Sheril Kirshenbaum

I can't be the only classics nerd feeling like Elon Musk is having a Xerxes-lashes-the-Hellespont meltdown over #Twitter.

#History repeats itself. This time it's hubris in the digital world.

"Herodotus understood, over two millennia ago, a lesson we struggle with in modern times: that technology, neutral in itself, provides tools. Xerxes men could build a great bridge. But Xerxes forgot what it was to be a man. Technology can all too easily be abused." https://www.uh.edu/engines/epi2310.htm #TwitterMigration

No. 2310 Xerxes and the Hellespont

Bridging the Hellespont: Xerxes makes war on the Dardenelles

Nov 11, 2022 at 12:15amWeb
Show threadMike MillerNov 11, 2022
@Sheril lol
Show threadNarevalomNov 11, 2022
@Sheril or as some people say: history doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes very well 🤓
Show threadcaryNov 11, 2022
@Sheril I think you might be. I've vaguely heard of those characters, but I didn't know the story. Very interesting to be fair but completely new to me
Show threadEasyNov 11, 2022
@Sheril this is why I've been meaning to read the classics. Kids make it difficult to have uninterrupted reading time though
Show threadAmanda CarsonNov 11, 2022
@Sheril No. No you are not the only one.
Show threadGeorge H. CollierNov 11, 2022
@Sheril “But he calls Xerxes a barbarian when he punishes the waters. This act of hubris -- of overweening pride -- reflects the shift to the second meaning: a barbarian is someone who violates the norms of reason and measure.” Perfect 👍
Show threadManong DaveNov 11, 2022
@Sheril I was thinking it was more like a Caligula-declares-war-on-the-sea kind of meltdown...comparisons to Xerxes are probably too generous for Musk. Probably.
Show threadTravis Hill ☢️Nov 20, 2022
@Sheril I feel like far into the future, assuming we don't destroy ourselves, Space Karen's ruination of Twitter will be taught in the same manner that military academies still teach about the battle @ Thermoplyae.