"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
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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
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
The Battle of Marathon: Book VI
In Book VI, Herodotus claims that both the Hellenes and the Persians committed great acts of evil against one another -an unbiased claim in his inquiry. If the work was to be considered a work of propaganda to spur the Athenians to rise up (written during the Peloponnesian Wars) one might expect a defense, or apologia, … Continue reading The Battle of Marathon: Book VI
On Herodotus
Herodotus's Histories, or "Inquiries", traces the conflicts that emerged between the Greeks and the Persians (the Achaemenid Empire), culminating in the great battles of Thermopylae, Salamis, Platea, and Mycale. Herodotus was born in Halicarnassus in Asia Minor, or modern day Bodrum in western Turkey. Much of his life was spent in Exile, living in Samos, Athens, and apparently … Continue reading On Herodotus
Duck Soup
Duck Soup (1933) Director: Leo McCarey The Marx Brothers' Duck Soup is a film of enduring delights. Whereas Horse Feathers is a parody of the elite nepotism integral to the status of higher education, Duck Soup is a parody of the fascistic dictatorships of the 1930s. Lamentably, the film was considered a commercial and critical failure … Continue reading Duck Soup
