Category: Athena

The Return of We the People: Comedy and Tragedy

6/22/2026

Feelings

10/13

Where are the goddesses?
[Silence]
Reb?
[Silence]
This is no time to go poofing Johnny?
I, I … didn't poof.
You okay?
I think I had a feeling Gus.
You?
I know.
A feeling?
I think it was.
What?
Felt like I had a stomach and it was flipping.
Flipping?
Like a pancake.
Why?
Spirits.
Where are the goddesses?
Turn to the left.

Tragedy

Who is this Johnny?
Tragedy I think.
Tragedy?
A representation.
Why Tragedy?
Ask the Greeks.
Why here I mean?
Came with the house.
Shouldn't it be Athena?
It was Tragedy.
Victory?
We have Comedy over here.
Of course we do.
They go together.
In theater and war.

Comedy

Comedy Yank.
So these were here when Robert E. Lee walked in?
Lincoln too.
And when Varina and Betsey went out for the day.
And here to welcome them home.
Quite the symbols.
Set a tone.
What’s with the wired chairs?
Props.
Don't sit?
Right.
Won't stop a goddess.
Hardly.
You hear that?
Hear something.
Sounds of music.
A cue perhaps?
Goddesses suggesting we move on.
Outro music.
Let's continue touring Reb.
And leave the timeless to be.

*Next up: 29 June (part 11/13) The Return of We the People: Madness.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner / Support the US Constitution

0 Comments

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Revisit Mount Horeb: Hellenistic

10/6/2019

0 Comments

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank RMH: Hellenistic

Part 11 of 13

“… We weren’t done.”
“That wasn’t a native Gus.”
“Looked like one.”
“I saw what you mean.”
“Quiver right?”
“Maybe.”
“Who was it Reb?”
“It’s art Yank.”
“Let Art be Reb.”
“I mean -”
“- Who was it?”
“A goddess.”
“Who?”
“Athena maybe.”
“Athena?”
“Perhaps Artemis.”
“They’re Greek.”
“Hellenistic.”
“Greek to me.”
“The image is a circle because it’s a commemorative coin.”
“I was gonna embarrass myself in front of a goddess.”
“It looks like a native Gus.”
“Thanks for the diversion.”
“Sure.”
“Did that happen?”
“Like a story.”
“Why Cowpens?”
“Congress thought Morgan did a special thing.”
“Congress? …”

*Next Up: 7 October and part 12 of Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Revisit Mount Horeb: Comitia Americana.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

0 Comments

Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Er

2/19/2017

0 Comments

Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka OOW Resurrection

Part 9 of 13

“It’s a story Gus.”
“Great!”
“Shall we walk and talk?”
“On our way time ‘eh?”
“Time.”
“Okay – but what’s Er?”
“A soldier.”
“So what did Er do?”
“Lots.”
“Like what?”
“Resurrection.”
“Rise again?”
“So sayeth Plato.”
“Plato ends The Republic with a resurrection story?”
“Plato does.”
“What happened?”
“There was a battle and Er fell on the field.”
“Okay.”
“Ten days later they find the battlefield.”
“Yikes.”
“Right, ’cept Er’s body is not decayed.”
“Irrational.”
“Plato then says that two days later, while on the funeral pyre, Er comes back to life.”
“Jesus.”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb OOW Afterlife

“Right Yank.”
“But before Jesus.”
“By 350 years.”
“That’s like from Columbus to our time Johnny.”
“True.”
“Does Er just scare ‘em?”
“He tells the people of his soul’s journey.”
“To where?”
“Afterlife.”
“The dead?”
“Yes, and the newly to be born.”
“Both?”
“It’s a long journey Gus.”
“What was Plato up to Johnny?”
“Order again.”
“So Er saw Judgement Day.”
“Others, not his.”
“Okay: so?”
“It was a big deal to Plato.”
“Why?”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb OOW Necessity

“Cosmos.”
“Explaining good government wasn’t enough.”
“Plato wanted to explain it all.”
“Plato wanted to replace Athena.”
“Hey there is a goddess.”
“Where?”
“Necessity.”
“The mother of all invention is a goddess?”
“She is and she concludes Plato’s Republic.”
“I knew it.”
“Knew what?”
“Goddesses.”
“They’re resilient.”
“Like fate.”
“Plato would agree Yank.”
“Go figure. Hey there’s a fork ahead Johnny.”
“There sure is.”

*Next Up: 26 February and part 10 of Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Fork.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

Just ‘cuz music: Gaga Gotsadze - Late Night Melancholy

0 Comments

Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Family

1/29/2017

0 Comments

Augustus Kotka OOW Rest

Part 6 of 13

“Rest here Reb?”
“Sure Yank.”
“Just wanted to clear the bend.”
“Cleared.”
“Gladys and Lee’s this is.”
“It is.”
“Did they homestead the place?”
“No Gus, a few generations before them did.”
“When Reb?”
“It’s a farm of 14 acres.”
“Sounds normal.”
“Not much anymore.”
“So when did it become 14 acres?”
“In the 1870s.”
“After.”

Jonathan Rebel OOW Reason

“Yes, after.”
“What would Plato have said Johnny?”
“About homesteads?”
“Family I suppose I mean – and places like this.”
“For Guardians Gus -”
“Military.”
“- Family was to be abolished, as well as private property.”
“Weird.”
“Got Plato noticed.”
“What about Athena Reb?”
“Goddess of Reason.”
“Okay.”
“Family and property were defended.”
“How?”
“She had a sort of nickname, Athena Promachos.”
“Meaning?”
“She who fights in front.”
“Skirmisher.”
“Nice.”
“So Athena was a fighter and Plato a writer.”
“Yes.”
“Did this Lee here have a nickname Reb?”

Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka OOW Rise

“Spoon.”
“Whether Spoon?”
“Spoon’s around.”
“Spirit – I remember.”
“US Army too.”
“Right.”
“Wonder why we’re here?”
“Rest Reb.”
“Something else Gus.”
“You mean like why are we here?”
“Yes.”
“We could be any place.”
“True.”
“Gladys and Lee raised a family here, yes?”
“They did.”
“To raise a family is to rise.”
“Praiseworthy words Yank.”
“Spoon was military.”
“He was.”
“Like a Guardian.”
“Fair enough.”
“Then what would Plato's Republic have not liked about this?”

*Next Up: 5 February and part 7 of Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Meaning.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

0 Comments

Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Cowpens

1/17/2017

1 Comment

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb OOW Tactical

Part 5 of 13

“What’s that ahead Reb?”
“On the bend?”
“Yes.”
“Homestead.”
“Whose?”
“Gladys and Lee’s.”
“You mentioned them.”
“Let’s rest there.”
“Sure thing.”
“Today is Cowpens Day Gus.”
“Sounds fancy.”
“The Battle thereof.”
“General Morgan you mean.”
“Right.”
“He did something special?”
“Tactical.”
“Athenaesque?”
“Correct.”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb OOW Retreat

“How so Reb?”
“Morgan knew soldiers.”
“His and his opponents.”
“Yes.”
“Morgan’s Teamster side.”
“It showed.”
“What tactics Johnny?”
“Retreat.”
“What?”
“First the skirmishers.”
“Really?”
“Then the militia.”
“Retreat again?”
“Only after firing two shots though.”
“They liked to run.”
“Morgan knew it and so did the British.”
“So two shots then run.”
“You got it.”
“In order to tempt and tire the British soldiers.”
“Right again.”
“For what?”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb OOW Wheel

“Continentals.”
“Regulars.”
“And the militia wheeled Gus.”
“They came back?”
“With zeal.”
“The British?”
“Caught in an enfilade -”
“Crossfire.”
“- They surrendered.”
“Thunderbolt side of Morgan.”
“Yes.”
“Where is Cowpens Johnny?”
“South Carolina.”
“And the date?”
“Seventeen January 1781.”
“I like the militia part of the plan.”
“Shoot twice and run?”
“Shows Morgan understood people.”
“There was also a swollen river blocking any further retreat.”
“Morgan did know people.”
“Agreed.”
“Almost to the bend Johnny.”
“Rest will be good Gus.”

*Next Up: 29 January and part 6 of Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Family.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

1 Comment

Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Freedom

1/15/2017

1 Comment

Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka OOW Think

Part 4 of 13

“Freedom.”
“To do what Reb?”
“Think, Speak and Act.”
“High qualities this Freedom.”
“The highest.”
“You just making this up Johnny?”
“Freedom’s real Yank and from our times.”
“When?”
“1863.”
“The woman atop the Capitol?”
“Goddess.”
“Sure.”
“I helped make her Gus.”
“What’s that Reb?”
“I helped make the Statue of Freedom atop the Capitol.”
“You?”

Johnny Reb and Gus Kotka OOW Speak

“The part of me that is US Secretary of War Jefferson Davis.”
“President Reb.”
“Yes.”
“How did Jeff Davis make Freedom?”
“Design oversight.”
“As Secretary of War?”
“Yes.”
“Sensing some irony here Johnny.”
“Me too.”
“He, I mean you, were this War Secretary Davis when?”
“That would be 1853 to ‘57.”
“Before the war.”
“Before the war.”

Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb OOW Act

“A goddess does what Johnny?”
“Patroness.”
“Like Athena for Athens.”
“She was pivotal before Plato.”
“Plato replaced Athena?”
“Dismissed.”
“And with Freedom you see a similarity to Athena.”
“Athena was a teacher of stratagem.”
“Meaning?”
“Wit.”
“Okay.”
“Freedom demands wit Gus.”
“Think, Speak and Act.”
“That’s the spirit.”
“Freedom and Johnny Reb.”
“They go together.”
“More than ever.”

*Next Up: 17 January and part 5 of Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Cowpens.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

1 Comment

Aesop, Slavery and Usurpation ~ Juneteenth 2014

6/18/2014

1 Comment

Aesop ~ from Wikipedia user Shakko

War Cry Heal Union: The series (1 of 10)

Aesop ~ of Aesop’s Fables fame ~ was a slave.

Like the last slaves freed in the United States on 19 June 1865, Juneteenth, Aesop too had his freedom day. In his life he passed from owner to owner as a slave until his intellect won his freedom. Plutarch, a priest at Delphi, reports that after gaining his freedom Aesop was employed by King Croesus of Lydia. The king sent Aesop to Delphi to negotiate terms regarding Apollo’s oracle. The people of Delphi didn’t like Aesop’s talk ~ his logic ~ and took matters into their own hands. Plutarch reports the people of Delphi killed the famed-fabalist by forcing him over a cliff … more on Aesop in a moment.

A fable is a story with animals talking; civilization is a story with the animal human talking. The civilization story always begins with the same premise: things were once bad and then changed and people (tribes, clans, and nations) called it good; and always within the story of civilization, providing a seemingly visceral and vital role, is the slave. Essentially, civilization was designed by many and built by slaves.

Slavery is usurpation and usurpation is slavery. A citizen without rights is a slave; similar to a subject, they lack agency power to appeal to a higher law than the current sovereign. A (rightful) citizen, however, has agency to appeal to power in the form of written constitutions.

Freedom

On April 9th, Usurpation Day 2014, it was noted that slavery is the shadow of usurpation (rights taken without right) and couldn’t be dismissed from Greek or American history. Simply, slavery cannot be edited out of the fable known as the United States of America: as part of our heritage it is part of us. To wit: in telling America’s story of slavery, let’s tell it through symbols. There is a version of the Greek Athena atop our acropolis, the US Capitol; her name is Freedom and she was designed with America in mind. That being so, it’s not ironic she was born in 1863 in the middle of our Civil War and great citizenship debacle. It’s also not ironic the foreman (wage-earner) went on strike while building Freedom and would not complete the bronze statue: slaves completed Freedom.

Oh yeah ~ back to Aesop the slave. There are lots of thoughts on where he came from; some say a northern Dorian settlement on the Black Sea, some Phrygia in modern-day Turkey, and even others Ethiopia; most likely it looks like he hailed from the Samos and Miletus area on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. This eternal debate is easily solved by genetic fiat: according to DNA, we’re all out of Africa.

Ah, there we are ~ Aesop the human.

Bonus Video
Aesop’s The Lion & The Mouse

Next up in the series War Cry Heal Union:
27 June 2014: War Cry ~ Cheatham’s Hill, 27 June 1864.

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

1 Comment

Ascending Athenian American Heritage ~ Usurpation Day 2014

4/8/2014

0 Comments

Slavery is the shadow of usurpation (rights taken without right) the way mythology frames America’s beginning: it’s foundational.

Slavery has been edited out of Usurpation Day 2014; it will be duly accorded its role in both Athens and America in June (on the 19th).

Usurpation Day is not a time to be sad; it’s a celebratory day. The usurpation of the representation ratio on 9 April 1792 is our history … it’s not our heritage.

Heritage is ahistorical (timeless) and it is our focus today: specifically, ascending Athenian American heritage. Six greats ~ three from each polis: Plato and Madison, Pericles and Washington, and Athena and Freedom:

Plato
Plato’s contribution to our heritage is The Republic. In the book he outlines the just society and details three groups (factions/divisions) in his republican form of government: rulers, guardians and craftspeople (producers).

Madison
Madison’s contribution to our heritage is the addition of the representation ratio to Plato’s republican ideas. Whereas Plato’s republic has three factions, Madison’s republic has a fourth ~ We the People ~ and utilizes the decennial Census to augment representation in accordance with population growth (something Plato’s republican ideas lack).

Pericles
His era built the Parthenon. He was an Athenian leader during the Peloponnesian War and his Funeral Oration (speech) is noted in Thucydides’ work.

Washington
His era built the District of Columbia. Washington was hailed as the first in war and the first in peace. His most famous speech is his Farewell Address. Washington’s library included the Greeks: Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey and Ovid’s Metamorphoses ~ which makes mention of 30,000 spirits who watch over the deeds of humans and bring agricultural bounty.

Athena
The Athenian’s had a statue of Athena inside the Parthenon. She is noted for many things to the Greeks; in particular, the victory at Troy and the homecoming of Odysseus. She was referred to as Promachus: first (foremost) fighter and one who leads in battle. Also, parthenongenesis is asexual reproduction without fertilization ~ noting Athena’s birth from the head of Zeus.

Freedom
We the People have our own Athena: her name is Freedom and she watches over America from atop our acropolis, the US Capitol. There were three versions of Freedom’s statue. The first looked too much like Athena; the second, too much like Minerva (Rome’s Athena); the third they thought looked just about right I guess … you know, for being born in 1863 in the middle of the US Civil War.

Heritage (not history) is the key to Usurpation Day ~ and keep this in mind: America’s best days are ahead of US.

Let us pick-up there on 19 June … Juneteenth.

Bryan W. Brickner

0 Comments

The Return of We the People: Comedy and Tragedy

Johnny Reb and Gus Yank Revisit Mount Horeb: Hellenistic

Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Er

Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Family

Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Cowpens

Republican Values: Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb On Our Way Freedom

Aesop, Slavery and Usurpation ~ Juneteenth 2014

Ascending Athenian American Heritage ~ Usurpation Day 2014

Author

Archives

Categories