Those Greeks – Oikos, Hamartia, Moirae

I’ve been thinking about the timelessness of story lately.  What can we say that hasn’t been said? Or is it just about saying something in a new way, in our context with modern allusions and the vocabulary of our own experience?  For instance, those Greeks, who for millennia have been revered for their knack for beauty and for thoughtfulness, already told some intricate stories that sum up those big questions about what life is and how it ought to be lived.

Three Greek words come to mind, yet they all seem to hit somewhere near the same nugget of understanding.  What is a nugget of understanding, you ask?  Well, an insight, a sense of what is… behind appearances.  These three words, collected somewhere along the path of my liberal arts studies, are oikos, hamartia and moirae.

Oikos – the family unit, the household, the dearest human relationships, the foundation of society.  The return to this most important human center is the archetypal homecoming of which Homer’s Odyssey is the oldest revered example.

Hamartia – the tragic flaw.  Aristotle describes it as the fatal error in judgment.  McKee might see it as the fateful gap between what is perceived and what is real.

Moirae – the 3 Fates, the personifications of destiny who spin, measure and cut the thread of life. Also, perhaps this fate is linked directly to innate character tendencies? This defines fate as a more internal thing.

How are all these related?  Well, besides being essential to any good story, they all connect.  Error in perception, (hamartia), takes us away from our home base of understanding (oikos).  It plunges us into the icy waters of the unknown reality.  The frosty Fates are the unemotional arbiters of circumstance – the predetermined number of days, the objective, often harsh reality of the impartial world.  Our innate character thinks home is the be-all-end-all of reality, but this tragic misconception crushes our character’s world as the wonderful, strange, cold, real world is encountered.  But the story is about coming back, re-embracing and constructing a human life, a comfort zone, a home base, this time with a deeper understanding.  After years of high adventure, Odysseus returns home wiser.  As Robert Frost says in “Into My Own”

They would not find me changed from him they knew-
Only more sure of all I thought was true.

I personally don’t know what to make of the cold Fates.  They certainly evoke fear and seem to represent a great, impersonal, unfeeling cosmos.  But a real story must confront the unknown, the mysterious great beyond, whether it be benevolent or cold.

I just saw the movie Garden State (finally), which attempts to confront the “infinite abyss” and ultimately finds comfort in romantic love. Beautiful.  And moving.  And human.  But somehow not satisfying.

Anyway, it made money and launched the careers of excellent musicians and actors.  Take that, infinite abyss!

The Playful Search for Beauty: Eva Zeisel

Eva Zeisel has had a 75-year career of playful creation.  How can we maintain a “parzivalian” freshness and playful perspective throughout a long life?

“Innovation is not the aim of my work.”   This quote at the beginning seems most revealing.  Creating beauty taps into something timeless.  But I don’t want to wax philosophical on the transcendant quality of beauty.  Enjoy listening to her colorful and truly beautiful life.

This youtube video, courtesy of the great TED series.

Among many honors, in 1946, Eva Zeisel had the first one-woman show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Silliness of Romantic Infatuation

Idea:  a silly music video (or short?) about a guy who is infatuated with a homeles bag lady… and stalks her, too love-struck and shy to speak to her directly.  Something along the theme of the ridiculousness of infatuation… to the tune of Bottom and Tatiana in Midsummer Night’s Dream.  I just can’t help but smile when I think of a guy head-over-heals for the oblivious, crazy, smelly street lady.  It need not be only farsical; maybe it could actually have a redemptive end, where he helps her get medical help or something!