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The International Courtly Literature Society was founded in 1973 to foster the study of all aspects of courtly literature - an interest not limited to European medievalists, although they provide one of the society's main focuses. The ICLS holds triennial international conferences, the third in Liverpool, England in 1980. Professor Glyn Burgess has edited a volume containing about one-third of the papers presented there. He opens it with the three plenary speakers, Charles Muscatine, Alan Deyermond, and John Benton, who illuminate conflicting aspects of life and literature held in tension in the productions of medieval court poets. The remaining 29 contributions represent the principal national literatures discussed at the Congress - English, French, German, Provencal and Spanish - and offer a wide variety of perspectives and approaches to courtly literature, including comparisons between literary and artistic artefacts. ... Read more

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Works written and published in Latin by Elizabethan and Jacobeanwriters covered a vast range, from brief poetic trifles to massivescholarly, humanist and scientific treatises. Among its authors weresome of the greatest intellects of the day; and study of Latindedications and commendatory verses makes clear the importance ofLatinate culture in the Court as well as in the universities andlearned professions. English renaissance Latin culture was the sharedintellectual background for all educated people, England's bridge tothe scientific, literary, political, philosophical and religious lifeof continental Europe.

J.W. Binns has examined almost all the numerous books written inLatin and printed in England during the Elizabethan and Jacobeanperiods. Intellectual Culture in Elizabethan and Jacobean England(ICEJE) is the result of over 25 years labour - the firstcomprehensive overview of the Latinate culture of England, which wasthe counterpart, on a higher intellectual level, of the better-knowncontemporary achievements in the English vernacular.

ICEJE discusses various aspects of the Latin poetry of RenaissanceEngland (seven chapters); Latin drama, and its attackers anddefenders; translations into Latin from Greek and from Europeanvernaculars; treatises on such disparate subjects as translationtheory, the soul, swimming, and humanist historiography and biography;writings on theology; legal studies; and the physicalsciences. Treatments vary, from the close study of significantindividuals (such as Case and Rainolds) to broader surveys, forexample, of Latin style. Latin quoted in the main text is accompaniedby English translation.

The extensive reference section contains a tripartite Bibliography,of manuscripts, books printed before 1751, and books and articlesprinted after 1750; a Biographical Register of around 1000 entries;and an Index of Modern Authors, followed by a detailed General Index. ... Read more

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“This book is a creative and timely contribution to scholarship on the Silvae. H. amasses an impressive array of evidence which will be of value to anyone concerned with poetry or with rhetoric in the early empire.” (Classical Review 34 (1984) 190-92)

Although writing in Latin, Statius (first-century AD) was, by origin and training, a Greek poet, and his collection of "occasional" poems, the Silvae, are a Roman extension of contemporary trends in Greek display poetry. No accurate reading of the Silvae can be made without an understanding of this Graeco-Roman poetic milieu.

This book therefore begins with a reconstruction of the professional background to the Silvae - the festival circuit, the conditions of work for writers, their opportunities for advancement in the Greek and Roman worlds - both in the Hellenistic period and in the first century A.D. In this setting, display oratory and poetry are shown to have developed in parallel and to have had a profound mutual influence. Further chapters consider Statius' performances as a Neapolitan poet at Rome, his portrayal of his own society and his friends, and his attitudes to his Latin predecessors.

Literary patronage, both imperial and private, is a vital element in Statius' poetic career, and Hardie goes on to investigate the identity and social standing of the addressees of the Silvae. He also considers the career of the contemporary epigrammatist Martial in comparison to that of Statius. Many essential features of Flavian taste emerge from these studies.

Large-scale interpretations of individual poems are offered throughout this volume, making many new suggestions about both points of detail and the overall significance of the major poems in the Silvae.

Statius and the Silvae is an important contribution to the debate on the relationship between poetry and rhetoric, and to the understanding of how society and literature interconnected in the Flavian age. ... Read more

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PLLS 10 consists, as did earlier volumes in the series, in part of revised and usually expanded versions of papers presented at seminar meetings and in part of further papers contributed at the invitation of the editors. ... Read more

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Julius Caesar changed world history by inaugurating the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. This themed volume of PLLS handles the important and controversial problem of Caesar's own attitudes to 'liberty' and 'autocracy'. It contains revised, annotated and sometimes expanded versions of papers delivered at the Seventh Annual Langford Conference at Florida State University, along with one supplementary contribution and English translations of two papers originally published in Italian. The contributors constitute a distinguished international group of ancient historians. ... Read more

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(Aris and Phillips 1990) ... Read more

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Text with translation, commentary and notes. (Aris and Phillips 1985) ... Read more

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Text with translation and commentary. (Aris and Phillips 1991) ... Read more

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The Republic was likely composed during the 370s BC. The first sections of the work are of particular importance in that they present the parameters of the argument for and against justice in the state and the individual. ... Read more

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Reason allows us to live for something
I read Plato's Republic for a graduate philosophy class.I paid close attention to Plato's thesis of courage in his Republic, which I expound below.I found G. M. A. Grubb's translationto be the best of several I read.

Plato's project in the Republic is to form the "perfect" society."Reason allows us to live for something."Through reason we set goals and organize our lives around achieving goals.Plato argues that the government's duty to citizens is to provide justice, and educate citizens both men and women.The state's social structure stood for justice and was divided into three groups.Rulers- those trained to use reason and posses wisdom.Guardians/ Soldiers have courage/spirit.Artisans have moderation of appetites.Plato's ideal ruler, the "Philosopher King," should be 50 years old with 15 years of government experience and should have studied science and philosophy.The ruler must show a mastery of Arete = excellence vs. akrasia= weakening of will, or no self-control.The ruler should think logically not emotionally.In the Republic to insure excellent people Plato advocated selective breeding of excellent unmarried people who lived in communes, who did not own property.

Plato describes five types of government in the Republic:

1. Aristocracy- Plato considered this the best form of government; aristocracy embodies wisdom of the philosopher king.
2. Timocracy- military government embodies virtues of honor and courage.
3. Oligarchy- rule by a rich elite, their vice is greed, the rich get richer, the poor get poorer.
4. Democracy- mob rule, and chaos, it represents akrasia people are slaves of their desires and have little self-control.
5. Tyranny- this is the worst form of government.The vice is selfishness, one power crazed person in control.

Plato's purpose in the Republic is not to perfect the character of people as an end but only as a means to an end.Plato's aim has a definite effect on his definition of courage.I find this is especially the case when exploring his ideas on how to educate the Guardians of the city to act courageously.Plato's goal is to match a person's character disposition to a job they are naturally inclined to perform in the city.Once he [Plato] has introduced the city in 369 b-d, he immediately advances the thesis, which is to dominate the rest of the Republic, that the needs of its inhabitants can best be met if each person in it performs that single task, and that single task alone, for which he is naturally suited.

With this view of human nature in mind, in Plato's model society, he divides the citizens into three classes.Rulers from whom the "philosopher king," will be selected, Guardians who are soldiers to protect the state, and the rest of the citizens classified as ArtisansThis division of citizens precipitates a discussion by Plato on the four virtues that these citizens will bring to the state.In the history of philosophy this becomes known as the "four cardinal virtues"; wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice.With this introduction of courage as a virtue, Plato takes another crack at defining courage.What is also important to observe is that he introduces a new element, that of education, in his definition of courage that was absent from his early dialogue Laches.

Plato espouses the idea in the Republic that the Guardians need to possess certain natural qualities; such as strength, speed, and courage.It seems odd that Plato classifies courage as a natural quality possessed by certain people.This automatically presupposes that not all people can practice the virtue of courage.Plato's successor Aristotle, will argue against this notion in his EN.In addition, Plato argues that in order for people to be courageous they must also have an aggressive thumos [passion], which makes both people and animals fearless and determined.Plato fears that the Guardians could be susceptible to using their passion of aggressiveness against there own people.Therefore, he counsels that the Guardians who naturally possess aggressiveness have to also naturally possess the opposite characteristic of gentleness as well, so that their aggressiveness will only be used against the enemy and not their own citizenry.

This dialogue is significant in that it helps to flesh out Plato's notion of what ultimately makes a person courageous.First, Plato argues that the goal of education, which he compares to a sheepdog, is to watch over the Guardians; thus, with the proper education he believes the proper balance between exciting their aggressiveness and subduing it in the Guardians can be achieved.Second, Plato believes that if aggressiveness is properly excited by physical training, then the Guardian will be courageous.If overly excited they will be like a wild beast devoid of grace and will become ignorant.Finally, Plato argues in his education section of the Republic, that to counter the possibility of a Guardian developing an over excited passion of aggressiveness, it is necessary to teach the Guardians literature and music during the same time they undergo physical training.

Thus, Plato hopes this balanced approach to educating the Guardians will then lead to courage being a controlled and calm act of endurance in battle, instead of a foolhardy lust for blood letting and an emotional reaction to war.Not only does Plato spend a significant amount of time advocating for the tools necessary to subdue the passions of the Guardians in book three of the Republic, but another important point in Plato's philosophy to consider is that since he believes that a Guardian's aggressiveness is influenced by literature he is very concerned by what type of literature is taught to them as well.Plato is very concerned that the archetypical heroic warrior Achilles, as depicted in Homer's epic poem the Iliad along with those depicted in Greek tragedies performed on stage, are bad examples for the Guardians to emulate.Consequently, Plato advises that heroes of Greek literature should be depicted as thoughtfully courageous and in control of their anger and physically resilient warriors.Thus, Plato seems to be using the term andreia [courage] to cover (at the least) both courage proper, which can only exist in some kind of unity with the other virtues, and raw mettle or aggressiveness, which can exist in conjunction with various vices.Plato in book four of the Republic does move on from his study of thumos as the prime motivating force to act courageously, to actually defining the virtue of courage.Plato defines courage as a person's ability to subdue their aggressiveness by the orders of their reason in regards to what they should be fearful of regardless of their own feelings of pain or pleasure.Plato's expounded definition of the virtue of courage is that a courageous act is an amalgamation of a person's natural passion of aggressiveness and properly educated rational beliefs over what is worthy regarding the possibility of losing their life or limb over.
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A poem of treason and forbidden love, of loyalty and suffering, of crime and miracles, and of the friendship of two knights. ... Read more

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'Old Oligarch' is a label often applied to the unknown author of the Athenian Constitution preserved with the works of Xenophon. Probably written in the mid 420's B.C., it is the earliest surviving Athenian prose text, and its author was probably a young pupil of the teachers known as sophists. It is an essay which replies to oligarchic criticisms of the Athenian democracy by agreeing with the critics that democracy is distasteful but arguing that it is appropriate for Athens as a city whose power depends on the poorer citizens who row the navy's ships, and that it is successful and could not easily be overthrown. This edition provides a Greek text and English translation, with Introduction, Commentary and Appendixes which discuss the date, authorship and character of the work, the historical background, the statements and arguments presented by the author and features of the author's style. ... Read more

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Review of Old Oligarch
This text does a good job of presenting the Athenian Constitution, but there are several failures it presents. To begin, this is a $36 book that essentially contains 11 pages of text and more than 100 of commentary. The work would be better placed in a collection of Xenophon's works. Further, the introduction of this work includes far too many in-text citations to the Greek original. It is confusing and unhelpful for the average reader. ... Read more

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Part of the "Teach Yourself Literature Guides" which use scientific knowledge on how the brain works best to show you how you can work faster, shorten your study time and get a higher grade. This title provides commentary, questions, "Mind Maps" and essay practice on "The Miller's Tale". ... Read more

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The History of English Affairs, covering the years 1066-1197, was written at the close of the twelfth century and has been described as being "both in substance and in form ... the finest historical work left to us by an Englishman of the twelfth century" (The Dictionary of National Biography). The author's critical ability, gifts of acute observation, clear judgment and tolerant impartiality justify his high reputation as an original authority. Book Two covers the years 1154-1175, and incorporates the murder of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral, the capture of the King of Scots at Alnwick, and the first subjugation of Ireland by the English. It also documents the career of Nicholas Breakspear, the only Englishman to become Pope. ... Read more