Ray Rice Hysteria

Wow! What a week for Ray Rice and the NFL. Even though the” incident” occurred months ago. It wasn’t until the video was released (a video is worth 1000 words) that the eruption began. Many are outraged and couldn’t care less about Ray Rice, the person. This doesn’t mean that they don’t want his blood. I’m not condoning domestic violence. However, does it take a video to facilitate a reaction? Where have all these concerned humans been when they first learned about the incident? It seems to me that because Ray Rice is a celebrity, who earns millions of dollars, playing an aggressive sport that perhaps many get on this social media bandwagon of phony outrage. Of course, national media delights in having this type of so called news. They can get anyone to give one opinion and then find another person with an opposing opinion. More entertainment, not serious news reporting.

One university professor Mark Edmundson believes that he has a solution regarding the personality orientation of athletes with their aggression and destructiveness tendencies. The professor believes that the great classics (Greek) should be taught, especially to athletes. The thesis is that the body and mind are related. The professor goes on to talk about Homer and the Greek word Thumos. According to Homer and the professor, Homer has glorified Achilles. Homer talks about Achilles’ thumos the word that’s associated with his bravery, courage and the urge for glory. In fact, Achilles was brutal and has a necrophilia personality orientation that was illustrated when he killed Hector in the battle regarding Helen of Troy. Hector told Achilles that the victor should honor the dead, with a proper burial. Essentially, Achilles disregarded that idea as his values were very different. In essence, Homer glorified Achilles (disgraced the dead Hector) behavior.

On the other hand, Plato in the Republic counters, Homer and suggests that we should not be afraid of fear. Also, knowledge and reason should rule the drive for glory or destructive necrophilia behavior. And the professor believes that Homer and Plato should be taught to today’s athletes. In doing so, the individuals learn to control their impulses and domination to rule both on and off the field. Apparently, Aristotle thought that sports is an opportunity to rid the self of our dangerous emotions by venting them in a game such as sports. Could that be a solution for combating Isis?

I don’t think it would hurt to teach our athletes about Plato and Homer. However, I don’t think the public or the NFL, for that matter would punish Ray Rice by having him read the Greek classics.

Edmundson’s article was found in the New York Times, August 17, 2014.