Chapter 10 Part III

Eye for an Eye, the Trojan War and the Birth of Modern Justice

(Links to to Chapter 10 Part I and Part II)

Sunday, January 20, 1861

“The three plays of the Oresteia are what follows Agamemnon’s return to the kingdom of Argos and are among the most sophisticated exploration of the meaning of justice, indeed, the very virtue of justice itself, before the time of Socrates,” Ernst told Jude. “The plays represent a pivotal turning point in the history of justice. To understand the original justice, the revulsion against it and its first bumbling steps towards something better, read these plays!”

Jude handled the volumes, thinking more of their weight than content.

In accordance with the common school education of his time, he’d read selections of Latin translations, but better remembered his suspicious skepticism of his college classmates from private academies already fluent in ancient languages and the resentment in needing to read Greek and Latin for his diploma. Rhetoric, logic, algebra and geometry were his favorite subjects, for these were practical and useful. He’d treated the world of the ancients with indifference, believing they held no relevancy to a bustling America of railroads and steamships.

Or so he’d thought.  

“Gods turning into animals and seducing women and their children killing each other in endless cycles of violence,” Jude said dismissively. “I can see why you talk of an obsession with original sin, but what meaningful lessons can they have for Americans? Today?” 

“Your nation may be on the threshold of its own war,” Ernst reminded Jude. “Are the follies of your people any different? What arrogance!"

The German’s snorts sounded loudly on the quiet street.

Then he smiled genially. “The ancients believed in the historical truth of the Trojan Wars and dated it to around 1200 BC, about the same time as the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, making it a suitable companion to the Old Testament. Just as Christians look to the Bible for truth about man’s nature, there is much to be learned about man’s nature from the Greeks, too. I wanted to give you Aeschylus’s plays because it allows you to understand justice without the influence of the Bible. People nowadays think of original sin in the context of Christianity, but contrary to that belief, Christian justice is not eternal for there is a much older justice, even in the Bible itself. Christianity introduced a very different interpretation of justice, a fascinating topic of its own but which you will review in due time.” 

“The Bible is the word of God,” Jude protested. “The Greek plays and myths are stories invented by pagans to explain a world they didn’t understand! How can you even compare the two?” 

Ernst’s eyebrows arched. “I sometimes forget you were raised to be devout. Read the plays. Then study your Old Testament. They both have much to tell about justice. But be prepared to be surprised.”