ANCIENT LITERATURE
I was searching through the web last night and I came across this passage from a Mark Twain novel. "O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle -- be Thou near them! With them -- in spirit -- we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved fire sides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it -- for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen."
This page is dedicated to ancient literature. In this page, I have included links to some of the best online resources which are essential in understanding ancient literature. Ancient literature should be regarded with the highest value because it is the primary source of information about the ancient world, and it also set the foundations of our modern western world. The development of critical thinking, political organization and the arts in the ancient world was of the greatest importance in forming the cultural tradition of the West.
Ancient Literature
The Epic of Gilgamesh The epic of a Mesopotamian king Gilgamesh who started his search for immortality after watching his friend Enkindu die. Before the search, he was greedy, arrogant, flashy, and excessive. While conducting the search, he was able to examine himself and gain the virtue of modesty and simplicity. The epic was written on clay and fired. The book itself is a primary source of information about the Mesopotamian civilization.
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu The book was written in the fourth century BC. It encourages indivuals to self-examine themselves and to choose the path of modesty and meekness. People in our modern and developed age don't have the intellect to write anything as true as the Tao, and this was written 2,500 hundred years ago. The Tao definately changed "the way" I view the world after September 11.
The Ramayana by R.K. Narayan The story of Rama and Sita and their adventures. The book serves a religious purpose for Hindus who view Rama as "perfect man" who "possessed strenth, was aware of obligations, truthful in an abosolute way, firm in his executions of vows, compassionate, learned, attractive, self-possessed, powerful, free from anger and envy but terrorstriking when roused" (Ramayana, Intro).
Sappho by Sappho The book is a collection of poems written in ancient Greece by a Greek woman from the island of Lesbos. The poems are the primary source of information about the celebration of marriage, female sexuality, and the value of women (which wasn't much) in ancient Greece.
The Buddha Buddha was truley an "awakened" person. He lived in northern India in about fourth century BC. He was born in a rich family and was "awakened" while riding through his village on a horse. He noticed the suffering that humans experience and caused eachother. Buddha's teachings encourage people to limit suffering for themselves and others by compromising and by living a simple and modest life.
The Oresteia by Aeschylus A Greek trilogy written in fifth century BC. Aeschylus captures the most exciting thing about humans nature in his well written drama: their cycle of revenge and violence. It is a story of the Argos family who killed eachother and thought that their cycle of revenge was "legitimate." It is interesting how we humans have developed so much in the last three thousand years (or atleast thats what we like to think) but this cycle of revenge and violence has stayed with us. We always view as the other's revenge as "illegitamte" but we label our revenge as the "resolve." So the cycle goes on!
The Poems of Catullus Translated by Guy Lee Catullus was one of my favorites this semester. His poetry is based on the use of invective and vulgur. I like to think Catullus as a Roman rap star. Most of his poems are jokes and vulgar directed at other people, and many other express his love for a married woman Lesbia.
Four Comedies by Plautus The foundations of comedy on tv, Broadway, and in movies of our modern western culture is laid by Plautus. In Four Comedies, Plautus, like Aeschylus, caputures the human nature of greed, arrogance, and stupidity. His works is also the primary source of information about the role of slaves in the ancient Roman society. Slaves constituated a social class in Rome and liberty and slavery co-existed.
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