DISPLAY THE KISS!

As a part of the Rodin exhibit, The Kiss must be displayed. The theme of the exhibit is "The Hands of Rodin". The Kiss is one of Rodin's most famous pieces, and this exhibit would not be complete without it. Those who oppose its display do so on the grounds that it violates moral codes of BYU as an institution. They would also argue that it is not just the moral code of the University that must be taken into account, but all of Utah County, even areas beyond those borders (Carter, 1997) While that is a very important aspect to consider, I would argue that The Kiss does not violate these codes. It is a very striking work of art, with many artistic techniques to be considered and appreciated. Rodin may or may not have created it erotically, but it is in the eye of the beholder how to interpret it. The statue, in and of itself, does not violate morality. Those who view the piece and choose to think of the sensuality of it are at fault themselves. It is their choice what they think, and they alone are accountable for their thoughts. Pieces such as this are shown in classrooms all over campus, when they are pertinent to the material being learned in class. Since The Kiss is pertinent to "The Hands of Rodin", it is only fair that it be shown as part of the exhibit. It is perfectly appropriate in this particular context and should not even be a point of debate. 

Source:
Carter, Edward L. 1997. Deseret News. 

IMPERIAL ROMAN PARALLELS TO MODERN AMERICAN PROBLEMS

 So my last blog post was about modern social problems. This post will look at similarities between those and social problems of the Imperial Roman era, with a focus on Juvenal's Satire III. Let's compare!

Breakdown of Families

"Besides all this, there is nothing sacred to his lusts: not the matron of the family, nor the maiden daughter, not the as yet unbearded son-in-law to be, not even the as yet unpolluted son. . ." This excerpt from Satire III is one example of how the family was broken in Rome. Everyone was lusted after, even family. That's just gross. Another example of how the family was becoming dysfunctional is the large amounts of children being born to prostitutes. These children suffered extreme disadvantages socially and educationally. "Who ever was approved as a son-in-law if he was short of cash, and no match for the money-bags of the young lady? What poor man ever gets a legacy, or is appointed assessor to an aedile?" says Juvenal after addressing the fact that many a son was born to a "pander", or the man who ran a brothel. In our society I don't believe there is rampant incest, but there certainly are an outrageous number of single mothers. 

Lust

We could bring up the quote from the previous paragraph about lusting after the matron, daughters, sons, etc. That example applies to the social problem of lust as well as the breakdown of families. Then there's lusting after possessions, which I identified last time as one of America's problems. "The first question asked will be as to his wealth, the last about his character: 'how many slaves does he keep?' 'how many acres does he own?'. . . A man's word is believed in exact proportion to the amount of cash which he keeps in his strong-box." From this excerpt from Satire III, we can see that this was a problem in Imperial Rome as well. Cash was valued above character. Slaves and property were lusted after. 

Idolization of celebrities

• If you smile, your Greek will split his sides with laughter; if he sees his friend drop a tear, he weeps, though without grieving; if you call for a bit of fire in winter-time, he puts on his cloak; if you say 'I am hot,' he breaks into a sweat. Thus we are not upon a level, he and I; he has always the best of it, being ready at any moment, by night or by day, to take his expression from another man's face, to throw up his hands and applaud if his friend gives a good belch or piddles straight, or if his golden basin make a gurgle when turned upside down.

This lengthy excerpt from Juvenal talks about how people act fake in order to please their friend. He mentions the Greeks, but has said that Roman culture is stolen from the Greeks, as you can see from this quote,”I cannot abide, Quirites, a Rome of Greeks; and yet what fraction of our dregs comes from Greece?" So, following the order of Greek drama, if your friend cries, you cry, if he's hot, you break into a sweat. Not because you feel the same way, necessarily, you conform and oblige to the wishes of those around you. This reminds me of how in our culture, we have celebrities on advertisements for consumer products. Taylor Swift was the Covergirl girl for a while. This was shooting at the target that if a girl liked T Swift, she'd have to wear Covergirl to be like her. Or if a popular male celebrity is endorsing certain cologne, a man must wear that cologne in order to be like the celebrity. We are always doing things to mimic and to please others. We idolize them, and they can never do anything wrong. Like Juvenal says, if they burp loud, we congratulate them, and if . . . well I won't continue with Juvenal's crude examples, but you get the point. 

Policy Making and Politics

 "No man will get my help in robbery, and therefore no governor will take me on his staff" here Juvenal (through the voice of Umbricius) points out that in order to be involved in politics at all you must work dishonestly. A good man cannot get a job in politics. I would argue that this is beginning to be the case today. Trickery is valued over honesty. What can make you the most money is preferred over that which will help the most people. "The man whom Verres loves is the man who can impeach Verres at any moment that he chooses." This is another example of how politics worked dirty in Imperial Rome. Those kept closest to the powerful were there because they knew condemning secrets. Everything is under the table; there was hardly any, if any at all, transparency. I feel this is true in today's politics as well. 

Demoralization

"What of this again, that these people are experts in flattery, and will commend the talk of an illiterate, or the beauty of a deformed, friend, and compare the scraggy neck of some weakling to the brawny throat of Hercules when holding up Antaeus[12] high above the earth; or go into ecstasies over a squeaky voice not more melodious than that of a cock when he pecks his spouse the hen?" This quote from the satire could apply to the previous two problems as well as this of demoralization. I have chosen to place it here because it is in blatant opposition to honesty and sincerity, two morals which, in my opinion, should be most highly praised and sought after in a society. Both in Imperial Rome and in our day, people tell other people what they want to hear, even if it's totally faulty and misleading. I love Juvenal's exposition of this "flattery", where the illiterate are praised for their orations, the ugly are fooled into thinking others think they are beautiful, and so on. This is a good example of society was demoralized. 

In examining both our own culture and Imperial Roman culture (at least through the eyes of Juvenal) I believe that many of society's problems stem from sexual impurity and dishonesty. If those two root problems could be eradicated then most other problems would cease as well. That's just my opinion. What do you think?

MODERN SOCIAL PROBS

Breakdown of families

The family is the most important unit in society, and today's world discourages and in some cases even degrades that idea. It is no longer deviant to have a child out of wedlock. Divorce rates are through the roof. Teenagers learn from the media to disrespect and disobey their parents. This is a major social problem.

Lust

Women especially are victims of this. It's fashionable to be immodest. It's desirable to be physically desirable, and if you're not then there's something wrong with you. Promiscuity is rampant in the media. Premarital and extra-marital sex is portrayed as okay, even normal. Lust can be more than sex, though. Lusting after possessions; In our society, everybody needs everything, and they need it now, and it doesn't matter what they do to get it. 

Idolization of Celebrities

Celebrities in our country make ridiculous amounts of money and get ridiculous amounts of attention. Everyone wants to be like someone else, and no one is content with who they are. They waste time, effort, and money obsessing over someone who doesn't even know their name. These things should be focused on helping and improving our families and communities.

Policy Making and Politics

Politics is definitely not a child's game. On the national level, at least, it's a fierce and dirty competition. A popularity competition. This means that many of the people who end up making our laws aren't there by merit, they're their because they're attractive, wealthy, and powerful. It would be better to have people making decisions and enacting policy who can understand the effects of such policies, and know the best ways to enforce them in order to benefit the country as a whole. People who are seeking for the welfare of their fellow man. 

Demoralization

There is just a general disregard for morals and values. Cheating, lying, stealing, fornicating, who cares? As long as you get what you want, everything is okay, right? Wrong. But society doesn't see that. Tell people what they want to hear, do anything you need to to get a good grade, sleep with whoever you want whenever you want. And the best part is, there's no consequences! No one needs to live by a set of rules, they're just restricting. YOLO, right? Wrong. 

GOLDEN AGE

A Golden Age is a name given to a period in time when there were great advances in technology. This name could also be given to a time period of (usually unusual) peace and plenty, such as a prosperous era following the end of political turmoil, or a war. There has been more than one instance in history of such an age. The Greeks proclaim a golden age, as do the Romans, the English, and any other powerful and well-developed civilization, including the United States. I would even venture to say that "Golden Ages" have been enjoyed by less-developed and not so powerful civilizations. The term would usually be given after the fact, people looking back and saying "Oh what a nice time that was!". And right they were. 

For example, the Golden Age in Rome followed many years of war with the Carthaginians. The leader at the time was Augustus Caesar. Under his rule, the Roman Empire thrived. Art became more glorious than before, prosperity abounded, and the 200 years following Augustus' rule became known as the Pax Romana, an age of peace. There was no major war. Augustus brags to be the only ruler during whose reign the doors to the temple Janus were closed 3 times, more than they ever had been before his rule. Looking at the flourishing art, the long periods of peace, and the economic prosperity during Augustus' reign certainly constitutes the time surrounding him as a Golden Age.

There have been times in our nation's history that could be called a Golden Age. Mark Twain jokingly dubbed the latter half of the 19th century the Golden Age because everyone was so obsessed with riches, when really there was so much more to be worried about.  I believe that the 20s could be called a Golden Age. America was not at war with anyone, although there was not absolute peace. There was a Red Scare, when Americans were afraid of communism infiltrating their government, but aside from that there was relative political relaxation, and definitely a carefree attitude in the American community. People partied, people spent money, people had leisure time! With the invention of the automobile, and with Henry Ford's assembly line making them affordable for nearly everyone, people could go on vacation. The art deco movement was making its way into history, and art nouveau was still pretty popular. Considering the innovations in art, the freedom of the economy, and the relative political peace, the 1920s could be called a Golden Age of peace and prosperity. 

Heroes: Then, Then, and Also Now

Everyone loves a hero. But what exactly is a hero? Over the ages there have been different ideas of what makes one person more admired, praised, and adored than another. Let's look at an ideal hero in Homer's, Sophocles', and our own time to analyze the makings of an ideal man, a hero.  

ODYSSEUS
What qualities did this man possess to make him heroic? Athena, appearing to Telemachus as Mentes in Book I of The Odyssey, laments that Odysseus is not home to fight the suitors. So, a hero must be mighty in fighting. But we also see in Book VI how Odysseus can be humble and submissive as he interacts with the royal Phaeacian family. So, too, a hero must know when to show his humility. How does this idea of a hero change as, say, 200 years passes? Here's a look at a renowned figure presented by Sophocles.

OEDIPUS
Despite his unlucky fate, Oedipus was a respected leader. A quality people admired about him was his smarts. He saved the city from the Sphinx by solving her riddle by his own wit. This trait is admired by the chorus in Oedipus the King (132). Oedipus also had a quick temper. Maybe that wasn't quite so admirable a trait, but it's evidently included in Sophocles' idea of an ideal man. There's a slight shift in the idea of a hero from Homer's to Sophocles' time. It seems that at this point brains and problem-solving skills were considered more than physical strength. Although I'm sure Odysseus was clever and Oedipus strong, those weren't their most notable characteristics. How do these ideas compare to today's idea of a hero, or an ideal man?

IDEAL MAN
Fortunately enough, GQ has already tackled the question of what makes an ideal man. The results of their survey of 1000 men and women (Simpson, 2012) included characteristics such as good sense of humor, kind, honest, ability to speak more than one language, good listener, and intelligence. I wonder if Odysseus or Oedipus ever took calculus. . .

HERO
Ok, if we're talking about heroes, Iron Man definitely needs to be mentioned. Let's consider his characteristics. Or at least as RDJ has portrayed them. He's rich, successful, good looking, listens to ACDC, drives fancy cars, disobeys government officials, and has a goatee. Oh and he like saves people and the earth and stuff, too. 

I'd say the idea of a hero, an ideal man, hasn't changed too drastically since Homer's time. Homer's emphasis was more on the physical and we don't care so much about their political position, but all in all everyone loves a doer of deeds and a speaker of words. Hopefully they're good deeds and good words. Who's your hero?