Hiatus

So far I have been coping with a schedule of a book a week along side my day job. OK, coping is probably to strong of a word. I have been managing to keep up with the schedule. But The City of God has me beat! There is no way I can get through a 1/4 of that in a week, just none. It something of the order of 200 pages a week and it is rather dense.

Also to add to this I just don't read for fun anymore and I read more because I have to to keep my schedule than because it's what I want to do. So I will be going on hiatus starting with last weeks missed post and running until New Years. Thank you to all who have been diligently reading. I will come back early next year refreshed and rearing to go.

I thought this was going to be a longer post but that about covers it!

Euripides, The Trojan Women; Complaining about the outcome of the War

It's a quiet Sunday and I've done most of my chores. I mean, what else is the weekend for but catching up on chores or, at the absolute least, buying food :D... Anyway, it's nice and quiet as I write this, for a change. I bought some discount marshmallows too and now there is cornflour all over my keyboard and mouse.

The Story
The Trojan Women starts with a conversation between Poseidon and Athena, in which they plot the Greek forces downfall at sea. Poseidon does this, as he was patron of the Trojans that have been defeated, and Athena does it as she was slighted at he temple in the city of Troy by the conquerors when they took the city.
Priam's wife, Hecabe, enters and start bemoaning that Troy has fallen and that she will now be a slave. A messenger enters and tells the gathered women who their new masters will be, none are too happy about this.
Hectors wife, Hecabe's daughter-in-law enters, clinging to her young son. She is slightly happy that, at least, her son will survive. Then, the news comes that the boy is to be killed by being thrown off the walls of Troy. His mother wails and hopes she can give him a burial. The Greeks allow the boy to be buried on his father, Hector's, shield.
The play ends with the woman being sent to their given masters to start their voyage. And with Hector's wife swearing revenge against her master.
I know I've written a lot less about this play but it seems to me that there is not really so much going on.

Reflections
To be honest, I'm finding it hard to find things to comment on in such a strait forward play.
Hecabe's lament at the fall of, not just the city of Troy, but also of it's high houses, with Priam and both of his sons dead, shows how the Ancient Greeks and Trojans saw a man's legacy as only succeeding through his bloodline. This seems a little odd to the modern reader who is used to the idea that a man's legacy is through his work and that the remembering of that work is now equated with remembrance of the man himself. Following that, the death of the child seems so unnecessary to the modern reader, but to the Greek or Trojan it was the only way to keep the name from rising again and keeping the son from seeking revenge at a later date.

Comparisons
This is the first play where we see the Trojan horse actually mentioned as the trick that got the Greeks into Troy. By comparison, the Iliad finishes well before the end of the war and so we do not see it and in Agamemnon, although the war is finished, we do not hear how the war was won.
Also, we see the death of the young son of the fighting men of note, in this case Hector. By comparison Orestes escapes alive and comes back when he comes of age for his revenge.

Have you read The Trojan Women? If so what did you think of it?

Want to read The Trojan Women but haven't? Hopefully this inspires you to take the time to do so.
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Euripides, Ion; Apollo's son

Today, I'm listening to The Irish and Celtic Music Podcast while I'm typing. So, I'm just jamming away to these great tunes! My Husband and I have been into Celtic music for a few years now, going right back to our uni days where a penny whistle was a cheap and available instrument for a poor student to afford. I tend to prefer listening to tunes and performing songs. Tunes being music only and songs having lyrics. We were, for a while, regularly going to a session, or Celtic music gathering, one evening a week but life has since got in the way. In saying that, my Husband has just started practicing his Mandolin again, so maybe we will get back to it in the nearish future.

The Story
Ion opens with Hermes giving the background to the story we are about to see. Apollo has visited a woman, Creusa, and raped her. She becomes pregnant, which she manages to hide, and gives birth to a boy, who she abandons in a cradle in the place where she was raped. Hermes is then dispatched by Apollo to collect the infant and take him to the temple of Apollo at Delphi. Here, he is raised at the temple, not knowing mother or father. Creusa and Xuthus, King of Athens, arrive in Delphi to consult the oracle as they have been childless. Creusa arrives first and discusses with Ion his lack of parents and her own loss. Creusa leaves and Xuthus consults with the Oracle. Xuthus is told that Ion is his son. So, he leaves the oracle with gladness and approaches Ion who is a bit taken aback by this development and asks many questions about the life he is to be thrust into. Creusa hears of this and plans to kill Ion who, at this point, she believes is her step son. This is mainly due to him inheriting instead of any of the children she hopes to have later. An omen from Apollo causes Ion to pour out the wine on the floor that Creusa has had poisoned for him, birds come and drink the wine, and the one that drinks his wine falls down dead. The servants tell him who did the poisoning, who wanted him dead, and finds out it is Creusa. He then chases he to the alter, which she clings to for protection. As he threatens to kill her, the oracle comes in and tries to talk him out of it, saying that it will make him unclean. Ion is confused by this, as to kill one who tries to kill him is justified. The oracle then brings out the basket and clothes he was found in. Ion is distracted for a bit, thinking of how this might lead to his mother, when Creusa speaks up declaring he is her son. After quizzing her about the contents of the basket (which she has not seen) he accepts her as his mother, asks about his birth, and why he was abandoned. She explains that Apollo is his father. At first he disbelieves, as the oracle has just said Xuthus is his father. Then Athene arrives and convinces him of his birth, Apollo's plan to give him to the king of Athens, and that he could be with his mother. Also, telling him that he had kept them from killing each other. It is agreed that Xuthus can not know his true heritage.

Reflections
Creusa spends most of the play angry at Apollo. First, for her rape and then, for her infertility. She feels that she has given up her best to Apollo and believes he did not save his son. Because of this, she treats Apollo with despondency. Until she finds out that Ion is that very son, then she changes her tune and praises him for his foresight.
It is interesting that Ion is unnamed until Xuthus gives him a name, showing how seriously the Greek took naming by the father. It is also worth noting that although he has no name he is named in the text as Ion throughout the entire play, the author clearly thinks that the players are aware of the story's end before it starts.
Apollo is both the villain in this piece as well as the hero. He causes all the problems, the pregnancy, the abandonment, and the infertility. Yet, he is also what brings about the reunion and keeps mother and son from killing each other before they know the truth.

Comparisons
Ion is like Iphignia in Tauris and Alcsetis , starting with a god addressing the crowd, but unlike them, the god does not give a summary of the whole play but rather lays out the backstory before the play starts. These plays all taking place in one location, so there is no need for a scene change, as we would do in modern theater.
The play differs to the other pieces of Euripides. So far, we also end the play with a dialogue with a god too, explaining things happening away from stage. Though, surprisingly, it is not Apollo but Athene, on behalf of Apollo. We are also starting to see a trend in Euripides for writing both tragedy and general drama.

Have you read Ion? If so what did you think of it?

Want to read Ion but haven't? Hopefully this inspires you to take the time to do so.
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Saint Augustine, The City of God 1A; Why the pagans are wrong

Ok so I'm going back to The City of God. It should have been the first book on my list but I was planning to put it on a Theology list, until my husband told me it was considered the precursor to the novel, so it has been added to this list. This book is huge, even bigger than Herodotus. Hopefully, it's not going to be as much hard work, though. Because of its size, I'm going to break it up. There are two parts in it and I will split each of these in half, so this work is Part 1A.
Also, because it is so large I'm going to break up my synopsis, reflections, and maybe comparisons into the respective books that the work is split into, just to make it more accessible.

The Story
Book I
During the sacking of Rome, Pagans and Christians sought refuge in the churches and places dedicated to Saints. Augustine is arguing against those who are now saying that Christianity is the reason for the sacking of Rome, by pointing to the saving work of Christ in those churches and holy places. He points out that it is anything but normal for an invading army to leave the holy places alone in their sacking of a city.
He also spends time comforting those who were raped in the sack. He argues eloquently that the sin of the man does not contaminate the chastity of the woman involved if, in her heart, she is against the act.
Related to this, he speaks against suicide. The thing to be aware of here is that culturally it was expected for a person to cause their own death if they have lost their chastity or virginity, and other situations considered to be highly shameful. Augustine, rightfully, argues that to take one's own life is to sin against the commandment "thou shall not kill" and, to add another sin on top of what has happened or will happen, is not to be promoted.

Book II
Augustine's main argument in this book is that the Roman gods did not give the people any moral instructions and that this, which is the cause of the decay in Rome, is a big part of why they cannot be gods but rather are demons. He also spends a lot of time detailing the depravity of the theater, which is dedicated to the gods, and uses that to argue again that they must not be very great or big gods.
He again uses Roman sources to lay out the history of the decline from the early days of Rome to his modern day. From these sources, he lays out that the community and commonwealth of Rome is actually already dead, with the moral decay it has come apart and there is, by this definition, no longer a community or commonwealth. He eventually contrasts this with the moral compass and teachings that come with Christianity.

Book III
In a lot of ways this book is a rinse and repeat of book II, but instead of focusing on the moral decay that happened before Christ as an argument against those who want to blame the sacking of Rome, by the Goths, on the worship of Christ, and the decrease of worship in the "Roman" gods: Augustine focuses on the calamity's that have befallen Rome. He runs through these calamities in broad sweeps, including earlier sacks of Rome, civil wars, and wars abroad and points out that, if the roman gods aren't to blame for that, how can Christ be to blame for what has come after the national conversion.

Book IV
This book starts with a recap of the previous three books. After that, Augustine launches into a proof that the Roman gods are false or demons, and that Rome's fortunes are actually blessings from the one true God. He does this by logically questioning the order of the Roman gods and suggesting that the only god it makes sense to worship is Felicity or of being happy. So, it makes more sense to worship the one God who gives good felicity and happiness, rather than worship the fortune itself.

Book V
Augustine reiterates that felicity is not a goddess but a gift from the True God. Then, continues with the debunking of Astrology and star-based divination. He uses the example of twins, especially those that are male and female, to show that the differences are bigger than a small change of stars should indicate. He continues by explaining how the expansion of Rome, and its good fortune, are actually gifts from God and show that the Roman pursuit of glory has no place in the heavenly city.

Reflections
Book I
Augustine uses scripture and history to prove that, even under the old Roman gods, bad things happened. So, it was too much of a stretch to say that the sacking of Rome was due to the disregarding those gods and the rise of Christendom. He points to the moral decay of people being too comfortable, without any more wars, as the reason for the sacking.
The biggest point that stuck with me over the rape, was the argument: the reiteration that, in the case of rape, the woman is blameless. Though, Augustine does add that she is blameless if she did not want it in her heart. This still rings true today and in it's time was a huge departure from the idea that the woman was somehow spiritually sullied by the act. That is not to say that there is no wound that need healing for the woman but that she is blameless when law and order breaks down as in a sack.
With suicide, in the modern context, where there is no societal pressure to suicide, if disgraceful things happen to you, I have a saying "you can believe that suicide is a thing a Christian should not do and still be suicidal." If you are in that place please seek help. I know that knowing it is a sin and that this is probably not much help right now. Also, I think that the early church took it a step too far and decided that because there was no opportunity to repent of your own murder it must be unforgivable but this does not line up with scripture where Christ says that the only unforgivable sin is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.

Book II
I feel like Augustine spends far to long on this but as a direct rebuff to an opinion, I guess, it is well formulated. In the process of defining his argument, he does reiterate his point a fair bit. I think Augustine's tendency to quote Roman writers (yes and Greek) would strengthen his point to his target audience, but, at times, I find it a little hard to follow, as I haven't finished my BC list yet. This is why I started with my BC list, but as you know, I needed a little more variety.

Book III
Again, this is a well formed argument that steps through the history of Rome from Roman sources.
The first book was just an overview and in these following books Augustine fleshes out his arguments. In this case, he takes a tour through the history of what has gone wrong or the bad that has come against, or to, Rome.

Book IV
Today, in Christianity, most times, when we talk about other religions, the strongest language we seem willing to use is to call them "false gods", and we treat them like they don't exist. Augustine, on the other hand, starts with the idea they are false religions and is not shy about calling their gods, demons. He is very aware that they exist but that they are spirits working in deception for the prince of darkness.

Book V
Sometimes, today, we can look around at what is going on in the world and despair at the bad and good in it. Augustine reminds us that pursuing things other than God, like the good approval of men, is sinful and will lead to eternal destruction. He also reminds us that God lifts up Nations in their time and that this is still a work of his hand, even when it doesn't look like it.

Comparisons
There is not much to compare it to at this point. I think that once I get into the Roman writers, both proceeding and contemporary to this work, there will be more that can be said.  I may end up coming back to it once I have read some of the Roman authors, as, I think, it will be quite interesting to do. I just do not have the background at this point.

Have you read The City of God? If so what did you think of it?

Want to read The City of God but haven't? Hopefully this inspires you to take the time to do so.
Get a copy of The City of God.

Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris; Finding a lost sister

So, today we took the car for a warrant of fitness, (yearly car inspection to keep it road legal) and they found we need new tires. One wheel failed outright and another only just passed. But, because they are both left-hand side tires, we are probably going to have to change all four. This, of course, is going to be a bit of a shock on the finances, especially with Phil out of work, but fortunately we have enough laid aside. That and our headlights need polishing again. They seem to have this problem every year.

The Story
Iphigenia in Tauris starts with Iphigenia going about he duties as a priestess of Artemis and reveals that the temple offers human sacrifice to Artemis, of any foreigners that arrive. We also see Iphigenia pining to return to Hellene lands, and to her family. Though, also in her lamenting, she informs us that she was going to be used by her father as a child sacrifice but was stolen away by Artemis to Tauris where she has since spent her time as priestess.
Orestes with his friend and companion, Pylades, arrive at the island and leave their boat offshore as they survey the land. Orestes has come as an Oracle told him that if he stole the statue of Artemis, that had come from heaven, and returned it to Athenes, he would be free of the furies haunting and the fits of insanity that went with them.
Orestes and Pylades hide from sight, in a sea cave, until night fall but our found by some herdsmen that take the cattle down to the beach to wash them. Orestes then, temporarily, loses his mind and starts attacking the cattle with his sword. The two are captured and bought to Iphigenia for purification, before they are sacrificed to Artemis.
On talking with the two, Iphigenia finds out they are both from Athenes (though they will not give her their names) and conspires to let one of them go free to take a message from her to her brother. Orestes agrees and say Pylades must go free, so Iphigenia gives him the letter, he asks for her freedom if he is shipwrecked and only escapes with his life. She decides instead to tell him the message, so he can carry it no matter what. She reals off a message for Orestes, not knowing that it is him in front of her. Pylades, on hearing the message, says it will be easy to carry out as that is who he is with. At first Iphigenia does not quite believe him but, with the dissertation of a little family history she comes round and they quickly start planning the steeling of the idol and their escape. She decided to tell the king that the statue has been made unclean by the men who have committed Matricide, and that she needs to purify them and the statue in the sea in a secluded place. The king agrees and the three make their escape with this ruse. The king goes to set men and boats after them but is interrupted by Athena who convinces him to let them go.

Reflections
This play shows how the Greeks saw the people groups around them as less civilised and uncultured. This is evident in the sacrifice of men and woman to the deity Artemis, which is both something abhorrent to the Greeks and, even though they did have a god, Artemis, it is not how they would have worshiped her or understood it as a type of worship she would have accepted. It is interesting that Euripides stops to make the point that Iphigenia does not do the actual blood letting in the temple, but rather, prepares the men for sacrifice. It is as if it was too much to expect the audience to still like Iphigenia as a character if she had perpetrated the killings.
It is interesting to see Pylades back at Orestes side as we do not see him when Orestes runs from the furies. They both seem, as well as announce, each other as brothers: if not of blood, at least of spirit. We see this play out when Pylades is reluctant to leave Orestes to be sacrificed and him go free, protesting that he should suffer the same fate.

Comparisons
It is interesting to see that even after the trial in Aeschylus' Eumenides, the furies are still chasing and bothering Orestes. Athena explains it a little at the end of the play, saying that, not all the furies were satisfied by the trial and so had continued to hound him.
This is now the second play of Euripides we have seen that is not a tragedy, but rather, we see our hero victorious; the other being Alcestis. Both works have a more uplifting ending, though they are no less full of drama.

Have you read Iphigenia in Tauris? If so what did you think of it?

Want to read Iphigenia in Tauris but haven't? Hopefully this inspires you to take the time to do so.
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Euripides, Hippolytus; Investigate before sentencing

Its the weekend again, and yet again it does not feel long enough. I guess that's just a side effect of working Saturday mornings. It's still a little crazy to realise I'll be working on Euripides for the rest of the year, for the BC list, and because Augustine's city is so big, I'm slitting it into four and that will cover me for the rest of the year as well. In other news, I think I have already said that my hubby has a new three month contract, which is due to start at the start of September, so roll on September!

The Story
Aphrodite opens the play with a taste of things to come and foretells Hippolytus' demise. We then see Hippolytus returning from the hunt, full of life and vigor. We see the queen languishing in her bed. She is in a bad state and has not eaten for several days. Her nurse questions her as to her reasons and she eventually alludes to having erotic desires for Hippolytus, which would be both adulterous and incestuous, seeing that Hippolytus is the bastard son of the king. Her nurse suggests she should just go on and do what she is thinking, but Phaeda, the Queen, refuses. The nurse goes away and confronts Hippolytus about this but he is aggressively against the suggestion and rebukes the nurse. When Phaeda hears of this she is even more disturbed and kills herself. Her husband comes home to find her dead and reads the notes she left accusing Hippolytus of attempting to rape her. Her husband, in a fury, curses Hippolytus (using one of the three curses that Poseidon owed him). Hippolytus is gravely injured by a huge sea wave but manages to make it back to the palace, where he pleads his innocence as a virgin dedicated to Artemis. Eventually, the truth comes out and The king, Theseus, find himself both without a wife and having killed his own son in haste to believe his wife's suicide note.

Reflections
A tragedy perpetrated by Aphrodite, who starts the play by stirring up Eros in Phaeda. Theseus is both understandably distraught and yet overly hasty in Hippolytus' case. It seems nothing Hippolytus says can bend his wrath and Phaeda has left things in a way that she can not be questioned.
Phaeda's suicide is her solution for the great shame that she feels for having such thoughts about her husband's, bastard son. Him, knowing about this feeling, seems to embarrass her more, and drives her over the edge into suicide. We must conclude that the note she left was her attempt to push the blame and shame off herself and onto Hippolytus.

Comparisons
Like we see in the Alcestis, also by Euripides, we see a god at the start of the play almost foretell the story. Though, it seems to take the idea of foreshadowing and goes a step further into a straight telling. At first, this seemed rather odd to me but on further reflection, I guess, it is no different than having the synopsis on the back of the book or the blurb in the papers for a movie.
It is the first time we see Aphrodite in a negative light or at least in the part of troublemaker. Previously, we have seen her in battle in the Iliad or being called to by her own oracle.

Have you read Hippolytus? If so what did you think of it?

Want to read Hippolytus but haven't? Hopefully this inspires you to take the time to do so.
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Euripides, Alcestis; Hercules saves the day

And I'm back to writing as I read the books. And wow, this is quite different. I just sat down and read the play in one sitting and I'm already writing about it. I might manage to rebuild a buffer yet!
In other news, I've sat down and written the list of books and the dates that I need to publish their blogs and it looks like we are going to be working through Euripides for the rest of the year on the BC list.

The Story
Apollo starts by discussing with death, the upcoming death of Aclestis and trying to convince death not to take her. He has previously convinced death to take her rather than Admetus, her husband. This was a deal they struck on: death would pass over Admetus, if he could take someone else in his place. His parents refused, but his wife accepted that role and so knows that her life is coming to an end.
Admetus is with his failing wife to the end, with their two young children. After she passes, but before she is buried, Admetus' father turns up with burial gifts. Ademetus turns him away saying that if his father had had a bit more courage it would be him dead instead of his wife. His father hits back with the accusation that Ademetus is the coward for letting his wife take his place in death. His father then leaves.
Hercules then arrives and asks for hospitality, though he does ask Ademetus who has died, Ademetus does not want to turn him away and so lies and says it is a stranger. He puts Hercules in the guest wing and then goes to bury his wife. Hercules is feasting and drinking but the servants are all down cast. He asks them why they are so down cast and it comes out that it is Ademetus' wife that has died and Hercules takes it on himself to go and wrestle her back from death.
Ademetus returns to the palace to find Hercules, having just returned and fitted for war, rather than feasting. Hercules has with him a young woman who he tries to give to Ademetus. He tries to refuse but is eventually forced into it. At which time, he recognises her as his wife, back from the dead. Hercules offers little explanation and heads off on his way to perform one of his labours.

Reflections
I think is the first Greek play we have come across that is not a tragedy and actually ends on an upbeat, with Aclestis being returned alive to Ademetus. Although it is clear that Hercules has fought with death and won, we do not see the fight itself being played out on stage. He just goes away and comes back with her. This is more of Hercules, the hero, as I had expected to see play out in the plays.
Apollo states in the very beginning, Hercules would fight with death and return Aclestis to life, it is only as the play progresses that we see why: as a repayment for the hospitality given at such a time of grief. The 'how', however is only alluded to by Apollo in the beginning and, again, by Hercules before and after returning with Aclestis.

Comparisons
This is the first really positive story we have seen of Hercules. In contrast, the Shield of Heracles just focuses on a single battle and we see a lot more of Hercules' positive character. We see this in how he responds to the hospitality he is given after he realises that his host's wife is dead.
Alcestis also has a much happier ending to the story than we see in Women of Trachis as we see Hercules successful, rather than writhing in pain.

Have you read Alcestis? If so what did you think of it?

Want to read Alcestis but haven't? Hopefully this inspires you to take the time to do so.
Get a copy of Alcestis.

Herodotus, The Histories: A Plethora of Side Tracks

So, I finally finished The Histories. It has taken a day short of a year from start to finish, though I have taken a couple of big breaks in that time. It is a large, 600 page, 9 section work and in a lot of ways is easier in the seconds half. I did not get stuck with it in the same way I did with the Upanishads, it was just slow and steady going.
I'm not writing these in order at the moment. I've written this just after restarting the blog and, boy, is it good to be back! I'm excited to get more writing done, as well as a bit more reading!

The Story

The Histories centres around the story, from both sides of the two Persian invasions of the Greek city states. The first, under Darius, proceeds into the peninsular, only as far as Marathon and stopped short of the goal of Athens. The Second, under Xerxes, the son of Darius, sacked Athens but was turned back after the defeat of his maritime force at Salamis. A smaller contingent was left in Greece, after the retreat of the main army. This smaller army fought in the battle with the 300 Spartans, at Thermopylae. This gives us the great quote, where Leonidas replied "Won't it be nice, then, if we shall have shade in which to fight them?" about the threat of the Persians arrows blotting out the sun. After this battle, the army moved inland and sacked Athens again (not that there was much to sack). This army was eventually defeated at Plataea.
Though these are the two main thrust of The Histories, Herodotus spends a lot of time on side tracks and hearsay. Some of these are fanciful stories which he often notes as hearsay (ants that collect gold for the Indians) and others are other historical stories. These historical stories are always to the best of Herodotus' knowledge but that is, at times, misguided, for example, when he states that cinnamon is made from a certain bird's legs. He lays out, as best he can, what can be known of the Mediterranean world, at the time.

Reflections

This text is known as the first time someone tried to record the realities of a war, as well as its causes, and also to work in prose. Therefore, he is sometimes described as the father of western history, though Cicero calls him the father of lies due to the more fanciful parts of his work.
I know there is some debate on the numbers of Persians in Xerxes invasion, with many noting that there would not have been enough water on the peninsular to support as large an army, as is reported by Herodotus. And, in the retreat, we see some of this as the land struggles to supply the army in retreat. I think the main argument against a deliberate over numbering is Herodotus' precision in his reckoning of the army's numbers. I would believe he rounded these number up but I would not go so far as to say that I think they are not accurate.
Herodotus' progression around the Mediterranean world in the first parts of the book has a great many interesting stories and it surprised me just how wide of a world was known, at least in part, to Herodotus. His stories even included a circumnavigation of Africa (Libya) by a party sent from Egypt and gold mining ants in India. This, with his knowledge of Greece, gives quite a large sphere of  knowledge, even if some of it is a little misguided.   

Comparisons

Because this is the first history and the first prose text it may at first seem that there is little to compare it to, but I think there are still some worth while things to say.
Like the Iliad, there is a multitude of names that it is easy to get bogged down in, in the Iliad it is the listing of the names during combat. Thankfully, Herodotus only lists name when describing the gathering of troops and graciously saves us from more confusion. By contrast, the Iliad is about the Greek forces facing each other, where as, The Histories accounts for both the Persian and Greek forces. The descriptions of battle in both are mainly broad strokes, with the occasional addition of a named character who does specific, great things.

Have you read the The Histories? If so what did you think?
Does this inspire you to read the The Histories? If so tell me what you think when your done!

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Dante, Vita Nuova; Lovesick fool

My hubby and flatmate are busy watching My Hero Academia, which makes for a lot of background noise while I try and type but, oh well, that's the joy of the lounge being my only work space. My husband has an assessment, for the job he wants, in a couple of weeks, so hopefully he won't be out of work too much longer.

Story
Vita Nuova (The New Life) is mainly a collection of Dante's poems about Beatrice and documenting his infatuation with her. Dante spends a lot of time venerating Beatrice as, above all other ladies. For a short while, he has everyone convinced he is in love with another woman but he is just using it as a cover. Eventually, the truth comes out and everyone knows how he feels about Beatrice. He can not bring himself to speak to her though, or even acknowledge her greeting, and yet he pines after her. Then, suddenly, she dies and he laments this bitterly, even writing two poems for her brother to mourn her with. He starts to get over her and fixates on another woman but eventually he scorns himself for moving on and goes back to morning Beatrice.

Reflections
Dante is a lovesick fool. He pines for Beatrice and yet cannot even bring himself to see her or talk to her. He, in doing so, paints himself as weak and vacillating. We never see him really take charge of the situation and constructively do anything both before and after her death.
This isn't really a story as we will come to expect from later novels but rather a collection of poems written in and around a series of events.

Comparisons
The New life is a book of a young man in foolish love, by comparison Dante's The Banquet is an older man's thinking, with a little love thrown in for good measure. Dante does not lose his high opinion of love, and of his love, but rather it becomes tempered with other things that are greater, or at least, of similar importance.
The new life also gives a bit of background into the veneration of Beatrice that we see in the Paradiso, though neither explains exactly why he believes her to be such a Paragon of virtue.

Have you read The New Life? If so what did you think of it?

Want to read The New Life but haven't? Hopefully this inspires you to take the time to do so.
Get a copy of The New Life.

Sophocles, Philoctetes; We need your bow

It's Saturday afternoon and the sun is out, though it has been a little showery. Phil's busy talking to his Dad on the phone, leaving me to my own devices. Work is going well, though I have been struggling with a cold this week and have appreciated my days off all the more. That being said, I have not got a lot done and that includes work on this blog.

The Story
The play starts with Philoctetes stranded on an island. It is thought he was stranded there because of a snake bite on his foot which has festered. The other bit of backstory that is good to know, is that other sources state that Hercules, after the events of the women of Trachis where he is put in agony by acid burns, that he wanted to be burnt alive to stop the pain and the only one who would light the fire was Philoctetes and so, he gave him his legendary bow.
Odysseus and Achilles' son, Neoptolemus, arrive on the island in search of Philoctetes. They have come because it has been prophesied that they cannot win, and finish, the war at Troy until Philoctetes joins there side with Hercules' bow. Odysseus hides as Philoctetes is angry with him for stranding him on the island. Neoptolemus builds a friendship with Philoctetes based around his hatred of Odysseus, which Neoptolemus is faking. Neoptolemus convinces Philoctetes to go to Troy. When Philoctetes find out that he has been tricked, he rebels but is eventually persuaded to join the fight at Troy.

Reflections
At first, the thought that Philoctetes has been marooned on an island seems rather harsh. But, if you consider that had they taken him to war they would have had to feed him and he would have been a liability, it makes sense, though it is no less harsh.
Philoctetes' wound is not the only thing that has festered on the island. His attitude has also disintegrated and become septic. We see this in how he reacts to Odysseus and the hatred he has for the man.

Comparisons
We come back to the Trojan war, that we first see in Homers Iliad. This time, however, we are not at Troy but on a side quest that is meant to end the war. We see Odysseus again,though in a less heroic role and more as a commander, making the hard decisions that no one really likes.
Nowhere else, so far, do we see such a surly character as Philoctetes, or a story so driven by someone's misery.
Technically speaking, it is not a tragedy, as we do not see a string of deaths of characters at the end of the play. But, it still has a very somber and negative tone.

Have you read Philictetes? If so what did you think of it?

Want to read Philictetes but haven't? Hopefully this inspires you to take the time to do so.
Get a copy of Philictetes.

Sophocles, Women of Trachis; Stay True to me

So I'm multitasking and cooking dinner while doing some typing. I often don't spend the time it takes to cook dinner in the kitchen but rather set things going and put on a timer. Sometimes it doesn't work out as planned, but I'm no good at standing around in the kitchen waiting.

Story
The Women of Trachis is a story about the consequences of Hercules' roaming, yet it is a more domestic story.
Hercules' wife laments how much he is away and how little he seems to care for his family at home so, she sends her son to find him, to see if he can get Hercules to head home for a while.
Hercules' herald returns to his home to tell of his exploits ahead of Hercules himself returning, telling the story of how Hercules sacked Oechalia, after being insulted, and that he brings home the town leader's daughter as a prize. His wife sees through the deception and knows Hercules has taken another lover. She thinks back to when she was rescued by Hercules from a centaur and his words on how to keep Hercules faithful. She prepares a potion for him of the centaurs blood and the poison of the hydra as a love potion and sends it to Hercules. Feeling guilty about the gift, she throws the remainder into the sunlight and it reacts like acid: the centaur had lied. she receives the message that her potion has killed Hercules and her son rebukes her angrily. She reacts badly and kills herself. Hercules returns home in agony and furious at being poisoned by his wife. His son informs him that she had not meant to kill him but rather was trying to make him faithful and that he had been killed by the centaur from beyond the grave as it was his instructions and blood that caused so much pain.

Reflections
The thing I first noticed was, how trusting Hercules' wife was of what the centaur had told her all those years earlier and how she can't have known the prophecy that he would kill Hercules. I just can't see any other way you would be willing to take the centaurs advice, even before knowing what it would do to Hercules, it seems like a rather unwise plan.
I also marvel at the arrogance of Hercules, to take another woman, when he has a wife and family at home but this seems to be common in these Greek plays.

Comparisons
We have seen Hercules before in the Shield of Heracles, but here we see him in less heroic and more domestic terms. We see the end of his life rather than one of his triumphs.
In some ways it also parallels Agamemnon in death being caused by the wife but it differs in that in Agamemnon his wife deliberately kills him because, he has take another to bed, where as, in the Women of Trachis, we see the wife is the one cheated on and the death was almost accidental or, at least, his death is an unforeseen consequence. We see in this play the wife's remorse compared to Agamemnon wife's lack of remorse.

Have you read Women of Trachis? If so what did you think of it?

Want to read Women of Trachis but haven't? Hopefully this inspires you to take the time to do so.
Get a copy of Women of Trachis.

Sophocles, Electra: A daughters anger

Trying to put my buffer of posts back together is proving a little more difficult than I had hoped, but we seem to be getting somewhere now. Work is progressing well enough and I am still happy to have my part time hours. My Hubby is looking for work at the moment and is considering going back to milk tanking, which has some pretty antisocial hours but it does pay well. Oh well! We will see how the process goes.

Story
Electra is Sophocles' version of the return of Orestes and the death of his mother. It starts with Electra and her younger sister, who has never spoken out against their mother for killing their father, meeting at their father's grave. Electra is there to mourn and wish their mother's demise, where as her sister is there to bring a grave offering from their mother. Their mother is not remorseful about what has happened but is worried about a dream she had, prophesying the return of her, now grown, son, Orestes, and his vengeance.
A messenger arrives at the Palace announcing Orestes' death. Electra is inconsolable but her mother is mildly smug as she now thinks she is safe.
We see Electra again at her father's grave site and a stranger approaches looking for the palace. They do not initially recognise each other but Orestes, the strange, eventually realises he is talking to his sister. Together they plot the downfall of their mother, their father's murderer. The play ends with Orestes killing their mother and her new husband.

Reflections
This is a story we see a few times in the early Greek plays. The real difference with this telling is the focus on Electra's anger. Electra has basically been demoted by her mother to the position of a servant and spends her free time mourning her father. This focus bring Electra to the fore of the story and makes Orestes seem more like a bit player. It is interesting to see this story without the previous play and I think it loses a little bit, if you wasn't familiar with the over-arching story.

Comparisons
This is the same story we see in the The Libation Bearers by Aeschylus, but with the focus shifted from Orestes to Electra. As such it is again a generic tragedy and it is suggested that both plays are based on an older lost text. When compared to Sophocles' other work, it seems a little softer, maybe that's just my foreknowledge of the story, but it feels a little less hard hitting and gritty, though it is still a tragedy.

Have you read Electra? If so what did you think of it?

Want to read Electra but haven't? Hopefully this inspires you to take the time to do so.
Get a copy of Electra.

Dante, The Banquet; Knowledge and discourse for the common man

It's midweek and I should probably be cleaning but instead I'm Tipity-Typing on the computer, putting together another post. And it seems I will shortly be running out of books I have already read in the BC list. It has taken a few months, but I only have until the start of August to increase the amount I'm reading if I want to continue producing content at this pace. It has been a Godsend to have this buffer, especially over the last few months starting a new job. But, now it's time to up the anti and I've got to say, I'm both excited and apprehensive.
To my disgust I have to write most of this post twice as there was a saving error on blogger and I lost most of it.
So now I'm coming to the less known works of Dante with The Banquet. And I must say, it has been easier to read than the divine comedy as it goes down fewer rabbit holes.

Synopsis
Book 1
In the first book of Dante's The Banquet, he spends most of his time laying out his (for lack of a better way of putting it) rules for himself, as he works through the following three books. The latter half does tend to focus on his reasons for writing in Italian or, as he calls it, the "Vernacular tongue" rather than in Latin, which mainly boils down to not wanting to translate the poems to Latin for fear they will lose their poetic form. Once that decision is made, it follows that, to write the discourse in Latin would not work. He also points out that, only scholars would understand the Latin and he wants to write for a broader audience.
Book 2
This poem is mainly about love. Dante first waxes lyrical on his love for his Beatrice and he spends a lot of time proving she is in heaven with God. He then spends time on the concept of What Is Love and its parts. He ends with, how God Is Love, and how this is the Perfect Love. He spends some time on how Wisdom, which he also relates to his lady, is split into two parts, Love and Knowledge.
Book 3
Dante devotes most of the literal part of his discussion to his beloved Beatrice. The Allegorical reading that Dante proposes, centres around the Layers of the heavens. He takes the traditional seven layers and adds in an eighth as God's place or the place beyond. These layers would not be familiar to the modern reader but Dante has them relate to the aspects of the Lady and even compares her directly with the sun.
Book 4
Dante spends most of this much longer book on the definition of the noble man. First, correcting the idea that those born to power and wealth are automatically Noble as in the Nobility. He postures that it is a mix of the mans actions and a gift from God that make a man Noble, that is, not base. He spends a lot of time trying to understand the position that a man's birth makes him noble but ultimately he rejects it as unfounded. The book continues with an exposition of what good works make a noble man and what vices are missing. And finally, he looks through the ages of a man's life and what nobility looks like in each of them.

Reflection
Book 1
There is not too much to say about this first book, as, in it, Dante just lays out the rules for himself for the rest of the expositions, he puts with his poetry.
Book 2
Dante's exposition of love and how it is only by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of love that we truly know what love is and can give it out to the world around us, rings true with the general understanding held of scripture. In some ways, though it is a rose in a quagmire of Christianity mixed with Philosophy, as Dante also holds the philosophers in the same high regard, it seems, as scripture in fact he quotes them far more often than scripture.
Book 3
Dante's exposition about the levels of heaven is very interesting. First, he, as would have been common at the time of writing, thinks the sun orbits around the Earth. Second, he divided the stars into levels based on how much they move in the night sky and relates that to how close to the observer they are, which, while not exactly wrong, does oversimplify how far away the stars are.
Book 4
Dante proposes 4 stages in a man's life: adolescence, youth, old age, and advanced old age. I found a few things interesting. First, that he says adolescence doesn't start until a man is 8 months old, what he is before that, I do not know, as Dante does not explain. The other is just how late the idea of youth goes, in the modern day, we suggest youth ends around 30 but Dante states it to be 45; in saying that he also says that that is the end of the upward growth of life and the start of the downturn of old age. These words have come to mean something quite different in the modern usage.

Comparison
As I said earlier, there are a lot less rabbit trails in The Banquet than we find in the Divine comedy. Though, we do see a continuation of the veneration of Beatrice that we see in The Paradiso. I think that having read more of the philosophers would illuminate this text a bit more as they are often mentioned but I am not that far through my BC list yet. It doesn't read like a story, as we see in the
Song of Roland, and it paints a very different picture of Christianity as well.

Have you read The Banquet? If so what did you think of it?

Want to read The Banquet but haven't? Hopefully this inspires you to take the time to do so.
Get a copy of The Banquet.

Sophocles, Ajax; It should have been mine

I've been sick with a cold this week, which has been more annoying than anything else. I had to take a couple of days off work as my voice was all over the place, which isn't great when you work on the phones. It's definitely getting better now though, hopefully I don't catch many more this winter.


The Story
Ajax begins directly after the Greek victory at Troy. We see Ajax, angry that he was passed over for Achilles' armor plotting to take his revenge on the Greek Generals he feels have robbed him. Athena intervenes and makes Ajax believe that the cattle in the pens are actually the Generals and Ajax goes and slaughters them and some he even tortures. On coming to his senses, he becomes pressingly aware his loss of face and speaks to his wife about killing himself. She begs him not to and to think of his son. He then has his son brought to him, as if he were swayed by her arguments. After talking to his son, he decides to go for a walk and says he will bury the sword that was given to him by Hector. His wife and the chorus of other soldiers then receive a messenger that says there is a prophecy that, if Ajax leaves his tent he will die. They frantically try to find him but when they do, he is dead. He did indeed bury his sword point up, so that he could fall on it. The Generals argue with his wife as to whether he should be buried, until Odysseus comes along and says they must bury him. The play ends with his half brother preparing his funeral and burial.

Reflections
Although this is just another Greek tragedy, this is considered to be Sophocles' first surviving play and as such, is the first play where we explicitly see the death on the stage; all the other writers, so far, have put death off the stage. My reading suggest that this was a deviation from the standards of the day, Sophocles was being a little edgy. Ajax is a big part of this play though we barely see him on the stage, his presence carries through the play, even with his little stage time. Ajax is rather pig-headed and overly proud at first in his insistence that Achilles armor should be his, implying that he is best after Achilles and then in his death as he seems to be the only one who was really bothered by his treatment of the cattle, that we can see in the play anyway.

Comparisons
It is interesting to see this set directly after the events of the Iliad and, even though the author is different, we see consistencies in the characters that these works share. This makes sense, as the audiences of Ajax would have been familiar with the work of the Iliad. That being said, the research I did suggests that there was probably another play of Sophocles' that went before this one but it has not survived.
Oedipus the King also deals with a protagonist covered in shame but rather than death, Oedipus chooses to blind himself and live in exile. In saying that, Oedipus' shame seems far more real than Ajax's which seems be seen more by Ajax himself.

Have you read Ajax? If so what did you think of it?

Want to read Ajax but haven't? Hopefully this inspires you to take the time to do so.
Get a copy of Ajax.

Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus; Exile

It's the weekend again and I'm here typing diligently... or at least I'm slowly getting it done. It's been a rather uneventful week, just the normal day to day stuff and work. We were going to go on a bush walk today but the weather has been awful.

The Story
Oedipus at Colonus continues where Oedipus the King left off. Oedipus has been exiled from Thebes and is now a bedraggled beggar being led by the hand by his daughter, Antigone. A local tells them on his way past that they are on the sacred ground of the furies. Oedipus upon hearing this, calls the locals to go and get the King of Athens nearby, as Oedipus believes this is where he is prophesied to die. Before the King arrives, Oedipus' other daughter Ismene arrives with a message from his son's asking him to return and bless them, as they are at war with each other over the throne. Oedipus sides with neither of his sons, instead contrasting them with his faithful daughters. Oedipus throws himself on the mercy of the men of Colonus, the town beside which the grove to the furies lies.  The King of Athens arrives and pledges Oedipus his support and grants him citizenship in Athens so that he can be buried as a Athenian. Creon arrives and tries to convince Oedipus to come home to Thebes but  Oedipus does not trust the crafty man and refuses. Then Oedipus' son Polynices arrives and tries to reconcile with his father, knowing that there is a prophecy that the fight will go to whatever brother has his fathers blessing. Knowing this Oedipus refuses to be reconciled and prophesies that the brothers will kill each other in the upcoming fight. Oedipus hears great clashes of thunder and states that his death is at hand and retreats into the grove with the King of Athens, witnessing his final breath.

Reflections
This really is an sequel, there isn't really much of a stand alone plot. You really need to have seen (or read) what goes before it to have an idea of who the players are. Oedipus, acting almost as judge over his son at first, seems a bit hypocritical,considering Oedipus' history but once he starts contrasting them to his daughters you see that his standard is consistent. The King of Athens' part in all this is interesting as he is the one player acting towards the good of Oedipus: first with sheltering him and finally with witnessing his death and, we assume, burial rights.

Comparisons
This is, technically, a tragedy, with Oedipus dying at the end but his death is a lot more contemplative than we see in other tragedies. Even if we take Oedipus the King for example, it ends with dramatic suicides and scratching your eyes out level of grief, or Antigone that ends with a series of deaths and suicides.

Have you read Oedipus at Colonus? If so what did you think of it?

Want to read Oedipus at Colonus but haven't? Hopefully this inspires you to take the time to do so.
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Sophocles, Oedipus the King; Because he loved his mother

It's long weekend for Queens Birthday so it's Monday but I have the day off, as does my hubby. That makes it a great time to catch up on some writing. At work, we have a knitting project going on to provide beanies for premature babies. I've started but I am struggling to find the time to knit and it's not exactly easy: in fact, I would have to say, making chain mail is easier (and yes, I have done that).

I've been going through the Theban plays in the order they are presented in this edition. Which seems to be a little odd as Antigone the first is actually set after the other two. But, oh well, that's the order I'm doing them in.

The Story
Oedipus the king (also know as Oedipus Rex) starts with a plague in Thebes, so Oedipus send his brother Creon to go to the prophet at Delphi and ask what must be done to rid the city of the plague. Creon returns and announces that they must find the previous King's killer. Oedipus vows to do just that and sends for the local, blind prophet Tiresias who, after much persuasion and many threats, accuses Oedipus of being the killer. He confides in his wife and she tells him not to worry about prophecies as there was one that Laius would be killed by his son but that he had been killed on the road by thieves. This distresses Oedipus as he killed someone for running him off the road on his way to Thebes. Scared this was Laius, he calls for the only survivor of the attack. Also haunting Oedipus is another prophecy: that he would kill his father and marry his mother. He was raised in Corinth by King Polybus and his wife. A messenger comes to tell him of his parents death, he also tells him they were not his parents but that he had been brought by him, the messenger, from a shepherd. Oedipus summons the shepherd to find out the truth about his birth, expecting to find out he is low born, but his wife begs him to stop as she fears what he will find out. The shepherd is bought in and questioned and eventually gives up the information after being threatened with death. Oedipus returns to the palace to find his wife/mother has killed herself and in a moment of despair uses the pin from her clothes to gouge out his eyes.

Reflections
I must admit, I had heard of this story long before I actually read it and I had thought that Oedipus had knowingly been with his mother, so it was a pleasant surprise that he didn't know and the story of how he found out. It's an interesting story of trying to escape the prophecies of Oracle but its interesting how, the very things they did to escape, were the things that actually made the prophecies come to pass. For example, the prophecy given to Oedipus about how he will kill his father and marry his mother leads him to leave home and it is on the road to Thebes, away from home, that he has the altercation with his father, and kills him.

Comparisons
Oedipus the king is classic Greek tragedy like Seven Against Thebes and, obviously, is set in the same city. That being said, we see a lot less of the city in Oedipus the king than we do in Seven Against Thebes. It is unique, so far, in its theme of trying to out run or avoid Prophecy, though we do see disregard for prophecy in the Iliad. In the Iliad, it is not so much trying to run away from the prophecy though but rather the occasional ignoring of the gods.

Have you read Oedipus the king? If so what did you think of it?

Want to read Oedipus the king but haven't? Hopefully this inspires you to take the time to do so.
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Dante, Paradiso; Blinded by the light

At work training is over and the grind of the everyday has begun. I enjoy Saturdays as I can sit by the window and stare at the people going past, though the phones can be either very busy or very quiet. Some of us, if it's quiet, sit there and judge people's parallel parking for a bit of fun. 

I am glad to have finished the Divine Comedy, though at times I have wondered if I should have read the other two works first(The New Life and Convivio). I just wonder if it would have given me a bit of background into who Beatrice is.

The Story
In Paradiso, Dante proceeds through the nine spheres of heaven.
First, the sphere of the moon, with those who failed to keep their vows to God.
Second, the sphere of Mercury, with those who were just and right but for the reason of selfishness and ambition.
Third, the sphere of Venus with the lovers of God and people.
Fourth, the sphere of the Sun where Dante meets with the wise of the faith e.g. Thomas of Aquinas.
Fifth, the sphere of Mars with the holy warriors. Here, Dante meets his great grandfather, who fought in the crusades, as well as Roland and Charlemagne.
Sixth, the sphere of Jupiter, with those who ruled well on earth, including David and Hezekiah.
Seventh, the sphere of Saturn, with those who dedicated their lives to prayer, ascending and descending the golden ladder. Here, Dante discusses the current corruption in the Church with those he meets. Then, Dante ascends the stair to the next sphere.
Eighth, the sphere of the fixed stars, with Mary and the Apostles. Again, Dante discusses the corruption in the Church with those he meets.
Ninth, the sphere of Premium Mobile. This is the last sphere and from here Dante sees the nine circles of angels, circling the triune God. He tries to explain what he is seeing but quickly gives up as he has no words.
As he progresses through these spheres, he gets further and further away from earth and out into space. Also, the amount of light increases at every stage and he is eventually blinded by the light, that he can barely see Father, Son, and Spirit.

Reflections
While Dante is, on the surface, taking us through a rather Christian view of heaven, he can not seem to leave out the references to the old Roman gods and to astrology (Scorpio). I find this dilutes his authority on these matters. I haven't read his other works yet but I must say that his idolization of Beatrice is odd and rather out of place in his attempted epic on heaven. He seems to almost deify her, which feels out of place in an epic about God.

Comparisons
I say "attempted epic", as it does not have the same feel as the earlier epics, like the Odyssey. Though, we saw in Inferno that he rates himself as up there with the great epic poets.
The change of guide from the Purgatorio seems necessary, in the sense that Virgil wasn't a Christian and we could not expect him to have access to heaven. But the choice of his lovers, Beatrice, as his new guide seems, well, odd.  We don't see the same fragmentation of levels as we see earlier in Inferno and Purgatorio, which is interesting, but I wonder if he wanted to stay with the religious numbers of 6 for Inferno, 7 for Purgatorio and, 9 for Paradiso. In fact, it even seems a little like he was stretching to find nine topics for spheres of heaven.

Have you read Paradiso? If so what did you think of it?

Want to read Paradiso but haven't? Hopefully this inspires you to take the time to do so.
Get a copy of Paradiso.

Sophocles, Antigone;Let her bury her brother

Long Easter weekend is here. It's nice to have a bit of a break. training has been brutal but its nearly over. Now it's just onto racking up the on the job learning.

The Story

Antigone is set after the fight at Thebes that we see in Seven Against Thebes, and deals with the aftermath of this fight. Both brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, are dead but the new king Creon has only buried Eteocles and has banned anyone from burying Polyneices. The play starts with Antigone speaking with her sister about burying her brother Polyneices and that she can not bear to see him stay unburied. Her sister washes her hands of it and will have no part in the burial.

Antigone goes and buries her brother in secret but the guards uncover him. Antigone is caught reburying her brother and is executed for disobeying the king. Her fiance, saddened by the news, kills himself. Her mother on learning of this, also kills herself.

Reflections
Antigone is a dutiful sister and sees her tie to her brother as more important than her tie to the king. By contrast, her sister wants to please the king, this is her highest want, even at her own brothers expense. This contrast is rather stark and makes the reader or viewer think about their own allegiances. The suicides in the play feel a little melodramatic, but then this is Greek tragedy, I guess.
The first especially, I know he was her fiancee, but it still seems a little extreme and quite abrupt as we do not see a huge amount of him in the play.

Comparisons
In the sense that all things end in death we can compare it to any other Greek tragedy like Seven Against Thebes. In fact, it's the deaths at the end of Seven Against Thebes that are the catalyst for the drama of this play. In some ways we see a lot of modern stories similar to Antigone with the  protagonist deciding to do what they believe is right over what has been set out by authority.

Have you read Antigone? If so what did you think of it?

Want to read Antigone but haven't? Hopefully this inspires you to take the time to do so.
Get a copy of Antigone.

Sun Tzu, The Art of War; In death ground, fight

I'm half way through my training for the call center job. It's going really well I'm passing all the tests. In some ways, I can't see how we will be reading in another 3 weeks and yet at times, I'm like "I've got this".

The Art of War is a rather pithy and to the point. It was a joy to reread and is the first book that I have reread in order to blog about it.

Synopsis
The Art of War outlines Master Sun's lessons on how to run a military, mainly at the tactical level but parts do suit the strategic level as well.
Master Sun breaks it down into 13 chapters ranging from assessment and planning, to intelligence and espionage. Over all, it consists of short bites of what a good general needs to be thinking about to make war to his own advantage. Master Sun likes to give both the positive and the negative of each idea. The 'what to do' and 'what not to do'. He breaks down things like 'what sort of ground' into types, then expounds exactly on what to do on those terrains. He is not afraid to say, 'do not engage with the enemy' or even, 'retreat'. We see over the course of the work that he is dedicated to making war in the way that is both of your own choosing as well as to your advantage.

Reflections
The Art of war is so short and yet so much goes on inside it. It is also a book that still gets quoted a lot in military circles, as well as high flying business. It is interesting how it transcends cultures and military styles. I think, this is because it focuses on what the General can do in advance, rather than once the army's get to grips with each other. It also contains many pithy quotes like; "The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting." 

Comparisons
There is not a lot to compare the Art of War to yet, as we do not see preserved European texts about war at this period. We do see stylistic similarities with the Analects and the Tao Te Ching.

Have you read The Art of War? If so what did you think of it?

Want to read The Art of War but haven't? Hopefully this inspires you to take the time to do so.
Get a copy of The Art of War.

Aeschylus, The Persians; Xerxes overreaches

The Story
The Persians centres around a chorus of old men of Susa, the Persian capital. As they wait to hear about the Persian invasion of Greece. Atossa, Xerxes mother, has a vision that suggests that the Persians will be defeated. She then sacrifices to the Gods for their safe return and sees another bad omen.
A messenger enters, and tells of the Persians defeat at Salamis, and of the death of many great and mighty Persians, which he takes the time to name. He then reveals that Xerxes survived but that the force was scattered and that he does not know where he or any of the others are.
Atossa, with the chorus, then summons the shade of Darius. Who, when told of Xerxes defeat, condemns his son's decision to go to war and to build a bridge across the Hellespont; that the bridge angered the gods and that's why he was defeated. He also prophesise another major defeat for the Persians.
Xerxes arrives in tattered clothes and, with the chorus, laments over the defeat of the Persians.

Reflections
This is the first work that has mentioned the Persians but I expect to see them again as they were a major player in the region.
Atossa's vision/dream is the source of all the tension in the play, as it gives the characters present a reason to be worried about the outcome of the fighting, in a present manor. Without it, there would, of course, be general worry and not knowing but these visions bring it to a head.

Comparisons
 Again, as in Seven against Thebes all the action happens off stage and we only hear about it through the mouths of the messengers. This seems to be done for simplicity and it allows the plot to move quickly without cumbersome fight sequences.

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Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes; Sharing power goes awry

The Story
Oedipus steps down from the Throne of Thebes and gives shared power to his two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, with them alternating the throne once a year. Eteocles does not follow through with this arrangement and keeps the crown. Polynices goes to Argos and raises an army to take Thebes by force.
Seven Against Thebes starts as the army from Argos arrives. Eteocles calls the people of the city to arms and to the defense of the city. Eteocles then names seven commanders, for the seven gates of Thebes. Polynices, splits his force to meet the defenders, and chooses to command one of them himself. When Eteocles hears this, he comes to meet him in single combat. We hear through a herald that the two brothers have killed each other and that the attack has been beaten back. We see the brothers body's being brought together as the family grieves around them.

Reflections
It is worth noting that this is the last play of a set of three focused around Oedipus but that it is the only one that survives.
Oedipus is stepping down, due to being dishonoured, but you have to wonder what he was thinking, setting both the brothers up as ruling Kings. It seems, to a modern reader, a rather unwise thing to do but I guess it is examples like this that make us think so...

Comparisons
To hear that the brothers mutually die seems fitting of a Greek tragedy: like that of the Prometheus Bound and, by contrast, to the anticlimax of The Suppliants, with the sisters safety inside the city.
We also see Argos in a different light than Agamemnon, as the supplier of the men to right a wrong, rather than the power struggles for the top job.

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Dante Alighieri, Purgatorio; An uphill climb

The Story
Dante ascends through the 9 stages of Purgatory. The first two are before the main gate of purgatory. These are the excommunicated, but repentant, and the late repentant, those who waited till their dying breath to repent. At the gate of Purgatory, an angel etches seven P's on Dante's forehead.
The other seven, follow the seven deadly sins and Shades must spend time in the levels that they are guilty of, for an unspecified amount of time.  Each of these levels has its own punishment, related to the sin to be Atoned for. At the end of each level, an angle removes one of the P's from Dante's forehead.
The third level is Pride and Shades are forced to walk, bent, under huge stones, never getting a chance to see the motif on humility that dominates the wall.
The Fourth level is Envy. The penetant wear gray robes and have their eyes sewn shut with wire, so that they can no longer look on the things of others, with want.
The Fifth level is Wrath. Here the Shades proceed around in a cloud of smoke, so that they can not see.
The Sixth level is Sloth. Here the Shades run endlessly around the level, in such zeal that they did not have in life.
The Seventh level is Avarice (Greed, ambition etc.). Here the shades are bound, hand and foot, and must lie facing downwards, so that they can not want more of every good thing.
The Eight level is Gluttony. Here Shades are perpetually hungry and thirsty, and water and food is visible but out of reach.
The Ninth level is Lust. Here Shades must leap through flames while reciting chased stories. Dante too, must leap through the fire. Though he is scared, he wants to see Beatrice.
Beyond the Levels, there is Earthly Paradise or the garden of Eden, at this point Virgil leaves Dante's side and he progresses alone. He spends some time talking with a young woman, until Beatrice arrives with a large entourage, that includes the four winged beast and the 24 elders.

Reflections
This time, we see the seven deadly sins. Not being to familiar with the concept of Purgatory, I had expected to see these in the Inferno, but I guess they are the sins that the repentant get caught in, not the sins of the unrepentant.
It is interesting how Dante has paired the sins with their respective penitence, it is rather logical. While the church still has and uses the seven deadly sins, the idea of purgatory has been removed and replaced with the more biblical: Jesus died for all sins even those of the Christian.

Comparisons
The levels of Purgatory are far more distinct than the circles of the Inferno, which makes it a bit easier to follow. I still find it odd that this is where the seven deadly sins are used, if they are deadly surely they would be sent to hell.
Like the Inferno, Virgil continues to guide Dante through purgatory, as he did with hell. But, we do see this end as he reaches the Earthly Paradise in the Purgatorio.

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