What do men live by summary

What Do Men Live By?

Summary: This excerpt began with C.L.R James asking many of the questions that we ask ourselves on a rare but increasing basis; What men live by, what is it that they want and is what our ancestors wanted what we want now. Then a brief history follows of where sports came from. As we know sports became one of the notable achievements in Athens, Greece. Although sports was said to have disappeared for a number of years because of lack of interest, in the 1860s sports returned in almost full force. Although sport returned to the table so did many political struggles and democratic goals. “Trotsky had said that the workers were deflected from politics by sports.’. Once a general understanding of the era of the beginning or rebirthing of sports was established and explanation followed. Some of the ironies of sports in their early years were brought forth, political meetings were held during the Olympic Games in Athens, and only the rich were able to attend the games due to the high costs and inaccessibility stiff ling the stigma that it was the common folk that enjoyed the games. An interesting fact that was brought up is that the first recorded date in European history is 776 B.C., the date of the first Olympic Games, during times of war all battle ceased and a national truce was declared. Sports in themselves were a holy common ground. You did not bring feuds onto the playing field much like today, when a game is being played you may not like your neighbor and you may not like your teammate but none of that mattered when the games begin. Solon the symbol of wisdom in Greece address a group of barbarians that believed sport was a waste of time and a childish pursuit and stated:

‘By seeing what was going on you would be able to appreciate that we are quite justified in expending so much ardour on these spectacles. I cannot find words to give you an idea of the pleasure that you would have if you were seated in the middle of the anxious spectators, watching the courage of the athletes, the beauty of their bodies, their splendid poses, their extraordinary suppleness, their tireless energy, their audacity, their sense of competition, their unconquerable courage, their unceasing efforts to win a victory. I am sure that you would not cease to overwhelm them with praise, to shout again and again, to applaud.’

There is no way to truly appreciate sports unless you are able to witness them first hand. James however continues and draws Peisistratus, a tyrant in Athens who ‘looked around for means of binding the city masses more closely to his regime’. No one knows for sure why but Athenian tragic drama began to play for the Athenian citizens. The dramas were competitive, and the people that attended the plays were moved in ways much like the spectators watching a sporting event. There was a new sport in Athens, by the name of Greek drama.

Thesis: It has been said, even by C.L.R James that ‘when the common people were not at work, on thing they wanted was organized sports and games’, this has been a general idea for many years, men crave sports; the competitiveness, the excitement, and un predictability, however, it is not the sport that is craved it is all the effects that sport has upon us that we search for and it can be found in other places too.

Anti-Thesis: I believe the anti-thesis in this argument is that all people crave sports as a way to experience emotions that are not found in everyday life.

Tools: This author used many examples from history to prove his points. There were many that I had never heard of and that were confusing. At times unless I used the Encyclopedia to look up what he was talking about I was lost. By giving examples and reasons why sports were so large and why they failed or were less successful he was able to prove that people don’t necessarily need sports to feel accomplished or to feel a sense of freedom from daily tasks. These examples were actually the parts of the piece that I enjoyed the most the facts that he brought to the piece brought a sense of ah-ha and head scratching that may not have been there otherwise.