I’d like to tell you a story but first I have to give you a bit of background. Our story has two characters:
First, there’s Pericles, a famous statesman in ancient Athens.
Pericles led the Athenians at the start of their war against the Spartans. He was also well-known for having a watermelon-sized head. That’s why statues most often show him wearing a helmet.
Second, we have Anaxagoras, a philosopher who came from Asia and settled in Athens.
Anaxagoras brought with him the spirit of scientific inquiry, which wasn’t common in Athens before. He also happened to be a flat-earther.
Now, on to the story:
When Pericles the Athenian was a young man, he studied philosophy with Anaxagoras.
Later, Pericles became a powerful man. When he needed to make important political decisions, he still consulted his wise old teacher.
But as Pericles sailed the seas, leading the Greeks in battle, Anaxagoras grew older and poorer. There aren’t many drachmas to be made in explaining rainbows or what the moon is made of.
In time, Anaxagoras became so poor he could no longer afford even a bit of cheese and wine. So one day, he did the only philosophical thing:
He covered his head with a robe, and determined to starve himself to death.
When Pericles heard about this, he rushed to Anaxagoras’s house.
He started begging his old teacher to live. He lamented his own hopeless future if he should lose so valuable an advisor.
There was a moment of awkward silence.
Then Anaxagoras yanked the robe off his head, looked at Pericles, and said, “Pericles, those who want to use a lamp supply it with oil.”
So that’s the story.
I don’t know about you, but when I first read it, it made me laugh.
And because I like to kill a good joke, I asked myself why I found this story funny.
Was it the idea of an old man starving himself to death?
Not really funny.
Was it the lamp analogy at the end?
Not so funny either.
I realized it was the robe.
Anaxagoras put it on his head and then pulled it off. It made him seem like a petulant child. It was such a contrast to the image of a sage and self-possessed philosopher.
So there you go:
Seemingly irrelevant details give all the color to a story. They can create suspense. Enjoyment. Or, of course, humor.
But perhaps I didn’t kill enough jokes for you today.
If so, then subscribe to my email newsletter, so I can kill another joke for you tomorrow.
And then, then take a listen to the 2 minute and 45 second clip below. It’s a recording of a young Woody Allen, delivering a standup routine in the 1960s.
Then listen to it again. And notice all the detail — seemingly irrelevant, but really, just what makes the skit funny. it might be something you can use in your own writing.
Here’s the video: