2018-09-26 Lessons from a Homeric Ship on the Importance of Engagement

Lessons from a Homeric Ship on the Importance of Engagement

9/26/2018 4:50:52 PM by David D. Pearce

This little print, for me, symbolizes the importance of engagement and experiment.

Early 2016 was a period of crisis in Greece -- both a continuing economic crisis and the shock of a million migrants flooding across the Aegean from Turkey. I was the U.S. Ambassador to Greece at the time, and the pace was intense. So when I had an occasional break, I often turned to my watercolors.

As a lifelong Classics buff, I was thrilled to be living in Greece. One day, while re-reading a section of the Odyssey, I decided to try to sketch an Homeric ship. There were plenty of representations of 5th-century triremes, but not these smaller, older craft. We knew they had dark, curving hulls, oars, a single mast and sail, basic rigging, and a steering oar. I found a line diagram of such a ship, and the Greek names for its basic components, in an old text of Homer in my library. So I put it all together in a little watercolor notebook sketch, writing out the Greek and English names above and below the image.

On a whim, I sent the notebook sketch, done only for my own education, out on Twitter, and was astonished at how many people picked it up and retweeted it. In fact, it became the most retweeted message I sent out during my three-year tour. It illustrates a principle that art and diplomacy have in common -- the importance of constant engagement. Cardinal Richelieu famously said it was essential to negotiate ceaselessly, even when no present gain is expected and still more where no future gain is anticipated. I began this little sketch with no intention of anything except improving my own understanding of what a Homeric ship might have looked like. But, just as it was interesting to me, so too it evidently was for a lot of other aficionados of Greek history and literature. You never know. So the moral of the story is: engage with your audience, even if you don't know why, and even if you have no expectation of future benefit.

All of which is to say, it took awhile, but I am now making my little ship available as a print. So it's there now, on daviddpearce.com, for all who are burning to know how to say stem and stern, oar and forestay, in Ancient Greek.

Sorry folks, but I'm keeping the original.

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