"Greek civilization is the result of piratical military brotherhoods of Aryan youths who came across the Aegean and conquered the sedentary original inhabitants of Hellas. The tradition of sending bands of young men on military adventures in search of new land and more space is ancient and characteristic of most Aryan cultures; this is the männerbund, or kóryos in Greek. As a rite of passage the youths are forced to endure trials and are expelled from the adult society, from nomos, and forced to subsist as a unit far from home, as raiders and hunters. This youth ritual drove Aryan expansion further and further as bands of young men ventured forward into foreign lands. This practice inspired the grander projects of ambitious established men, who would have themselves once been part of a kóryos, and who on hearing of the success of other Aryan groups in achieving immense power and wealth by conquering lands such as Egypt, the Levant, and India, assembled great warbands to achieve their own conquests. To fall to one of these conquests was the fate of Greece, and the origin of the Greeks as we know them."
I'd be interested in a deeper treatment of "no other ancient language except Greek, and as a result Latin, had a word for nature" — there may not be direct equivalents in other languages, but ideas like Dao/Prakriti share enough of a similarity that an essay parsing the differences would be instructive
My favorite passage:
"Greek civilization is the result of piratical military brotherhoods of Aryan youths who came across the Aegean and conquered the sedentary original inhabitants of Hellas. The tradition of sending bands of young men on military adventures in search of new land and more space is ancient and characteristic of most Aryan cultures; this is the männerbund, or kóryos in Greek. As a rite of passage the youths are forced to endure trials and are expelled from the adult society, from nomos, and forced to subsist as a unit far from home, as raiders and hunters. This youth ritual drove Aryan expansion further and further as bands of young men ventured forward into foreign lands. This practice inspired the grander projects of ambitious established men, who would have themselves once been part of a kóryos, and who on hearing of the success of other Aryan groups in achieving immense power and wealth by conquering lands such as Egypt, the Levant, and India, assembled great warbands to achieve their own conquests. To fall to one of these conquests was the fate of Greece, and the origin of the Greeks as we know them."
Thanks for this. I still don't get why critizicing tribes but suggesting mannerbunds. Aren't they the same?
Excellent!
I'd be interested in a deeper treatment of "no other ancient language except Greek, and as a result Latin, had a word for nature" — there may not be direct equivalents in other languages, but ideas like Dao/Prakriti share enough of a similarity that an essay parsing the differences would be instructive