The removal of Potemkin’s bones from a crypt in Kherson received brief attention in the media. and in this blog (post ofOctober 28 ). But there seems no agreement why the Russians removed them. Maybe it was just to keep the hated Ukrainians from holding on to a piece of Russian history, or, as Marc Santoras suggests, “ among Kremlin loyalists, the belief in what they view as Russia’s rightful empire still runs deep. “
The bones of the great, however, have an ancient and deep hold on the psyche, and thereby power for those who control them. One can sometimes see that in the veneration of relics in both Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox settings, and in ancient Greece as well. When I note the return of Theseus’ bones to Athens, various friends reminded me of other such episodes, including the smuggling of exiled Themistocles’ bones back into Attica. Bill Race reminded me of Herodotus’ account of the removal of Orestes’ bones from Tegea in Arcadia to Sparta. The end of Herodotus’ account is especially revealing:
“ Ever since then the Spartans were far superior to the Tegeans whenever they met each other in battle. By the time of Croesus … the Spartans had subdued most of the Peloponnese.”
That pattern of thought, I believe, lives on in the Kremlin. Potemkin‘s bones are not a dusty reminder of past Russian glories; they are a sign of Putin’s grand ambitions, and an assurance of power, military success and territorial domination – even, or perhaps especially, when things are going badly.
The bones of the great, however, have an ancient and deep hold on the psyche, and thereby power for those who control them. One can sometimes see that in the veneration of relics in both Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox settings, and in ancient Greece as well. When I note the return of Theseus’ bones to Athens, various friends reminded me of other such episodes, including the smuggling of exiled Themistocles’ bones back into Attica. Bill Race reminded me of Herodotus’ account of the removal of Orestes’ bones from Tegea in Arcadia to Sparta. The end of Herodotus’ account is especially revealing:
“ Ever since then the Spartans were far superior to the Tegeans whenever they met each other in battle. By the time of Croesus … the Spartans had subdued most of the Peloponnese.”
That pattern of thought, I believe, lives on in the Kremlin. Potemkin‘s bones are not a dusty reminder of past Russian glories; they are a sign of Putin’s grand ambitions, and an assurance of power, military success and territorial domination – even, or perhaps especially, when things are going badly.