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Mary Renault Book Discussion
injest:
She visits the story again in "The Praise Singer" where she tells the story in great detail from the viewpoint of a contemporary....
If you haven't read it; it will break your heart
"The youth had killed for pride, but the man for love: from anger at the hurt to his beloved, and that one man should have the power to do it; from fear that he had the power to take the beloved away."
Kerry:
--- Quote from: injest on January 17, 2007, 08:24:22 am ---She visits the story again in "The Praise Singer" where she tells the story in great detail from the viewpoint of a contemporary....
If you haven't read it; it will break your heart
"The youth had killed for pride, but the man for love: from anger at the hurt to his beloved, and that one man should have the power to do it; from fear that he had the power to take the beloved away."
--- End quote ---
:'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(
Kerry:
Another word, thrown into the mix by Mary Renault is “hoplite.” She says, of the forthcoming war with Syracuse, “many of the knights, not to be left behind, had volunteered as hoplites.” So, what exactly was a hoplite?
“The Hoplite was a heavy metalband that was the central focus of warfare in Ancient Greece. The word hoplite (Greek ὁπλίτης, hoplitēs) derives from hoplon (ὅπλον, plural hopla, ὅπλα) meaning an item of armor or equipment and consequently the entire equipment of the hoplite (but not specifically the circular shield, which is sometimes incorrectly referred to as a hoplon, though it was in fact called an aspis). These soldiers probably first appeared in the late seventh century B.C. They were a citizen-militia, and so were armed as spearmen, which are relatively easy to equip and maintain; they were primarily drawn from the middle class, who could afford the cost of the armaments. Almost all the famous men of ancient Greece, even philosophers and playwrights, fought as hoplites at some point in their lives.
Since the hoplites were a militia force and did not receive permanent wages, campaigns were short and mainly confined to the summer. Armies marched directly to their target. There, the defenders could hide behind city walls, in which case the attackers generally had to content themselves with ravaging the countryside (as siegecraft was undeveloped), or meet them on the field. Battles were usually set piece and intended to be decisive. These battles were short, bloody, and brutal, and thus required a high degree of discipline. Both forces lined up on a level field, usually in a rough phalanx formation around eight ranks deep (though this varied). Other troops were less important; hippeis (cavalry) generally protected the flanks, when present at all, and both light infantry and missile troops were negligible. The best known hoplites were the Spartans, who were trained from birth to become magnificent warriors.”
injest:
--- Quote from: Kerry on January 17, 2007, 05:01:53 pm --- :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(
--- End quote ---
You read "The Praise Singer"??
it is very bittersweet...
injest:
One of the reviews for this book says that Alexias is growing up in a time when society is being torn apart by forces they barely see or understand...
in this chapter we begin to see it....and I can't help but compare it to the US today...
They look back on the greatness of past generations and you see some still clinging to the old manners..while a new movement is afoot to bring down the autocracy of the past..ok..I think that is not the right word!! LOL...the upper crust, the leaders..
Alexias hears an interesting arguement speaking of equality...
"Shall I tell you the sin of Alkibiades? He was born too late to into a City of little men. Why did the mob banish Aristides the Just? Because they were sick of hearing his virtue praised. The admitted it. It shamed them. Now they hate to see beauty and wit, valour and birth and wealth, united in one man. What keeps the democracy alive at all but the hatred of excellence; the desire of the base to see no head higher than their own?"
"Not so, by the gods. It is justice, the gift of Zeus to men."
"Justice? If the gods give a man wisdom or forethought, or skill, must he be brought down as if had got them by theft? We shall be laming the best athletes soon, at the demand of the worst, in the name of justice. Or some citizen with pockmarks and a squint will lay a complaint against such a boy as this" (here he pointed suddenly at me) "and his nose will be broken, I suppose, for justice's sake."
I see parellels to our own times...the schools that have banned tag or spelling bees to 'protect' childrens egos...
even handicapped parking spots for an ever widening group of complaints and ailments...
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