Showing results for "Essays" in Ancient, Classical & Medieval Literature

On the Shortness of Life was written by Seneca around the year 49AD. He argues that we waste so much time because we do not properly value it. We expend great effort in protecting other valuables such as money and property, but because time appears intangible, we allow others to occupy it and take time away from us. Wise people, on the other hand, understand that time is the most valuable of all resources, and with effort can free themselves from external control to engage in meaningful introspection and create an intentional life.

‘Ram’s story as a metaphor for human strengths and weaknesses and as a window to inner divinity’—Tehelka / Ram is maryada purushottam, the supreme upholder of social values, scion of the Raghu clan, jewel of the solar dynasty, seventh avatar of Vishnu. Reviled by feminists, appropriated...

This highly regarded volume features a modern translation of all ten books of The Republic. Translated by Raymond Larson. The Republic is an explosion of thought; a ten-book brainstorm of one of the greatest minds of all-time.

Of a Happy Life is an essay written by Seneca around the year 58 AD. It was intended for his older brother Gallio, to whom Seneca also dedicated his dialogue entitled De Ira (On Anger). It is divided into 28 chapters that present the moral thoughts of Seneca at their most mature. Seneca explains that the pursuit of happiness is the pursuit of reason - reason meant not only using logic, but also understanding the processes of nature.

Though best known now for his collection of lively and vivid Parallel Lives from ancient Greece and Rome, Plutarch (c46 CD-120 CE) was, for centuries, more respected for his Moralia, a remarkable and wide-ranging collection of essays and speeches. No fewer than 78 in total, they range over a broad list of topics in which Plutarch observes, dispenses wisdom, admonishes, entertains and informs: covering social issues and politics, manners and religion - in short, life in general.

The work opens with Serenus asking Seneca for counsel, and this request for help takes the form of a medical consultation. Serenus explains that he feels agitated and in a state of unstable immobility, "As if I were on a boat that doesn't move forward and is tossed about." Seneca uses the dialogue to address an issue that cropped up many times in his life: the desire for a life of contemplation and the need for active political engagement. Seneca argues that the goal of a tranquil mind can be achieved by being flexible and seeking a middle way between the two extremes.

As the Enlightenment movement was gathering strength in the early 18th century, various challenges to established religious faith were launched. In response, a number of celebrated commentators produced defences of religion and morality, and among these was Alexander Pope, who was inspired to write "some pieces on Human Life and Manners." The result was a collection of poems in rhyming couplets, designated "Epistles", which were published in instalments.

A new collection of critical and personal essays on the writing life, from National Book Award—winning and New York Times bestselling author Joyce Carol Oates. “Why do we write?” With this question, Joyce Carol Oates, in this new collection of seminal essays and criticism, begins an...

First published in 1711, An Essay on Criticism was one of Pope's earliest major poems. As the title suggests, it is an exploration of what Pope considered to be the essential aspects of good critical writing.

This extraordinary collection of correspondence by Paul Bowles spans eight decades and provides an evolving portrait of an artist renowned for his privacy. From his earliest extant letter, written at the age of four, to his precocious effusions to Aaron Copeland and to Gertrude Stein; from his...

Questa è una raccolta di due testi, di Ovidio e di Catulle Mendès, che l'editore ha sottotitolato come “fisiologia comparata degli amori degli antichi romani e dei parigini moderni”, affidando la prefazione dell'opera appunto ad un fisiologo, il medico e scienziato Paolo Mantegazza. Ma è inutile dire che l'accenno alla medicina è volutamente paradossale, tanto il celebrato amore terreno sia impenetrabile agli innumerevoli sforzi di razionalizzarlo.

Xenophon of Athens (c. 430 BC - 354 BC) was an Athenian historian, philosopher, and soldier. "Hiero", one of Xenophon’s minor works, is a dialogue between Hiero, tyrant of Syracuse, and the lyric poet Simonides, as a response to the assumption that a tyrant's life is more pleasant than that of a commoner. "On Horsemanship" is one of his two treatises on horsemanship. Military training and the duties of the cavalry commander are dealt with in the other, "Hipparchicus", while "On Horsemanship" deals with the selection, care, and training of horses in general.

Las informaciones y comentarios de este ameno e instructivo ensayo conducen al lector por los vericuetos de la creación mitológica griega como si se tratase de una novela de aventuras, comentando la poderosa influencia que los mitos han ejercido en la génesis y evolución del pensamiento humano, con particular énfasis en la formación de las principales lenguas que se hablan en el mundo.

Toward the end of the Hundred Years War between France and England, as Merlin predicted, a great warrior emerged, uniting a beleaguered nation and leading it to improbable victories. It was said this warrior was a messenger of God. And it may have been, for a country was saved and a kingdom restored. This great leader of men, this messenger who united a nation, was a 17-year-old maiden named Joan.