Sports, Tragedy, and War

About this event

It can be argued that sports events are to our contemporary society what popular dramatic tragedies were to ancient Greek society. In his analysis of tragedy, Aristotle points out its ritual function as catharsis: spectators are purged of pity and fear through vicarious participation in the drama. In contemporary sports, spectators purge their own emotions of success or failure through vicarious participation in the game. Sport offers us a cathartic outlet for real-life suffering and failure: Some teams embody constant failure. The Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, and Minnesota Vikings mirror the greatest ancient tragedies. In Sophocles ' tragedy Oedipus Rex, he unwittingly murders his father and marries his mother, but there are so many “if onlys” along the path to his destruction. If only Oedipus had not met his father on the road to Thebes. If only he had not asked questions, if only the old shepherd had not told him the truth. Similar tragedies are played out in football stadiums every Sunday in the Fall. If only he had not fumbled, not thrown the interception, not gone offsides. In the Old Testament, the prophet Habakkuk complains to God: Why is life so unfair? Why do the evil flourish and the good suffer? The only answer he gets is that you have to live by faith. The believer is asked to live by faith, even though it is difficult amid so much suffering in the world. Also true of the fan who lives by faith, ever hoping next year will be the year they win it all. The just shall live by faith…the fan shall wait till next year. Sports and drama can also be seen as a substitute for war. No one really suffers. After all the death and destruction in a tragedy, the actors get up, go home, and have a sandwich. Similarly, in sports: the tragedy is not absolute; the players suffer loss, but go home to their million-dollar houses and come back the next day or next year to do it again. Not so in war. We all struggle with our insecurities and failures. We fall, but we get…