PSYCHOLOGY
Shame: How Tragedy Frees Us
When modern culture makes you ashamed of misfortune
Above all emotions and psychological afflictions, I think shame is the true hallmark of our culture, permeating our collective psyche.
Spoken in hushed voices, shame manifests as a pervasive psychological burden in a society requiring everyone to strive for perfection. Where the individual, like a confident rider on a yet unbroken wild horse, is invited to tame even chance itself. If you can dream it, then you deserve it, and only hard work and sacrifice stand in your way.
But, what if, you fall? What if tragedy hits, through no blame of yours?
A society built on the myth of individuality cannot accommodate misfortune well. It can take pity on it, it can even offer a helping hand, but will always do it looking the other way, like a beggar you give money to to stop shuffling behind you in public.
If the individual is to be the sole hero of their greatest deeds, and the whole society is to celebrate and emulate them, the tragic individual is to be pitied and forgotten. In our culture, shame is the tragic hero’s only legacy.
Kings are not exempt
Although Ancient Greek society was not perfect by any means, there is a lot we may learn from its relationship with misfortune and tragedy. With numerous Ancient Greek tragedies still performed across the globe, we have a unique window into the values of those societies.
After a long time, I managed to watch an Ancient Greek tragedy, Oedipus Rex, in an Ancient Greek theater.
In our culture, shame is the tragic hero’s only legacy
Oedipus was the king of Thebes, a major Greek city, a position he gained through skill rather than inheritance. At the beginning of the play, Oedipus is lauded by the chorus, and himself, for his individual skill and unmatched abilities. He seems a man of self-confident action, just and kind but also full of himself.
A man capable of taking the reigns of destiny into his hands, and will it as he pleases.
What he does not know, or refuses to accept despite mounting evidence to the contrary, is that even he, a king, a self-made man, is not exempt from tragedy. A deep, awful tragedy, fit for a king.
Our collective shame
It should have been truly liberating to the Ancient Greek citizen to witness that even a king may fall. You have to pity Oedipus, condemned to act out tragic forces beyond his control, despite being a decent man. But, crucially, it is not only pity we feel.
Oedipus is a king. A mythical figure, towering above everyday man. If Oedipus is to fall, can I not fall as well? If Oedipus falls despite himself, can I not be forgiven by my society if tragedy falls on me, despite me being a decent human being and trying my best?
Suddenly, generations of Ancient Greeks witness a deep catharsis: it is ok to fall. It is to be expected. For a king, and for a citizen alike.
By Oedipus being larger than life, he is the only one that can bear our collective shame, the weight of a whole society, so we can be free.
The legacy of the tragic hero in Ancient Greece is to be the vehicle of our collective salvation from the shame of misfortune.
An act of freedom
In the most haunting scene of the play, Oedipus, realising what he has done without intending to (sleeping with his mother and killing his father, aka, Oedipus complex), takes two decorative pins from the dead body of his mother-wife and takes out his eyes.
The legacy of the tragic hero in Ancient Greece is to be the vehicle of our collective salvation from the shame of misfortune
His brother-in-law, Creon, now the new king of Thebes, asks him “Why did you take out your eyes, are not your tragic deeds enough of a punishment?”, to which Oedipus exclaims “My whole life I played out my destiny as foretold by the Oracle; but my eyes, I took those out myself”.
In that moment, are we not to see Oedipus as a free man, at last? A man that, in the depth of his tragedy, tames the wild horse of destiny, even for a fateful moment.
Conclusion
The tragedy of Oedipus serves multiple psychological functions. First, it acts as a mirror, reflecting the inherent vulnerabilities and frailties that characterize the human condition. Second, Oedipus’s actions symbolize a pivotal moment in psychological development: a shift from being a mere puppet of fate to asserting one’s own autonomy, even if this newfound independence comes momentarily and at a significant cost.
For a modern society that seeks to sweep tragedy under the rug, that condemns its victims to a life of shame, the lesson is clear: we should strive to adopt a more compassionate, nuanced view of misfortune. We should understand that tragedy is not always something that can be overcome by grit and determination; sometimes it is an inevitable part of the human condition.
Rather than leaving the tragic figures among us to shame, let’s provide the deep empathy that comes from understanding that, by being human, we are all, already, both heroic and inescapably tragic.
Suddenly, generations of Ancient Greeks witness a deep catharsis: it is ok to fall. It is to be expected. For a king, and for a citizen alike.
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