The "chorus" in plays represents "society" or it's popular views of a certain period of time in History.
Web site visited in class:
http://www.dreamingmethods.com/
What are the parallels between written literature and this digital media-based delivery of storytelling?
tells a story
evokes emotion
shares a moral message
has a climax
leaves questions behind
every one would experience it differently
invites personal action/awareness
similar to Plato, Aristotle, and Horus...at least SOME aspects of what each might suggest literature should contain.
Horace, why leave his beloved Queen Dido and found Rome?
Horace finds middle ground between the ruler of the time and his own opinions of what life should be like for himself and his countrymen... "anxiety about property has stained the mind, we can hope for the composition of poems?"
"Epicurianism" : not stoic, finding pleasure in the finer things in life....sensual pleasures. A theory about the value of things and how we engage with these things. Food: not just nourishment, but pleasurable.
Poetry transcends political values/environs....seeks universality. "small private wealth, large communal property."
The things he values: "good health, peace of mind, and poetry... a lack of commitment even to non-commitment."
He gestured what he could say in his writings and still stay safe.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Aristotle and Oedipus Rex
OK, let's have a go at this one!
Aristotle and his theory of substances and Universals! Some ideas close to Plato's views, yet so many differences and arguments between the two. Metaphysics is a wonderful topic to discuss in class. The idea that ideas themselves are real and that the physical being is the illusion...the temporary. Love it, but I still can't wrap my head around all the implications and also how ignorant I am as a human.
Oedipus Rex: Tragic!
A man can see, yet does not truly look at the truth....a "seer" cannot see, yet can see the truth.
Duality...that one can be a brother to his own son. And, the web of lies built when individuals try to sway the future of inevitability. Oedipus cannot see in front of him or even behind himself...
Two sets of King and Queen...two herdsmen, two brothers, two daughters and two sons, as well as two cities. Oppositional? Yin and Yang?
I am looking forward to today's class discussion to hear other opinions and thoughts...and get some more insight on the messages in the play as well as the root of the "disease."
Aristotle and his theory of substances and Universals! Some ideas close to Plato's views, yet so many differences and arguments between the two. Metaphysics is a wonderful topic to discuss in class. The idea that ideas themselves are real and that the physical being is the illusion...the temporary. Love it, but I still can't wrap my head around all the implications and also how ignorant I am as a human.
Oedipus Rex: Tragic!
A man can see, yet does not truly look at the truth....a "seer" cannot see, yet can see the truth.
Duality...that one can be a brother to his own son. And, the web of lies built when individuals try to sway the future of inevitability. Oedipus cannot see in front of him or even behind himself...
Two sets of King and Queen...two herdsmen, two brothers, two daughters and two sons, as well as two cities. Oppositional? Yin and Yang?
I am looking forward to today's class discussion to hear other opinions and thoughts...and get some more insight on the messages in the play as well as the root of the "disease."
Monday, September 15, 2008
Key Questions on Plato
What is the distinction Plato makes between forms and reality?
Forms, as Plato would suggest, are what we may see as a physical likeness, an idea, or a stage...set up to convey a story. Almost as if what we see isn't what's there, rather what we perceive to exist.
How does Plato differentiate between the role of the poet and that of the philosopher?
Though Plato links philosopher and poet closely, the poet shares ideas that are beautiful and aestetic (which can sometimes be dangerous in form and content!)....while the philosopher shares ideas of what goodness and reality SHOULD be...a higher form of reality that we should aspire to.
How might it be said that the poet imitates imitations? Remember the bed, the carpenter, and the poet.
What is the basic connection between morality and poetry that Plato identifies as being a problem?
Plato suggests that poetry walks a dangerous line of romanticizing dangerous behaviors and feelings...and that such falsehoods or false thoughts or even bad, human behaviors and thoughts should not be presented. We should visit ideas with careful thought, argument, and analysis!
Why would Plato have the exemplary poet leave the city?
Habib makes a great deal out of the notion of unity in Plato. How is unity obtained in the city, in his view?
Plato uses Socrates as a figure in his dialogues. How? Plato uses Socrates as the voice of wisdom...reminding others of their ignorance and attempting to educate others.
Socrates is Plato's vehicle to share knowledge and teach others. Whether he's a real person or a "form" there is a presentation of a story/a reality that Plato wants his reader to see the way Plato presents that reality. Controlling and censored...yet seems to always impart a message or a lesson.
Forms, as Plato would suggest, are what we may see as a physical likeness, an idea, or a stage...set up to convey a story. Almost as if what we see isn't what's there, rather what we perceive to exist.
How does Plato differentiate between the role of the poet and that of the philosopher?
Though Plato links philosopher and poet closely, the poet shares ideas that are beautiful and aestetic (which can sometimes be dangerous in form and content!)....while the philosopher shares ideas of what goodness and reality SHOULD be...a higher form of reality that we should aspire to.
How might it be said that the poet imitates imitations? Remember the bed, the carpenter, and the poet.
What is the basic connection between morality and poetry that Plato identifies as being a problem?
Plato suggests that poetry walks a dangerous line of romanticizing dangerous behaviors and feelings...and that such falsehoods or false thoughts or even bad, human behaviors and thoughts should not be presented. We should visit ideas with careful thought, argument, and analysis!
Why would Plato have the exemplary poet leave the city?
Habib makes a great deal out of the notion of unity in Plato. How is unity obtained in the city, in his view?
Plato uses Socrates as a figure in his dialogues. How? Plato uses Socrates as the voice of wisdom...reminding others of their ignorance and attempting to educate others.
Socrates is Plato's vehicle to share knowledge and teach others. Whether he's a real person or a "form" there is a presentation of a story/a reality that Plato wants his reader to see the way Plato presents that reality. Controlling and censored...yet seems to always impart a message or a lesson.
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