The reciepient of the Athinai Prize, awarded “to an individual whose actions help to bring about the rapprochement of people and upholding of human dignity”, was former West Greman Chancellor Helmut Schmidt. In his acceptance speech Mr Schmidt predicted that by the end of the century China will have joined the U.S. and USSR as world power Number Three. But how, he wondered, would the European Common Market then match these powers – and Japan, to “enjoy the enormous advantages of an economy of great scale?… We Europeans have enormous difficulties among ourselves… and it is in Athens, in particular, that the distance which separates us from a politically unified Europe is felt most clearly”.
The Athens to which Schmidt was referring, as “a personal musee imaginaire”, is a living reality that represents a heritage all Europeans share, emphasizes the basic political conviction which they hold in common and therefore embodies the desire for unity which the EEC is itself so importantly trying to express.
Schmidt’s description of Athens as “a personal musee imaginaire” was a particularly apt one which understandably drew a smile from the former chancellor’s sympathetic and largely Athenian audience. Museums are wonderful places to visit, but as any museum custodian knows they are not always ideal places to live and work in, particularly when the accumulating apparatus is out of whack (i.e. the nefos) and the museum’s finances are shaky. But in the context of Schmidt’s grand concepts, these matters seemed trivial. One of the best things about the annual Onassis affairs is that they afford a good opportunity to hear at home thoughts expressed from abroad and consider new perspectives about Greece which, seen from every day work or play, are so taken for granted that they aren’t seen at all.
Schmidt spoke a great deal about the economy – quite naturally, since he is an expert on these things , and it is in great part his contribution to the economic unity of the Common Market which made him such a fitting recipient of the Athinai Prize. Yet in his conclusion he returned to his conception of Athens: “Europe is not only a political and economic challenge; it is an ethical commitment as well.” Amid mountains of butter and lakes of olive oil, there is certainly place for a museum of the mind.
This is no idle fancy. If it were, no one would care where the Elgin Marbles were so long as they could be seen, whether it’s where they are or at “home” where they should be. Ideally , they belong everywhere at once, which is where physically they can’t be unless it is in that “musee imaginaire”.
It’s possible that while Schmidt was imagining the place of a united Europe in relation to the other great rival super-economies, Greek minds – always adventurous – were imagining even greater things: that, even in a longer term, if there should ever be one, there must be one day, not so long off, one single super-maxi economy with mountains of ghee in India, lakes of soya in China, plains of wheat in Africa and even Sri Lankan shipowners establishing prizes dedicated “to the rapprochement of people and the upholding of human dignity”.
“There is no single country in Europe now which at one and the same time can fulfill the basic targets of economic policy,” Schmidt said. Least of all Greece. This being so now, where will Greece stand as these blocs of nations become even mightier and at the same time fewer in number? The answer is: exactly where it is.
Oddly enough, this “musee imaginaire” which, Schmidt says, is such an essential part of the heritage of a future united Europe, is already adding new wings and galleries to its original design. Right now, at Delphi, another International Festival of Ancient Theatre has just concluded in which groups representing every super-economy – the U.S., the USSR, China and Japan – and a multitude of mini-economies – such as the Eskimos – have already participated, each interpreting creatively, in its own way, dramas that have meaning for everyone. The concept that Greece can provide a heritage not only for a united Europe, but for a united world, is not so farfetched.
The Delphic Idea, both as it was expressed in antiquity and as it has been re-expressed in this century, encompassing all societies, was always an ecumenical one. That was stated from the beginning when Zeus released the eagles that flew round the world. This world has been redefined many times since then, and continues to be, but Delphi still remains its center.
One of the problems of being in the museum business is that you have to take care of the monuments and at the same time keep a sharp eye on the ticket-takers’ receipts. Revenue from bauxite mining is one thing; that from the nearby sanctuary of Apollo is another. Mr Schmidt, an eminent economist and humanitarian leader, last month strongly indicated that the long-term view for Greece is the more profitable.
