How to be happy though human / by W. Béran Wolfe.
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189 (canvas 209)
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for his own weakness, and to encourage himself by
identifying himself with the popular hero or heroes of
the day.
You will remember that the Roman circus was origin¬
ally a spectacle for the slaves and the poor of Rome.
It was a sop to the hunger and plague-ridden populace,
designed to make their lives more tolerable, a gesture on
the part of those who had security to those who were
without it. Whenever the conditions of human life
become especially burdensome, the human spirit invents
a device for strengthening and encouraging its resistance
to adversity. The Decameron of Boccaccio was written
as an escape from the horrors of the plague. The circus
was born of the squalor of decadent Rome. The spectacle
of super-football is born of the discouragement of the
machine age.
When the human race gets into difficulties that can no
longer be faced with equanimity it has developed a saving
technique which can be crystallized in the phrase, “ Let’s
change the subject.” Sometimes the change of subject
becomes a real Frankenstein’s monster and is elevated into
a secondary goal. We have already spoken of the untoward
results of shifting our focus from the goal to the means
when we discussed the triumph of the means over the
end in certain neuroses. History tells us of the bestiality
and debauchery of the Roman circus.
Both active and passive participation in sport play an
important r6le in the good life. They are closely related
to avocations and hobbies ; they serve as a means of
increasing our knowledge of the world, of extending the
sphere of our activities, and of enlarging our opportunities
for identification and emphatic training. The chief value
of sport lies in the fact that it offers an opportunity of
being both a spectator and a participant. The complete
human being should interest himself in some athletic
sport which will give him not only the opportunity of
identification with successful power, but the opportunity
of establishing a new arena in which he can gain recreation
and diversion. The business of “ Let’s change the