In the brilliant and unsettling fragment Homers Contest, found among Nietzsches unpublished writings after his death in 1900, the philosopher returns to obsessive themes originally explored in his first book, The Birth of Tragedy Out of the Spirit of Music (1872): namely, that contrary to the reigning morality of his timea Protestant-Christian morality, at least officiallyit is not natural not to fight; it is not natural not to fight to the death, in the service of allowing hatred [to] flow forth fully; indeed, a noble culture is one that, like the ancient Greek culture, arises from the altar of the expiation of murder. Far from being barbaric, the stylized Greek, or Homeric, contest gives, in Nietzsches view, a crucial ritualistic form to mankinds most murderous instincts, in this way containing the horror of anarchic violence: not brutality per se but the brutality of chaos is the true horror of humankind. In the Homeric worldthe world of stylized artwe encounter artistic deception of a kind that renders such horror bearable. But what do we behold when, no longer led and protected by the hand of Homer, we stride back into the pre-Homeric world? Only night and terror and an imagination accustomed to the horrible. What kind of earthly existence do these revolting, terrible theogonic myths reflect? A life ruled only by the children of Night: strife, lust, deceit, old age, and death. For the rest of this review of the book go to: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/arch...y-of-the-ring/ __________________ married for 45 years, a teacher for 35, a writer & editor for 13, and a Baha'i for 53(in 2012)
The New York Review of Books for June 2012 does not have the entire review. If you google the words "the Cultural History of Boxing" you will come up with a range of sites. Try this link; https://www.google.com.au/#hl=en&bi...gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=32f341450ee2ba40
