The ancient Greek word I once remembered was, "Don't be afraid." But I actually won't say it anymore. only because the little boy said to his sister at the end of the movie, "Don't be afraid, I'll tell you a story." I remember the ancient Greek teacher, Memo, wanted to teach us the word, and then learn ancient Greek without fear. In other words, he wants us to gain courage by remembering the word. Encourage yourself when you lose confidence and patience. Later, I went to check, and it turned out that the child said "Don't be afraid," which is not a common Greek colloquial language. It is probably Matthew 28:10, Jesus' first words after his resurrection to the apostles who came to see him, "Do not be afraid! Go and tell my brethren that they go to Galilee, and there they shall see me. "
Don't be afraid at the end of the movie; it's different from the beginning. sister asked, "Are you afraid?" My brother said, "Don't be afraid." They're not afraid. Maybe they don't know what to be afraid of. Finally, my sister said, "I am afraid." They go through this journey and finally feel what they might be facing and start to get scared. But my brother still said, "Don't be afraid." More importantly, he said, Don't be afraid.I'll tell you a story.
The film also tells the story of this genesis at the beginning, but it has nothing to do with fear. The younger brother just likes to hear the elder sister tell the story. But in the end, it was the younger brother who encouraged the older sister with this story. Why? Why did my sister tell her this story when she was afraid? Here, the movie is not the same as the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus is qualified to tell believers not to be afraid, because what they see is what they believe, because Jesus has no doubts and no fears. But the younger brother is not qualified, because he is in the fog and can't see anything, and he still has fear. But I think there is a difference between being afraid and being frightened. Fear is fear, but fear is the inability to act in the face of fear or turn away from it. The courageous person is not one who is fearless, but rather one who remains fearful in the face of fear.On the contrary, a person who is not afraid of anything is not brave. So we can't say that at the beginning of the movie, they were brave. But in the end, they were brave. Because brave people are still afraid but not afraid because they finally know what fear is but still have courage. But our question remains, why does a story give us courage? After all, stories are not knowledge, let alone truth, but fiction.
To answer this question, a quote from Aristotle's Poetics may help us: "The difference between the historian and the tragic poet is this: the historian tells what has happened; the tragic poet tells what did not happen." "Poetry, therefore, is more philosophical and serious than history, because poetry speaks of general things and history of concrete things." (1451b3-6) But the poet does not speak only of things that did not happen but of "those things that may have happened." Things that are usually or necessarily likely to happen "(1451a35). In physics, he said, "What is usual or necessary is nature; the rest is accidental" (198b34). It can be seen that he regards the works of tragic poets as a manifestation of nature, a possible dimension of nature. Just as he would also use the structure of tragedy to understand nature, in Metaphysics he said, "From experience we cannot say that nature lacks a unified order, as if it were an unwritten tragedy" (1090b20). It is true that not all stories inspire the heart and embody the possibilities of nature. But a good tragedy, a good poem, or a good story can embody the truth of nature with fictional things.
There must be truth in fiction in order for us not to be afraid. But the fictitious truth, not the objective truth, will not completely make us free from fear, but only make us afraid without fear, which is to make us brave. This is what knowledge can not help us with. Knowledge is power, but knowledge does not give us the power to face fear, because knowledge gives us the ability to remove fear itself. Perhaps Nietzsche was right. The ancient Greeks put the gods in their dreams in front of their eyes because of fear, and used stories to give courage to life:
In order to be able to live, the Greeks must have created these gods out of the deepest necessity. We can readily imagine the sequential development of these gods: through that instinctive Apollonian drive for beauty, there developed by slow degrees out of the primordial titanic divine order of terror the Olympian divine order of joy, just as roses break forth from thorny bushes. How else could a people so emotionally sensitive, so spontaneously desiring, so singularly capable of suffering have endured their existence, unless the same qualities manifested themselves in their gods, around whom flowed a higher glory? The same instinctual drive which summons art into life as the seductive replenishment for further living and the completion of existence also gave rise to the Olympian world, in which the Hellenic "Will" held before itself a transfiguring mirror. ----- The Birth of Tragedy, Nietzsche
The ancient Greeks knew and felt the horror of survival. In order to live, he must place before his eyes the dazzling Olympian gods born from a dream. [...] The ancient Greeks must have created these gods out of a deep necessity in order to live. We can already imagine the development of these gods through the natural Apollonian instinctive pursuit of beauty, slowly forming the Olympian joyful divine order from the original huge horror divine order, like roses growing out of thorns. Otherwise, how can a group of people with rich emotions, impromptu desires, and a unique ability to suffer endure their existence? If not by bestowing the same qualities on their gods and lavishing them with greater glory. This instinct, of art-inducing life as a seductive reserve for the fulfillment of future life and existence, likewise created the world of Olympus, the anamorphic mirror that the Greek "will" placed before itself.
Then I finally discovered that the courage given to me by philosophy, literature, and art is the sure and irreplaceable force of scientific knowledge. It is the belief that there must be truth in something fictitious. I'm going to tell Josh that's why I can't accept Descartes.
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