These Strange Greeks Or the Essence of the Troilus and Criseyde

The proverb that I decided to go with is one that goes along the lines of, “Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones”. To begin, the first step is to understand what exactly this proverb means, or is referring to. Basically, this phrase is saying, you shouldn’t be so quick to criticize others on a certain trait or behavior when you exhibit the same or similar characteristics. This proverb can be interpreted by people in a few different ways, depending on the individual, but this definition seems to be the most common and understood. The proverb is also quite similar in meaning to other popular phrases such as, “pot calling the kettle black”, or “you can dish it but can’t take it”. The overall meanings are quite similar. However, that particular saying about glass houses can be traced all the way back to a book, written in the year 1385, called “Troilus and Criseyde”. It was again made popular much later on by George Herbert, who in 1651 wrote something similar. The proverb was first cited in the United States by an author in 1710. In my own readings and research, I’ve come to believe that the theory behind the saying is quite true and effective. To test my proverb, because it’s more about thinking, feeling, and saying, I decided to use myself in the method of testing it. I will admit that because of the different interpret meanings this proverb can have, it could be portrayed in different ways with probable different results, but this is what I decided to do.

The method was simple, something that I am sensitive to criticism or remarks about are the few scars that I have from a medical procedure. I’ve always been quite self-conscious about them and because they are a flaw and I know how I would feel if someone made remarks about them, I thought it would be a good example. So, I got together with a friend of mine one day who also has some scarring from a similar experience and after she agreed to take part in my experiment, we began. My role was to “cast the stones”, or in other words, comment and criticize her scars. This all of course we talked about before-hand, we knew this wasn’t personal and it was for the sake of testing my hypothesis. She was to respond naturally, how she would if I was a stranger saying this for real. And basically, her response was to throw my own scars back at me, pointing out that I’m not perfect either, that I don’t like being called out for the same thing, thus, proving what I assumed all along. Which was that the point of this proverb is basically saying those that are sensitive to an issue or criticism shouldn’t point out or ridicule others for the same, or else it’s going to come right back at you and reflect on you. Similar to how a person in a glass house shouldn’t throw stones because sooner or later that glass is going to break and come shattering right back at you. The experiment was simple and easy to do, a mere exchange of words, but it proves my thoughts to be true, and the proverb to be as well.