In antiquity, Árrhēton referred to the ineffable—that which could not be spoken or communicated. In Histories (Book II,) Herodotus writes of his journey through Egyptian initiation sites: “But regarding this—though I know full well what takes place there—let silence prevail.” Today, there are no longer walls or guardians to keep the esoteric separated from the exoteric. And yet, despite this total exposure, we still quote Ludwig Wittgenstein, who, a century ago, wrote: “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must remain silent.” Anyone who has ever kept a secret knows that the protection referred to here does not apply to the secret itself, but to the person who bears it. We ourselves suffer harm when we turn what is an Árrhēton, something unutterable, into a Rhēton—something spoken. In the Russian-Ukranian conflict, the drone’s eye brings unspeakable suffering and horror to screens across the globe. The unspeakable is imprinted in us; by watching, we give it voice. This constitutes a form of global self-wounding. It creates a situation where everyone—victims, perpetrators, and witnesses alike—needs healing.
Translation Laura Liska
Image Protests on Maidan Square in Kyiv on February 19, 2014. Photo: Mstyslav Chernov, CC BY-SA 3.0.
