Cunning in Homer’s "The Odyssey"

More than 2,000 years after Homer first put The Odyssey to paper, the English essayist William Hazlitt stated that “cunning is the art of concealing our own defects, and discovering other people’s weaknesses” (Justin 462). So true are the words of Hazlitt, equally in the 1800s as in the 8^th century BCE when Homer wrote The Odyssey. The art of cunning – specifically, cunning intelligence – was a quality obviously honored by the Greeks, and is essential to the story of Odysseus in Homer’s The Odyssey.

Dramatic Conflict in Euripedes' "The Bacchae"

There are many examples of dramatic conflict in Euripedes’ play, “The Bacchae.” These include, but are not limited to: men vs. women, gods vs. men, wisdom vs. the rashness of youth, and others. One of the more significant examples of dramatic conflict is that of tradition vs. change, as shown through the character of Pentheus.

Although Pentheus is apparently young and inexperienced, he is surprisingly traditional and very resistant to change. He has strong beliefs in how the world around him operates, how people should worship, and especially, what is “proper” behavior for women.

Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale"

Brief Summary of the Book, Why the Author Wrote the Book, and your Reaction to it:

In The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, we are taken to a near-future America where society, as we currently know it, has drastically changed. During the 1980s, pornography, drugs, street violence and other social problems are common. Serious environmental damage by toxic chemicals, biological weapons and nuclear waste has caused widespread infertility and birth defects, leading to negative population growth. A group of powerful men – mostly right-wing fundamentalists – plots and succeeds in murdering the President and most members of Congress. They then take advantage of the subsequent shock and fear of the people to suspend the Constitution and the civil liberties it protected. Of course, this was all done in the name of “protecting” citizens from further potential violence – it was not known by the public that the very people who were “protecting” them were the ones that plotted the murders and succeeded in a hostile takeover of the government.

Social Construction of Reality

Critical Thinking Question Chapter 6 #3: George Jean Nathan once quipped, “I only drink to make other people interesting.” What does this mean in terms of reality construction? Can you identify the elements of humor in this statement?

Social Construction of Reality is the process by which people creatively shape reality through social interaction. The quote, “I only drink to make other people interesting,” attributed to George Jean Nathan, shows aspects of reality construction. The speaker is not necessarily pleased with the reality he is in (people are not interesting to him) and that he is altering his version of reality by drinking to make people seem more interesting.

Nathan obviously finds himself surrounded by people he does not find interesting, who to him are dullards and boring. He does not find this situation pleasing to himself, so he alters the reality he is experiencing by drinking (although it is not known if Nathan was a heavy drinker). Drinking is a simple way to alter one’s reality - it dulls the mind - in this case making Nathan’s mind less sharp, thereby making the people around him seem more interesting, more intelligent.

The Apology

The Apology Study Question #1: Socrates defends himself against two sets of accusations.

1. What is the first set?
1. Who are the accusers?
2. What three responses does he present to these accusations?
2. What is the second set of accusations?
1. Who are the accusers?
2. Who does Socrates cross-examine? In what four ways does Socrates attack this man’s accusations?

In “The Apology” by Plato, Plato retells the defense – the apology – of Socrates used at the trial that resulted in his death sentence. Socrates has been accused of several crimes against the State, and defines his accusers as “two kinds; one recent, the other ancient”. (Plato 2)

Socrates is accused of being a corrupter of youth; a non-believer in the state-sanctioned Gods, one who questions the common beliefs and teaches that questioning is what one should do. He answers to the “ancient” accusers first, which is public opinion. People have heard for years that “Socrates is an evil-doer, and a curious person, who searches into things under the earth and in heaven, and he makes the worse appear the better cause; and he teaches the aforesaid doctrines to others.” (2). More concisely, he is accused of dabbling in natural philosophy (perhaps magic), of being a teacher who takes money from students but doesn’t teach “good” things, and of saying he is a wise man. The logic behind these accusations is simple: since so many people say he is “evil”, he must be guilty of such.

The Incidents Which Most Effectively Dramatize Pentheus's Blindness in "The Bacchae"

In The Bacchae, the author Euripides attempts to show the potentially negative consequences that await people who chose to not listen to reason, who refuse to open their narrow minds to the possibilities of other explanations and existences, and those that act before they think. Euripides does this through the character of Pentheus. Pentheus is “blind” to the truths in front of him, to the words of those who have more knowledge and reason than he, and most importantly, to the consequences of his actions and his own fate if he doesn’t open his eyes.