Present time: Manifesto for the Rebirth of Ancient Human Values

Wars, decaying cultures, the destruction of the world through the exploitation of resources and people. The old world seems to be perishing, a new one not yet emerging. Where are you, great spirit of antiquity? What has become of you? Cradle of democracy, first stirrings of women's rights—where has all this glory gone? Replaced by authoritarian systems, corruption, and oligarchy?

Hellas, you great role model, what has become of your radiant spirit? Now you yourself are the protagonist of Aristotelian tragedy. Has the time of the heroes' downfall already come? The ferryman is already preparing for the journey to the underworld. Odysseus awakens and begins his wanderings anew. Will he this time succumb to the Sirens, using them as instruments of his grief over the decline of the ancient world and its achievements? I don't know, but it seems likely.

Hellas, you great role model, what has become of your radiant spirit? Now you yourself are the protagonist of Aristotelian tragedy. Has the time of the heroes' downfall already come? The ferryman is already preparing for the journey to the underworld. Odysseus awakens and begins his wanderings anew. Will he this time give in to the Sirens, using them as instruments of his grief over the decay of the ancient world and its achievements? I don't know, but it seems likely.

The swan song has begun, a swan song for humanism, which drew its sustenance from the Greek heritage. Our ideal is the comprehensively educated individual, a person who engages with art, philosophy, culture, and politics, who learns from antiquity how human coexistence functions. A Homo sapiens who transcends hatred, greed, oppression, and discrimination. A Homo sapiens who knows what is beneficial to humanity, what develops it, and conversely, what destroys it. A Homo sapiens who masters catharsis and the restraint of their own impulses for the benefit of the community.

What has become of Diotima's endeavor, who engaged in a unique discourse with Socrates to find clear and sustainable answers to existential questions?

Their conversations paint a vivid picture, like a window into the world of the people of antiquity, revealing their yearning for clarity and transparency in shaping their lives, with enduring values upon which they could rely. [1]

What has become of the teachings of the ancient rhetoricians, who demonstrated their art of diplomacy, mastered the art of argumentation to persuade, to move people to action, but not to manipulate?

Even the ancient spirit turns away from our supposedly modern age, which knows only victors and vanquished, which uses words to destroy, devalue, and trample into the ground until only a speck of dust remains. We wage wars of power, sowing destruction and annihilation for our own gain. Egoism, the flip side of individualism, destroys the sense of belonging and community. The ruthless self destroys the nascent "we," which has long been writhing in its death throes. The ferryman prepares to carry it across the river of oblivion.

Let us therefore rise up and celebrate the heroes who are ready to champion the rebirth of ancient human values.

Let us therefore rise up and celebrate the heroes who are ready to advance the rebirth of ancient human values. Let us pluck palm branches to celebrate them properly.

Let us help to prevent the demise of the educated, community-minded individual.

[1] Haarmann, Harald (2020). Platons Musen. Philosophie im Licht weiblicher Intellektualität. Hildesheim & New    York: Olms. S. 195ff