The Rhesus is a highly disputed tragedy that is commonly attributed to Euripides. It is a short play, though not altogether a tragedy in the classic sense of the word. Unlike many other Greek tragedies, Rhesus takes place during the Homeric canon, during the events of Book X of the Iliad. The plot encompasses the events of a … Continue reading Brief Notes on the Rhesus
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Thoughts on Andromache
It has been suggested that Euripides is obsessed with character, but that he is indifferent to plot. Each one of his tragedies might be said to be a character study into the pure hopelessness faced by human beings. The Andromache is an unusual play for a number of reasons. The unnamed Scholiast, a latter Byzantine, reports that … Continue reading Thoughts on Andromache
A Defense of Nomos in The Suppliants
There are only four surviving plays from Aeschylus that are not included in the Oresteia trilogy. Each play is a part of a whole, that is, a part of a larger trilogy. The Suppliant Maidens was once thought to be the earliest surviving Greek play in its totality, however that assertion is now being called into question. … Continue reading A Defense of Nomos in The Suppliants
The Republic, Book I (Part III): Polemarchus
When Cephalus departs to attend to the sacrifices, Polemarchus becomes the "heir of the argument", as the rightful heir to Cephalus's substance, and he defends Simonides's interpretation of justice -that it is just to give to each what is owed. Like Cephalus, Polemarchus sees justice as something distributive. However, the implication in Polemarchus's opinion, as … Continue reading The Republic, Book I (Part III): Polemarchus
Initial Thoughts on Plato’s Laches
In Plato's short dialogue called the Laches we encounter the question of courage. Lysimachus and Melesias are seeking guidance from some of Athen's older and more experienced on the best way to raise their sons so they will become good. Both Lysimachus and Melesias are ashamed because they did not fight in battle the way their forefathers did against … Continue reading Initial Thoughts on Plato’s Laches
What is Love in the Symposium?
Plato’s famous dialogue, the Symposium, takes place the day after the tragic poet, Agathon, wins his first and only award at the Lenaia in 416 BC, the year before Alcibiades’s failed quest to Sicily. The dramatic setting occurs with a group of Athenians gathered at Agathon’s house in Athens in celebration of his victory. It is a … Continue reading What is Love in the Symposium?
Aristotle, Oedipus, and Greek Tragedy
There is a rigorous debate among scholars that has perpetuated for hundreds of years, dating back to Aristotle, about whether or not the purpose, or telos, of a tragedy is to determine a particular character flaw of the central protagonist. That is, to inquire about whether or not Oedipus is, indeed, a flawed human being who has, somehow, … Continue reading Aristotle, Oedipus, and Greek Tragedy
The Idea of the Enemy in Aeschylus’s The Persians
"However, you can be sure that so great a multitude of men never perished in a single day" -the messenger to the Persians (line 432). Aeschylus's second part of a lost trilogy has come down to us as The Persians, told from the perspective of the Greek enemy in the Persian wars. It is unique, a … Continue reading The Idea of the Enemy in Aeschylus’s The Persians
Thoughts on Aeschylus
Agamemnon, the first play of the Oresteia trilogy begins much like other great plays, such as Hamlet, on the walls of the city with a a lone watchman who bemoans the state of affairs, waiting for a light showing that Agamemnon, his king, is returning home from the Trojan War. Upon spotting the foreboding beacon, he … Continue reading Thoughts on Aeschylus
The Oresteia: An Affirmation of the Noble Lie
In Aeschylus's The Libation Bearers, we are first introduced to Orestes, the son of the late and betrayed Agamemnon. He appears, hidden, before the grave of his father as his sister Electra is making libations in her father's honor. This second part of the trilogy takes place an unknown number of years after the murder … Continue reading The Oresteia: An Affirmation of the Noble Lie
