Author: Thomas Fleming
Herodotus, Books II-IV, Part B
Book III gets down to the business of Cambyses, Cyrus’ successor, and the invasion of Egypt in which he displays signs of madness, which might just be interpreted as the indications of the tyrannical character that is created when boys are raised without anyone who can say, “NO!”
Reading List for SS #21
This is a first sketch. If you read nothing else, you must read the Boethius text. If you have questions or comments, you this post and subsequent posts on the same subject.
Herodotus, Books II-IV, Part One
Herodotus’ theme, as I observed in the first installment, is the conflict between Europe and Asia or, more properly, Greeks and barbarians. (In a day or two, we shall have a podcast on what barbarians are.) In a way, his work can be treated as a kind of essay in definition, that is, he is defining Greekness or Hellenism partly by describing Greek behavior and partly by the contrast, often merely suggested, with barbarians.
From Abraham to Napoleon: 4000 Years of Ethnic Conflict, Part I
This seems a good time to republish revised version of an essay from the book Peace in the Promised Land, published in 2005. I am by no means an expert on most of the periods discussed, but I have tried to grapple with the sources and with modern scholarship.
Tune Out
FB friend Patrick Mulvey posted a great comment on my previous scribbling:
“It may a small sample size but many of my babyboomer contemporaries and younger extended family members who suffer from ‘real’ mental illness…manic depression, bipolar disorder and worse…….all used illegal drugs regularly in their teens, 20’s and 30’s. I’m not saying this is the only cause of mental illness but one only has to look at our homeless problem and know that lack of housing is not the major reason.”
