Amphorae cannot stand on their own, they
must be stacked, like cordwood, like brick:
lashed in ancient commerce, such cargoes —
too rich for the average Greek, bent
while hauling water from a well.
A crude pot, shaped by the hands
of a child for its mother and cherished,
holds more than all the rancid oils
and vinegars strewn about the floor:
lost against the rocks of the Aegean Sea.
Sweet and Bitter Greens 
An excellent analogy Devon, all that precious cargo, its true purpose based in commerce…one might consider exploitation and greed. When measured against the true treasures of life material possessions pale in their significance. It strikes me that we are prone to consider such parables and tales in the times when we are experiencing hardships, I wonder is this us encouraging ourselves to hold out for better days, will we hold to those values should our circumstances improve? Sorry, I’ve been reading “Job” again and the theme just jumped out from your words.
Hello David. Thank you. I think it is us, resetting priorities, grasping at what cannot be held and thus must be reinforced. It is quite easy to become complacent and greedy (I am not immune) when times are rich. But when those things are taken away, other, less tangible comforts bubble up and nourish. We can only hope that we retain the memory of these times of discord, reckoning and frailty. To return to what came before, both in individual priority and cultural structure would be most disheartening.
D