classics digests, reflections and reviews
One of the prominent feature of Dante’s justice is “contrapasso”, derived from the Latin contra and patior, literally, “suffer the opposite”, in other words, “whatever a man sows, that he will also reap”, or, punishment fits the crime. In the Inferno, the heretics are buried in great tombs of stone, through which flames were scattered, kindling all of them to glowing heat, and from each tomb they cry in agony. […]
Read moreKierkegaard spent his life denouncing/warning those who never took the leap of faith, but instead stood apart as an “objective” spectator of life. These people would end up in the Inferno of Dante, who seems to share Kierkegaard’s aversion to “the vulgar crowd”, the noncommittals, the cowards. In life, they never stood or fought for anything, in death, they are forced to run after a banner without respite; in life, […]
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Bertrand Russell was quoted to have said, “I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong.” A fitting retort was given by Electra (Sophocles), “I admire you for your prudence. For your cowardice I hate you.” In Canto II of Inferno, there is another brilliant example of a woman putting a man to shame for his cowardice. Our narrator Dante was reluctant to embark on the journey […]
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I’m finally starting to read “The Divine Comedy” (translated by Allen Mandelbaum) with my GR group. Departing from my usual practice of writing one review at the end, I’ll be jotting down my thoughts, findings and impressions as I read along, in a running series of posts, starting with this one. Mandelbaum translated both Aeneid and Divine Comedy, and received awards for both. No other translator of DC has that […]
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“The Bacchae” won the first prize in the City Dionysia festival in Athens in 405 BC, for good reason I suppose. The structure, plot, and character development are among the best of Euripides. William Arrowsmith, the translator, compared it to “Oedipus the King”, “Agamemnon” and “King Lear”, as one of the greatest tragedies. Truth be told, I’m not quite sure what to make of it. For example, is there anything […]
Read moreAll three Greek tragedians, Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, have written plays related to Oresteia, a tragic tale of the seemingly relentless misfortunes of the House of Atreus, descendants of Tantalus. What distinguishes Aeschylus’ trilogy from the others, imo, is the use of the mystic character Cassandra and the depiction of the Eumenides, both are essential to the main theme of the trilogy, namely justice, from executing vengeance to trial by […]
Read moreQuotes: “Deceit was the plotter, Lust the slayer, two dread parents of a dreadful phantom, whether it was god or mortal that did this deed.” And then think what manner of days I pass, when I see Aegisthus sitting on my father’s throne; when I look on him wearing the very robes which my father wore and pouring libations at the hearth where he killed him; and when I see […]
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