The Core Blog

One of the best aspects of Shakespeare's tragedies is that they don't conform to what eventually became the traditional drama formula. In scene I act i, we already know who the good guys are, who the bad guys are and who will realize the errors of his ways. Still, I don't think repentance will be enough in the end (just a hunch).

"Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave/ My heart into my mouth," Cordelia says (I, i, 91-92) when her father demands a loyalty oath, providing a refreshing statement following the sycophantic speeches of her older sisters.

Now that we're done with the odd, disturbing and criminal lovefest of the famed Greek philosophers, it's time to get back to our steady diet of murder, betrayal and extreme family dysfunction.

King Lear is one of only a few books that has remained on the Lit Hum syllabus since the creation of the class. There are enough killings to make a Cyclops uncomfortable, and while there's no incest, there's a chance of some patricide (don't want to give it away to those who slept through class) and plenty of fighting between family members.

It's time to jump a few centuries into the future for King Lear. Because of the holidays, I think it will make more sense to start on Monday, July 6.

Meanwhile, we are always looking for ways to improve the blog and encourage participation. If you have any suggestions on what you want to see here - and be creative. We're not limiting it to Lit Hum or anything else - please e-mail Ethan Rouen.

Thanks, and enjoy the long weekend. 

So here we are, more than halfway through the syllabus. I loved each book, and what stood out most is (excluding Oedipus the King) the humor that has traveled thousands of years to still be funny today.

So much of literature deflates over time. Often, reading books even 30 years old, I'm reminded of Grandpa Simpson from The Simpsons, who often starts his incomprehensible ramblings with "Back in my day," and ends them with something bizarre, like "a suitcase was called a Swedish lunchbox."

While Symposium is about love, Alcibiades makes it clear that it's also about love of Socrates. There is mild criticism, but only to prove the philosopher's wisdom, kindness and humility.

Drunk, handsome Alcibiades storms into the gabfest, and we expect some serious partying. Instead, he speaks of his affection for Socrates and his frustration with love unrequited.

As this entire book is written by Plato, we can imagine that much of what is said reflects his own feelings toward his mentor.

"Love is wanting to possess the good forever," Diotima says through Socrates (206A). That pretty much sums it up, doesn't it?

The logic of how Diotima comes to that conclusion is where the beauty lies. Socrates thought of love as being loved, not being a lover, she says. "I think that's why Love struck you as beautiful in every way." (204C)

Banter Between the Wise

I enjoy the humorous, playful back and forth that goes on among the philosophers ... and between Sophocles and himself.

Diotima brings up the interesting definition of spiritual, that it is the bridge between the immortals and the mortals. It's a wonderful way of defining devotion, an intangible that exists as a way to connect us with what we don't know or see, but we are positive exists.

Agathon is the most beautiful and youngest of these sober philosophers, so he rushes to define love as what I consider lust.

"Love was born to hate old age and will come nowhere near it," he says. (195B)

He goes on to describe how Love, the god, turns people into poets and artists. These ideas, to me, reflect an ignorant youthful love, the kind seen in teen romantic comedies. Maybe it's a matter of taste (I prefer the slow sentimentality of On Golden Pond) but I believe that his definition of love is wrong.

"Love' is the name for our pursuit of wholeness, for our desire to be complete," Aristophanes says. (193A)

An extremely complex emotion explained perfectly without a wasted word. It makes me think of Abraham Lincoln's beautiful argument against slavery, "As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master."

I had a craving for yoga while reading Eryximachus' speech. "In short, medicine is simply the science of the effects of Love on repletion and depletion of the body, and the hallmark of the accomplished physician is his ability to distinguish the Love that is noble from the Love that is ugly and disgraceful," he says. (186D)

He goes on to say that love guides not only medicine, but also exercise and farming and poetry and music. "Music is therefore simply the science of the effects of Love on rhythm and harmony." (187C)