Book IV opens with yet another revolt from allies of the Athenians, this time the city of Messana. Syracuse encouraged the revolt to prevent Athens from a clear path to Sicily. Additionally, Athens is again invaded by the Spartans under King Agis, son of Archidamus. Meanwhile an Athenian fleet builds a fort as an outpost … Continue reading The Peloponnesian War, Book IV: Armistice and Mounting Losses
politics
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
Heroism and Tragedy in The Sun Also Rises
In Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, we encounter a series of vignettes that, together, tell the story of a group of expatriate Americans as they roam around postwar Europe. The novel is told in the past-tense, a recollection by the hero, Jake Barnes. He is a former World War I soldier who had received a terrible … Continue reading Heroism and Tragedy in The Sun Also Rises
“All The World’s A Stage” Considered
In Act II scene 7 of Shakespeare's As You Like It, we encounter one of the more fatalistic and artful monologues in all of Shakespearean literature, Jaques's famous "All the world's a stage". Drawing on Ovid, as Shakespeare does elsewhere in the play, Jaques compares all of life on earth to the charade of a play, … Continue reading “All The World’s A Stage” Considered
As You Like It, Act II
Scene 1 In Act II, the longest of the five Acts in the play, we are redirected to (presumably) the Forest of Arden where Duke Senior praises the innocence of the noblemen's new idyllic life. He calls it "sweet", "free from peril", and without the "penalty of Adam". He hearkens a golden age, but not … Continue reading As You Like It, Act II
As You Like It, Act I
Scene 1 At the outset, we encounter Orlando, an English spelling of the French hero named Roland (of Chanson de Roland, or the "Song of Roland", the great French heroic poem from the reign of Charlemagne) bemoaning his state of affairs to the family servant Adam in an orchard. The setting is far from the … Continue reading As You Like It, Act I
Thucydides on Greek Origins
At the outset of Thucydides's "archaeology" of the Peloponnesian War, the greatest "motion" of the city yet seen by either the Hellenes or barbarians or also possibly of all mankind, including the ancient Trojan War, Thucydides provides many opportunities for wonder. Pointing to later thinkers, like Hobbes, Thucydides gives an account of how the Hellenes … Continue reading Thucydides on Greek Origins
Notes on History
Herodotus's Inquiries is, at root, an inquiry into the ontological status of the Greeks and the Barbarians, the two great empires of antiquity. What delineates the one from the other? How did the East come to be separate from the West? To what extent are they clear and distinct cultures? Herodotus proceeds with this esoteric inquiry … Continue reading Notes on History
An Inquiry into Herodotus’s Project
Unlike the "archaeology" undertaken by Thucydides, Herodotus gives a survey of cultures and customs across the known world by scribing a book whose purpose is to "show forth" the "causes" of the Persian War so that humans will not forget the deeds of great men. I believe it was Strauss who once remarked in a letter … Continue reading An Inquiry into Herodotus’s Project
What Was The Cause of The Persian Wars?
In our quest to put the Persian Wars on trial, we find our inquiry focused chiefly on two groups: the Athenians and the Persians, or the Achaemenids. Herodotus, a wandering traveler like Odysseus, identifies the search for the causes of the war as one of main reasons he sets out to write the text. He traces the origins … Continue reading What Was The Cause of The Persian Wars?
