UM Honors Blog 2020-2021

      In the dawn of a seemingly endless stream of songs that seek to undermine the Judeo-Christian values I was born and taught with I find myself in very close agreement with The Republic and its views on music and poetry.       "It follows, then, that the very citadel for guardians' defense of the city must be located in the realms of music and poetry. Certainly here is where license and lawlessness infiltrate most easily." (Plato 424d)      The ancient greeks throughout this conversation seem to be critically aware of something that as modern day christians are so blind to. Culture can be toxic and I see today the toxicity of songs like WAP by Cardi B, The Man by Taylor Swift, or Hot Girl Bummer by blackbear pervade our everyday lives. I hear many christians say something along the lines of, "I like the song but I hate the lyrics" Censorship is in some circumstances is bad I will never deny that but the fact of the matter is we...

 "...we can say that good words, good harmony, good grace, and good rhythm follow from the good order and disposition of the soul." Plato gives us this line on page 98, and for some reason, it jumped out at me. Plato follows this by giving the difference between good disposition and good nature, the latter being simple and the former being an educated soul. This is, honestly, the level of pretentiousness that I wish I could have. He shoots down the idea of "good-natured" being any sort of a positive aspect that a person could have. He automatically puts the concept of having a good disposition on a pedestal, giving those with a good disposition the ability to be highly pretentious. the sheer concept of the pretentious mindset is incredibly fascinating to me, and Plato seems to quote the sheer basis of it.  I tend to frequently find myself pondering what a world based on sheer knowledge, and the pursuit of such, would look like. I imagine how different it would look ...

 Would you agree that refraining from lying is a good thing? I sure think so. What about if lying benefits an individual by omitting an unnecessary truth, a truth that may negatively affect them? Would you still agree? Plato takes an interesting stance on this, one that stood out to me in my reading. He states on page 85 of Book III, "Further: we must prize truth. We said before that gods have no use for lies. If that is right, and it is also right that lies are useful to men only as a kind of medicine or remedy, then only doctors should be permitted to use them. Lay persons have no business lying. . . Only the rulers of the city--and no others--may tell lies. And their lies, whether directed to enemies or citizens, will be legitimate only if their purpose is to serve the public interest." From this it can be inferred that Plato believes lying is an inappropriate act that should only be used by a select few as a sort of "medicine" to fix or get out of a situation. I...

  Security within a community is very crucial to its survival and growth. Without protectors, invaders, crime, desire would plague almost any city. So, how do we create protectors of a community, especially those who won't abuse the powers they will have? In The Republic by Plato, Socrates and Glaucon discuss the important of some sort of internal police force that they called guardians or auxiliaries. They first discuss that it starts at a young age (the teaching of a guardian) with the music they listen to, stories they are told, and activities they partake in. "... Then we shall do well to delete the lamentations of famous men... We do this so that those who we educate to be guardians of the city will disdain such behavior."   (Plato 84) Here he shows how Homer and other playwrights have made the gods and even warriors seem lustful, deceptive, and wicked. Though I believe Aristotle is right in saying we all should have some in us, the fact Socrates is making still st...

 Do you fear death? That's the one line I can really remember from Pirates of the Caribbean. Davey Jones, one of the few great villains of cinematic history, scares the daylight out of me, but I can't but love his flair for the dramatic... and his famous question, dripping with nuance: "Do you fear death?" As a kid watching this movie, I thought "Who doesn't?" However, as I grew older, I dealt with more things. Firstly, I developed Major Depressive Disorder. It came with some serious problems, and Davey Jones' line stopped being so scary. I certainly didn't fear death. I wasn't alone in that, either; my generation, Gen Z, is infamous for not really caring about death. Most memes about my generation (that aren't about us being scared of cursive writing and rotary phones) feature some major hints at suicidal ideation. It's become a joke, a flippant remark tossed around the lunch table. Suicide is a grim reality for our generation, more ...

Censorship. I can't stand the word. It goes against every fiber of my libertarian being. I guess that's why I really dislike the talk of censoring what the guardians are allowed to see, hear, and learn. It honestly goes way to far just to ensure that they have valid protectors. I think the worst violation is the fact that they won't be taught anything that portrays important people laughing. Really, Socrates? Laughter? I'm not 100% certain but I'm pretty sure limiting someone's laughter violates their human rights. God forbid these guardians grow up to be mentally healthy.  Which reminds me. By teaching them only stories that portray death as a good thing, they're essentially taught to disrespect death. Because of this, they're likely to just rush to their death instead of thinking tactically and trying to get an advantage. Personally, I think healthy fear of death is good, especially for anyone in charge of protecting others. That way, they think about ...

Utopia  - A place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions ("Utopia"). Don't we all have fantasies of a perfect world in our heads? Maybe it's just me, but I often picture what the world would be like if laws were perfect; if children were brought up in just the right way to become perfect adults; if poverty didn't exist.  As I read Plato's Republic, I am struck by the detail with which Socrates and his colleagues devise a perfect civic system. They point out what they see as flaws in society and argue the best way to create a world with no flaws. A friend describes to me, recently, one of his favorite pastimes; fantasy football. He explained to me how he chooses the best players for his team based on how they have played in the past and how he predicts their performance to be in the future. His goal is to choose players who will score the most points each week and ultimately have the best football season.  To me, this is very ...

     How does one create a just city, full of honest and virtuous citizens? By telling all its citizens lies, of course!      There is such a thing as a useful lie, and there are times when it is okay, and maybe even better, to tell a lie. For example, little white lies save people's feelings. To give a better example, if a woman looks like she is running for her life in the grocery store and runs left, and then a man with a gun runs up to you and asks you which way she went, it is definitely okay to tell him she went right. In fact, in that case, there's a strong argument that your dishonesty is more just than your honesty. The question I have is whether it is okay to tell a lie to an entire city of people in order to increase both goodness and justice within the city.       In creating his just city, Socrates devises a plan to censor many things to train the future guardians and leaders of the city. Additionally, Socrates plan calls for a c...

     Arguably the worst thing to happen in recent human history is the rise of Communism. No knows exactly how many people have died from Communism, but it has been estimated that it is way over 100 million. All throughout book III, I see communistic tendencies in this "city" that Socrates wants.      First off, there is no freedom of choice in career paths for the citizens. The government decides what the citizens can do based off there skill set. They are not allowed to do anything they want to do. Second the government decides what the people learn. Right on the first page of book three, Socrates said, "What about any man who believes the underworld is real and terrible? Will he be fearless? In battle, will he prefer death to defeat and slavery?" (Plato 82). He then says that these passages describing how terrible Hades is must be banned so that the soldiers will not be scared of death. He says needs to be done to other areas like the gods and heros. The...

  I think that ideas eventually run out of originality and circle back to the original idea. During this week's reading, many of Socrates’ suggestions for a place of perfection reminded me of some novels I’ve read depicting dystopian worlds. Disclaimer: There are spoilers ahead. You have been warned.        To begin, in  The  Giver  by Lois Lowry censorship is a major theme. The novel is centered around a boy who is receiving memories withheld from the population! The government in The Giver is especially careful to censor the memories that may cause strife, anger, fear, sadness, etc. In the adults, this society is cemented. So, the government is especially strict with the youth. Socrates talks about verses to “obliterate” to prevent the descriptions from doing “harm to our future warriors” for the better half of Book III (Plato, page 44). The warriors he speaks of are the youth. He goes on to list the multitude of verses that should be done ...

We have all heard the saying “a jack of all trades is the master of none”. It seems to be a universal agreement that this statement is true. However, is it really true or do we all assume that it is true? Is there evidence to back up the saying? Probably. However, this is a blog post and not a research paper. With that said, the majority of this blog post is speculation, opinion, experience, and philosophical thinking.  Socrates seems to agree with the saying by stating and, in his opinion, proving that “each person can perform only one occupation well, and by dabbling in many he will excel in none” (Plato, 92). While Socrates has several points about his belief and opinion, the times are just a TINY bit different now. Do I agree with the saying and with Socrates? I am not going to say out right but I am sure by the end of this blog post you will figure it out.  As technology has changed over time, we, as a society, have gained more free time to do as we please. In the time of...

                As a music major, Book III of Plato's Republic piqued my interest. I found it fascinating that so much time was spent mulling over what types of music should be allowed, down to specific meters and modes. A quote from page 98 says: "Then we can say that good words, good harmony, good grace, and good rhythm follow from the good order and disposition of the soul." Later on the following page it is stated that: "Rhythm and harmonies have the greatest influence on the soul; they penetrate into its inmost regions and there hold fast. If the soul is rightly trained, they bring grace. If not, they bring the contrary" (Plato). These are bold statements that give a lot of power to music. All of this made me curious and I wondered how much of it was accurate. So, I did some research.               An article written by Dr. Arlene Taylor summarizes the observations of Professor Allan Bloom, stating...

So censorship is a pretty big deal in today’s society, right? IMDB is the website my mom always goes to when she’s unsure of whether or not a movie is alright for my 12 year old sister to watch. In high school, I had to read a very interesting book called Fahrenheit 451 , which happens to be one of the most interesting books I’ve ever read. It describes a futuristic American city in which books are forbidden and subsequently burned by “firemen”. The reason books became banned is because authors stopped putting controversial opinions in their books and it got to the point where books were banned altogether to keep people from getting offended. Sounds kind of similar to today, doesn’t it? Also in Fahrenheit 451 , it talks about how children eventually are taught when they are in cribs so they can be taught what society wants them to be taught.   In The Republic , Socrates says that guardians should “From childhood on, let them pattern themselves after men who are—among other things—c...

I found books three and four to be very cringy. I mean, to me the idea of structurally producing good soldiers/guardians through heavy censorship is somewhat inhumane. I feel as if human beings should be allowed to experience every bit of knowledge they can at some point in their lives. To me, it seems as if the guardians are being guarded against information throughout their entire lives so they can solely fulfill the duties they were birthed into.  However, the influence and importance Plato places on poetry and music do make me wonder what it would be like if we had the same values as our military today. What if the United States military invested in the souls of its soldiers and placed within them emotional and intellectual values outside of what they have learned previously. Perhaps the military instills values and principles within soldiers to fulfill the same purpose as the guardians would in Plato's Republic and that is to only be that which the government wants you to be....

  While Books I and II had Socrates and his travel companions going back and forth about the definition of justice, it was a breath of fresh air to read in Books III and IV about how they wanted to permeate justice and regulations in literally everything-from sports to music. This type of society-building that Socrates presented was unheard at the time-the belief that bettering the virtue in an individual positively advanced the virtue in the community as a whole and that change needed to start in the people's everyday activities. What people find pleasure and joy in says a lot about their character; how they go about that certain activity says further. Even what's enjoyable should be taken into moderation and key, because in Socrates's eyes, the line between 'healthy' and 'excessive' could be blurred very quickly. Games, music, and the arts were luxuries that if dabbled in long enough, could degrade the integrity of the guardians. It reminded me a lot about...

I feel like, in Honors, whenever I read a book, I should be relating it to other notable works of literature. However, I rarely ever do this, as some of the first correlations to pop into my mind are worthless references to pop-culture.  While this particular correlation isn't as meaningful as some of the other parallels I made, I couldn't help but think of Mercy's iconic, "Heroes never die" catchphrase when reading about how the Guardians are not supposed to fear death. The way in which Socrates discusses the importance of this fearlessness just really struck me as the more complicated version of Overwatch's simplified slogan. In a perfect city, the Guardians wouldn't have to fear death because they would understand the importance of their legacies and would know that their honorable names would forever be cemented in history. This eternal glory would greatly outshine the shadowy mystery of dying, making death seem like a small price to pay to gain everla...

    I had flashbacks to my middle school days this weekend, people. I was blessed to be able to attend a magnet program during my time in Montgomery. Every person attending had a choice in their focus: the arts or academics. Both of the options had elements of the other in it, balancing out the knowledge gained from both. Personally, my focus was in academics, so I was able to take special classes like Chinese and computer courses (if you have seen my typing skills, you know I didn't take those). In the arts, I was able to take piano, and that basis has allowed me to play many instruments including bassoon, percussion, and piano. The wide academic background I gained in the magnet program fits very well with Plato's/Socrates' idea of a perfect education system. The few that are able to meet the standards of the program are able to excel over other students overall, much like the children chosen for guardianship (Plato, 111).     There is another aspect of Plato's/Soc...

     Hot take inbound in three, two, one...I thoroughly enjoyed the reading for this week, specifically Plato's narration style of Socrates' philosophical chemistry with Glaucon as they wrapped up their theoretical founding of their version of an ideal city and individual. One observation I noted swiftly was to take note of the criteria used by Socrates to find if his ideal city was, in fact, just. I, however, would argue that this utopia, no matter how vast or grand, is not exactly a practical or realistic example to apply these criteria. And as we shall soon see, some of these will need a bit more thought before they can work in the physical world.     Criteria number one seems to fall flat once we apply a practical example, or even just a plain generality to Socrates' blueprint. You'll notice that the first criteria is listed among the smallest class: The Rulers. I believe this can be attributed to the fact that very few can reach a level of education and thi...

    Rage stacked upon rage never rids oneself of rage. Vengeance stacked upon vengeance never rids one of vengeance. (that felt like a Clone Wars opening)       "Vengeance is Mine, and recompense;  Their foot shall slip in   due   time;  For the day of their calamity   is   at hand,  And the things to come hasten upon them." -  Deuteronomy 32:35      As  Christians, we are taught to leave disasters are wrong doing to this extent in God's hands, but ancient Greek culture did not have the same vital view that leads to the relative peace of today. Throughout the Eumenides we see the furies with this insane level of bloodlust stirred awake by the ghost of Clytaemnestra. This idea of being hunted makes me shudder to the core. We see this unnatural addiction to the shedding of blood and Apollo acknowledges this in the way he views and converses with the f...

This whole play was just a mess of gender equality, revenge, and unfair side-taking. Clytemnestra kills Agamemnon because he killed their daughter to further his army, Orestes kills Clytemnestra to avenge his father, and the Furies was to kill Orestes. Stop with the bloodshed please! Revenge gets people nowhere. Why is it, though, that Clytemnestra gets away with murder to avenge her daughter, but Orestes gets a whole horde of angry Furies when he avenges his father by murdering Clytemnestra? That really struck me as strange. And then Apollo decides to jump into the whole ordeal to defend Orestes! While Apollo does make a good point in saying the Furies are basically outdated, his involvement only added another layer to the drama. All in all, what stood out to me from this play is that revenge should not be in our hands; God is a just God, and will deal with our calamities. I commented on Abbie and Clabo's posts. :)

Throughout my many years as a Thespian, I have seen many so-called drama queens, myself included. Now, I have found the perfect standard for them all, our dearest Apollo.  There are few scenes as dramatic as Apollo dragging an arrow across the face of a Fury. He literally threatens to release an arrow into the Furies if they do not leave the prophet's chamber. He then, almost admirably so, accepts some amount of responsibility for Orestes killing his mother. However, this is also done with a dramatic flair, entering suddenly and announcing his purpose. He later explains the death of Orestse's father in a fairly lengthy paragraph, making everything significantly more dramatic.  He continuously insults and rages at the Furies, which just sounds like a bad idea in general. He tells them that they are "grotesque, loathsome - the gods detest you!" (Aeschylus 260) He then continues by ranting about how the father is the source of life, not the woman who grows the child. Whi...

  When we hear the word justice we think of righteousness, piety, and triumph. The feeling it brings is one of the good guy winning and the bad guy being put in his place. The issue in these definitions and connotations is they leave out vengeance. Vengeance is a part of justice just like odd numbers are a part math and it isn't to be left out. In The Eumenides by Aeschylus, vengeance is personified as three female deities called Furies " Apollo: 'Gorgons I'd call them; but then with Gorgons you'd see the grim, inhuman... These have no wings, I looked. But black they are, and so repulsive. Their heavy, rasping breath makes me cringe. And their eyes ooze a discharge, sickening, and what they wear - … sacrilege!'" (Aeschylus, (Robert Fagles, 232). They are described as nasty almost human like creatures seen as evil. They chase Orestes, Agamemnon's son, for murdering his mother. The Furies represent his mother's, Clytemnestra, rage and revenge as he...

 To be completely honest, I was struggling to find something to write about this week. Hunting for a decent topic, I finally asked myself what I found most interesting in this weeks reading: the Eumenides . The answer to that: the furies. I found the furies to be such curious creatures, and, trying to picture some image of them in my head, I kept thinking of them as demons. Most of them don't seem to have their own original thoughts or opinions; they simply do what they are told and their emotions are stirred by the emotions of others. On page 3266 of The Oresteia Apollo describes them as "Born for destruction only, the dark pit, they range the bowels of Earth, the world of death, loathed by men and the gods who hold Olympus" (Aeschylus). They also communicate with the ghost of Clytaemnestra.  Any thoughts on that? Do the furies remind you of anything else?  Commented on Hailey Morgan's post and Kaitlyn Terry's. 

    I know that a trial is happening in this story, but there was a part of it that can be use to settle conflict between two people. Basically what is happening is Orestes in on trial for killing his mother. So he says his side of the story, and the accuser says their side. Then with a neutral party (Athena in this case) hears both sides and deals with what they said.      The Bible says that when we have a problem with someone that we should go to them about it. If that doesn't work then we should bring in a third party of some sort. This is a similar process we see in a trial. One party does someone wrong, and they are in front of a third party, and each say there side of the issue. If we were to do this instead of going around and telling other people about our problem with someone and quit gossiping, we would have so many fewer problems.  I commented on Abbie Hedden's and Hailey Morgan's post

 Revenge, revenge, revenge. Clytemnestra killed her husband in revenge for her daughter. Her daughter was killed to further the war effort, which was - you guessed it - revenge when Paris of Troy stole Helen from Menelaus. But when Orestes kills Clytemnestra in revenge, Clytemnestra asks the Furies to seek revenge for her. At that point, I couldn't help but wonder... when does it end? The first domino dropped. It's up to someone to step aside so the rest don't keep falling. I think this is a lesson everyone needs to learn in life. Generational curses, such as addiction, require someone to break them. The train has to stop somewhere. I know personally I was tempted to continue the "domino effect" of bullying. I was bullied harshly in high school, and I would turn around and throw that energy on someone weaker than I was. I was convicted over that; nothing that I was doing would stop the pain that I felt, and only continued to spread it. It required me to step back ...

Feminism is a common word in today’s world, but everybody has their own view of what the “feminist image” is. Orestes' trial had me bouncing in my seat, mainly due to the judge and prosecution. Two types of feminism stuck out to me this week in Athena and the Furies, which paralleled some forms of feminism in modern times.      Athena represented the “independent woman” feminist attitude. We know that she is a fierce warrior, battle tactics being one of her many specialties. Athena states she prefers “the male in all respects-except for a mate...” in line 736-737. She doesn't have a mother (Aeschylus, line 665), so she is a daddy's girl. The independent woman needs no man, strives to be successful in a man's world, and, not yet mentioned, surrounds herself with powerful women. Athena sees the power the Furies hold, and offers them a home in her kingdom (line 833). This brings us to the second type of feminism The Furies may have seemed to be the more radical force while...

          Is the Pythia possessed by a kind of demon? Maybe I’m pulling teeth here, but in between lines 33 and 34, it says that “She goes through the doors and reappears in a moment, shaken, thrown to her knees by some terrific force.” (Aeschylus, p 232) I don’t believe in ghosts, but I do believe in angels and demons. The Pythia might also be on some kind of hallucinogenic drug. It is said that when visitors came to the Oracle to have their future told to them, that the Pythia would go into a room and come back out in some sort of trance, possibly caused by certain gasses coming up out of the earth. It may be a combination of the two.           According to Greek mythology, the Pythia would mutter words that were incomprehensible to most people. Which makes me wonder how the Pythia can say coherent sentences in The Eumenides when everywhere else priests have to translate her gibberish to the people because she’s muttering alm...

Let me start off by saying that I was not at all expecting such a wholesome ending to the Eumenides . With everything that we have learned about the fierceness of Greece and it's people thus far, I was fully anticipating a never-ending blood feud to ensue. However, I was entirely incorrect.  I was so confused by Athena's sudden change of character. In the Iliad, the goddess was just as ready for war as Ares was. But here, we see Athena displaying her wisdom and justice as she convinces the Furies to let go of their fiery need for vengeance. I wonder if Aeschylus did this because he wanted to remind his people of Athena's 'true' nature. Since they were such a honor bound people, glory in war was a major aspect of most men's lives. Perhaps the author was tired of all the bloodshed and wanted to remind his fellow citizens that there was more to live for, that forgiveness was an option. Whatever the reason, the change in tone was disorienting. Edit - Replied to Hale...

All that I can say about The Eumenides  initially is that there is so much wrong with it. With very poor views of women, a vengeful "mother," gods who never cease to intervene in in anything and everything, and furies that for some reason decide to want to enact vengeance upon Orestes for the same crime that his mother had just committed against Agamemnon, what worse could be in this play. I have had issues with the lack of impartiality amongst the gods since the start of this semester in honors. You would think that somewhat all-powerful beings would be wise enough to know that their decisions will heavily impact the mortal world. I also hate the fact that Apollo and Orestes basically say that it was okay to kill his mother because she wasn't really his mother. I find that view and perspective of motherhood very disrespectful. I mean, to say that someone isn't a mother when they are one of the two people that brought a person into this world is very offensive to me. ...

 If I’m being completely honest, I always have a hard time writing a blog post about a play. This play is no different. I do not really understand why it is so hard but it always is. From a literary standpoint, it was very interesting how often the Furies would repeat an entire paragraph twice. At one point the Furies repeat three different paragraph in one go. (Aeschylus, 245-247). While the Furies repeating themselves could be tiring, I think that it is very intriguing why they are repeating. I do not know the correct reason that the Furies repeat themselves. However, I have a few ideas as to why.  The first reason that the Furies could have been repeating themselves is because it is some kind of chanting ritual or just a ritual in general. There could be some hidden meaning behind repeating themselves. The furies can be seen chanting or speaking as one through out the entire play.  Another reason could be that Aeschylus wanted the audience to completely understand what...

 The question is of piety. I think The Eumenides can boil down to one question. Is Orestes' act of killing his mother right or wrong? This story shows family in a light that seems to contradict my idea of how the Greeks viewed family. In a culture where hierarchy reigned, it was unheard of for someone below their station to rise to another. In The Eumenides, is this not what Orestes did when he killed his mother? He took the place of her judge and jury. This set of circumstances reminds me of Plato's Euthyphro.  This is a work that outlines the dialogue between Socrates and Euthyphro on the topic of piety. Similar to Orestes' situation (though slightly less drastic), Euthyphro is faced with a decision to pursue murder charges against his father, or remain the loyal son and overlook his father's crime. Euthyphro chooses the former path and takes his father to trial. Though we don't know the outcome based on this writing, it is enough to know that Euthyphro was willin...

  Upon further analyzation, this book seems to be chock full of conflict, not just with one feud but many. First, there's the undeniably obvious tension between the old and new gods. We can see this in the way they "pick" a certain human to stand behind or stand against, just like they did in Orestes's case. The Furies, who are considered apart of the old gods, are still bitter about the switch to Zeus's reign. Because of the change of rule, they are now seen as outcasts in the eyes of the young gods and causing Apollo's favored Orestes mischief is their way of going down swinging. These powers represent two opposing sides. Apollo is everything male, civilized, and logical, whereas the Furies are everything female, ancient, and savage. This book is special in the fact that it portrays a world in which both human and god alike are at a place where either old or new ways must be chosen.  The second conflict is between different types of morality. Maybe perhaps b...

    In Ancient Greece, women were viewed as lesser than men. You didn't need me to tell you that. You can see it in their everyday lives. Even the gods agree that women are lesser. However, in Aeschylus' The Eumenides , it appears the Furies don't agree with that point of view, at least when it comes to mothers.      In Orestes trial, the Furies argue that Orestes murder of his mother was wrong because he was of her own blood. The leader of the Furies states, "She gave you life(Aeschylus 258)." This statement places a high value on women, a higher value than most Greeks placed on women. The Furies' argument places men and women as equals. In contrast, Orestes, Apollo, and Athena argue that men's lives are worth more than women's. Orestes, as a male, values his father's life over his mother's. Similarly, Apollo states, "The woman you call the mother of the child is not the parent, just a nurse to the seed, the new-sown seed that grows and d...

     According to the website ancient.eu, the Furies, or Eumenides, were the entire justice system in the ancient world. Their jobs was to exact revenge on mainly murderers and oath-breakers, often goaded by the dying wishes of the dead. When Orestes committed matricide, the curse laid upon him by Clytemnestra was carried out by the Furies, who chased him endlessly to exact revenge. When Athena established that justice would now be carried out by mankind, the Furies are understandably shaken (Aeschylus line 721, 792-804). Athena then offers them a place of respect in Athens, never again to cause turmoil among its people, "... But as for the bird / that fights at home - my curse on civil war" (874-875). The Furies agree, and everyone lives happily ever after.      Anyone outside of Athens who saw this play would be persuaded to think that the democracy (if we can call it that) established in Athens was great because the gods created it. However, both depicti...

      The  Eumenides was quite the interesting read, and it is my opinion that Orestes' actual escape hinged on one aspect of argument in particular, that being context. In fact, Athena's "court trial" of sorts is a perfect portrayal of the power context can yield when used correctly. I'll use basketball as an example to explain:       If I said that LeBron James is overrated as a player because he has lost in six NBA Finals, people who didn't know any better would not question that statement. However, if I went through each loss individually, we would realize very quickly that Lebron has performed very  well in the finals whether he wins or loses, causing my point of him being overrated to be false. The Furies suffer from the same problem as the ghost of Clytemnestra fills them in on only what she wants  them to know about Orestes' deed. They are so bent on bringing a false sense of "justice" to Orestes that by the time Athena arrives, ...

 I sit in my grandmothers office,  Trying to process the post mortem. I face the familiar with feelings missing the target of my soul. I stare at items that bore no value, yet now they wear an immense price: A photograph, a chair, a lamp, her cards. She kept every one that I sent, that we sent, somehow in memory of us. Now we look at them in memory of her, Remembering the thoughts and decisions we took: Wondering why, wondering how, wondering if, wondering when.  Why did I not spend as much time as I could? She was 93, death was nearly on the hood. How did I not see as much worth in every second I spent at her side? Instead I would color, or eat, or simply abide. If she was here what would I say? "Tell me everything, I want to know it all, you have so much to teach me, I am here to hear all" "When will I see you gain?", I used to ask. I wish I would've spent more time in the past.     American death seems so different from that of  Athenians. "Comfort, ther...

 Pericles.... thanks? I can only imagine that's what the family and friends were thinking after they heard his historic funeral speech honoring the departed. What do I mean? Well, Pericles briefly mentions the men who have fallen at the beginning of his speech, but then goes on to discuss how great Athens is, and how the contributions the city has made to the world are unmatched.. why? I understand that he is also commending the citizens of Athens and empowering them to continue to make their city greater, but I thought this was supposed to be a funeral speech about dead war heroes, not about Athens. Another thing I found interesting is what Pericles said on page five about honor: "For it is only the love of honour that never grows old; and honour it is, not gain, as some would have it, that rejoices the heart of age and helplessness" (Thucydides, page 5). Have you ever watched a show or movie, or read a book, about a duel between two men? There is always an unspoken agre...

T he entirety of Pericles' speech seems to be a massive call to action. He is essentially telling the men who will fight to fight for death in glory, not for a life in shame. However, the timing seems a little odd, as he is giving this speech at a funeral for the recently deceased warriors. If any speech seemed to be "too soon" it would most likely be this one. These men have just recently died and their families are still grieving but Pericles is standing up and telling the people to sacrifice their lives for glory. Don't get me wrong, I see where he is coming from and I know he means well, he even addresses the families, but it just seems to be too soon. These families are at the funeral for closure, not a call to action. He even tells the parents that if they can, they should have more children to distract them from the loss. It just seems like the wrong time, wrong place. This speech would have been great as the men were preparing for the next battle, but perhaps ...