Perhaps Plato banished poets from his ideal society because he appreciated the destructive potential of stories. He’s relevant in light of today’s conspiracy theories.
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Tag Archives: Homer
A Partial Defense of Plato’s Poet Ban
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged 1Q84, Aeschylus, conspiracy theories, Donald Trump, Euripides, Haruki Murakami, philosophy vs. poetry, Plato, QAnon, Republic, Sophocles Comments closed
Black Lives Matter Changes the Canon
Black Lives Matter is getting some professors to rethink works they had previously defended
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Dante, Harold Bloom, Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad, literary canon, Shakespeare, Virgil Comments closed
Homer, Virgil & Dante Visit the Afterlife
In my Representative Masterpieces course, I conclude with Dante’s “Inferno,” where we see sinners creating their own hells.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Aeneid, Beowulf, Dante, Divine Comedy, Inferno, John Bunyan, John Milton, monsters, Odyssey, Paradise Lost, Pilgrim's Progress, Sin, Virgil Comments closed
Penelope Underrated (Like Many Mothers)
In an inspiring essay, a student draws on a long overdue appreciation of her mother to explore Penelope’s heroism in “The Odyssey.”
When We Yield to Inner Darkness
The Odyssey explores how violence can swallow up those who engage in it. Odysseus is heroic in that he can listen to religious checks when blood lust threatens.
Overcoming the Siren Call of Domination
A reader suggests that the island enchantresses in “Odyssey” help the hero in his quest for integration.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Carl Jung, emasculation fears, individuation, Joseph Campbell, Odyssey, Sigmund Freud Comments closed
The Dangers of Emotional Identification
In which I push back against an article warning about emotional identification with literary characters.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Age of Sensibility, Anne Radcliffe, Goethe, Hannah Arendt, Iliad, Jane Austen, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Namwali Serpell, Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, Sorrows of Young Werther Comments closed