Escaping the Aeschylus Trap in the Middle East
Markets and the world need Israel and Iran to break the cycle of vengeance — and so do they. The blueprint lies in Greek tragedy.
Orestes pursued by Furies, who personify the anger of the dead.
Photographer: Print Collector/Hulton Archive/Getty
To get John Authers' newsletter delivered directly to your inbox, sign up here.
Ancient Greeks make great geopolitical guides. Seemingly everyone now analyzes the contest between China and the US in terms of the Thucydides Trap — the historian argued that war between rising Athens and established power Sparta became inevitable, because the incumbent will always try to protect its position. To understand the terrifying situation in the Middle East, maybe we should invoke Greek tragedy and ask if the world can escape the Aeschylus Trap.