Abderitism - Shield Citizens of Antiquity in Abdera

Our research into the ancient city of Abdera on the Greek Aegean coast showed us how closely the network of settlement was already established before Christ and how trade relations were linked to it.

Another interesting aspect of our research was the finding that the citizens of the city of Abdera at that time had a “simple” reputation comparable to the Schildbürger in antiquity. Anyone who admitted to coming from Abdera as a citizen was generally viewed as a somewhat simple-minded idiot. Even today, the term “small town” or, more accurately, shield bourgeoisie is also described as Abderitism. This despite the presence of famous Greek philosophers and poets such as Leucippus, Democritus, Protagoras, Anaxarchus and Anacreon.

Schildbürger, living in the fictional town of Schilda

In his satirical novel “The Abderites” from 1774, Christoph Martin Wieland moves the location of his satire to Abdera in reference to this past, but in order to show that the typical form of foolishness can be considered a basic human constant and, accordingly, in everyone Can be found anywhere and at any time.

The Schildbürger, living in the fictional town of Schilda, are the main actors in a whole series of short stories, the Schildbürgerstreichen. The Schwank collections about the Schildbürgern are, along with those about Till Eulenspiegel, the best-known German collection of picaresque stories in novel form.

A collection or a folk book with Schildbürger jokes about its contents was first published in 1597 under the title “The Lalen Book. “Wondrously strange / adventurous / unheard of / and previously undescribed stories and deeds of the Lalen in Lalenburg”. The second edition from 1598 with the title “The Schiltbürger” became known: several authors are discussed as its author, including: Friedrich von Schönberg. Like Till Eulenspiegel or Faust, the Lalebuch is not based on a foreign language source. Rather, jokes and stories that were circulating were taken up and artfully processed into a whole, peppered with many learned hints.

Although Abdera was the hometown of the famous Greek philosophers Leucippus, who was attributed to the atomistic school of Abdera (although Miletus is also attributed to him), Democritus, Protagoras and Anaxarchus, and the poet Anacreon of Teos moved here, the residents of the city had one similar reputation as the Schildbürger. In ancient times, anyone who was called an “Abderite” was considered a simple person. Ancient naturalists saw the reason for this in the climatic conditions prevailing in Abdera and in the presence of a certain variety of hellebore.

According to this view of the Abderites, small-town life or shield bourgeoisie is also referred to as Abderitism. Alluding to this, Christoph Martin Wieland locates his satirical novel in Abdera. His novel presents the typical foolishness of the Abderites as a basic human constant that can be found in all places at all times and is, so to speak, cosmopolitan. Friedrich Dürrenmatt also located his satirical radio play "The Trial of the Donkey's Shadow" (1951) in Abdera. In his utopian novel "The Islands of Wisdom", published in 1922, Alexander Moszkowski defends the alleged stupidity of the Abderites as a reason that is superior to our time:

Abdera is everywhere, is cosmopolitan.

In the utopian novel by Alexander Moszkowski, the author defends this alleged stupidity of people, better of the Abderites, as a reason that is superior to modern times:

"We consider it a given that Abdera was a hotbed of stupidity and the known evidence is sufficient for us.

Consequently, it is reasonable to think of the Abderites as idiots. I only have to shift the angle of view a little and things turn into the opposite... if the Abderites were really as they are portrayed, then they represent a higher class of people and we have every reason to envy them."

Many of today's wrong developments in technology and energy supply and the associated bad investments have already been described as nonsensical, even foolish, by many so-called eternal "yesterdays" or dreamers over the course of the last 35 years. Let's just take nuclear energy as an example. Haven’t “eco” and “green” people been dismissed for years as a bit whimsical and otherworldly? Were these people the Abderites of our day?

Today we know that this technical development has gone in completely the wrong direction, so problematic are the follow-up costs and so-called “final storage”.

The Abderite tribe has moved on into modern times. And this is just one example of many.

Please also read:

Nicholas: Santa Basil in Greece and witch Befana in Italy

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