Who hasn’t dreamed of having a robot to accomplish certain tasks? For a long time people have conceived the existence and the possibility of having or creating such automatons, or robots, or androids or humanoids in their imaginary worlds, to replace them, or to do things in their place, or just to be with them. The word “robot” is recent (a 20th-century word), but the ancients used the word “automaton”… Read more
Let us here deal with Poetry, its essence and its several species, with the characteristic function of each species and the way in which plots must be constructed if the poem is to be a success; and also with the number and character of the constituent parts of a poem, and similarly with all other matters proper to this same inquiry; and let us, as nature directs, begin first with… Read more
For October’s Book Club, we will be reading selections from Greek and Roman Actors: Aspects of an Ancient Profession, edited by Pat Easterling and Edith Hall, which will provide the opportunity to read different perspectives about various aspects of theatrical performance in ancient Greece. Our suggested readings are: Chapter 1: “The singing actors of antiquity” by Edith Hall Chapter 6: “Looking for the actor’s art in Aristotle” by G.M. Sifakis… Read more
We were pleased to welcome Thomas Köntges of University of Leipzig for an Open House discussion titled, Re-Re-Counting Plato: This Time with More Data. It took place on Thursday, March 8, at 11:00 a.m. EST, and was recorded. In preparation, you might like to read these short passages with the following questions in mind: How does Aristotle usually quote Plato? When Aristotle mentions Socrates, does he refer to Plato’s Socrates?… Read more