did I hear right?

Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Mon, 9 Dec 1996 08:23:31 -0600

I take the liberty of forwarding this, one of the very rare posts of Zeus
on our sister list, CLASSICS, in hopes that it will offend neither B-Greek
readers nor the original sender, who claims to see all and hear all but who
cannot be reached directly by e-mail (some have tried prayer, but Zeus,
like Yahweh (perhaps he may even be Yahweh under another name?), may listen
but will not necessarily respond when or in the manner that one is
expecting. I hope earnestly, in fact, that I may not be stricken by a blitz
from the aether(net?) for venturing to forward this message--without even
asking for the sender's permission. With this sender, one may not readily
submit requests for permission, wherefore one must boldly seize the
bull--or whatever--by the horns. Apollo is not currently available at
Delphi; he has already left for his annual visitation to the Hyperboreans
for the winter and left his half-brother Dionysus in charge on Parnassus.
I'd rather not try getting in touch with Dionysus, as he has been known to
tear people limb from limb when he gets angry, or drunk, or both.

Nevertheless this is an interesting oracle, and although B-Greek
participants need not by any means be scholars, it is to be hoped that they
will respect scholarship as such whether they respect any particular
so-called scholar or not. It has been formulated in that not uneloquent but
regal and somewhat patronizing manner that characterizes Zeus. In the
earlier days of the CLASSICS list these messages from Zeus used to appear
more frequently, but it is evident that he now watches from a distance and
trusts his efficient daughter, Athena, in almost all matters regarding that
list. I am at least informing her of this potential breach of netiquette so
as not to act irreverently, even if boldly.

>Date: Mon, 9 Dec 1996 05:33:41 -0800 (PST)
>Reply-To: classics@u.washington.edu
>Sender: CLASSICS-owner@u.washington.edu
>Precedence: bulk
>From: Zeus <zeus@u.washington.edu>
>To: Classics List <classics@u.washington.edu>
>Subject: did I hear right?
>Mime-Version: 1.0
>Status:
>
>
>I'm getting old, but did I hear somebody close a message with the words
>"unscholarly but opinionated"? Why *ever* would someone wish to advertise
>such a condition? It's not a matter of professional training or
>affiliation. The beauty of this list is that the spirit and practice of
>scholarship, that form of libido which is ever on the prowl for good new
>evidence or a telling argument, wherever they may come from, can be found
>ubiquitously distributed in all sorts of places and professions.
>"Unscholarly but opinionated", on the other hand, is the sort of attitude
>that elementary school exists to eradicate; when it misses a few,
>secondary schools are instituted to catch them; whereupon colleges and
>universities move in to scorch the earth behind any remnants.
>
>Zeus, Lord of Gods and Men

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University
One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO, USA 63130
(314) 935-4018
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu OR cwc@oui.com
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/