Gerald R. Lucas

Tag Archives: humx

More Plato…

by grlucas • on 08. Sep, 2009 • in Theory

Rediscovered an early essay I wrote on book ten of Plato’s Republic:

In Book X of the Republic, Plato states: “all poetical imitations are ruinous to the understanding of the hearers, and that the knowledge of their true nature is the only anidote to them.” Plato believed that imitation of sensible objects removed the poet, and the observer, from truth and reality by inspiring the emotions of pity and fear. Plato argued that philosophical knowledge is far superior that the mere imitative nature of art.

Might be good for undergrads. Read more on HumX.

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MSC Humanities Upgraded

by grlucas • on 20. Dec, 2008 • in Design, Online

Yes, it’s finally finished. The migration from Drupal to WordPress on the MSC Humanities site is complete. Yes, the Leopard Server upgrade gave me some issues, but I think the result is worth it. Let’s just hope the next system update from Apple doesn’t break anything. It shouldn’t.

I still have some work to do to this site, the HumX, and to Big Jelly, but I’m pretty pleased with my migrations. Drupal served me well for a long time, but WordPress seems to be much more advanced — at least for my purposes. Yes, WP has its quirks, but in the big picture, it is just a better platform. Besides, it seems to have many more professional designers working for it.

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Some Notes on the Devil

by grlucas • on 13. Mar, 2006 • in Literature, Notes, Religion

I have often been fascinated by the devil. Upon hearing the word “evil,” many simply turn off, not wanting to hear anymore. Aren’t we, as good people, supposed to shun evil; do our best to destroy it; rebuke it; cast it down? For that’s what God did to his chief angel, Lucifer, and in turn, what Satan did to humanity. Indeed, humanity does not want to negate creation and the endeavors of humanity, but the much of what brings about the grandeur and greatness of humanity lies in its ability to challenge what is, even if it means the occasional revolution and destruction of systems and orders which no longer fit. Lucifer means “light bringer,” and I find that in many literary manifestations of the fallen archangel, he still fulfills that function.

The Epic Hero

by grlucas • on 24. Aug, 2005 • in Literature, Notes

The epic hero has a double role. He (there are no epical woman heroes as far as I know) is an individual person with an habitual virtue from which his exploits flow, and he is representative of the group to whom the exploit is important. Since the performance of the exploit is important because of the group rather than the person, the man may be destroyed, but the group may be saved. The hero’s habitual virtue is specific to the kind of exploit; his goodness is not specific — it simply means that he is serious, and he will cope with the problem. The hero need not be responsible for the existence of his task, but only for its performance. Some, if not all, of these will be applicable to the epic hero, both in primary and secondary epics.

Hector: Family Man, but Hero First

by grlucas • on 22. Jan, 2005 • in Literature, Notes

For in my heart and soul I know this well:
the day will come when sacred Troy must die, [. . .]
That is nothing, nothing beside your agony
when some brazen Argive hales you off in tears,
wrenching away your day of light and freedom!
–Hector to Andromache, the Iliad, VI.396-97, 405-07

Book VI of Homer’s Iliad shows the contention in the heart of Hector, Ilium’s champion, but also a husband and new father: he is torn between his responsibilities as a hero to his people and as a the head of the household. Like so many soldiers going off to battle today, Hector is a new father who must risk his life to maintain his people’s way of life. Hector knows that Troy is doomed, but he must do his duty as champion and prince, even though it means the enslavement of his wife and child. In Hector’s plight, we see what is perhaps the utmost position of humanity in war: to lose does not mean just the death of the hero, but his death precipitates the death of the society that he protects.

Read the rest at HumX.

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Euripides’ Medea: Patriarchial Terrorism

by grlucas • on 05. Jul, 2004 • in Literature

What was the purpose, children, for which I reared you? –Medea (l. 1003)

While I have always been aware of the iconoclasm of Euripides’ Medea, I was struck even more by it this read through and the moral implications of the play’s status as a tragedy. Is Medea a tragedy? While it does contain many aspects of an Aristotelean tragedy, it seems to lack — at least for me — any semblance of anagnorisis, the tragic hero’s understanding and acceptance of his/her tragic flaw and a greater wisdom that comes from that understanding. Medea does leave the audience with a sense of pity and terror, even perhaps more than Oedipus Rex in its unnaturalness, if that’s possible. Euripides’ play seems to suggest that in order for the patriarchy to understand its inherent double standards, one must strike it at its very center: those who would continue its tradition.

The Lessons of Titus

by grlucas • on 03. May, 2004 • in Drama, Film

Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus is a confusing play, but one lesson that it seems to impart is that sometimes idealistic value systems do not work when put into practice. Titus Andronicus goes to great — almost hyperbolic — lengths to make this clear, though it is often overlooked trying to make ethical sense out of a morality tale. I believe that Titus Andronicus shares this quality with Euripides’ Medea: both of these plays unsettle us in ways that we might not be willing to face. Neither are necessarily realistic, nor are they meant to be (mothers never murder their own babies today, right?). However, both play on social taboos to make the point that traditional values adhered to religiously do not always provide us with the correct answers. In fact, these values can often lead to tragedy.

More Plato…

MSC Humanities Upgraded

Some Notes on the Devil

The Epic Hero

Hector: Family Man, but Hero First

Euripides’ Medea: Patriarchial Terrorism

The Lessons of Titus

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Dr. Gerald R. Lucas