Admired for the beauty of her writing style, Sappho ranks with Archilochus and Alcaeus, among Greek poets, for her ability to impress readers with a lAdmired for the beauty of her writing style, Sappho ranks with Archilochus and Alcaeus, among Greek poets, for her ability to impress readers with a lively sense of her personality. Her language contains elements from Aeolic vernacular speech and Aeolic poetic tradition. Her phrasing is concise, direct, and picturesque. She has the ability to stand aloof and judge critically her own ecstasies and grief, and her emotions lose nothing of their force by being recollected in tranquillity.
As the goal of the Sapphic thiasos is the education of young women, especially for marriage, Aphrodite is the group’s tutelary divinity and inspiration. Sappho is the intimate and servant of the goddess and her intermediary with the girls. In the ode to Aphrodite, the poet invokes the goddess to appear, as she has in the past, and to be her ally in persuading a girl she desires to love her. Frequent images in Sappho’s poetry include flowers, bright garlands, naturalistic outdoor scenes, altars smoking with incense, perfumed unguents to sprinkle on the body and bathe the hair—that is, all the elements of Aphrodite’s rituals.
In Sappho’s poetry love is passion, an inescapable power that moves at the will of the goddess; it is desire and sensual emotion; it is nostalgia and memory of affections that are now distant, but shared by the community of the thiasos....more
Livy was unique among Roman historians in that he played no part in politics. This was a disadvantage in that his exclusion from the Senate and the maLivy was unique among Roman historians in that he played no part in politics. This was a disadvantage in that his exclusion from the Senate and the magistracies meant that he had no personal experience of how the Roman government worked, and this ignorance shows itself from time to time in his work. It also deprived him of firsthand access to much material (minutes of Senate meetings, texts of treaties, laws, etc.) that was preserved in official quarters. So, too, if he had been a priest or an augur, he would have acquired inside information of great historical value and been able to consult the copious documents and records of the priestly colleges. But the chief effect is that Livy did not seek historical explanations in political terms. The novelty and impact of his history lay in the fact that he saw history in personal and moral terms.
Although Sallust and earlier historians had also adopted the outlook that morality was in steady decline and had argued that people do the sort of things they do because they are the sort of people they are, for Livy these beliefs were a matter of passionate concern. He saw history in terms of human personalities and representative individuals rather than of partisan politics. And his own experience, going back perhaps to his youth in Patavium, made him feel the moral evils of his time with peculiar intensity.
It would be misplaced criticism to draw attention to his technical shortcomings. He reshaped history for his generation so that it was alive and meaningful. It is recorded that the audiences who went to his recitations were impressed by his nobility of character and his eloquence. It is this eloquence that is Livy’s second claim to distinction....more
Detailed study of virtue grounded in an investigation into the nature of rhetoric, art, power, temperance, and justice. As such, the dialogue maintainDetailed study of virtue grounded in an investigation into the nature of rhetoric, art, power, temperance, and justice. As such, the dialogue maintains an independent meaning and relates closely to Plato's overarching philosophical project of defining noble and proper human existence. It exists in the form of a mostly friendly (although sometimes blunt) conversation between Socrates and four fellow citizens. Chaerephon, an apparent contemporary of Socrates, is found talking to Plato's teacher at the beginning of the dialogue, but says little else during the conversation. Callicles, another of Socrates' peers (and here his harshest insulter), is Gorgias' host, as well as Socrates' adversary near the end of the argument. Gorgias is the famous orator (after whom this text is named), whose questioning serves as a catalyst for the debates around which Gorgias is centered. And Polus is Gorgias's inexperienced and eager student. It must be remembered that although the dialogue represents a fictional interaction, Socrates was in fact Plato's teacher. As a result, this character's words for the most part should be taken as indicative of actual Socratic structure and presentation, as well as serving as an expression of Plato's own positions.
Socrates wishes to question Gorgias about the scope and nature of rhetoric, so the two head to Callicles' house, where the great sophist can be found. The intense discussion that follows leads to the more general consideration of true versus false arts, a distinction based on the existing good as distinct from the pleasant. Although this is the first hint of the difference between the two notions, the point is not developed until much later in the dialogue.
The second part delves into the true essence of power, with the eventual conclusion that it exists both in a total lack of necessity and in the ability to perform only those actions that he/she independently desires. In this sense, for example, a tyrannical leader has no real power, because he must carry out actions (such as executions) as long as they are good for the state – not because the ruler independently desires them.
This specific inquiry quickly leads to the definition of what is the worst evil a person can commit, with the eventual determination that no evil outweighs inflicting evil and escaping punishment. Herein lies the text's first suggestion of an overarching question of right and wrong, a question that eventually results in a mapping of virtue.
The next general portion contains a divergence from the rest of Gorgias' more typical investigative tone. Callicles spends a lot of time chastising Socrates and the fact that such an adult man would remain immersed in the pursuit of philosophy. Apparently Callicles sees this continued practice as a disgrace to adults. Here, more than anywhere else in the work, Socrates' search for truth is directly threatened by the prevailing beliefs of his contemporaries.
The fourth section follows the participants' investigation into the nature and value of temperance and justice. In this discussion, Socrates provides a somewhat abstract logical proof of the distinction between the good and the pleasant, thus resolving an issue begun in the first main section of the dialogue. For Plato and his teacher, the chaos of contemporary Greek society (especially in Athens) was based on the majority not recognizing this fundamental difference. This widespread carelessness, in turn, leads to a confusion of flattery by art, persuasion by truth, and other similar illusions. The conversation continues to conclude the topic with a rationale for proper existence in temperance and justice....more
Tristia and Epistulae ex Ponto were written and sent to Rome at the rate of about a book a year from 9 c.e on. They consist of letters to the emperor Tristia and Epistulae ex Ponto were written and sent to Rome at the rate of about a book a year from 9 c.e on. They consist of letters to the emperor and to Ovid’s wife and friends describing his miseries and appealing for clemency. For all his depression and self-pity, Ovid never retreats from the one position with which his self-respect was identified, his status as a poet. That is particularly evident in his ironical defense of the Ars in Book II of the Tristia.
In the absence of any sign of encouragement from home, Ovid lacked the heart to continue to write the sort of poetry that had made him famous, and the later Epistulae ex Ponto make melancholy reading....more
For idyllic simplicity, grace, tenderness, and exquisiteness of feeling and expression, Tibullus stands alone among the Roman elegists. In many of hisFor idyllic simplicity, grace, tenderness, and exquisiteness of feeling and expression, Tibullus stands alone among the Roman elegists. In many of his poems, a symmetry of composition can be discerned, though they are never forced into any fixed or inelastic scheme. His clear and unaffected style, which made him a great favourite among Roman readers, is far more polished than that of his rival Propertius and far less loaded with Alexandrian learning, but in range of imagination and in richness and variety of poetical treatment, Propertius is the superior. In his handling of metre, Tibullus is likewise smooth and musical....more
Terence wasn't a mere translator of his Greek models, he showed both originality and skill in the incorporation of material from secondary models, as Terence wasn't a mere translator of his Greek models, he showed both originality and skill in the incorporation of material from secondary models, as well as occasionally perhaps in material of his own invention. Second, his Greek models probably had expository prologues, informing their audiences of vital facts, but Terence cut them out, leaving his audiences in the same ignorance as his characters. This omission increases the element of suspense.
Striving for a refined but conventional realism, Terence eliminated or reduced such unrealistic devices as the actor’s direct address to the audience. He preserved the atmosphere of his models with a nice appreciation of how much Greekness would be tolerated in Rome, omitting the unintelligible and clarifying the difficult. His language is a purer version of contemporary colloquial Latin, at times shaded subtly to emphasize a character’s individual speech patterns. Because they are more realistic, his characters lack some of the vitality and panache of Plautus’ adaptations; but they are often developed in depth and with subtle psychology. ...more
This is a compilation, the excerpts of which range from insignificant gossip to valuable biographical and bibliographical information, competent summaThis is a compilation, the excerpts of which range from insignificant gossip to valuable biographical and bibliographical information, competent summaries of doctrines, and reproductions of significant documents such as wills or philosophical writings. Though he quoted hundreds of authorities, he knew most of them only by second hand; his true sources have not been ascertained except in a few cases. The work itself consists of an introductory book and nine others presenting Greek philosophy as divided into an Ionian and an Italic branch (Books II–VII; VIII) with “successions,” or schools, within each and with “stray” philosophers appended (Books IX–X). In all extant manuscripts, the oldest of which belongs to the 12th century, part of Book VII is missing.
Diogenes Laërtius was noted for his history of Greek philosophy, the most important existing secondary source of knowledge in the field....more
In Amphitruo, Mercury in a long monologue, urges viewers to listen carefully to the play, thus, he explains that the play is a tragicomI love Plautus.
In Amphitruo, Mercury in a long monologue, urges viewers to listen carefully to the play, thus, he explains that the play is a tragicomedy because there are gods, heroes, mythological scenes, but also slaves, comical situations. This is the first time in literary history that this generic expression is used. During this monologue, Plautus makes us believe that it is the real Jupiter who will play, another way to have a silent and respectful audience. Mercury explains the piece to us, the project of his father Jupiter, it is the real exhibition scene in this work.
This piece is characterized by its originality. She takes up a mythological story to introduce it into a farce. The Jupiter-Alcmene-Amphitryon trio thus corresponds to the traditional trio of the farce genre, the lover, the mistress and deceived husband.
Mostellaria - The Ghost
Philolaches has borrowed a lot of money to buy the freedom of the slave-girl he loves. One day, he is having a house party with his friends, when his slave Tranio interrupts the merry-making to announce that Philolaches' father has returned unexpectedly and will arrive from the harbour at any minute. Amid the general panic, Tranio has an idea. He hustles Philolaches and his friends into the house and locks the door. The father now arrives. Tranio greets him respectfully but pretends that it is dangerous to enter the house because it is haunted by the ghost of a man once killed there.
Rudens - The Rope
Palaestra, stolen from her parents by pirates, is reunited with her father, Daemones, ironically, by means of her pimp, Labrax. The story is, however, far more complex; in particular, humour is derived from the interactions between slaves and masters, and the changes in friendships throughout. ...more
Second Punic War, also called Second Carthaginian War (218-201 bce), second in a series of wars between the Roman Republic and the Carthaginian (PunicSecond Punic War, also called Second Carthaginian War (218-201 bce), second in a series of wars between the Roman Republic and the Carthaginian (Punic) empire that resulted in Roman hegemony over the western Mediterranean.
In the years after the First Punic War, Rome wrested Corsica and Sardinia from Carthage and forced Carthaginians to pay an even greater indemnity than the payment exacted immediately following the war. Eventually, however, under the leadership of Hamilcar Barca, his son Hannibal, and his son-in-law Hasdrubal, Carthage acquired a new base in Spain, whence they could renew the war against Rome.
In 219 Hannibal captured Saguntum (Sagunto) on the east coast of the Iberian Peninsula. Rome demanded his withdrawal, but Carthage refused to recall him, and Rome declared war. Because Rome controlled the sea, Hannibal led his army overland through Spain and Gaul and across the Alps, arriving in the plain of the Po River valley in 218 bce with 20,000 infantry and 6,000 cavalry. Roman troops tried to bar his advance but were outmatched, and Hannibal’s hold over northern Italy was established. In 217 Hannibal, reinforced by Gallic tribesmen, marched south. Rather than attack Rome directly, he marched on Capua, the second largest town in Italy, hoping to incite the populace to rebel. He won several battles but still refrained from attacking the city of Rome, even after annihilating a huge Roman army at Cannae in 216. The defeat galvanized Roman resistance. A brilliant defensive strategy conducted by Quintus Fabius Maximus Cunctator harried the Carthaginians without offering battle. Thus, the two armies remained deadlocked on the Italian peninsula until 211 bce, when Rome recaptured the city of Capua.
In 207 Hasdrubal, following Hannibal’s route across the Alps, reached northern Italy with another large army supported by legions of Ligurians and Gauls. Hasdrubal marched down the peninsula to join Hannibal for an assault on Rome. Rome, exhausted by war, nevertheless raised and dispatched an army to check Hasdrubal. Gaius Nero, commander of the southern Roman army, slipped away north also and defeated Hasdrubal on the banks of the Metauros River. Hannibal maintained his position in southern Italy until 203, when he was ordered to return to Africa. Italy was free of enemy troops for the first time in 15 years. During the long mainland campaign, fighting had continued as well on Sardinia and Sicily, which had become Rome’s chief sources of food. Aided by internal upheaval in Syracuse, Carthage reestablished its presence on the island in 215 and maintained it until 210. Meanwhile, in Spain, Roman forces maintained pressure on Carthaginian strongholds. The Roman general Publius Scipio won a decisive battle at Ilipa in 206 and forced the Carthaginians out of Spain.
After his Spanish victory Scipio determined to invade the Carthaginian homeland. He sailed for Africa in 204 and established a beachhead. The Carthaginian council offered terms of surrender but reneged at the last minute, pinning its hopes on one last battle. The massed Carthaginian army, led by Hannibal, was defeated at Zama. The Carthaginians accepted Scipio’s terms for peace: Carthage was forced to pay an indemnity and surrender its navy, and Spain and the Mediterranean islands were ceded to Rome....more
Aristotle inaugurates in the Constitution of the Athenians a research that he wanted to be as scientific as possible of the political evolution of AthAristotle inaugurates in the Constitution of the Athenians a research that he wanted to be as scientific as possible of the political evolution of Athens, the scholar places his personal preferences always behind the search for truth.
The first part of the work, constitutes an account of the various evolutions of the constitution of the Athenians. Aristotle begins at the trial of the Alcmaeonides, in -632, and goes until 403 BC. The author relies in particular on the works of Herodotus, Thucydides and Androtion, among others, without enslaving himself to any of them.
The philosopher also draws information from works of partisan argument for the political struggle, and from official documents, or, when these are lacking, from the remaining institutions that he tries to interpret. The sources to which he has recourse being sometimes in disagreement because of their partiality, either in favor of the democrats or the oligarchs, Aristotle seeks in most cases to reconcile them by retaining in each of them what he thinks to be their some truth; despite the disparities or contradictions that may result from such a method.
The second part of the book deals with the institutions of the city. Aristotle is first interested in the right of citizenship, which includes the conditions of access to citizenship, then he addresses issues related to the organization of institutions, such as the magistracies and finally the courts....more
A set of short treatises, written in Greek by Plotinus from 254 until his death in 270 AD. It is the most accomplished expression of Neoplatonism.
His A set of short treatises, written in Greek by Plotinus from 254 until his death in 270 AD. It is the most accomplished expression of Neoplatonism.
His re-reading of Plato's dialogues was an important source of inspiration for Christian thought then in full formation, notably for Augustine of Hippo, and it had a profound influence on Western philosophy.
Plotinus' thought is a reflection of Plato and Aristotle, where metaphysics and mysticism merge. For Plotinus, the universe is composed of three fundamental realities: the One, the Intellect and the Soul. Man, part of the sensible world, must, by the highest degree of interiority, ascend from the Soul to the Intellect, then from the Intellect to the One and thus achieve a mystical union with the God par excellence. The search for salvation in fact implies for the soul a spiritual ascent, far from the world here below, "beyond intellect and knowledge", towards true reality, the Good, supreme principle identified with Beauty, which Plotinus calls the One or God. Neither Christian mysticism nor contemplation of God for the initiate of the mysteries, the philosophy of Plotinus is an exhortation to reintegrate our true homeland. Plotinus invites us to reintegrate our ontological kinship with the divine, by means of purifying asceticism. By an intuition of "the Intellect ablaze with love", this spiritual ascent leads the soul, finally unified, rid of all the superfluous and of the individuality which barricaded it within its limits, to become "true light" and to see "the divine radiance of virtue and temperance sitting on a sacred throne". Understood in this way, this purification, unbinds the soul, not to immerse it in a mystical abyss where it cancels itself, but to restore to its sacred game all its breadth and lucidity....more
Euclid compiled his Elements from a number of works of earlier men. Among these are Hippocrates of Chios (c. 440 bce). The latest compiler before EuclEuclid compiled his Elements from a number of works of earlier men. Among these are Hippocrates of Chios (c. 440 bce). The latest compiler before Euclid was Theudius, whose textbook was used in the Academy and was probably the one used by Aristotle. The older elements were at once superseded by Euclid’s and then forgotten. For his subject matter Euclid doubtless drew upon all his predecessors, but it is clear that the whole design of his work was his own, culminating in the construction of the five regular solids, now known as the Platonic solids.
A brief survey of the Elements belies a common belief that it concerns only geometry. This misconception may be caused by reading no further than Books I through IV, which cover elementary plane geometry. Euclid understood that building a logical and rigorous geometry (and mathematics) depends on the foundation—a foundation that Euclid began in Book I with 23 definitions, five unproved assumptions that Euclid called postulates (now known as axioms), and five further unproved assumptions that he called common notions. Book I then proves elementary theorems about triangles and parallelograms and ends with the Pythagorean theorem.
Book II has been called geometric algebra because it states algebraic identities as theorems about equivalent geometric figures. Book II contains a construction of “the section,” the division of a line into two parts such that the ratio of the larger to the smaller segment is equal to the ratio of the original line to the larger segment. (This division was renamed the golden section in the Renaissance after artists and architects rediscovered its pleasing proportions.) Book II also generalizes the Pythagorean theorem to arbitrary triangles, a result that is equivalent to the law of cosines. Book III deals with properties of circles and Book IV with the construction of regular polygons, in particular the pentagon.
Book V shifts from plane geometry to expound a general theory of ratios and proportions that is attributed by Proclus to Eudoxus of Cnidus. While Book V can be read independently of the rest of the Elements, its solution to the problem of incommensurables (irrational numbers) is essential to later books. In addition, it formed the foundation for a geometric theory of numbers until an analytic theory developed in the late 19th century. Book VI applies this theory of ratios to plane geometry, mainly triangles and parallelograms, culminating in the “application of areas,” a procedure for solving quadratic problems by geometric means.
Books VII–IX contain elements of number theory, where number (arithmos) means positive integers greater than 1. Beginning with 22 new definitions—such as unity, even, odd, and prime—these books develop various properties of the positive integers. For instance, Book VII describes a method, antanaresis (now known as the Euclidean algorithm), for finding the greatest common divisor of two or more numbers; Book VIII examines numbers in continued proportions, now known as geometric sequences; and Book IX proves that there are an infinite number of primes.
According to Proclus, Books X and XIII incorporate the work of the Pythagorean Theaetetus (c. 417–369 bce). Book X, which comprises roughly one-fourth of the Elements, seems disproportionate to the importance of its classification of incommensurable lines and areas (although study of this book would inspire Johannes Kepler [1571–1630] in his search for a cosmological model).
Books XI–XIII examine three-dimensional figures, in Greek stereometria. Book XI concerns the intersections of planes, lines, and parallelepipeds (solids with parallel parallelograms as opposite faces). Book XII applies Eudoxus’s method of exhaustion to prove that the areas of circles are to one another as the squares of their diameters and that the volumes of spheres are to one another as the cubes of their diameters. Book XIII culminates with the construction of the five regular Platonic solids (pyramid, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, icosahedron) in a given sphere.
Almost from the time of its writing, the Elements exerted a continuous and major influence on human affairs. Euclid set a standard for deductive reasoning and geometric instruction that persisted, practically unchanged, for more than 2,000 years....more
Only seven of Sophocles’ tragedies survive in their entirety, and Ajax is generally regarded as the earliest of the extant plays. Its entire plot is cOnly seven of Sophocles’ tragedies survive in their entirety, and Ajax is generally regarded as the earliest of the extant plays. Its entire plot is constructed around Ajax, the mighty hero of the Trojan War whose pride drives him to treachery and finally to his own ruin and suicide some two-thirds of the way through the play. Ajax is deeply offended at the award of the prize of valour (the dead Achilles’ armour) not to himself but to Odysseus. Ajax thereupon attempts to assassinate Odysseus and the contest’s judges, the Greek commanders Agamemnon and Menelaus, but is frustrated by the intervention of the goddess Athena. He cannot bear his humiliation and throws himself on his own sword. Agamemnon and Menelaus order that Ajax’s corpse be left unburied as punishment. But the wise Odysseus persuades the commanders to relent and grant Ajax an honourable burial. In the end Odysseus is the only person who seems truly aware of the changeability of human fortune....more
In Cyropaedia Xenophon investigated leadership by presenting the life story of Cyrus II, founder of the Persian Empire. Because the story differs flagIn Cyropaedia Xenophon investigated leadership by presenting the life story of Cyrus II, founder of the Persian Empire. Because the story differs flagrantly from other sources and the narrative’s pace and texture are unlike those of ordinary Greek historiography, many analysts have classed the work as fiction. Story line is certainly subordinate to didactic agenda, but Xenophon may have drawn opportunistically on current versions of the Cyrus story rather than pure imagination. The result is fictive history, more analogous to Socratic literature than to the Greek novel (to which it is sometimes pictured as antecedent). In the Cyropaedia, techniques of military and political leadership are exposed both through example and through direct instruction.
Argonautica, an epic in four books on the voyage of the Argonauts, in it Apollonius adapted the language of Homer to the needs of a romantic epic withArgonautica, an epic in four books on the voyage of the Argonauts, in it Apollonius adapted the language of Homer to the needs of a romantic epic with considerable success; in recounting Medea’s love for Jason, he shows a capacity for sympathetic analysis not found in earlier Greek literature. Apollonius often holds the reader by his fresh handling of old episodes, his suggestive similes, and his admirable descriptions of nature. In general, his style is informed by a selection of traditional themes and forms that he recasts in accordance with the poetic ideals of his age....more