As usual, there will be no Book Club meeting in December, to allow for the holiday season. But here is a preview of what will be coming up in the new year. In keeping with the expansive ideals of Kosmos Society where we have read works from related languages and societies, we will be reading primary sources not only from the ancient Greek world, but also from other premodern cultures,… Read more
We have now discussed the physical characteristics of animals and their methods of generation. Their habits and their modes of living vary according to their character and their food…. Opening of Book 8, translation by D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson. For November, we will read selections from Aristotle’s History of Animals. In the Prefatory Note to his translation[1], D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson puts the composition of these studies in Aristotle’s middle age, started… Read more
I present you a new Play, which they call “Epidicazomenos,” in Greek: in the Latin, he calls it “Phormio;” because the person that acts the principal part is Phormio, a Parasite, through whom, principally, the plot will be carried on from the Prologue, translated by Henry Thomas Riley For October, we come to our second play of the year: Phormio (“The Scheming Parasite”) by Terence. The Encyclopedia Britannica[1] says that… Read more
In the beginning, especially, married people ought to be on their guard against disagreements and clashes, for they see that such household vessels as are made of sections joined together are at the outset easily pulled apart by any fortuitous cause, but after a time, when their joints have become set, they can hardly be separated by fire and steel. from ‘Advice to Bride and Groom’, translation by F. C.… Read more
Alexander saw that the campaign against the Gandaridae would not be easy, but he was not discouraged. He had confidence in the fighting qualities of his Macedonians, as well as in the oracles which he had received, and expected that he would be victorious. He remembered that the Pythia had called him “unconquerable,” and Ammon had given him the rule of the whole world. 17.93.4, tr. Oldfather For August we… Read more