Diogenes Laertius

Diogenes Laertius' Lives of the Philosophers is filled with fascinating stories and sayings from the lives of the great men whose lives and ideas he describes. Read his account of any of the philosophers you would like to know more about. Comment here on what you thought the most interesting thing Diogenes Laertius had to say about that man.

For additional extra credit, read another of the selections in Diogenes Laertius and add a comment on what you found interesting in this new section.

You might find especially interesting the lives of Thales, Anaxagoras, and Diogenes. You might find even more interesting the lives of some of those philosophers who weren't discussed in class--and who often don't make it into the history books at all. If you read, for instance, the life of Bion, you'll perhaps be covering material that even Dr. Blanchard hasn't read.

(N.B., Do not confuse Diogenes Laertius with the Diogenes I discuss in class. A different man!)

Plato

Please read "Meno" for next Tuesday. You can find online editions at either of the links below:

Meno at Digital Classics
Meno at Free Library

Can virtue be taught? The apparent answer in this dialogue is no. But does reading the dialogue help at all in understanding/achieving virtue? If so, how?

Thucydides--Discussion II

Please read the following passages from Thucydides history:

III: 36-50 The Mytilene debate
III: 69-85 The revolution in Corcyra
IV: 42-48 Athenian successes/End of the revolution in Corcyra
V: 13-24 Peace of Nicias
V: 84-116 Melian Dialogue
VI: 89-93 Alcibiades justifies himself
VII: 76-87 Defeat of Nicias

Any particularly tragic elements here? Any elements of real tragedy? Are the themes/conflicts here comparable to the themes/conflicts in Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides? Anything that particularly warrants Thucydides' claim that he is writing a work for all time?

Thucydides--Books I and II

I would like you to read all of Thucydides' history (and all the dialogues of Plato, all thirty two extant Greek tragedies, all the plays of Aristophanes, and all of Plutarch). For next Thursday, however, I will be satisfied if you skim all of Book I and read the following selections from Book II: Pericles' Funeral Oration (II:34-46), The Plague in Athens (II: 46-57), and Pericles' Justification of His Policies (II:57-65).

Comment here on what you think of Thucydides as a historian. Note one specific strength or weakness, and give an example or two of what you liked/didn't like about Thucydides.