Is Honor The Opposite of Shame?

Honor

What does that word mean today? Is its definition still what the ancient Romans intended 2300 years ago when they built temples to their god with that name? Honor. Is the meaning still “great respect gained by a person; glory, reputation, good name?” Since the Romans, the word was applied to many deeds — massacres and mercies, duels and diplomacy — some of which today we would not consider worthy of respect, let alone glory.

Yet Shame is the older word. There are versions of it in Indo-European — the source of both English and Latin — thousands of years before honor appears as a word or a concept in any language. Those meanings have to do with being uncovered, with loss not only of respect but ​the obliteration of the very idea​ of yourself that you may have held. Debased.

Shame seems then to be the opposite of Honor. Our earliest ancestors in their language felt a need for a word to talk about that polarity even before they talked about fame and reputation and dignity.

And what of these words today? Honor still matters for those who believe in a code of behavior marking the duties of an individual within a social group. But what code? Who decides anymore? If Honor means that “a person is what he or she is in the eyes of other people”, what happens when the eyes and minds of other people see the duties of each individual quite differently? When the personal meanings of that word collide? When each person then demands of the other that they adopt a different view of honor?

In our play entitled HONOR, three corporate executives, high-ranking members of that society, convene in a conference room, each bringing a different version of the concept to that raucous and rollicking meeting. For just three performances, February 16, 21, and 24, at Chain Theatre’s Winter One-Act Festival, our superb cast of Alinca Hamilton, John Blaylock, and Ed Altman will wrangle over the meaning of the word and what it demands of each of us. Buy your tickets today and discover how your honor compares to the notions of our trio.