Tragedy in the OresteiaThe human will desires transcendence. Instead of recognizing the physical and mental limitations of our species, we work to work around them. The desire for immanent conquest, transcendence and supremacy becomes particularly evident whenever man attempts to intervene against nature: in medicine, we attempt to guarantee immortality through antibiotics and surgery; in contemporary moral culture, we seek to justify and defend the bloody actions of the past and present through constant objectification and qualification; and in psychology, we attempt to simultaneously separate and unite the brain and mind through psychoneurological principles. The mysteries of the natural universe are not hidden from the scientist; conventional social mores are no match for the renegade individual. The ideal of transcendence is further glorified in myth and reinforced in social culture: firefighters, who can control the uncontrollable, are considered heroes, and survivors of death camps, who triumphed against the worst odds, are called heroic. The desire for transcendence is no longer different from the desire for progress or whatever else a society may deem desirable. The same transcendent ideals – including being stronger and smarter, going higher and faster, living longer and happier – have become desired ends in social culture. Therefore, when we desire progress and improvement, we truly desire transcendence. Aeschylus' Oresteia is a tragedy that reflects progress in itself. The first evidence of this transhumanist and deeply romantic modern human will, that is, a will that is independently idealistic, intuitive and critical, can be traced back to ancient Greece. Cleisthenes' establishment of a stable Athenian democracy in the early 6th century BCE marked a progressive revolution in political organization. The ancient Greeks from that moment on recognized the novelty and significance of a political system that placed sovereignty in the hands of the collective individual. Athenian citizens felt comfortable in a democratic regime: with comfort came confidence, and with confidence came brazenness, insolence, and exuberant hope. Thus the seeds of Western will were sown. Greek tragedy, which according to Aristotle evolved from hymn-like dithyrambs performed at festivals honoring the god Dionysus, denied the supremacy of the individual and denied man's freedom from fate. The establishment of democracy was clear proof of the transcendental capabilities of the human will, but the tragic drama highlighted several potential problems. Certain vague commonalities seemed to govern every man, and if man could not escape his limitations, especially those imposed by emotion, family, and duty, how could the individual be truly supreme??