Before I begin, I would like to relate a story.

The orator Demades spoke one day to the people of Athens. As no one was taking much notice of what he was saying, someone asked if he could tell one of Aesop's fables. Agreeing to the request, he commenced thus:
"The Goddess Demeter, a swallow and the eel all took the
same route. They arrived at the edge of a river. Then the
swallow flew up into the air and the eel dived into the
water."
At that point, he stopped speaking. "And Demeter?" someone asked. "What did she do?" "She got angry with you" he replied, "who are neglecting affairs of state to listen to the fables of Aesop."


There are many things to which I wish to reply, after having read the last number of posts since my own. The first would be in response to you Agrafiotis. In your post "ABOUT THE NEIGHBOURHOOD PROJECT"; you questioned the validity of having City-States under the banner of Athens.

In response, I would actually point to the Hegemony of the Delian League. Under this format, a great many CITY-STATES; whilst retaining their own independence (ok, maybe to a certain extent), where lead by the Athenian Super-Power. Fair enough that it eventually led to the Peloponnesian War, but for all intents and purposes, I do not see why we could not re-create a similar effect here within AW.

We could remain absolutely true to history and recreate the Delian League with the City-States which were members of that body, or we could use poetic licence and perhaps fudge the boundaries a bit to introduce members of the then Hellenic League.

Indeed though, all matters aside, I fear that the potential exists for us all to talk around this subject till the very end of time without every achieving anything. I would therefore like to propose a solution.

DEBATE

I hear from the good graces of Aphrodite that a sitewide festival will soon be upon us. What better forum for a debate between the DEME faction and the CITY-STATE faction.

The rules would be simple and usual debate ettiquette would apply. The ATHENS scribes could be adjudicators and those not taking part in the debate could lodge a vote at the completion of the debate till the end of the festival.

This would be in keeping with the original ideals of greek decision making as well as being a lot of fun. I would very much like to know what others think of this idea and would be more than happy to assist in organising or maybe even taking a debative role.

Returning to my Aesop at the top? The moral behind it was this: Men are unreasonable, who neglect important things in preference
to things which give them pleasure.

I related that particular fable not because I feel that people are neglecting the important things; but rather that I feel that people (myself included) may becoming too attached to certain stand-points. This leads to a tunnelled vision that may not include the wider vision or the greater good. This is why I propose the idea of a debate. I also feel it will allow us all to take a step back and approach this matter once more, with cooler heads and more rational logic.

I pray I have not offended any with what I have said and will look forward to reading more posts around this most interesting issue.

Warm Blessigns

Polidarius