Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 29

[cahn]

Stay tuned for RMSE!

Comments

Re: Montesquieu III: In which Fritz comments on tyrants, their successors and women in Politics

[felis]

He does sound quite sincere in this, yes, and I had a look at both Pleschinski and the original French and see that my perception might have been influenced a tiny bit by free translation - for example, he translated "je me suis vu engagé à soutenir sa vérité" as "an einer Klärung interessiert", which is a bit more open and ambiguous. If I remember my first reading correctly, I wasn't quite sure what to make of Fritz' thoughts at that point myself, but! - this isn't the end of the topic in their correspondence. Voltaire responds with a whole ode to Remusberg, says that as always he has a different opinion than the monks, but also that "Remus probably would have been as astonished to find himself in paradise as in Prussia". And then, Fritz' final words on the topic, which led me to my interpretation that he's fully aware of the questionableness of the anecdote but loved it nonetheless:

I only gave you Remus' story for what it is worth. The origins of nations are for the most part fabled; they only prove the antiquity of the foundations. Put Remus' anecdote next to the story of the holy ampulla and Merlin's magical deeds.

[Je ne vous ai donné l'histoire de Rémus que pour ce qu'elle vaut. Les origines des nations sont pour la plupart fabuleuses; elles ne prouvent que l'antiquité des établissements. Mettez l'anecdote de Rémus à côté de l'histoire de la sainte ampoule et des opérations magiques de Merlin.]

Remus and source criticism

[mildred_of_midgard]

Oh, nice! I wasn't aware of that. I mean to read through Pleschinski someday, but, um, *mutters something about slow German skills*.

But you know what my interpretation is, having seen both quotes now? Fritz totally changed his mind and didn't want to admit it. He seems pretty solidly on the side of "But Roman history is completely valid!" in the first letter and "Look, I can prove it! I'm not the gullible type!" in the second, and then in the third is all, "Oh, but I didn't actually mean it, you knew that all along, right?"

Which is totally what I did all the time when I was at his stage of emotional development, when I had to know everything and admitting I was wrong was to be avoided at, if not all costs, then most costs. :P (You guys are lucky you're getting 30-something year-old me in salon and not Younger Know-It-All Super-Defensive Self.)

I think the exchange with Voltaire prompted Fritz to take a step back and evaluate Roman history and local legends the same way he evaluated, say, Christianity, instead of taking their truth for granted.

But I could be wrong! (Says 30-something-year-old self.)