By Maggie Yuan Pur. Ever the dramatist, Richard, the narrator of Donna Tartt’s novel The Secret History, points to this Greek word for fire as a concept that is threaded through the ancient Greeks, a “strange harsh light which pervades Homer’s landscapes and illumines the dialogues of Plato.”1 Although The Secret History is set […]
Author: Discentes
A Comparison of Frederick Douglass and Socrates
By Griffin Pitt In July of 1852, Frederick Douglass posed a profound question to a congregation at Corinthian Hall: “What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July?” His speech laid bare the hypocrisy of a nation that celebrated freedom while continuing to uphold slavery. Similarly, millennia earlier in ancient Athens, Socrates stood […]
The Caesar-Catullus Mashup No One Asked For
By Selima Aousheva Gaius Julius Caesar (100–44 BCE) and Gaius Valerius Catullus (84–54 BCE). A Roman statesman and a prolific poet. A dictator for life and a scandalizer for life. Two men who, despite living in a common time and place, were otherwise polar opposites. What if the two men were combined in one? […]
The Vagueness in Musical Works from a Platonist Perspective
By Tianhao Luo 1. Introduction When I hear the noise of grass mowers outside my room, I know it is a noise. When I hear a Mozart symphony in a concert hall, I know it is a performance, or instantiation, of a musical work. However, what if a grass mower is rumbling while the […]
The Mythical Edge of the World: Julius Caesar and His Exploitation of Britain
By Edward Tomlinson Introduction: Why Britain? Throughout its history with ancient Rome, Britain experienced great continental influence. Britons interacted with the European mainland through contact with a Roman culture that saw unprecedented development over centuries. As time progressed, Britain’s importance grew. “From [Julius] Caesar onwards, Britain occupied a particular and significant place in the […]