Greco-Roman and Eastern Classics: Mythology, Philosophy, Literature.

“Aristophanes IV” by Aristophanes

Aristophanes is best remembered (by me) for travestying Socrates and Euripides in his plays. Much as I dislike his buffoonery, he might provide an interesting study of the irrational national sentiments and the sway of public opinion. He raises two issues which are quite relevant today: 1. How does art influence morality and vice versa? 2. How does rationality influence morality? The Frogs was performed at the Festivals of Dionysus […]

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“The Conquest of Gaul” by Julius Caesar

The people of Gaul were the inveterate enemies of Rome, having once before captured the City. The Roman historian Livy observed that the Gauls could not endure heat and physical exertion, and tire quickly in battles. They were impetuous, abounding in ingenuity, but lacking in fortitude, according to Caesar. The Commentaries on the Gallic War (58 BC-51 BC) are an intriguing account of war through the eyes of a conqueror […]

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“Anabasis ” by Xenophon

Anabasis (also rendered as The March of the Ten Thousand or The Persian Expedition) is a firsthand account of the Greeks’ participation in Cyrus the Younger‘s revolt against his brother King Artaxerxes II, and their perilous return journey to the Black Sea after Cyrus’ death in the Battle of Cunaxa. Xenophon highlights the myriads of challenges a general faces in leading an army and carrying out a successful campaign. In […]

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“Cyropaedia” by Xenophon

He who rules himself well can rule the world. Plato writes in Republic that the principle of justice is the same for an individual as it is for a state. Therefore, the person who is eligible to govern a state must be a philosopher, i.e. lover of wisdom. Xenophon has found concrete expression of this ideal in the person of Cyrus, the founder of the Persian Empire, who embodied the […]

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“Symposium” by Xenophon

Socrates and Xanthippe “Socrates,” asked Antisthenes, “how does it come that you don’t practise what you preach by yourself educating Xanthippe, but live with a wife who is the hardest to get along with of all the women there are—yes, or all that ever were, I suspect, or ever will be?” “Because,” he replied, “I observe that men who wish to become expert horsemen do not get the most docile […]

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“Economics” by Xenophon

The word economics is derived from Greek roots meaning literally “household management”. Praise of Husbandry For the pursuit of [husbandry] is in some sense a luxury as well as a means of increasing one’s estate and of training the body in all that a free man should be able to do. For, in the first place, the earth yields to cultivators the food by which men live; she yields besides […]

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“Memorabilia” by Xenophon

I find it very interesting to read the respective accounts of Socrates’ life and teachings by Plato and Xenophon. It is sort of like reading in the Gospels the life and teachings of Jesus, from four different perspectives, which provides not only depth of perception, but also the manifold meanings that a single narrative lacks. Xenophon and Plato correspond well with one another in their interpretation of Socrates, the former […]

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