DOCSLIB.ORG

Metaphysics Booklet TT2020.Indd

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Metaphysics Booklet TT2020.Indd Teacher Training For Classical Teachers SAVING WESTERN CIVILIZATION ONE STUDENT AT A TIME RHETORIC What Is Classical Rhetoric? by Martin Cothran 1 ccording to Quintilian, the great Roman teacher of rhetoric, the purpose of education is to produce A the “good man speaking well.” This means that a student must not only study the rules and principles of eloquent expression, but he must know and do good; he must not only master certain techniques, he must be familiar with the Good, the True, and the Beautiful. The classical discipline that taught a man these things was called “rhetoric.” In modern times the word “rhetoric” has acquired a pejorative connotation. We hear people say things like, “Well, that’s just rhetoric.” The reason we think this way now is because many people who speak well are not good men— or at least they do not use their rhetorical talents for what we would consider a good purpose. This seems to be a particular problem in politics. 2 Classical thinkers such as Quintilian, as well as Aristotle and Cicero, knew that just because something is used badly is not a suffi cient reason to reject the thing itself. A good thing can be used for a bad purpose. One of the reasons for the negative modern view of rhetoric may have something to do with how we teach it. While modern books on speaking and writing have plenty of emphasis on technique, they are almost devoid of any treatment of those other things necessary for truly persuasive expression, one of which is the element of good moral character. To get a full understanding of what it is to be able to express yourself persuasively, you have to go back to the ancients. The three greatest ancient writers on rhetoric were the Greek philosopher Aristotle, the Roman orator Cicero, and the Roman teacher Quintilian. Aristotle was the greatest theoretician of rhetoric, Cicero its greatest practitioner, and Quintilian its greatest teacher. They believed that rhetoric was to be used for the Good. Classical rhetoric involves a study of the fundamental principles of political philosophy, ethics, and traditional psychology. Although the study of rhetoric truly begins at a young age with practice in imitating the writing of others, it extends in later years into the specifi c study of the principles of persuasive expression. There is no bett er place to begin this latt er kind of study than with Aristotle’s Rhetoric. Aristotle taught that there were three elements of communication: the speaker, the audience, and the speech itself. In fact, his book is broken down into three parts, one on each of these elements of rhetoric. Just because something is used badly is not a suffi cient reason to reject the thing itself. 3 Three Kinds of Persuasive Speech There are also, says Aristotle, three kinds of persuasive speech: political speech, legal speech, and ceremonial speech. In political speech, the audience is some body of decision- makers like a political assembly. Its subject is future action, and its object is to move the audience to pursue some action. A congressman, for example, may ask to be recognized by the House speaker or Senate president to commend a bill for his colleagues’ consideration because he thinks it would achieve a legitimate public purpose—or, conversely, he may wish to speak against a bill one of his colleagues has introduced because he thinks it would work against the common good. The end of this kind of speech is expediency, which is a kind of good, a good in the sense that it helps the political community he is sworn to support move closer to its ultimate purpose, which is the common good. Political rhetoric, therefore, is highly moral or ethical in character. A classical example of this kind of speech would be Odysseus’ appeal to Achilles to return to batt le in Homer’s Iliad. Odysseus argues for the expediency of Achilles’ return—for the Greeks and for Achilles himself. It is about the future good of both Achilles and the Greek army. In a legal speech, the subject is the past, and the object is the determination of what has or has not actually happened, what the nature of the act was, and whether it was warranted. A lawyer, for example, may argue before a jury that his client did not, in fact, commit the murder that he has been charged with committ ing. He is arguing about what did or did not happen in the past, and whether it was done (or not) for a just reason. Anyone who argues to an audience about past events (in this case who committ ed a past murder) would count as a legal speaker. A legal speaker (also called a forensic speaker) could also include someone addressing some past historical issue. A debate over whether the United States should have dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki would involve legal or forensic rhetoric. The end of legal speech is the bringing about of justice through the determination of truth. 4 A classical example of this kind of speech would be Socrates’ defense against charges of atheism and the corruption of the youth of Athens in the trial in which he was condemned to death. He says that the past things he has been accused of saying and doing are not true, and therefore to convict him of doing these things would be unjust. A ceremonial speaker would address the present, and would concern himself with the present honor or dishonor of someone. He would engage in praise or blame to achieve his object. The person giving a eulogy, a graduation speech, and certain kinds of sermons would engage in this sort of rhetoric, as well as someone who engages in vituperation—the censure of someone for a wrong he has committ ed, when the focus is on the person’s present dishonor. Because of its ceremonial nature (which is why it is often referred to as the “rhetoric of display”), ceremonial rhetoric is considered to have an emphasis on the aesthetic, the aff ective, or the beautiful. In ceremonial speech, it is the style which is the most important consideration, since the goal is to make the point of the speaker att ractive to the audience. A classic (but not “classical,” which refers to the cultures of Greece and Rome) example of ceremonial speech would be Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address.” In this speech, although Lincoln refers to the past and future as well as the present, its focus is on the present honor of the dead and the hallowing of the place in which they died. It is about honoring those who gave their lives for their ideals. Lincoln’s object was to reach the hearts of his audience in order that they might see the sacrifi ce the dead had made for a great cause. The Three Modes of Rhetoric In addition to the three kinds of speech studied in rhetoric, there are also three modes of rhetoric—three ways in which persuasion is accomplished. The Greeks called them ethos, logos, and pathos. Ethos refers to the character of the speaker. We generally determine very early on whether a speaker or writer is worthy of our att ention. We ask the question, “Is this the sort of person we can believe?” And, “Can we trust him?” We might believe him 5 The Greeks called the three modes of rhetoric ethos, logos, and pathos. because he is an expert and therefore has special knowledge of that on which he speaks. We might believe him because he is humble, and therefore is unlikely to overstate his case and exaggerate the strength of his position. Or we might be inclined to believe him simply because he appears to be honest and trustworthy and would be unlikely to mislead us. When discussing this particular mode of persuasion, Aristotle considers what it is to be a good person by an analysis of the human virtues that constitute good character, and how a speaker can communicate that to his audience. Logos refers to the strengths and weaknesses of the speaker’s arguments. When we hear or read a persuasive appeal of some kind, we will judge it, in part, on the logical strength of the arguments. We the audience want to determine whether the arguments presented by the speaker are sound, which just means that the facts he presents are true and the reasoning he engages in is valid (that his conclusions logically follow from his premises). Logos is the answer to the question, “Does this presentation make intellectual sense?” In this mode of persuasion, the chief tools are enthymeme (the abbreviated form of a logical syllogism used in everyday argument and debate) and example (the historical or imaginary illustrations and real-life or proverbial examples the speaker uses to give his audience examples of what he is talking about). In his Rhetoric, Aristotle includes not just the formal kinds of reasoning included in formal logic, but what he calls “lines of argument” or 6 Aristotle emphasizes not only technique, but something relevant about human nature. “topics”—arguments that are not strictly formal, but which are rhetorically persuasive in their own right. Pathos refers to the appeal by the speaker to the emotions of the audience. When a speaker tries to persuade people of something, he has to take into account how they feel. To establish his point, he might want to elicit pity for someone or something from the audience—or possibly anger or enthusiasm or skepticism. This requires a knowledge of the kinds of emotions people are prone to, why they have them, and how they can be excited by the speaker.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Summaries of the Trojan Cycle Search the GML Advanced
    Document belonging to the Greek Mythology Link, a web site created by Carlos Parada, author of Genealogical Guide to Greek Mythology Characters • Places • Topics • Images • Bibliography • PDF Editions About • Copyright © 1997 Carlos Parada and Maicar Förlag. Summaries of the Trojan Cycle Search the GML advanced Sections in this Page Introduction Trojan Cycle: Cypria Iliad (Synopsis) Aethiopis Little Iliad Sack of Ilium Returns Odyssey (Synopsis) Telegony Other works on the Trojan War Bibliography Introduction and Definition of terms The so called Epic Cycle is sometimes referred to with the term Epic Fragments since just fragments is all that remain of them. Some of these fragments contain details about the Theban wars (the war of the SEVEN and that of the EPIGONI), others about the prowesses of Heracles 1 and Theseus, others about the origin of the gods, and still others about events related to the Trojan War. The latter, called Trojan Cycle, narrate events that occurred before the war (Cypria), during the war (Aethiopis, Little Iliad, and Sack of Ilium ), and after the war (Returns, and Telegony). The term epic (derived from Greek épos = word, song) is generally applied to narrative poems which describe the deeds of heroes in war, an astounding process of mutual destruction that periodically and frequently affects mankind. This kind of poetry was composed in early times, being chanted by minstrels during the 'Dark Ages'—before 800 BC—and later written down during the Archaic period— from c. 700 BC). Greek Epic is the earliest surviving form of Greek (and therefore "Western") literature, and precedes lyric poetry, elegy, drama, history, philosophy, mythography, etc.
    [Show full text]
  • A Dictionary of Mythology —
    Ex-libris Ernest Rudge 22500629148 CASSELL’S POCKET REFERENCE LIBRARY A Dictionary of Mythology — Cassell’s Pocket Reference Library The first Six Volumes are : English Dictionary Poetical Quotations Proverbs and Maxims Dictionary of Mythology Gazetteer of the British Isles The Pocket Doctor Others are in active preparation In two Bindings—Cloth and Leather A DICTIONARY MYTHOLOGYOF BEING A CONCISE GUIDE TO THE MYTHS OF GREECE AND ROME, BABYLONIA, EGYPT, AMERICA, SCANDINAVIA, & GREAT BRITAIN BY LEWIS SPENCE, M.A. Author of “ The Mythologies of Ancient Mexico and Peru,” etc. i CASSELL AND COMPANY, LTD. London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne 1910 ca') zz-^y . a k. WELLCOME INS77Tint \ LIBRARY Coll. W^iMOmeo Coll. No. _Zv_^ _ii ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTRODUCTION Our grandfathers regarded the study of mythology as a necessary adjunct to a polite education, without a knowledge of which neither the classical nor the more modem poets could be read with understanding. But it is now recognised that upon mythology and folklore rests the basis of the new science of Comparative Religion. The evolution of religion from mythology has now been made plain. It is a law of evolution that, though the parent types which precede certain forms are doomed to perish, they yet bequeath to their descendants certain of their characteristics ; and although mythology has perished (in the civilised world, at least), it has left an indelible stamp not only upon modem religions, but also upon local and national custom. The work of Fruger, Lang, Immerwahr, and others has revolutionised mythology, and has evolved from the unexplained mass of tales of forty years ago a definite and systematic science.
    [Show full text]
  • Greek Mythology / Apollodorus; Translated by Robin Hard
    Great Clarendon Street, Oxford 0X2 6DP Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogotá Buenos Aires Calcutta Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Paris São Paulo Shanghai Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw with associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © Robin Hard 1997 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published as a World’s Classics paperback 1997 Reissued as an Oxford World’s Classics paperback 1998 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organizations. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Apollodorus. [Bibliotheca. English] The library of Greek mythology / Apollodorus; translated by Robin Hard.
    [Show full text]
  • The Iliad of Homer by Homer
    The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Iliad of Homer by Homer This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license Title: The Iliad of Homer Author: Homer Release Date: September 2006 [Ebook 6130] Language: English ***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ILIAD OF HOMER*** The Iliad of Homer Translated by Alexander Pope, with notes by the Rev. Theodore Alois Buckley, M.A., F.S.A. and Flaxman's Designs. 1899 Contents INTRODUCTION. ix POPE'S PREFACE TO THE ILIAD OF HOMER . xlv BOOK I. .3 BOOK II. 41 BOOK III. 85 BOOK IV. 111 BOOK V. 137 BOOK VI. 181 BOOK VII. 209 BOOK VIII. 233 BOOK IX. 261 BOOK X. 295 BOOK XI. 319 BOOK XII. 355 BOOK XIII. 377 BOOK XIV. 415 BOOK XV. 441 BOOK XVI. 473 BOOK XVII. 513 BOOK XVIII. 545 BOOK XIX. 575 BOOK XX. 593 BOOK XXI. 615 BOOK XXII. 641 BOOK XXIII. 667 BOOK XXIV. 707 CONCLUDING NOTE. 747 Illustrations HOMER INVOKING THE MUSE. .6 MARS. 13 MINERVA REPRESSING THE FURY OF ACHILLES. 16 THE DEPARTURE OF BRISEIS FROM THE TENT OF ACHILLES. 23 THETIS CALLING BRIAREUS TO THE ASSISTANCE OF JUPITER. 27 THETIS ENTREATING JUPITER TO HONOUR ACHILLES. 32 VULCAN. 35 JUPITER. 38 THE APOTHEOSIS OF HOMER. 39 JUPITER SENDING THE EVIL DREAM TO AGAMEMNON. 43 NEPTUNE. 66 VENUS, DISGUISED, INVITING HELEN TO THE CHAMBER OF PARIS.
    [Show full text]
  • Crimes of Passion:Representationof Women and Female Sexuality in Mythological Abduction Paintingsof Peter Paul Rubens
    Quest Journals Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Science Volume 6 ~ Issue 12 (2018) pp.: 06-13 ISSN(Online) : 2321-9467 www.questjournals.org Research Paper Crimes Of Passion:RepresentationOf Women And Female Sexuality In Mythological Abduction PaintingsOf Peter Paul Rubens AnjuDevadas R D Research Scholar, PG & Research Dept. of English, Mar Ivanios College, Trivandrum ABSTRACT:The mythological stories and legends of ancient Greece repeatedly depict the motif of a mortal woman being ‘abducted’ by a Greek god or a legendary hero either appearing in his true self or disguising and assuming an animal form. The artistic representation of these narratives such as the abduction of Persephone by Hades, abduction of Helen by Paris or abduction of Orithyia by Boreas interchangeably use ‘rape’ and ‘abduction’ and portray women as the embodiments of beauty and sexuality transforming them into crimes committed in hot blood and passion. The sensuality of the paintings is heightened by both subject matter and expressive use of colour and exhibit pain, fear, revulsion, or sometimes passivity by the abducted maiden contrasted by the all-powerful and supreme depictions of Gods. The violent seizure and seductive image, along with the opulent and exuberant artistic nudity intensify the eroticism and poetry of such creations. This paper strives to examinethe sensual, sexual, and allegorical implications of rape and abduction in the select monumental mythological abduction and rape paintings of Flemish Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens such as The Rape of Daughters of the Leucippus, The Rape of Orithyia by Boreas,The Rape of Europa, The Rape of Hippodamia, andThe Rape of Proserpine.
    [Show full text]
  • [PDF]The Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome
    The Myths & Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome E. M. Berens p q xMetaLibriy Copyright c 2009 MetaLibri Text in public domain. Some rights reserved. Please note that although the text of this ebook is in the public domain, this pdf edition is a copyrighted publication. Downloading of this book for private use and official government purposes is permitted and encouraged. Commercial use is protected by international copyright. Reprinting and electronic or other means of reproduction of this ebook or any part thereof requires the authorization of the publisher. Please cite as: Berens, E.M. The Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome. (Ed. S.M.Soares). MetaLibri, October 13, 2009, v1.0p. MetaLibri http://metalibri.wikidot.com [email protected] Amsterdam October 13, 2009 Contents List of Figures .................................... viii Preface .......................................... xi Part I. — MYTHS Introduction ....................................... 2 FIRST DYNASTY — ORIGIN OF THE WORLD Uranus and G (Clus and Terra)........................ 5 SECOND DYNASTY Cronus (Saturn).................................... 8 Rhea (Ops)....................................... 11 Division of the World ................................ 12 Theories as to the Origin of Man ......................... 13 THIRD DYNASTY — OLYMPIAN DIVINITIES ZEUS (Jupiter).................................... 17 Hera (Juno)...................................... 27 Pallas-Athene (Minerva).............................. 32 Themis .......................................... 37 Hestia
    [Show full text]
  • Bulfinch's Mythology the Age of Fable by Thomas Bulfinch
    1 BULFINCH'S MYTHOLOGY THE AGE OF FABLE BY THOMAS BULFINCH Table of Contents PUBLISHERS' PREFACE ........................................................................................................................... 3 AUTHOR'S PREFACE ................................................................................................................................. 4 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 7 ROMAN DIVINITIES ............................................................................................................................ 16 PROMETHEUS AND PANDORA ............................................................................................................ 18 APOLLO AND DAPHNE--PYRAMUS AND THISBE CEPHALUS AND PROCRIS ............................ 24 JUNO AND HER RIVALS, IO AND CALLISTO--DIANA AND ACTAEON--LATONA AND THE RUSTICS .................................................................................................................................................... 32 PHAETON .................................................................................................................................................. 41 MIDAS--BAUCIS AND PHILEMON ....................................................................................................... 48 PROSERPINE--GLAUCUS AND SCYLLA ............................................................................................. 53 PYGMALION--DRYOPE-VENUS
    [Show full text]
  • Rereading Death: Ethics and Aesthetics in the Ancient
    REREADING DEATH: ETHICS AND AESTHETICS IN THE ANCIENT RECEPTION OF HOMERIC BATTLE NARRATIVE by Nicholas Kauffman A dissertation submitted to Johns Hopkins University in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Baltimore, MD March, 2015 [Intended to be blank] ii Abstract In this dissertation, I examine the many famous death scenes in the Iliad and argue that their reception within antiquity reflects a lively and diverse discourse about the meaning of violence, and specifically of death in battle. As evidence of this reception, I consider later Greek epics and the exegetical tradition, viewing these texts using the methodological frameworks of intertextuality and reception studies. In the first chapter, I provide a descriptive analysis of the Iliad’s deaths and discuss the often conflicting interpretations of them advanced in modern scholarship. I argue that these deaths are underdetermined, that the text itself articulates no clear ideological framework within which to understand them, and I view this underdeterminedness as productive, in that it makes possible and even encourages dialogue among later readers. In the subsequent chapters I examine three texts that engage in this dialogue. First, I look at the death scenes in Apollonius’ Argonautica. Though these are largely constructed from Homeric motifs, I show that Apollonius consistently defamiliarizes these motifs and thus calls into question not only the formal qualities of the Iliadic narrative but also its ethical underpinnings. In Quintus of Smyrna’s Posthomerica, as I show in the following chapter, the deaths are designed to seem Homeric, and they are formally almost identical to their Iliadic counterparts.
    [Show full text]
  • From Zero to Hero? Aineas in the Iliad and the Posthomerica
    Beattie, M. (2010) ‘Zero to Hero? Aineas in the Iliad and the Posthomerica’ Rosetta 8.5: 1-15. http://www.rosetta.bham.ac.uk/issue8supp/beattie_aineas/ Rosetta 8.5 http://www.rosetta.bham.ac.uk/issue8supp/beattie_aineas/ Zero to Hero? Aineas in the Iliad and the Posthomerica Melissa Beattie Cardiff University Part I. Introduction: As founder of the Roman race in Vergil's Aeneid, the titular character of Aeneas has received a great deal of scholarly attention. What has been lacking, however, is similar study of the character in Homer's Iliad and the Posthomerica. This paper will begin to address this by examining the glimpses of Aineas, as he is called in the Greek, and developing a general character sketch. This will then be briefly compared to the Aeneas of the Aeneid, and possible reasons for the differences noted will be suggested. In order to make clear whether I am referring to the character in his pre- Vergilian or Vergilian aspect, I shall refer to the Trojan ally from the Iliad and the Posthomerica as 'Aineas', in a transliteration of the Greek, and the protagonist of Vergil's Aeneid as 'Aeneas'. Other characters who appear in both works will similarly be called by transliterations from the Greek when referring to Homer and their Latin names when referring to Vergil. Part II. Aineas in the Iliad: For a character with such a great destiny, it is perhaps surprising to note that Aineas only appears eleven times in the work as it has come down to us. Of those eleven, only five have any significant depth or action.
    [Show full text]
  • Divine Genealogies: a Sourcebook for Greek and Roman Mythology
    Divine Genealogies: A Sourcebook for Greek and Roman Mythology E. Edward Garvin, Editor ©2015 What follows is a collection of excerpts from Greek literary sources in translation. The intent is to give students an overview of Greek mythology as expressed by the Greeks themselves. But any such collection is inherently flawed: the process of selection and abridgement produces a falsehood because both the narrative and meta-narrative are destroyed when the continuity of the composition is interrupted. Nevertheless, this seems the most expedient way to expose students to a wide range of primary source information. I have tried to keep my voice out of it as much as possible and will intervene as editor (in this Times New Roman font) only to give background or exegesis to the text. All of the texts in Goudy Old Style are excerpts from Greek or Latin texts (primary sources) that have been translated into English. Ancient Texts In the field of Classics, we refer to texts by Author, name of the book, book number, chapter number and line number.1 Every text, regardless of language, uses the same numbering system. Homer’s Iliad, for example, is divided into 24 books and the lines in each book are numbered. Hesiod’s Theogony is much shorter so no book divisions are necessary but the lines are numbered. Below is an example from Homer’s Iliad, Book One, showing the English translation on the left and the Greek original on the right. When citing this text we might say that Achilles is first mentioned by Homer in Iliad 1.7 (i.7 is also acceptable).
    [Show full text]
  • Innovation and Experimentation in the Victory Odes of Pindar and Bacchylides
    Emergent Genre: Innovation and Experimentation in the Victory Odes of Pindar and Bacchylides By Christopher J Waldo A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Classics in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in Charge: Professor Leslie Kurke Professor Mark Griffith Professor James Porter Professor Mario Telò Spring 2019 @ Christopher J Waldo May 2019 Abstract Emergent Genre: Innovation and Experimentation in the Victory Odes of Pindar and Bacchylides by Christopher J Waldo Doctor of Philosophy in Classics University of California, Berkeley Professor Leslie Kurke, Chair This dissertation argues that the victory ode was a genre characterized by formal innovation and experimentation. While much scholarship over the last half century has stressed the existence of rhetorical continuities between the victory ode and other genres of Greek poetry, I emphasize the ways in which these poems set themselves apart. The victory ode came into being late in the life of archaic Greek poetry, and there may have been initial uncertainty on the part of both poets and their patrons as to the generic expectations of these commissions. Examining the surviving victory odes of Pindar and Bacchylides, I explore the innovative and experimental formal approaches employed by the poets to meet the demands of an emergent genre. The first chapter discusses the victory ode’s presentation of itself as transgressive. Pindar and Bacchylides often bring their mythological accounts to a close with statements marking them as inappropriate. I contend that these moments, rather than representing genuine confessions of transgression, serve to define the boundaries of the genre.
    [Show full text]
  • The Greek Myths 1955, Revised 1960
    Robert Graves – The Greek Myths 1955, revised 1960 Robert Graves was born in 1895 at Wimbledon, son of Alfred Perceval Graves, the Irish writer, and Amalia von Ranke. He went from school to the First World War, where he became a captain in the Royal Welch Fusiliers. His principal calling is poetry, and his Selected Poems have been published in the Penguin Poets. Apart from a year as Professor of English Literature at Cairo University in 1926 he has since earned his living by writing, mostly historical novels which include: I, Claudius; Claudius the God; Sergeant Lamb of the Ninth; Count Belisarius; Wife to Mr Milton (all published as Penguins); Proceed, Sergeant Lamb; The Golden Fleece; They Hanged My Saintly Billy; and The Isles of Unwisdom. He wrote his autobiography, Goodbye to All That (a Penguin Modem Classic), in 1929. His two most discussed non-fiction books are The White Goddess, which presents a new view of the poetic impulse, and The Nazarene Gospel Restored (with Joshua Podro), a re-examination of primitive Christianity. He has translated Apuleius, Lucan, and Svetonius for the Penguin Classics. He was elected Professor of Poetry at Oxford in 1962. Contents Foreword Introduction I. The Pelasgian Creation Myth 2. The Homeric And Orphic Creation Myths 3. The Olympian Creation Myth 4. Two Philosophical Creation Myths 5. The Five Ages Of Man 6. The Castration Of Uranus 7. The Dethronement Of Cronus 8. The Birth Of Athene 9. Zeus And Metis 10. The Fates 11. The Birth Of Aphrodite 12. Hera And Her Children 13. Zeus And Hera 14.
    [Show full text]