Saving the Ship of State

War is the common condition for the vast multitudes of mankind. It is now, it was then, it will be; We in America have never seen the terror of a domestic war. This will not always be so. Conditions change and scales tip: let us not be placed before the bar and be found wanting. 

This admonition is parallel with a play by Aeschylus called "The Seven Against Thebes." The play revolves around seven-gated Thebes and the conflict of two twin brothers. Through his conflict, A mighty city is threatened with catastrophe.

According to Wikipedia, a the might of Thebes is written thus: "Thebes was the largest city of the ancient region of Boeotia and was the leader of the Boeotian confederacy. It was a major rival of ancient Athens, and sided with the Persians during the 480 BC invasion under Xerxes. Theban forces ended the power of Sparta at the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC under the command of Epaminondas. The Sacred Band of Thebes (an elite military unit) famously fell at the battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC against Philip II and Alexander the Great. Prior to its destruction by Alexander in 335 BC, Thebes was a major force in Greek history, and was the most dominant city-state at the time of the Macedonian conquest of Greece." Close in line with us today, Thebes was very prominent and very powerful. 

What kind of effort would it take to overthrow Thebes? The conflict of the brothers over the dominion of Thebes came close to so doing; Their war among themselves eventually led them to a double fratricide. 

Through internal strife and a factitious spirit the ship of state was threatened. What are somethings we can do to preserve the ship?

A quote by one of the brothers characterized in the play, "Eteocles" king of Thebes, describes what I mean by "ship of state." This is in response to a panicking character: "Et. Think ye that when she labors by the head with panic rush from high-pooped steen to prow The seaman goes about to save his ship?" Therefore, we cannot panic when disaster threatens, but go foreword to do what we can.

Image courtesy of Wikimeida Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SS_Austria_shipwreck.jpg