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Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Plutarch's Fortune of Alexander (extra credit)
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Philip's Letter to the Athenians (extra credit)
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Agesilaos, Pelopidas, and Demosthenes (extra credit)
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Plato (extra credit)
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You might find particularly useful Meno, one of Plato's shorter dialogs. You can find online editions at one of the links below:
Can virtue be taught? The apparent answer in this dialogue is no. But does reading the dialogue help at all in understanding/achieving virtue? If so, how?
Diogenes Laertius' Lives of the Philosophers (extra credit)
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For additional extra credit, read another of the selections in Diogenes Laertius and add a comment on what you found interesting in this new section.
You might find especially interesting the lives of Thales, Anaxagoras, and Diogenes. You might find even more interesting the lives of some of those philosophers who weren't discussed in class--and who often don't make it into the history books at all. If you read, for instance, the life of Bion, you'll perhaps be covering material that even Dr. Blanchard hasn't read.
(N.B., Do not confuse Diogenes Laertius with the Diogenes I discuss in class. A different man!)
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
Thucydides--Discussion II
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III: 36-50 The Mytilene debate
III: 69-85 The revolution in Corcyra
IV: 42-48 Athenian successes/End of the revolution in Corcyra
V: 13-24 Peace of Nicias
V: 84-116 Melian Dialogue
VI: 89-93 Alcibiades justifies himself
VII: 76-87 Defeat of Nicias
Any particularly tragic elements here? Any elements of real tragedy? Are the themes/conflicts here comparable to the themes/conflicts in Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides? Anything that particularly warrants Thucydides' claim that he is writing a work for all time?
Thursday, November 7, 2019
Plutarch's Lives: Aristides and Themistocles (extra credit)
Please read Plutarch's Life of Aristides and/or his Life of Themistocles.
You can use the abridged "children's version" of the life of Aristides or the children's version of the life of Themistocles if you like, but, if you want fuller stories, see this online version of the Life of Aristides and/or this version of the Life of Themistocles.
Do you see tragic elements in the life of either of these men? What about elements of real tragedy? Would either man make a good tragic here? Why, or why not?
If you want to do *both* readings for double extra-credit, that's fine. Make separate comments for each figure, though, to make it easy on me.
Wednesday, November 6, 2019
Thucydides Discussion I
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Comment here on what you think of Thucydides as a historian. Note one specific strength or weakness, and give an example or two of what you liked/didn't like about Thucydides.
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