Why Stephen A. Smith Is Beefing With Stephen A. Smith, Explained
Donald Trump's racist dog whistle ignited a feud between a hypocritical egomaniac and the biggest loudmouth in sports media.
Around 534 B.C., the Greeks invented Stephen A. Smith.
Back then, warriors could attain glory on the battlefield, kings could be born into prominent families, and wealthy people could send their kids to Africa to study science and philosophy. I know this might sound crazy, but the only way ancient Greeks could achieve fame was to do something noteworthy (winning the D9 step show didn’t count). So, before they invented modern theater, the best singers, dancers and entertainers in ancient Greece toiled in relative obscurity.
Until Thespis won the poetry slam.
As a full-time stage performer, Thespis traveled around the country singing songs, telling stories and reciting other people’s poetry. There were no starring roles and, like most Greek chorus members, Thespis wore a mask that conveyed his emotions. So, when the annual Dionysus festival held a contest to judge the best performer, of course the chitlin gyro circuit veteran signed up. But instead of reciting a poem, singing a song or telling a story about a fictional character, Thespis jumped on top of a wagon and performed as the character.
Not only did Thespis win the contest, but, according to Greek historians, this is the moment that Greek tragedy and all forms of modern theater were invented. We don’t know much else about the “Father of Greek Tragedy.” Historians don’t even know if he was a good actor. All we know is that Thespis had one quality that made him a star:
Thespis was a loud talker.
Because they wore masks, Greek stage performers didn’t have to show their emotions on their faces; they just had to project their voices. They performed with a huge chorus, so they didn’t have to be good singers. They didn’t even have to write good stories or compose their own poetry. The Greeks eventually settled on two terms to describe these new artists. The first just means “like Thespis.” The other combined the Greek word for “under” (hypo) with the root word for “to play a part” (krei). Two thousand years later, we have a new term to describe entertaining professional pretenders who became celebrities simply by loud:
Thespians
Hypocrites
Stephen A. Smith
Now that the Knicks have won the championship, what are we supposed to do for entertainment?
