Let’s talk about the ancestors here. I feel like anything related to ancient history has the ancestors involved someway somehow, whether it be Asian cultures like Chinese and Japanese, or Western cultures like Native Americans, and ancient European cultures such as the Greek and Roman societies. I know there are a lot more societies that have very strong ancestral connections but these were just the ones that popped in my mind first.
Pericles starts speaking by saying that his predecessors (the ancestors) “have commended him who made this speech part of the law, telling us that it is well it should be delivered at the burial of those who fall in battle.” (Thucydides, 1st page) While reading this, I suddenly had flashbacks to Fiddler on the Roof and the song “Tradition” where it talks about all the traditions of the Jews and how the only reason they do things is because that’s the way it’s always been done. That’s how I sometimes feel about the Greek society and even modern society today, especially in the South. Sometimes we do things because that’s the way we’ve always done them. (I can say this because I am a Southerner.) Then when Pericles actually gets to the speech itself, he starts out by saying that the ancestors should be first mentioned because they were the ones responsible for handing their country (Greece) to the later generations and that they added to the inheritance that the then present-day Greeks possessed.
Pericles states at the end that “When a man is gone, all are wont to praise him”. (5th page) In almost every major society, when someone dies, especially one who has surviving relatives that are generations younger, they are usually looked up to and some are even worshipped. In the ancient Eastern cultures, ancestor worship is basically a given. What is it with ancestor worship? I mean, seriously, what’s up with that? It’s kind of creepy, people looking up to and basically worshiping a dead person. That’s what makes me glad about Jesus. Yes, we worship Him, but He didn’t stay dead; he was buried and rose three days later.
I commented on Clabo’s post and Isabelle’s post.
I love your comparison to “Tradition” from “Fiddler on the Roof”. That is a great comparison that I would have never thought of. I loved how you compared other religions’s worship of the dead to Christianity. Christians do not worship the dead. We worship someone who died but rose again and is still alive. We do not have to worship our ancestors in the hope that they will be in our favor. We worship God who works in our favor. In Romans 8:28 it says “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
ReplyDeleteI believe that the worshiping of dead ancestors started out as a way of remembrance. In our day, we have photos, diaries, etc. so we can track our history. They did not have that. However, it did develop into worship of the dead, and I agree with you. It's creepy.
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