Ancient Greek Knowledge
“Men must learn by suffering.
Drop by drop in sleep upon the heart
Falls the laborious memory of pain.
Against one’s will comes wisdom.”
…..~ Chorus in AGAMEMNON, Aeschylus translated by Louis MacNeice
The classic Greeks knew death and war more
Profoundly. They possessed no way to see
Some hope when pyres were set aflame. Death’s door
Was final, absolute. There was no key
To open it for release of men. Death
Was death. They did not have the drugs to wipe
Out agony. When they were speared, each breath
Knew only blood and evil pain. A swipe
By sword inside an abdomen would not
Be treated with a morphine sleep. The brave
Were braver then. A sliced in cut would rot
Away with burning fever toward the grave.
..What wisdom came to them was greater than
….Mere logic, no, just facts forced on a man.