A tragic tale of the unrelenting and destructive power of lust. Phaedra, wife of King Theseus, lusted after Hippolytus her stepson. When Hippolytus rejected her outright, she committed suicide from shame and despair, leaving a note falsely accusing Hippolytus of violating her. Theseus, upon reading the note, prayed to Poseidon to slay Hippolytus, causing the latter to suffer a violent and horrendous death. Sympathies for the victim Hippolytus, whose chastity […]
Read moreCategory: Classics
Greco-Roman and Eastern Classics: Mythology, Philosophy, Literature.
“Iphigenia at Aulis” by Euripides
The Meaning of Sacrifice In Fear and Trembling, Kierkegaard compared Abraham’s sacrifice of Issac to Agamemnon’s sacrifice of Iphigenia, the former as the Knight of Faith and the latter the Tragic Hero; In this play, Euripides presented Agamemnon in a rather different light, not so much a hero who sacrificed his most beloved daughter to perform the duty dictated by a sacred oath and defend the honor of the whole […]
Read more
“Medea” by Euripides
Despair, Anger and Hatred “Anger arises from offences against oneself, enmity may arise …because of what we take to be their character. Anger is accompanied by pain, hatred is not;… for the one would have the offenders suffer for what they have done; the other would have them cease to exist.” –Aristotle in “Rhetoric“ Medea, princess of Colchis and granddaughter of Helios, was both angry and hateful toward her husband Jason, […]
Read more“Rhetoric” by Aristotle
An acute observer of human nature, Aristotle gives a comprehensive psychological analysis of human emotions and motives. His diagnosis is humorous at times and chilling at others, entertaining and yet incisive. Modes of Persuasion Of the modes of persuasion furnished by the spoken word there are three kinds. The first kind depends on the personal character of the speaker; the second on putting the audience into a certain frame of […]
Read more“Poetics” by Aristotle
Poetry Is Imitation First, the instinct of imitation is implanted in man from childhood, …he is the most imitative of living creatures, and through imitation learns his earliest lessons; and no less universal is the pleasure felt in things imitated. …Thus the reason why men enjoy seeing a likeness is, that in contemplating it they find themselves learning or inferring, and saying perhaps, ‘Ah, that is he.’ … Next, there […]
Read more“On Sophistical Refutations” by Aristotle
What is Sophistry? That some reasonings are genuine, while others seem to be so but are not, is evident. This happens with arguments, as also elsewhere, through a certain likeness between the genuine and the sham. For physically some people are in a vigorous condition, while others merely seem to be so by blowing and rigging themselves out as the tribesmen do their victims for sacrifice; and some people are […]
Read more“Categories” by Aristotle
Aristotle’s Foundational Works on Logic The general categories enumerated herein have been widely accepted and used even at present, which speaks to Aristotle’s enormous influence on western civilization. His reasoning, however, is faulty in quite a few instances, especially with regard to the relation between genus and species. Categories Substance, quantity, quality, relation, place, time, position, state, action, or affection. [–Update in 2014 –] 1. Substance Substance, in the truest […]
Read more