The Greek Polis: Recent Episodes
Pavlos Papadopoulos
A recitation of the three poems learned in HMN 201, plus a bonus poem:
— Hopkins, "Pied Beauty"
— Shelley, "Ozymandias"
— Lovelace, "To Lucasta, Going to the Wars"
— Hopkins, "As Kingfishers Catch Fire"
John Peterson and I discuss the allegory of the cave, what it adds to the "ship of state", in what sense life in the cave is "natural", patterns of descent and ascent (and ascent and descent), Socrates's hopes for Glaucon, the status of images and image-making in the Republic, and Platonic heroism. John surprises himself (and me) by proposing that images appeal to us because we desire to be tyrants. Brief appearances are made by Aristophanes, Nietzsche, and Kelly Clarkson.
Dr. Virginia Arbery, my friend and colleague at WCC, joins me for a conversation on the three "waves" of Republic 5: sexual equality, communism of women and children, and philosopher-kings. We discuss why these waves should strike us modern Americans as both deeply unfamiliar and strangely familiar. On the one hand, the American regime as founded was designed to control the nefarious effects of faction rather than remove its causes. On the other hand, contemporary progressivism has given us a poor-man's version of the three waves. I make a few lame jokes and Ginny talks about John Wayne.
I've stopped recording regular lectures for class, in lieu of seminars, but here, I'm joined by my friend Antonio Sosa, PhD candidate in politics at University of Dallas, for a conversation of book 4 of the Republic. We discuss:
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how Antonio's concern for the suppression of liberty in contemporary Venezuela led him to political philosophy;
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the dramatic opening of book 4; why Socrates' definition of justice might seem disappointing;
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the relation of the noble lie to the wisdom of the rulers;
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how and why Plato is a "flirtatious" author;
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the Platonic focus on domestic politics and the soul in contrast to the Machiavellian focus on foreign affairs and national strength;
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the nobility and honor-loving character of Socrates's interlocutors;
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last but not least, the study of philosophy in a time of widespread anxiety about death
I. The burning question: Is being just worth it?
II. Overview of the three parts of book 2
III. 1: Restarting the conversation: Glaucon's challenge, with Adeimantus's support
IV. 2: Founding the "city in speech"
V. 3: Educating the guardians
The third of three lectures for our first day on the Republic
I. Not only the argument (conversation), but also the action (drama)
II. Cephalus (justice according to an old, fearful man) and Polemarchus (justice according to a young, spirited citizen)
III. Thrasymachus versus Socrates: tyranny or justice?
IV. Socrates as ruler? Socrates as benefactor?
The second of three lectures for our first day on the Republic
I. The significance of the proem and first word in Homeric epic
II. The first word of the Republic: "I went down"
III. The "proem" of the Republic: Socrates's twofold "observation"
IV. The "arrest" of Socrates. What rules, reason or force?
The first of three lectures for our first day on the Republic
I. How Plato’s Republic rounds out our study of the Greek polis
II. The dramatic context: the end of the Athenian Empire
III. The location of the dialogue
IV. The cast of characters
V. The title of the Republic
An introduction to Aristophanes's Lysistrata.
Note: this lecture begins with a Thucydidean introduction, but don't worry, it's mostly about Aristophanes.
A recitation of the poems learned by Wyoming Catholic College freshmen in their humanities courses this fall and spring:
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Housman, "To an Athlete Dying Young"
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Keats, "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer"
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Wordsworth, "The World is Too Much With Us"
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Hopkins, "God's Grandeur"
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Hopkins, "Spring and Fall"
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Shakespeare, "Sonnet 116"
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Frost, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"
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Shakespeare, "What a piece of work is a man"