Plato’s Portrayal of Socrates
The portrayal of Socrates by his student Plato creates one of the most controversial characters of all time. There are few other personalities in history that have drawn criticism and praise from the furthest ends of each spectrum. Socrates has been called the inventor of reason and logic, and at the same time has been condemned as a corruptor and a flake. Perhaps he was all of these. Despite this disagreement, one is a certainty: Socrates had a very interesting and active sense of humor.
In order to successfully demonstrate Socrates’ sense of humor, it is necessary to define a few terms. To begin, we must define “comedy” as it was looked upon in the time of Socrates, Plato, and the Greek playwrights. Greek comedy comes in many different shades depending on both the author and the subject matter. There are two types of comedy that emerge as the most common when dealing with Socrates, slapstick and intellectual humor. Aristophanes uses the former as slapstick fart jokes and the like in Clouds. In an exchange with Socrates, Strepsiades exclaims, “Yes, I revere you, much honored ones, and wish to fart in response.” (Aristophanes, Clouds, 2931). On the other hand, Plato displays comedy as a more intellectual concept dealing quite a lot with puns and especially politics during Socrates’ trial. Socrates has been found guilty of impiety and corrupting the youth and the penalty of death has been suggested. Socrates uses his opportunity to suggest an alternative punishment and suggests “to be given [my] meals in the Prytaneum2,” (Plato, Apology of Socrates, 36d3). This ridiculous “hubristic and boastful”4 proposal can only be taken as comedy because having already been found guilty, Socrates...
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...ophical Perspectives, Section 4: Sixth Handout.”
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Aristophanes. Clouds. Translated by Thomas G. West and Grace Starry West in Four Texts on Socrates. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998.
Burkert, Walter. Greek Religion. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1985.
Euripides. Bacchae. Translated by Paul Woodruff. Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 1998.
Homer. The Iliad. Translated by Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin Books, 1990.
Plato. Apology of Socrates. Translated by Thomas G. West and Grace Starry West in Four Texts on Socrates. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998.
Plato. Euthyphro. Translated by Thomas G. West and Grace Starry West in Four Texts on Socrates. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998.
Sennet, Richard. Flesh and Stone, the Body and the City in Western Civilization. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1994.
In the memoir, Night, Elie Wiesel remembers his time at Auschwitz during the Holocaust. Elie begins to lose his faith in God after his faith is tested many times while at the concentration camp. Elie conveys to us how horrific events have changed the way he looks at his faith and God. Through comments such as, “Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God, my soul, and turned my dreams into dust,” he reveals the toll that the Holocaust has taken on him. The novel begins during the years of 1942-1944 in Sighet, Transylvannia, Romania. Elie Wiesel and his family are deported and Elie is forced to live through many horrific events. Several events such as deportation, seeing dead bodies while at Auschwitz, and separation from his mother and sisters, make Elie start to question his absolute faith in God.
In the novel Night, Elie Wiesel faces the horrors of the Holocaust, where he loses many friends and family, and almost his life. He starts as a kind young boy, however, his environment influences many of the decisions he makes. Throughout the novel, Elie Wiesel changes into a selfish boy, thinks of his father as a liability and loses his faith in God as an outcome his surroundings.
Night by Elie Wiesel is an autobiographical novel recording Mr. Wiesel’s experiences during the World War II holocaust. As a 15 year old boy Elie was torn from his home and placed in a concentration camp. He and his father were separated from his mother and his sisters. It is believed that they were put to death in the fiery pits of Auschwitz. The entire story is one of calm historical significance while there is a slight separation between the emotional trauma of what are occurring, and the often-detached voice of the author.
At first, the Jews believe the Germans to be harmless. It takes dark times and drastic measures for the German’s true wickedness to be unveiled. One of the first instances in which the Jews are exposed to the true evil of their antagonists is the first moment they get off of their cattle cars at Birkenau-Auschwitz. Consumed by Madame Schachter’s prophesied “fire,” the sky symbolizes the flaming hell that the Jews are about to endure. At this moment, as the Jews stare silently at the ravenous chimneys spouting out flames, their worst nightmares evolve into reality. At midnight, the witching hour, the Jews’ eyes finally begin to see the evil that surrounds them.
West, Grace S., Thomas West. Texts on Socrates: Plato and Aristophanes. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998.
In Aristophanes’ Clouds, the character Socrates is clearly intended to be a subversive member of Athenian society. He runs the school, the Thinkery, which takes in young Athenians and teaches them what Aristophanes portrays as bizarre concepts and ideas, “whether the hum of a gnat is generated via its mouth o...
The New English Dictionary (1999) defines identity as "the distinguishing characteristics of a person." Our identity makes us who and what we are. It could be described as a sense of belonging and about having things in common with others (Weeks, 1990, cited in Austin, 2002, p.1).
Socrates was wise men, who question everything, he was found to be the wise man in Athens by the oracle. Although he was consider of being the wises man alive in those days, Socrates never consider himself wise, therefore he question everything in order to learned more. Socrates lived a poor life, he used to go to the markets and preach in Athens he never harm anyone, or disobey any of the laws in Athens, yet he was found guilty of all charges and sentence to die.
“Let there be comradeship among you. We are all brothers, and we are all suffering the same fate. The same smoke floats over all our heads. Help one another. It is the only way to survive.” (Elie Wiesel, Night). In the memoir Night, Elie Wiesel, the author, writes about his own experiences at Nazi concentration camps. Throughout the book, Elie is transferred from camp to camp experiencing, as well as witnessing, many hardships and tragedies. Through the slaughter and captivity of the Jews, Elie interprets that it became tests to who could keep their sanity and integrity. Following this he always looks out for his father to the end and remains faithful to him,because he could not stand the sight of his father’s suffering over his own pain.
During this essay the trail of Socrates found in the Apology of Plato will be reviewed. What will be looked at during this review is how well Socrates rebuts the charges made against him. We will also talk about if Socrates made the right decision to not escape prison with Crito. Socrates was a very intelligent man; this is why this review is so critical.
In the light of Brazil, the humid and parched beautiful country as people might say. On average the temperature ranges to 75 degrees. There’s a population of over 200 million people and each year it increases to about .8%. In Brazil the main language they speak is Portuguese and the second most spoken is Spanish. Catholicism is the main religion of Brazil because it was introduced to the country when the european settlers arrived trying to civilize the local native people. They built churches and brought religious,alike leaders into the country to teach young and old doctrines. Brazil is located in south America and is split into 5 regions, central-west, Northeast, North,Southeast and southern Brazil. Brazil contains many beautiful features such as the Amazon Rainforest,the Brazilian
Brazil is both the largest and most populous country in South America. It is the 5th largest country worldwide in terms of both area (more than 8.5 Mio. km2 ) and habitants (appr. 190 million). The largest city is Sao Paulo which is simultaneously the country's capital; official language is Portuguese. According to the WorldBank classification for countries, Brazil - with a GDP of 1,5 bn. US $ in 2005 and a per capita GPD of appr. 8.500 US - can be considered as an upper middle income country and therefore classified as an industrializing country, aligned with the classification as one of the big emerging markets (BEM) next to Argentina and Mexico. Per capita income is constantly increasing as well as literacy rate (current illiteracy rate 8%). Due to its high population rate (large labour pool), its vast natural resources and its geographical position in the centre of South America, it bears enormous growth potential in the near future. Aligned with an increasing currency stability, international companies have heavily invested in Brazil during the past decade. According to CIA World Factbook, Brazil has the 11th largest PPP in 2004 worldwide and today has a well established middle income economy with wide variations in levels of development. Thus, today Brazil is South America's leading economic power and a regional leader.
Brazil is a diverse and enormous country. There are large, medium and small sized aities that stretch from coast. From Brazilian cit...
...celebrating her birth, and become the old woman spinning silk in the castle that results in Rose's slumber. She also helps the prince make it to the castle, then giving the name Maleficent instead of Matilda. It is even insinuated that she may have been the fish that granted the wish of the queen to give birth to the child, but cannot be confirmed nor denied.
Plato. The Dialogues of Plato. Trans. Benjamin Jowett. Great Books of the Western World. 54 vols. Chicago:Encyclopaedia Britannica 1952. Vol. 7.