I have finished re-reading, again, what is arguably F. Scott Fitzgerald’s best short story, “Babylon Revisited.” It merges the past with the present as Charlie Wales returns to Paris to try and recapture his life literally by taking custody of his daughter Honoria, and figuratively by exploring the Paris of his prodigal past that still lives in his memory if not in reality.
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Machiavelli: A Study Guide
“For the great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearance, as though they were realities, and are often more influenced by things that seem than by those that are.” –from The Prince The Prince Use of practical experience; use of observation of human events and political behavior; realistic assessment of political behavior; knowledge acquired from [...]
Gogol and Pushkin’s Poshlust
While Gogol, Russia’s master of circumlocution and hyperbole, and Pushkin, the rational romantic, are apparently dichotomous in many ways, both share the singular distinction of forming the foundation of 19th and 20th century literature in Russia and beyond. Distinctly different in various ways, Gogol’s Dead Souls and Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin also, however, share many similarities, [...]
The Odyssey, Book 11 Notes
Book XI of the Odyssey shows Odysseus’ symbolic death and rebirth: a journey into the psyche of Odysseus in which he learns both about his past and future and comes to terms with his responsibilities as a leader, a father, a husband, and a hero. Perhaps most importantly Odysseus learns from the shades of his past the wisdom he needs to return home safely — to defeat his own selfish desires and those of his enemies.
The Odyssey, Book 9 Notes
Odysseus begins book nine of the Odyssey by venerating King Alkinoos’ rhapsode, emphasizing, in a very rhetorical way, the foundation of human community. At the center of Phaeacia stands the hall of the King in which the people gather to dine in the community of others and listen to the tales of the poet: “Here is the flower of life, it seems to me!” (IX.11).
The Aeneid: Some General Notes
Virgil’s Aeneid recounts events after the fall of Troy (9th century BCE), and written as a secondary, or literary, epic by Virgil in 14CE. Out of the destruction of Troy came an heroic figure who would found a new state. The Aeneid is a story of return that is providentially ruled by the gods. Aeneas’ story is one of founding and rebirth that is very different from the Homeric epics, but borrows from them in important ways.
The Heroic Ideal
Determined by the culture that produced the literature, especially the epic, the heroic ideal represents the aspects of a hero that the culture upholds as representing its cultural ideal. Thus, while the hero represents a particular culture’s ideal located in place and time, much of how we currently observe as heroic is born of characteristics that many of these ancient heroes exemplify.