*****
 |
| Democritus And The Atom (Rembrandt) |
***
As Lucky and
Jim left the wheelwright shop of Mr. Socrates, the man called out: "Have
you taken Mr. Lucky to meet Homer yet?"
Although this was an intriguing prospect, Lucky
didn’t meet Homer’s descendants until much later – and then Jim warned Lucky to
treat the experience as a colorful anecdote, rather than fact. Yorgo told Lucky
privately that the Cypriot Homer was half Turk and therefore not that reliable
about matters involving his famous Greek ancestor.
However, as the semester commenced, and Lucky became
more grounded in Western history – as seen from the point of view of a Greek –
he met other descendants of historic figures. For example, not long after Jim
took him through the unexpurgated version of the Iliad, he pointed out that in
fact the whole preface – the kidnapping of Helen and the lead up to the Trojan
Wars, was actually the work of a Cypriot poet. Called the Cypria Epics, no
lesser an authority than Herodotus, the "father of history," credited
a Cypriot named Stasinos for their creation.
Jim said only fragments of the work were left, but
when he took Lucky to meet one of Stasinos’ descendants, the fellow took the
occasion to get drunk and recited what he said was the entire epic.
When Lucky asked, Jim only shrugged and said,
"Who can know? The first Stasinos was probably drunk when he composed the
original."
Pressed for more detail, Jim said, "The story is
that Stasinos wanted to marry one of Homer’s daughters. But being a poet, he
had no money. So he offered the Cypria to Homer as a dowry."
"Do you think that’s true?" Lucky asked.
Jim said, "Well, in Cyprus, stranger things are
true. In the village next to my birthplace, there is a family who used to be
Jews, but now are Christian, and they claim to be descended from Jesus."
Lucky goggled. Jesus was a mythical being that
priests and nuns talked about. Jim caught his expression and nodded.
"Oh, there was such a man, Lucky," he said.
"Of that there is no doubt. For he had a family then and now and, of
course, they are proud of him and have talked about him all these years. Some
came to Cyprus in the time of St. Paul. There were many Jews living in Cyprus
at that time because the Persians expelled them out of Babylon. Later, many of
the Jews left, but some remained. Including this family I mentioned, because
they were, of course, more Christian than Jew, since Jesus was their cousin… or
maybe even great uncle."
Lucky had a frightening vision of scores of
fierce-eyed nuns rising up to rap his knuckles. "What do you mean,
uncle?" he asked. "You’re saying he had brothers and sisters?"
Jim gave him a long look, then said, "Of course,
you are from the Roman church. Where you have Mary, the mother of God and the
virgin birth. Most people of the Christian faith don’t think that, you know.
Others, like the Greek Church, take the view that Mary and Joseph had sons and
daughters, so Jesus had brothers and sisters."
"But… the virgin birth…" Lucky stuttered.
"Some say it is symbolic," Jim said.
"Some say it is because Mary was copied after Aphrodite, the Goddess of
love. Who, you surely know, was born here in Cyprus. In the myth it was a
virgin birth… she sprang from the head of Zeus and sailed to the island in a
giant sea shell. If you like, someday I’ll take you to the place where this
occurred. There are men and women there who worship her still. "
Lucky frowned. "But… that’s… that’s…"
"Pagan?" Jim asked, smiling.
Lucky nodded. "Yes… pagan."
"And so the pagans were ignorant, you
think?" Jim pressed. "Because they believed in many gods, instead of
one. Had stories, that we read about in the myths of Edith Hamilton, yes?
Colorful stories, but stories only – inventions of a primitive people."
"Well, yes," Lucky said, although he wasn’t
feeling so sure now.
"Another virgin birth," Jim said, "was
the Buddha. The faithful say his mother – a virgin – dreamed of elephants and
woke in the morning pregnant with the holy Buddha." He gave Lucky a look.
"Surely, you don’t think Buddhists are ignorant?"
Lucky shook his head. Of course he didn’t.
"But ancient people, pagan people, you think
because it was long ago that they were ignorant? Knew nothing about the heavens
and the hells. Or, maybe just not so much as we do, here in the Twentieth
Century."
"That makes sense," Lucky said, although he
knew there was a trick to it, but he was too curious to find out what the trick
was to avoid playing into Jim’s hands. "I mean, that was thousands of
years ago. And now we can… well… fly airplanes… drive cars… have ships with
engines instead of sails… explode the atomic bomb."
"Oh, I quite agree, Lucky," Jim said.
"Those are all marvelous things. But let me ask you this… do you think
that if we were back in ancient Athens and encountered, say Mr. Aristotle, and
we showed him pictures of the Twentieth Century… of the planes, the ships, the
trains… do you think he would be struck dumb with astonishment… Or do you think
he could easily understand that these are machines, that are the result of
theories of nature first explored by him and his scientific friends."
Lucky thought about that a moment. And, no, he really
couldn’t see the Greeks he had been reading about falling down on their knees
and praying to the gods of the combustion engine. Surely, they’d be amazed. But
not astonished, much less stuck dumb.
He told Jim he saw his point. "But what about
the atomic bomb?" he demanded. "Only somebody from today could have
figured that out, right? Like Einstein and relativity and E equals MC squared
and all."
"Of course, Einstein was a great genius,"
Jim said. "One of the greatest in all the history of the world. And he and
others like him conceived the idea of splitting the atom. But, with whom and
when do you think the idea of the atom originated"?
Lucky said he had no idea. Maybe Newton?
"Nearly twenty five hundred years ago," Jim
said, "a Greek from Ionia first taught his students about the atom. His
name was Leucippus. And he had a famous student, named Democritus, The Skeptic,
who taught Plato and Aristotle a thing or two about the world. And these two
men - Leucippus and Democritus – claimed that everything was composed of very
small particles, invisible to the eye, that they named the atom.
"Now, you must understand, at that time the
theory was that there were four elements, earth, water, wind and fire. So it
was a tremendous leap in logic for them to imagine such a thing as the atom.
Like a man flying to the stars. But Leucippus and Democritus taught that all
things - living and inanimate, rock or flesh - were made of atoms. In fact,
Leucippus went so far as to say that even the soul was made up of atoms."
Lucky thought a moment, then said, "But Einstein
said we could split the atom."
"True," said Jim, "and I don’t think
either Leucippus or Democritus would have disagreed. It is in a man’s nature,
when he sees something small, to imagine something that could be smaller. Or if
he sees something big..." Jim waved his hand at the sky… "He can
imagine that there must be something larger still. In fact, there are those who
say eternity lies in either direction. Both big and small."
Once again Lucky lapsed into silence as he
considered. Then he asked. "Jim, do you think there really is a
soul?"
"If there is," Jim said with a grin,
"we know it will probably be composed of atoms. The ancient Greeks told us
so."
Lucky laughed. "Or maybe something
smaller," he said. "Like, smaller than an ants’ soul."
Jim said, "Oh, I don’t know, Lucky. I’ve been
studying ants along with you. And I’ve come to the conclusion that although
ants may be small, their souls surely are not."
NEXT: THE BLACKSMITH AND THE CARPENTER
(Note from Allan: We'll be on hiatus for the holidays. Lucky In Cyprus Will Resume Friday, Jan. 3, 2014)
(Note from Allan: We'll be on hiatus for the holidays. Lucky In Cyprus Will Resume Friday, Jan. 3, 2014)
*****
LUCKY IN CYPRUS: IT'S A BOOK!
Here's where to get the paperback & Kindle editions worldwide:
Here's what readers say about Lucky In Cyprus:
- "Bravo, Allan! When I finished Lucky In Cyprus I wept." - Julie Mitchell, Hot Springs, Texas
- "Lucky In Cyprus brought back many memories... A wonderful book. So many shadows blown away!" - Freddy & Maureen Smart, Episkopi,Cyprus.
- "... (Reading) Lucky In Cyprus has been a humbling, haunting, sobering and enlightening experience..." - J.A. Locke, Bookloons.com
THE SPYMASTER'S DAUGHTER:
A new novel by Allan and his daughter, Susan
After laboring as a Doctors Without Borders physician in the teaming refugee camps and minefields of South Asia, Dr. Ann Donovan thought she'd seen Hell as close up as you can get. And as a fifth generation CIA brat, she thought she knew all there was to know about corruption and betrayal. But then her father - a legendary spymaster - shows up, with a ten-year-old boy in tow. A brother she never knew existed. Then in a few violent hours, her whole world is shattered, her father killed and she and her kid brother are one the run with hell hounds on their heels. They finally corner her in a clinic in Hawaii and then all the lies and treachery are revealed on one terrible, bloody storm ravaged night.
*****
Here's where you can buy it worldwide in both paperback and Kindle editions:
United Kingdom ...........................Spain
Also: NOOK BOOK. Plus ALL E-BOOK FLAVORS.
TALES OF THE BLUE MEANIE
NOW AN AUDIOBOOK!
NOW AN AUDIOBOOK!
 |
Venice Boardwalk Circa 1969
|
In the depths of the Sixties and The Days Of Rage, a young newsman, accompanied by his pregnant wife and orphaned teenage brother, creates a Paradise of sorts in a sprawling Venice Beach community of apartments, populated by students, artists, budding scientists and engineers lifeguards, poets, bikers with a few junkies thrown in for good measure. The inhabitants come to call the place “Pepperland,” after the Beatles movie, “Yellow Submarine.” Threatening this paradise is "The Blue Meanie," a crazy giant of a man so frightening that he eventually even scares himself.
*****
STEN #1: NOW IN SPANISH!
Diaspar Magazine - the best SF magazine in South America - is publishing the first novel in the Sten series in four episodes. Here are the links:
REMEMBER - IT'S FREE!
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