punished him for his brutality shows that the ideal may have been a loving family, even if that wasn't necessarily always the case. It was the same way in my mission in Kiribati, though, people thought that maybe three or four kids was definitely enough, they thought my companion with a family of nine was a weird one! Was there any information on Greek family size that you found?
ReplyDeleteTo be real...... When it came to Mythology the Greeks seemed to be pretty messed up when it came to family. Parents eating kids. Kids killing parents and a whole slew of weird stuff. I remember studying about some of the stuff in High school. My family isn't perfect but we definitely aren't trying to kill each other..... Thank Goodness!
ReplyDeleteI get the impression that you don't believe that the Greek's family views are their most cherished contributions to our society. However, do you believe that they were a significant contribution, for better or worse? As we see the patterns of history, I think of the Greeks as a model of what can happen when we allow non-familial loyalties to overrule our unity as families. Military might, the search for truth, and social advancement are all secondary to the family.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the O.P.: It seems to me family as a concept was more often exploited than celebrated. I mean, the Greek Gods were infamous for their infidelity, and their spouses weren't always keen on the resultant illegitimate children (see the relationship between Hera and Heracles: http://classicalwisdom.com/heracles-and-hera/).
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