World Civ-Greco-Roman Blog Archives - Daniel Aaron Lazar Fri, 12 Jun 2020 19:34:31 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 Timeless Aristophanes https://daniellazar.com/2011/09/11/timeless-aristophanes/ Sun, 11 Sep 2011 15:41:10 +0000 http://www.daniellazar.com/?p=2700 The Athenian playwright Aristophanes (ca. 446 – 386) directed his cutting wit at various customs and values of Athenians. Preferring the more aristocratic elements of Athenian politics and society, he takes particular joy in mocking the more democratic facets of Athenian life and politics. As such, he relentlessly scorns the Athenian Assembly. With the twist … Continue reading Timeless Aristophanes →

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]]> Historical Imagination: Siege of Attica & Death of Pericles https://daniellazar.com/2011/08/16/historical-imagination-the-siege-of-attica/ Tue, 16 Aug 2011 20:22:37 +0000 http://www.daniellazar.com/?p=2670 On occasion I am asked why I chose to study and teach history. It’s a fair question to which I enjoy responding. Naturally, I have an arsenal of potential responses. But my most authentic response is that I indulge in exercising my imagination. All  historical eras inspire my imagination; but my recent foray into ancient … Continue reading Historical Imagination: Siege of Attica & Death of Pericles →

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]]> Our (Misguided?) Athenian Identification https://daniellazar.com/2011/08/15/our-misguided-athenian-identification/ Mon, 15 Aug 2011 20:10:03 +0000 http://www.daniellazar.com/?p=2662 I am curious about how modern Westerners have a tendency, perhaps a preference, to identify our world with Athenian politics and culture despite our Spartan values. We deem Spartans to be crude, brutal, puritanical, authoritarian, and blindly ignorant. In our age of materialism we deplore “spartan” lifestyles. Even worse, Spartans are disciplined militarists whose lives, … Continue reading Our (Misguided?) Athenian Identification →

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]]> Two Constructs of Paradise https://daniellazar.com/2011/08/14/2656/ Sun, 14 Aug 2011 13:19:12 +0000 http://www.daniellazar.com/?p=2656 Though Greek civilization is purported to be the basis of Western thought and culture, I am nevertheless struck by a great many cultural differences between the Greeks and us moderns. I suppose that I’ll write much more about this as I proceed with this blog. But today I am considering differing constructions of the Good … Continue reading Two Constructs of Paradise →

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]]> Tough Decisions on the Pynx https://daniellazar.com/2011/08/12/tough-decisions-on-the-pynx/ Fri, 12 Aug 2011 15:56:03 +0000 http://www.daniellazar.com/?p=2653 In the course of blogging about Greece I suspect that I will offer several reflections on the nature of Greek democracy. This afternoon I’d like to offer an insight concerning one particular facet of Greek democracy. Much has been said about the direct nature of the democratic polis, and not without reason. Contemporary Power to … Continue reading Tough Decisions on the Pynx →

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]]> Random Notes on Greek Manners https://daniellazar.com/2011/08/11/random-notes-on-greek-manners/ Thu, 11 Aug 2011 14:04:33 +0000 http://www.daniellazar.com/?p=2642 Durant’s, in chapter 13 of The Life of Greece, drops the following tidbits of interest: Many Greek women were ashamed of their stumpy legs. They took affixing large cork soles to their shoes. Most Greek men did not cut their hair at all. This changed with the Battle of Marathon. I don’t know why. Almost … Continue reading Random Notes on Greek Manners →

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]]> Aristippus on the Value of Education https://daniellazar.com/2011/08/10/the-value-of-education-two-philosophers/ Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:46:02 +0000 http://www.daniellazar.com/?p=2639 When Aristippus was asked in what way the educated are superior to the uneducated he answered, “as broken horses are to the unbroken.” At least, he adds, “if the pupil derives no other good, he will not, when he attends the theater, be one stone upon another.”

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]]> Kagan's Higher Naiveté https://daniellazar.com/2011/08/09/kagans-higher-naivete/ Tue, 09 Aug 2011 13:37:17 +0000 http://www.daniellazar.com/?p=2637 In preparing to teach a course on ancient Greece and Rome, I was fortunate to have come across a series of  lectures given by Donald Kagan. Kagan is Yale’s premiere classicist and among the world’s foremost scholars on ancient Greece. I watched every one of the 24 lectures that Kagan offered his undergraduates and I … Continue reading Kagan's Higher Naiveté →

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]]> Origin of the [Athenian] Species! https://daniellazar.com/2011/08/08/origin-of-the-athenian-species/ Mon, 08 Aug 2011 10:30:52 +0000 http://www.daniellazar.com/?p=2628 A great many myths reflected and shaped classical Athens’s self perception. Athenians claimed to be indigenous to the land, as opposed to being descendents of invaders. Their claim to pure, unadulterated indigenous heritage is supported by the twisted tale of Erichthonius, the first King of Athens. Erichthonius (name translation: “troubles born from the earth”) was … Continue reading Origin of the [Athenian] Species! →

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]]> On Ostracism https://daniellazar.com/2011/08/06/on-ostracism/ Sat, 06 Aug 2011 20:09:54 +0000 http://www.daniellazar.com/?p=2634 I’d heard of the Athenian phenomenon of ostracism in high school. I was taught that it was an indication that Athenians were not so civilized after all but, indeed, rather cruel. Turns out, there’s more to this than meets the eye. Every year Athenians voted on whether or not to ostracize a citizen of the … Continue reading On Ostracism →

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