One of Plato’s most challenging dialogs is
the Phaedrus for many reasons. Mainly because it brings up the concept that
there may be a confusion between “divine” inspiration and madness. And, the
culprit? A single letter, the lower-case Theta. In Ancient Greek, the words
manic and man(t)ic are separated by this unassuming letter. The difference
between the two words, however, could not be more striking. Manic is the word
that has come into our parlance for a level of mental illness that is
characterized by so-called racing thoughts and a hyper awareness.
I have known a very good friend die of a
very advanced stage of this by walking into a oncoming truck on a major
highway, naked. But, I would be lying if I did not see the mantic in him as
well. He had a direct line to something else. I have personal issues at times
with manic and mantic as well, and I know I am not alone with thinking that
this “t” is something pretty damn important. A Mantic, such as the Praying
Mantis, is a mystic, someone who has a direct line with the divine. But,
really, who is to say which is which? It is an Occam’s razor-thin line that
people are often very quick to excise that troublesome theta from the equation.
I am very curious about the concepts of normalcy and what are considered
deviations from that. Plato was looking into this 2,500 years ago, and he is
considered an old, dead white guy. But, how far have we actually come on this
topic?
