Aristotle writes in his treatise On the Soul that the cause of movement is desire–not will, not reason, but desire, and that desire and movement (after the object of desire) are the characteristics of animate life. In other words, the one thing that differentiates animate from inanimate beings is the presence of desire. Ovid’s Metamorphoses is a beautifully written poem with one unifying theme: desire, articulated and immortalized. It’s a […]
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Greco-Roman and Eastern Classics: Mythology, Philosophy, Literature.
Plutarch: Divine Will and Free Choice of the Will
[Homer] does introduce divine agency, not to destroy, but to prompt the human will; not to create in us another agency, but offering images to stimulate our own; images that in no sort or kind make our action involuntary, but give occasion rather to spontaneous action, aided and sustained by feelings of confidence and hope. Certainly we cannot suppose that the divine beings actually and literally turn our bodies and […]
Read more“Ennead III: On Love” by Plotinus
On Love Love is a real substance (ὑπόστᾰσις, hypostasis) born of the activity of the Soul. It is a kind of intermediary between desiring and desired; the eye of the desiring which through its power gives to the lover the sight of the beloved; but Loves himself runs on ahead and before he gives the lover the power of sight, he fills himself with gazing, seeing before the lover but […]
Read more“Ennead III: On Providence” by Plotinus
“The wicked rule by the cowardice of the ruled.” The Artist’s Approach to the Problem of Evil In works of art, there is variety, gradation and contrast, e.g., counterpoint and harmony in music; In creation, there is “unity in diversity”, and if the pattern doesn’t encompass the opposite extremes, it would not be the unity of the All. There are innumerable acts in the great Play, but we only participate in […]
Read more“Ennead II” by Plotinus
Plotinus’ Universe Simply put, Plotinus’ conception of the universe is an ensouled body. It is soul, because it is self-containing and remaining still; it is body, because the natural movement of body is in a straight line, but when it is contained by the power of the soul, it moves in a circle (geodesic), always remaining in possession of the soul. The circular or spherical motion combines both the stillness […]
Read more“Ennead I” by Plotinus
What is Consciousness One of the things that came to mind when I read Ennead I was Alzheimer disease. I’ve heard some say that advanced Alzheimer disease makes life not worth living, and that people afflicted with this disease have become less than human. Although I strongly rejected this opinion, I did it intuitively and on emotional grounds, but failed to make any strong counter-arguments. Plotinus wrote some of his […]
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“The Civil War” by Julius Caesar
Two of the greatest generals of Rome, Caesar and Pompey, war against each other for life, glory, honor, dominance and, above all, the fate of the Roman Republic. The Gallic War lasted 8 years (58 BC – 51 BC), but the Civil War, from the very beginning till the decisive Battle of Pharsalus and death of Pompey, a year and a half (49 BC – 48 BC), a rather short […]
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