Putin has certain resemblances to Orwell’s Napoleon (in “Animal Farm”), who was modeled on Stalin–whom Putin seeks to emulate.
Tag Archives: Dictators
Euripides’s Attack on Authoritarianism
It’s possible to read “The Bacchae” as a critique of the autocrats who hijacked Athenian democracy and were running Athens into the ground.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged authoritarianism, Bacchae, Donald Trump, Euripides, rebellion Comments closed
Satan: Freedom Fighter Turned Dictator
“Paradise Lost” can function as a lesson in how freedom fighters become dictators. It also shows what we must do to resist this tendency.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged corruption, freedom fighters, John Milton, Paradise Lost, politics, republican ideals Comments closed
The Perfection and Poetry of Tyrants
W. H. Auden’s chilling “Epitaph on a Tyrant” matter-of-factly shows the deadly but seductive simplicity that characterizes dictators like Qaddafi and Assad.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Arab Spring, Bashar al-Assad, Muammar Qaddafi, violence, W. H. Auden Comments closed
Qaddafi Died Like Macbeth, Richard III
As Shakespeare understood with Macbeth and Richard III, narcissistic dictators like Qaddafi are so obsessed with control that they think they can stage manage their own deaths.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Macbeth, Qaddafi, Richard III, William Shakespeare Comments closed
