From Seville in Spain comes this Reuter's photograph which captures the action, danger and horror of the bullfight. I have witnessed many fights on my travels to Europe and remember them with a combination of excitement and disgust.
I guess this 'sport', which is heavily stacked in favour of the matador, is a remnant of the gladiatorial contests in the Colliseum of Rome when men fought against man and beast for the entertainment of the bloodthirsty crowd. I've seen bulls killed and, occasionally, men seriously injured by those flashing horns.
That such a bloody spectacle still survives is testament to the fact that we humans, in the main, have made little progress.
Bloodlust is in our nature!
9 comments:
That such a bloody spectacle still survives is testament to the fact that we humans, in the main, have made little progress. Bloodlust is in our nature!
Interesting, and accurate assessment, imo. I live in the deep south (S.C.). NASCAR seems to fill the same need.:)
I guess most football codes see lots of blood to say nothing of boxing, kickboxing, cockfighting, etc.
War, sadly, is the ultimate game!
All these types of crowd pleasers are hard for me to comprehend or imagine being a part of! ; (
I guess, as a younger man, I had a real curiosity about everything, Coffee. Now I think I know too much about our world!
Yes, Daniel, war is the ultimate human sport. All of the other sports are in some degree derived from it, or substitutes for it, don't you think?
It seems that while some of us have either progressed, or are not of the same spiritual species as most humans, the mass of humans are simply bloodthirsty. They thrive on killing one another just as they are excited by hunting. . . or a bullfight.
I was just thinking today that humans are the only animal which has murdered its own members as "sacrifices". Now which are the most sane -- lions which hunt what they need to eat, or humans who slaughter thousands of victims in order the please their gods, whether fertility gods or gods of war? It sometimes seems that the defining attribute of humans is war.
I know it is wrong but whenever i see pictures of matadors being flung up in the air after being tagged by the bull i do give a little smile.
Canot see how anyone could even start to defend this 'sport'.
It's amazing, Fleming, the number of bright, educated people who stubbornly refuse to admit to the savage component of human nature. Such people are generally a pain in the neck!
Lucy, I have the same feeling!
Lucy, I've
Craig, I've dropped out of Webdiary and deleted your recent comment here because I've had enough of your continual, small-minded arrogance, your periodic deletion and/or editing my comments on Webdiary, your snide and totally incorrect remarks about me there (eg. that my attitude is that of a Neocon and a Netanyahu), your deliberate taking my words out of context (I'm confused), etc.
You are not welcome on this blog, Craig!
Women seems to recognize almost universal male bloodlust much better than some men, Worried. Selective blindness affects many males!
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