Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 16. April 2012 / Time Line April 16, 2012
Version 3.015. April 2012, 17. April 2012
04/16/2012
The Titanic As An Allegory
By John Scales Avery
“Oh the ship set out from England, and they were not far from
shore.
When the rich refused to associate with the poor,
So they put them down below, where they'd be the first to go,
It was sad when that great ship went down.” (folksong)
Editor: Hear also Frank Hutchison: The Last Scene Of The Titanic
(April 29, 1927). According to the InternetArchieve the song was
'recorded on April 29, 1927 in St. Louis. The story of the Titanic
made a deep impression on people and was the subject of several
ballads and tunes. Thus, versions of tunes about the Titanic were
recorded by Ray Acuff, Ernest Stoneman, Blind Willie Johnson ("God
Moves On The Water"), William & Versey Smith ("When That Great
Ship Went Down"), among others. According to Jeff Place, the story
of the Titanic "was particularly important to African-American
musicians who were strongly aware of the irony that Jim Crow laws
had disallowed African-Americans on the ship. It was felt that the
owners certainly had received divine retribution."'
-
http://archive.org/details/WilliamandVerseySmithWhenThatGreatShipWentDown
;
- http://archive.org/details/TheDixiaires-WhenThatGreatShipWentDown
;
- http://archive.org/details/Titanic
-
http://archive.org/details/BlindWillieJohnson-GodMovesOnTheWater1929
On April 15,
1912, almost exactly 100 years ago, the RMS Titanic sank on her
maiden voyage, after colliding with an iceberg in the North
Atlantic. She carried 2,223 passengers, among whom were some of the
wealthiest people in the world, accommodated in unbelievable luxury
in the upper parts of the ship. Available for the pleasure of the
first class passengers were a gymnasium, swimming pool, libraries,
luxurious restaurants and opulent cabins. Meanwhile, below, crammed
on the lower decks below the water line, were about a thousand
emigrants from England, Ireland and Scandinavia, seeking a new life
in North America. The Titanic carried only lifeboats enough for
1178 people, but the ship had so many advanced safety features that
it was thought to be unsinkable.
Why does the story of the Titanic fascinate us? Why was an
enormously expensive film made about it? Why has a cruse ship
recently retraced the Titanic's route? I think that the reason for
our fascination with the story of the Titanic is that it serves as
a symbol for the present state of modern society. We are all in the
great modern ship together. On top are the enormously rich,
enjoying a life of unprecidented luxury, below the poor. But rich
and poor alike are in the same boat, headed for disaster –
surrounded by the miracles of our technology, but headed for a
disastrous collission with environmental forces, the forces of
nature that we have neglected in our pride and arrogance.
Te ancient Greeks were very conscious of the sin of pride -
“hubris”, and it played a large role in their religion
and literature. What the Greeks meant can be seen by looking in
Wikipedia where the following words appear:
“Hubris means extreme pride or arrogance. Hubris often
indicates a loss of contact with reality, and an overestimation of
one's own competence or capabilities, especially when the person
exhibiting it is in a position of power.... The word is also used
to describe actions of those who challenged the gods or their laws,
especially in Greek tragedy, resulting in the protagonist's fall.
”
“...loss of contact with reality, and overestimation of one's
own competence or capabilities, especially when the person
exhibiting it is in a position of power...”? Can we recognize
this today? I think that we can.
Suggestions for further reading
1. Adams, Simon, “Eyewitness, Titanic”, DK Publishing,
New York, (2009).
2. Aldridge, Rebecca, “The Sinking of the Titanic”,
Infobase Publishing, New York, (2008).
3. Cairns, Douglas L., “Hybris, Dishonour and Thinking
Big”, Journal of Helenic Studies, 116, 1-32, (1966).
4. Fisher, Nick, “Hybris: a study in the values in honour and
shame in ancient Greece”, Aris & Phillips, UK,
(1992).
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