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April 12th

REJECT TANTALIZING GIFTS

“Atreus: Who would reject the flood of fortune’s gifts?

Thyestes: Anyone who has experienced how easily they flow

back.”

—SENECA, THYESTES, 536

hyestes is one of Seneca’s darkest and most disturbing plays. Even two
thousand years later it remains a classic of the revenge genre. Without
spoiling it, the quote above comes from the scene in which Atreus is
attempting to lure his hated brother Thyestes into a cruel trap by offering
him tempting and generous gifts. At first, Thyestes declines, to the
complete bafflement of his enemy.
We are typically surprised when someone turns down an expensive gift
or a position of honor or success. General William T. Sherman emphatically
rejected offers to run for president of the United States, saying at one point:
“I will not accept if nominated and will not serve if elected.” If his friend
Ulysses S. Grant had made such a “Shermanesque statement” (as such
rejections are now known), Grant certainly would have preserved his own
legacy from the disastrous turn of events it suffered.
Despite his initial misgivings, Thyestes is ultimately tempted and
persuaded to accept “fortune’s gifts,”... which turned out to be a ruse
hiding devastating tragedy. Not every opportunity is fraught with danger,
but the play was intended to remind us that our attraction toward what is
new and shiny can lead us into serious trouble.