►Literature: Borges´ “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius”: “Fictional Universes and their effects on Reality”.✴️🌐👁‍🗨.-

 “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius”:

“Fictional Universes and their effects on Reality”:

“Intersections” by Anila Quayyum Agha. Contemporary artist.

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►About Jorge Luis Borges, author of  “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius”: 

Jorge Luis Borges (1899/1986).

Jorge Luis Borges (1899/1986) was an Argentine writer, acclaimed in many other countries.

“Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius” originally appeared in Spanish in “Sur magazine” in may 1940. It was then published in book form in “Antología de la Literatura Fantástica” (december 1940), then in Borges’s 1941 collection “El Jardín de Senderos que se Bifurcan” (“The Garden of Forking Paths”). That entire book was, in turn, included within “Ficciones” (1944).

This short story was included in Borges´s book “Labyrinths”, translated to English by James E. Irby.

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►“Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius”: Synopsis. Structure. Points of View (POVs):

Synopsis: The narrator (Borges) randomly comes across an article about a region called Uqbar. He then finds an Encyclopedia about Tlön (a country in Uqbar). The enigmatic story reveals that Tlön and Ubqar are fictitious places, invented by a secret society called Orbis Tertius.

Structure, and Points of View (POVs): The story is divided into three parts.

The Points of Views in “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius are basically two.

First Person, when the actions of the story are filtered through the observations of one character. Present in the first section, as a protagonist. 

Third Person; Predominantly Objective in the second and third section (postscript), but with Omniscient/all-knowing features in the postscript, as well. (For more about Points of View, check out Jeri Walker´s thorough post: “Picking a Point of View”).

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►”Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius”:

Detailed summary and analysis by sections:

1) ♠In the first section, the narrator and his friend and writer, Adolfo Bioy Casares,  discuss a hypothetical “novel in the first person, whose narrator would omit or disfigure the facts and indulge in various contradictions” (Page 1, according to University of Yale´s transcript).

The mirror in the hallway reminds Bioy Casares of an article in The Anglo-American Cyclopaedia  about a country named Uqbar.

Casares then quotes a saying he remembers from a heresiarch of Uqbar: “Mirrors and copulation are abominable, for they multiply the number of mankind”. (Page 1, according to University of Yale´s transcript).

Borges asks him where he had found that quote. Casares believed that Uqbar, along with the quotation, was catalogued in The Anglo-American Cyclopaedia. Borges also has that same book in his place, but oddly it does not mention Uqbar, so he asks Bioy for further details. The following day, Bioy Casares brings him a copy containing the entry on Uqbar, with the quotation he had paraphrased.

There is something very interesting when it comes to the narrative structure here. It all starts with the apocryphal quotation, a sort of riddle that leads to an enlargement occurring in a staggered form: From the discovery of the text, to the imaginary country called Uqbar (vaguely situated in Asia, according to the article in The Anglo-American Cyclopaedia) and then to Tlön (one of the two regions of Uqbar, alongside Mlejnas).

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2) ♠The second section describes the narrator’s discovery of a volume of the Encyclopedia of Tlön, left behind in a bar by an Englishman, Herbert Ashe. This happens in 1937, meaning two years after Bioy Casares and Borges´ first knowledge of Uqbar and Tlön. Ashe´s manuscript  was the eleventh volume of a complete Encyclopedia surveying the imaginary city of Tlön.

The volume has on its first page a stamped blue oval inscribed “Orbis Tertius” (“third orb,” in Latin).

According to Borges, this encyclopedia entails a methodical and orderly infinitesimal plan, devised by a sect.

Borges describes some of the characteristics and features of Tlön and its people, based on the volume of the Encyclopedia he had found.

We can summarize some of the main points as:

-Tlön is divided in two hemispheres. In none of these hemispheres, nouns are included in their languages.

-People of this imaginary planet are “idealist” and do not believe in the material, objective existence of their surroundings.

-The world itself is understood as a series of mental processes lacking temporal duration. The lack of spatial relations across time lead to a distorted conception of identity. 

The philosopher Berkeley is mentioned by Borges as a referent in Tlön. Of course, not in practical way but more as Borges´interpretation. Bishop George Berkeley (18th century) was an Irish philosopher whose primary achievement was the advancement of a theory he called “immaterialism” or “subjective idealism”. This theory denies the existence of material substance and instead contends that objects are only ideas in the minds of perceiver and, as a result, cannot exist without being perceived.

Berkeley believed God to be present as an immediate cause of all our experiences.

Here is Berkeley’s proof of the existence of God: “Whatever power I may have over my own thoughts, I find the ideas actually perceived by Sense have not a like dependence on my will. When in broad daylight I open my eyes, it is not in my power to choose whether I shall see or no, or to determine what particular objects shall present themselves to my view; and so likewise as to the hearing and other senses; the ideas imprinted on them are not creatures of my will. There is therefore some other Will or Spirit that produces them”. (Berkeley. Principles #29).

Inhabitants of the imaginary Tlön hold an extreme form of George Berkeley’s subjective idealism, denying the reality of the world.

Their world is seen not as a concurrence of objects in space, but as a heterogeneous series of independent acts.

Borges says: “The nations of this planet are congenitally idealist. Their language and the derivations of their language – religion, letters, metaphysics – all presuppose idealism. The world for them is not a concourse of objects in space; it is a heterogeneous series of independent acts. It is successive and temporal, not spatial”. (Page 7, according to University of Yale´s transcript).

But Tlön is a world of Berkeleyan idealism with one critical omission: it lacks the omnipresent, perceiving deity on whom Berkeley relied as a point of view demanding an internally consistent world.

The idea of eternal present appears in the second section.

Aristotle (384 /322) .

Borges mentions: “One of the schools of Tlön goes so far as to negate time: it reasons that the present is indefinite, that the future has no reality other than as a present memory” (Page 8, according to University of Yale´s transcript).

The idea of time as Indefinite Present could be linked to Aristotle. Aristotle argues that the essence of time is the now, to nun.  

The “now” is given simultaneously as that which is no longer and as that which is not yet. Aristotle defines time as “a number of change in respect of the before and after”. As time implies a sense of a before and after, for Aristotle time is the coming-to-be and passing-away of nows moving in an irreversible, lineal way.

The First Encyclopedia of Tlön makes reference to two types of special objects: hronirs and urs. 

Hronirs are lost objects that could be found, or better said “produced” by people or animals. They entail a sort of duplication, being somehow clones or copies of the original object.

But, Borges suggests that a copy of another hronir would be deficient: “Curiously, the hronir of second and third degree – the hronir derived from another hron, those derived from the hron of a hron – exaggerate the aberrations of the initial one”. (Page 12, according to University of Yale´s transcript).

Furthermore, Borges states that according to an experiment done with Tlön inmates: “expectation and anxiety can be inhibitory (when it comes to produce the secondary objects)” (Page 11, according to University of Yale´s transcript).

He also says that the reverse can occur: “Things became duplicated in Tlön; they also tend to become effaced and lose their details when they are forgotten. A classic example is the doorway which survived so long it was visited by a beggar and disappeared at his death” (Page 12 , according to University of Yale´s transcript). 

Finally, Borges also mentions a different type of secondary objects: Urs.  “An ur is the object produced through suggestion, educed by hope”. (Page 12 , according to University of Yale´s transcript).

Walter Benjamin (1892/1940).

The description of Hronirs, and especially how the copies might be defective could be linked to Walter Benjamin´s idea of “loss of the aura”. In his essay, “The Work of Art In The Age of Mechanical Reproduction”, Benjamin-one of the most well-known members of the Frankfurt School describes the so-called “loss of the aura”, in the context of mechanical reproduction of art. The aura represents the originality and authenticity of a work of art that has not been reproduced. In the age of mechanical reproduction, mass consumption is the cause of the loss of the aura, and, therefore, the loss of a singular authority within the work of art itself. However, for Walter Benjamin, a distance from the aura is a good thing. The loss of the aura has the potential to open up the politicization of art, whether or not that opening is detrimental or beneficial is yet to be determined.

Maps of Eastern & Western Hemispheres by N.C. Wyeth for National Geographic, 1928

“The garden of earthly delights” (detail) by Hieronymus Bosch. 16 th century.

“Study For Stars” by M. C. Escher. 1948.

“B.A.” by Borges´friend Xul Solar (1929).

 

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3) ♠Third and last section (Postcript):  The postscript reveals that Tlön and Ubqar are fictitious places, invented by a secret society called Orbis Tertius. This society worked for three hundred years and came up with the imaginary lands Uqbar and Tlön.

In his postcript, Borges notes several “intrusions” of Tlön into the real world, the most notable being the 1942 discovery of a Tlönian artifact in the hand of a dying man: a small metal cone of unknown material which was inexplicably heavy.

Borges says that all forty volumes of the Encyclopedia of Tlön were discovered and published in a library in Memphis. The material then became accessible worldwide, and immensely influential on Earth’s culture, science and languages. By the time Borges concludes the story (presumably in 1947) the world is already gradually disintegrating and transforming into Tlön. Besides, every domain of human knowledge has been rewritten to accommodate the truths of Tlön, and Borges expects the process to continue in the future.

La Salle des planetes, by Erik Desmazieres, for “The Library of Babel” by Jorge Luis Borges

“The Ladder of Divine Ascent”, late 12th century icon at Saint Catherine’s Monastery, Mount Sinai.

“Ascent of the Blessed” by Hieronymus Bosch, after 1490.

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►“Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius”: Final Thoughts:

Based on a very complex temporal structure, this short story consists of three parts and two moments of enunciation. That is, the first part introduces Uqbar; the second presents Tlön; and the third, Orbis Tertius.

Also, the first two parts were, according to the fiction itself, written in 1940, while the third was written in  1947.
However as previously mentioned, this short story was first published in 1940.

The passage of time has diluted the effect that Borges sought and, instead, has favored the erroneous assumption that he added the postscript at the historical, “actual”  date of 1947.

The three stages of the same plan are revealed through two texts: The Anglo-American Cyclopaedia entails the discovery of Uqbar. The First Encyclopaedia of Tlön, leads to know about the fantastic planet called Tlön, while the letter addressed to Herbert Ashe, explains plans and contingencies of the society Orbis Tertius. These three texts are either copies, or give birth of them.

The Anglo-American Cyclopaedia is a Fallacious copy of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Besides, the literalness of The Anglo-American Cyclopaedia is a hoax, as only in one volume of three the characters managed to find the article on Uqbar.

In this same line of analysis, although the narrator refers to the original text of the eleventh volume of A First Encyclopaedia of Tlön, in the postscript a second version of that encyclopedia is mentioned.

This newest version also distorts its original. At least as far as the eleventh volume concerns. The volumen that the narrator found in 1937 is modified in the version exhumed in 1944. The modifications refer to certain “incredible features”, such as the curious objects that duplicate in Tlön, the hrönir.

Finally, the Postcript suggests that the letter addressed to Herbert Ashe might have been reproduced in order to publicize the existence of Tlön and its imminent invasion of Reality. The narrator (Borges himself) is included in this work, summarizing the content of the letter.

Plato (427/347 BCE).-

The duplication and proliferation of copies  might allude to Plato´s Theory of Forms. 

In his dialogue Phaedo, Plato defends the world of the archetypes (Ideas/Forms)  by comparing it with the sensible world. While the Idea or archetype contains within itself an absolute and immutable value, the sensible copy reproduces this value in a partial, nether degree. 

In “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius,” the Platonic attitude of disdain towards copies is enunciated from the beginning, with the imprecise quote that Bioy Casares mentions and which Borges attunes, later on.

Back to the quote, not only mirrors and copulation multiply and spread the universe. It seems that texts also do. In this sense, multiplication tends to alter the reproduced texts (simplifying them or modifying them). However, when it comes to the subsequent development of the encyclopedias in this story, one could conclude that the copies might “improve” the respective originals.

Disorted Copies and Mirrors are elements that relate one to each other.

The mirror in Borges appears as a sort of unifying element between Reality and Fantasy. The perfect symbiosis between the real and the Fictional world ultimately demarcates the limits of the mirror.

In the case of Tlön, the narrative is constructed as a mirror. The image reflected is a “distorted and parodied” image of our own Culture.
Tlön is presented before hand as unreal, to finally persuade us that fictional planet is our world.

The resource used in this story is to render unlikely any event of reality. We could conclude that mental facts have woven a warp of such real consistency that it reaches the “real” world, introducing doubts to the reader.

On the Left: Hyperbolic tessellation: Circle Limit III, by M. C. Escher. 1959. On the right: Butterfly by M. C. Escher. 1960´s.

This short story has both detective novel and dystopian novel elements.

In the first sense, the crime here described is the proliferation of fiction in the world of the narrator.

Or, said in other words, the death of reality due to the effects caused by the multiplication of Tlön:

“The contact and the habit of Tlön have disintegrated this world. Enchanted by its rigor, humanity forgets over and again that it is a rigor of chess masters, not of angels. Already the schools have been invaded by the (conjectural) “primitive language” of Tlön; already the teaching of its harmonious history (filled with moving episodes) has wiped out the one which governed in my childhood; already a fictitious past occupies in our memories the place of another, a past of which we know nothing with certainty – not even a that it is false…. If our forecasts are not in error, a hundred years from now someone will discover the hundred volumes of the Second Encyclopedia of Tlön.  Then English and French and mere Spanish will disappear from the globe. The world will be Tlön“.  (Page 16, according to University of Yale´s transcript).

Speculation is necessary here. For fiction to affect reality until it is annihilated, as happens when Tlön -as invention- influences reality, certain coherence is required. That is why, as we have seen, Borges´jigsaws, characters and researches are purely intellectual. Being these strategic elements of the genre available, a “real” world (the narrator’s) is constructed, as opposed to the “unreal” world of Tlön (which, however, is also made up of ideas). This is what allows Reality to be annihilated by Fiction.

As to the Dystopian factor, it is worth highlighting that the secret society Orbis Tertius had planned a textual conspiracy, directed to operate through a series of speeches and aiming to subjugate humanity. Subjugation subtly occurs Language, implying a perversion of rhetoric.

Taking this interpretation further, the disappearance of “English, French and Spanish” could allude to the Third Reich project of destroying the heterogeneity of civilization in favor of the predominance of a superior “race”.

Finally, the Dystopian element is surreptitiously expressed in the use of language (Otherwise, and also, as a resource of Power).

The story begins with a memory of Bioy Casares extracted from an apocryphal book. It ends with a destructive invasion of the real world by “objects” (which are nothing else but ideas) from a false world, published by an apocryphal book: the First Encyclopaedia of Tlön.

In fine, the story as a whole seems to contain an otherwise positive warning, about the limitations of language.

Language, without more reference than itself, can not allow us to distinguish between the apocryphal and the authentic, between what is false and what is true.🔚

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➰☑️ “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius”:

►Read “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius” by Jorge Luis Borges.

Translation to English from Yale University. Click Here. 

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►Links Post:

http://art.yale.edu/file_columns/0000/0066/borges.pdf

http://ciudadseva.com/texto/tlon-uqbar-orbis-tertius/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tl%C3%B6n,_Uqbar,_Orbis_Tertius

http://jeriwb.com/picking-a-point-view-57117/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BxOE3bO6SM&t=14m2s

http://hyperallergic.com/75485/borges-and-xul-solar-illuminating-an-artistic-friendship/

http://losojosdeborges.blogspot.com.ar/2004/12/tln-uqbar-orbis-tertius.html

http://ficcionesborges.blogspot.com.ar/2005/05/tln-uqbar-orbis-tertius-sobre-lo.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Berkeley

https://belate.wordpress.com/2011/02/17/aristotle-definition-of-time-in-physics/

https://frankfurtschool.wordpress.com/2008/02/28/summary-the-work-of-art-in-the-age-of-mechanical-reproduction/

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►Greek Literature: “Oedipus Rex” by Sophocles / “An Essay by Erin Sandlin” 🔆.-

The Sphinx presenting her riddle to Oedipus. Attic Red Figure. 450 – 440 BC.

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🔆♣“The Theban Plays”🔆:

In my previous post, I introduced some of the most important characteristics of Tragedy, as highlighted by Aristotle in his book “Poetics”. In brief, I mentioned the main characteristics, aims and structure of tragedy.

Furthermore, I made reference to the most famous ancient greek playwrights of the genre Tragedy: Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. 

Sophocles 497/ 406 BC was the author of “Oedipus Rex”, the tragedy we´ll analyse in this post. He wrote 120 plays during the course of his life, but only seven have survived in a complete form. Among them we should mention the so-called Theban plays.

The Theban plays consist of three plays: “Oedipus Rex” (“Oedipus the King”, also called “Oedipus Tyrannus”), “Oedipus at Colonus” and “Antigone”. 

These plays, which were presented as a trilogy, took second prize in the City Dionysia at its original performance. Aeschylus‘s nephew Philocles took first prize at that competition.

The three plays concern the fate of the city of Thebes during and after the reign of King Oedipus.

Each of the plays relates to the tale of the mythological Oedipus, who killed his father and married his mother without knowledge that they were his parents. Oedipus´ family is fated to be doomed for three generations.

The Theban Plays by Sophocles.

The  Trilogy was written across thirty-six years of Sophocles’ career and the plays were not composed in chronological order, but instead were written in the order “Antigone”, “Oedipus the King” and “Oedipus at Colonus”.

The logical and  chronological order would be:

• “Oedipus Rex” narrates the vicissitudes of King Oedipus, who unknowingly married his mother, Jocasta, and killed his father, Laius.

• In “Oedipus at Colonus”, the banished Oedipus and his daughter Antigone arrive at the town of Colonus where they encounter Theseus, King of Athens. Oedipus dies and strife begins between his sons Polyneices and Eteocles.

• In “Antigone”, the protagonist is Oedipus’ daughter, Antigone. She is faced with the choice of allowing her brother Polyneices‘ body to remain unburied, outside the city walls, exposed to the ravages of wild animals, or to bury him and face death. The king of the land, Creon, has forbidden the burial of Polyneices for he was a traitor to the city. Antigone decides to bury his body and face the consequences of her actions. Creon sentences her to death. Eventually, Creon is convinced to free Antigone from her punishment, but his decision comes too late and Antigone commits suicide. Her suicide triggers the suicide of two others close to King Creon: his son, Haemon, who was to wed Antigone, and his Creon´s wife, Queen Eurydice, who commits suicide after losing her only surviving son. 

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Sophocles ca. 496 – 406 BC

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🔆I. ♣“Oedipus Rex”. Background🔆:

Many elements of  “Oedipus Rex” (which was first performed in 430 BC), take place before the opening scene of the play.

Let´s consider which they are…

Laius (Oedipus´father) was the tutor of Chrysippus, youngest of the King Pelops of Elis´son. He abducted and raped Chrysippus, who killed himself in shame.

This murder cast a doom over Laius and all of his other descendants.

King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes had a son.

Having Laius learned from an oracle that “he was doomed to perish by the hand of his own son”, he ordered Jocasta to kill the child. Jocasta couldn´t do that by herself so she asked a servant to commit the act. The servant took the child and gave him to a shepherd, who named him Oedipus (or “swollen feet”). He carried the baby with him to Corinth and raised him.

As a young man in Corinth, Oedipus heard a rumour that he was not the biological son of Polybus and his wife Merope.

He asked the Delphic Oracle who his parents really were. The Oracle ignored this question, cryptically telling him instead that he was destined to “Mate with his own mother, and shed/With his own hands the blood of his own sire”. Desperate to avoid this, Oedipus left Corinth in the belief that Polybus and Merope were indeed his true parents and that, once away from them, he would never harm them.

On the road to Thebes, he met Laius, his true father, with several other men. Unaware of each other’s identities, Laius and Oedipus quarrelled over whose chariot has right-of-way. As a result, Oedipus killed Laius, hence fulfilling part of the oracle’s prophecy.

Continuing on his way, Oedipus found Thebes plagued by the Sphinx, who put a riddle to all passersby and destroyed those who could not answer.

The riddle of the sphinx was “What is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three in the evening?”

Oedipus gave the proper answer: man, who crawls on all fours in infancy, walks on two feet when grown, and leans on a staff in old age.

Thus, Oedipus solved the riddle, and the Sphinx killed herself. And, in reward, he received the throne of Thebes and the hand of the widowed queen, his mother, Jocasta.

Oedipus and Jocasta had four children: Eteocles, Polyneices, Antigone, and Ismene.

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“Oedipus and the Sphinx” by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1808).

Oedipus and the Sphinx by Gustave Moreau. 1864.

Oedipus and the Sphinx by Giorgio de Chirico. 1968.

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🔆II. ♣“Oedipus Rex”. Summary🔆:

The entire action of the play is set in the city of Thebes, which is in the grip of a deadly plague.

Oedipus has already sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to the Oracle of Delphi in order to ask the Oracle why this is the case. According to the Oracle, Apollo regards religious or moral pollution (miasma) resulting from the murder of the former king, Laius, to be the cause of the plague and that the cause of it (i.e. Laius’ murderer) must be killed or expelled from Theban territory.

Laius was the ruler of Thebes before  Oedipus and was supposedly killed during a journey by a group of robbers.

Oedipus firmly resolves to find the murderer and prosecute him. This causes Oedipus to put a curse on Laius’s murderer and to call the blind prophet, Tiresias, for advice.

But the meeting with Tiresias doesn´t turn out well. Tiresias refuses to reveal anything to Oedipus. He prefers to keep silent as he does not want to be the cause of Oedipus’ ruin. Oedipus, on the other hand, interprets Tiresias’ silence as treachery. He labels him a villain and a conspirator along with Creon.

Tiresias leaves, warning that Oedipus will cause his own ruin. Later in the play, Tiresias tragically reveals to Oedipus that the king himself is the cause, since he had killed King Laius.

Oedipus doesn’t believe him — since he did not know who Laius was when he killed him — and sends him away.

When Jocasta tells Oedipus the story of Laius’s murder, her mention of the specific location at which he was killed makes Oedipus suspicious that he might have been the killer.

As the investigations into Laius’ murder proceed, the fact that a sole witness is alive comes to light. Oedipus sends for this man, who is an old shepherd.

But, such an awry coincidence, he sole witness of Laius’ murder is also the man who had handed over the infant Oedipus to the Corinthian shepherd. This man holds the key to the mystery of Oedipus’ birth. Oedipus persuades him to speak up and so he does.

Finally the Theban shepherd reveals his version. And the truth comes to light: that Oedipus is the son of Laius and Jocasta, not Polybus and Merope. This moment is the Climax, meaning the most tension in the tragedy.

After the climax comes the Falling action. Jocasta commits suicide by hanging herself and Oedipus, unable to see his wretched existence, blinds himself. Oedipus’ curse falls on himself, and he wishes to leave Thebes. 

Oedipus briefly speaks with his daughters, lamenting their fates as a result of his own. Finally, Oedipus goes into exile, accompanied by Antigone and Ismene, leaving his brother-in-law Creon as regent. With that, the plague ends.

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The Murder of Laius by Oedipus by Paul Joseph Blanc. 1867.

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🔆III. ♣“Oedipus Rex”. Structure🔆:

According to Aristotle in his book “Poetics”, the narrative structure or plot (Mythos) consists of three parts: Protasis, Epitasis and Catastrophe.

• The Protasis is the beginning of the tragedy. 

• The Epitasis is the middle or climax of the plot, which are caused by earlier incidents and itself cause the incidents that follow it. 

• The Catastrophe is the resolution or end of the plot. 

Check out further details concerning the narrative structure in “Oedipus Rex” by clicking on the images below.

1. Protasis. A Plague is upon Thebes and Oedipus send Creon to the Delphi Oracle to know the reasons or this. Supposedly the only way to end it is by finding the King´s murderer.

2. Epitasis. Oedipus meets the blind Tiresias who tells him that Oedipus himself is the killer. Oedipus accuses him of betrayal, but at the same time begin to look for further clues as he hints something might be woefully true.

3. Catastrophe. Jocasta and Oedipus realized that the prophecy is true. Oedipus is Jocasta´s son and has slept with her and killed his own father, Laius. As a tragic result, Jocasta commits suicide and Oedipus stabs his eyes out and is sent to exile by Creon.

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🔆IV. ♣“Oedipus Rex”. Analysis🔆: 

Hamartia, Anagnorisis, Peripetia and Catharsis:

In a tipical Tragedy, the protagonist should be renowned and prosperous, so his change of fortune can be from good to bad.

This change should come about as the result, not of vice, but of some great error or frailty in a character. Such a plot is most likely to generate pity and fear in the audience. It will evoke pity and fear in its viewers, causing the viewers to experience a feeling of Catharsis, (“purgation” or “purification”).

Catharsis is linked to pity, which is “aroused by unmerited misfortune, fear by the misfortune of a man like ourselves”. That undeserved luck is most times linked to the word Hamartia, often translated as “tragic flaw”.

Oedipus suffers because of his Hamartia. Oedipus’ mistake – killing his father at the crossroads – is made unknowingly. Indeed, for him, there is no way of escaping his fate.

In “Poetics”, Aristotle outlined the characteristics of an ideal Tragic Hero. He must be “better than we are,” a man who is superior to the average man in some way.

In Oedipus’s case, he is superior not only because of social standing, but also because he is smart: he is the only person who could solve the Sphinx’s riddle.

Oedipus earns royal respect at Thebes when he solves the riddle of the Sphinx. As a gift for freeing the city, Creon gives Oedipus dominion over the city.

Thus, Oedipus’ nobility derives from many and diverse sources, and the audience develops a great respect and emotional attachment to him.

In general terms, we can say that the role of the Hamartia (Tragic Flaw) in tragedy comes not from its moral status but from the inevitability of its consequences.

According to Aristotle, the protagonist will mistakenly bring about his own downfall—not because he is sinful or morally weak, but because he does not know enough. Oedipus fits this precisely, for his basic flaw is his lack of knowledge about his own identity.

The Anagnorisis, or the recognition point, happens when Oedipus realizes the truth about his parentage, as a shepherd reveals the fact that Oedipus was the son of Laius and Jocasta.

At this stage, the protagonist realizes the truth of a situation, discovers another character’s identity or learns an unknown fact about his own self. Oedipus is far from perfect. He has been blind to the truth and stubbornly refuses to believe Tiresias‘ warnings. And, although he is a good father, he unwittingly fathered children in incest.(With his own mother, Jocasta).  

What follows anagnorisis is known as Peripetia (Reversal), where the opposite of what was planned or expected by the protagonist, occurs.

The Peripetia entrains a crucial action from/on the protagonis that changes the situation, from seemingly secure to vulnerable. This leads to results diametrically opposed to those that were intended.

Hence, this unavoidable downfall of the protagonist of a tragedy is usually caused by the character’s “tragic flaw”. 

The ultimate cause of Oedipus‘ downfall is his unwillingness to accept his fate. He cannot accept the predictions about his life (that he will murder his father and sleep with his mother) and he fights against them. This rejection could be seen as evidence of his great pride. 

Additionally, Oedipus invites information, however damaging it might be, saying that he can handle any truth that comes his way. 

Oedipus was raised by his adoptive parents, Polybus and Merope, the king and queen of Corinth, after his biological parents, Laius and Jocasta, the king and queen of Thebes, sent him away to be killed to avoid a prophecy that Laius received which stated that his son would kill him and then marry his wife. 

Oedipus grew up, never knowing that his adoptive parents weren’t his biological parents until, one day, a drunk man told him about it.  He needed to know more so he went to the oracle to find out, but the oracle wouldn’t answer his questions. Instead, the Oracle said that he would one day kill his father and marry his mother. 

Thinking, then, that he would kill Polybus and marry Merope, Oedipus resolved never to return to Corinth and to go to Thebes instead.  He met a man on the road, got into an altercation with him, and killed him; this man turned out to be his biological father, Laius.  When Oedipus  to Thebes, after answering the sphinx’s riddle and freeing the city from her reign of terror, the Thebans were so happy with him and in need of a king, they made him king and he married the old king’s wife, his mother, Jocasta.  

In this way,  the most obvious irony in the play is that Oedipus‘s attempt to avoid fulfilling a terrible prophecy is actually what enables it to come true.

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Blind Oedipus bids farewell to the body of his wife and son by Edouard Toudouze. 1871.

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🔆V. ♣“Oedipus Rex”. Incest and Patricide🔆: 

Among all the permissiveness of ancient Greek culture, including homosexual relationships between old men and young boys,  and the open taking of numerous courtesans by married men, incest remains a reprehensible offense. Throughout Greek literature, Incest, alongside patricide/matricide also seem to be an equally odious crime. 

In the second part of Aeschylus´ trilogy “Oresteia”,  Clytemnestra is murdered by her son Orestes. (Matricide).

In the  third and last play, “The Eumenides”, Orestes is judged because of his crime whilst being besieged and tormented by the Erynies, goddesses of vengeance and often depicted  as ugly, winged women with hair, arms and waists entwined with serpents. Furthermore, the wrath of the Erinyes manifested itself in a number of ways and the most severe of these was the tormenting madness inflicted upon a patricide or matricide.

The theories presented in Freud’s “Totem and Taboo” help to explain Incest in “Oedipus Rex”.

Freud holds that all human males innately harbor not a natural aversion to incest, but the opposite: an instinctive sexual attraction to the mother (Oedipus Complex).

He says: “The experiences of psychoanalysis have taught . . . that the first sexual impulses of the young are regularly of an incestuous nature” (“Totem and Taboo”, p. 160).

He also asserts that each male harbors ambivalent feelings towards his father. On one hand, he loves, looks up to, and respects his father. On the other, with the awakening of sexual feelings which initially naturally fix themselves towards the mother, he comes to hate his father as a rival and oppressor.

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“Oedipus and the Erynies or Furies” by Jakob Asmus (18th century).

🔆➰🔆►Read “Oedipus Rex”, by Sophocles here.

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🔆V. ♣“Oedipus Rex”🔆: 

🔆“Oedipus and Sophocles: Anthropology, Psychology, and the Role of Women in Context”🔆: 

∼By ©Erin Sandlin∼

When Sophocles wrote the three plays that comprise the Oedipus series, his goals and messages would have been shaped both by his culture and his milieu. As an anthropologist, I tend to interpret the truism that art imitates life with a greater breadth and depth than most might. In the essay that follows, I’ll touch upon issues of cultural messaging, the modern (and to my mind, inaptly characterized) Oedipal Complex, and the role of women as reinforced such as that reinforced by the plays in question.  

•Cultural Messaging: 

Given that my knowledge of Ancient Greek literature and art are not at a level consistent with scholarly discourse, I’ll largely speak in general terms, with an anthropological scope. Cultural messaging—or the formation and transmission of symbols, ideologies, material culture, aesthetics, and other domains—is taken as a constant feature of stratified human societies throughout time and space. It’s also a two-way street.  

While established cultural themes and values shape and are received by individuals, those individuals in turn act to shape the continuously evolving features of cultural sensibilities that are characteristic of a general culture or culture group. This is, perhaps, more true of those responsible for creation of art and literature than of individuals who simply consume symbols or rely on established formulations for their livelihoods. Art imitates life, because it is this realism that makes art consumable.  

While a play or a sculpture, a painting or architecture, dance, music or written works can all serve as platforms for specific cultural messages, they must not depart too severely from what is accepted as normal by the audience.  Sophocles’ works tread this line in the social sand with finesse, using established cultural forms while delivering a message or suite of messages.  In the Oedipus plays, he regaled his audience with drama that was instantly recognizable by any class, although what his intended messages were, I won’t speculate.  They were, however, shaped on an intimate level by the world he knew.  

•“Oedipus Rex” and Cultural Taboo: 

Ancient Greece was by no means a unified, national entity. Rather, it was a loose collection of city-states with many common cultural features that permitted unification against a common enemy, even while they fueled internecine conflict. However, features shared by these warring sibling communities were often expressed in philosophy, rhetoric, and the general code of ethics required by any individual to be respected within their community. In addition to food and dress, music and theatre, the pursuits of the mind were a binding force of what we call Ancient Greece.

Oedipus plays to the needs of the tragedy by committing two of the greatest taboo actions commonly acknowledged in the diverse and innately political realm of Ancient Greece. These actions are apparently forbidden to humans who hope to dwell in polite society, but are accorded a pass when it comes to the gods. Patricide seems to be one of the worst, and speaks to the value placed upon fatherhood and father figures within the culture. That matricide is slightly more excusable and often used as a plot device tells me that perhaps women intended for marriages of status held less value as humans and more as vessels or possessions. Unattached women who did not aspire to marriage or status via a husband held their own place in that world.  

Incest is considered taboo by a number of cultures, although its precise relational definition is subject to change. This is largely a function of the fact that genetics is a comparatively new field of science. Incest is socially defined, even now, and how we interpret what is or is not incestuous is likely to differ from culture to culture. That being said, while we may still react with revulsion at the thought of a child and genetic parent or two siblings who share parents in common interacting sexually, there is more risk of genetic mutations occurring in the offspring of two first-cousins. This is because they share at least two closely related sets of genetic material. The evidence for this can be observed in the noble family trees of many European Great Houses.  

Perhaps the only reprieve Sophocles granted to Oedipus is that he did not have him eat another human being (Cannibalism). While the gods may debauch themselves with sibling deities, murder their fathers, and consume their own children (only to regurgitate them at a later time,) these activities are prohibited among human beings who worship them. While there’s an entire academic paper on the ways in which a culture reserves its most horrifying behaviors to its ascribed gods or goddesses in that statement, we won’t go into that, here.  

What can be said is that artistic media serve as a way for us to explore these taboos without fear of repercussion to ourselves. This method of cultural messaging serves to reinforce cultural bonds via shared value systems, as a means of exploring experiences without risk, and as a way to either shift or solidify cultural symbols, ideas, and forms. Other themes explored by Sophocles are: justice, inflexible pursuit of goals, the imperfect grasp of reality as it pertains to unknown details, honor, and social consequences that obtain when the order is challenged.  

•At the Crossroads of Tragedy and Cultural Themes:  

We might think it was rather poor form for Oedipus to murder Laius on the side of the road. But this says more about our own cultural themes than it does those of Sophocles. In anthropology, we are constantly made to confront our own culture and its embedded sensibilities.This, for better or worse, is known as cultural relativism, but should not be confused the permissive acceptance of human rights violations.    

At the same time, it’s important that we acknowledge that different cultures will apply a specific moral weight to various scenarios and actions. Rash and ill advised as Oedipus’ actions may have been, Laius was a stranger who offered insult. He was an unnamed person, and Oedipus was offered a set number of ways in which he could respond, based upon the culture of Sophocles.  

We, as the audience, might count the beginning of this tragedy with the actions of Laius and Jocasta. However, Oedipus’ personal journey begins when he leaves the two individuals he believes to be his parents in order to spare them the fate spoken by the oracle. Dr. Joseph Campbell, who so eloquently explored the Monomyth and the hero’s role within it, called this the beginning of the Hero Quest.  

Oedipus breaks with all that is familiar in the effort to preserve the lives of those he loves. But he’s also serving another cultural maxim.If he fulfills the oracle’s pronouncements, he will have broken two grave strictures of his culture.  In his own estimation, he will not be worthy of the fruits of society, honor, or noble birth. This sense of justice causes him to leave, and later in the story will cause him to pursue his own doom as he searches for the killer of King Laius.  

•Incest and Feminine Agency: 

The sexual lust shared by Oedipus and Jocasta receives, in my opinion, a disproportionate amount of attention. We aren’t alone in frowning on incest. But while that distaste may have relatively rational roots, within the narrative of the tragedy, incest doesn’t immediately apply to the actions of these characters.   

Oedipus is unknown to Jocasta, who believes her infant son perished from exposure.  Oedipus believes his mother to be miles away, safe from his roving eye. As self-realized individuals, there’s nothing untoward about their liaison. When I read the play, I immediately thought of another factor that may not have come to the attention of those with other educational backgrounds.  

Even though Jocasta gave birth to Oedipus, he was taken from her as an infant and sentenced to death by her husband. Oedipus grew to maturity seeing another woman as his mother, and was never told he was a foundling.  There is no bond of experience between them to dissuade them from coupling.  

The Westermarck Effect is a theory that surmises that this close familiarity between closely related individuals in which one is younger will preclude sexual attraction.  

Even if biology had been against them, a field of which Sophocles knew nothing, Jocasta was a woman in an Ancient Greek society—a married, widowed woman of status. Oddly enough, this made her one of the most powerless individuals, with the exclusion of actual slaves. Whether she felt attraction to Oedipus or not was immaterial. Even if Sophocles had been a feminist long before his time, Greek Society was openly hostile to the agency of women. Pheromones distasteful to Jocasta would not have stopped Oedipus from declaring his conquest of the realm and of her body in the same breath.  She, and all women like her, were only as good as the men who ruled them decided they should be. And yet, a disproportionate amount of censure has been aimed at her.  

•Complex Complexes and Misnomers: 

Modern psychology has made us all familiar with Oedipus for one reason, and a very bad reason at that. Even if you’ve never read Sophocles, you know all about the young son who wants to tumble his mother. The Oedipal Complex stems from a poor grasp of the actual intricacies of the play by a Victorian Viennese psychotherapist named Sigmund Freud. It describes a phase in human psychosexual development in which young male children of three to five year old lust after their mothers and regard their fathers as rivals for her attention.  

But, barring a superficial resemblance to the plays by Sophocles, this is a terrible name for the complex. Oedipus doesn’t know Laius as his father or Jocasta his mother. He does not identify them as his parents at all. To append his name to a person who desires their acknowledged mother and feels aggression towards their acknowledged father is, to say the least, incorrect.  

While some excuse can be made for Freud—who lived in a distressingly ignorant, misogynistic, and simultaneously sexually repressed and depraved milieu (not unlike Ancient Greece in some regard,) and was a product of an educational system that idolized all things related to the ancient culture—there’s really no excuse for anyone who uses it in earnest these days. In the first place, quite a few of his theories have been outright disproven, shredded for the mass of hilarious misconceptions they were, or are discounted by more advanced understandings in the fields of neuropsychology, developmental psychology, and behavioral psychology. Moreover, it’s bandied about by popular culture as if adults could suddenly develop this complex, which isn’t what it originally described, anyway.  

If we are to give either Sophocles or Joseph Campbell their due, it would behoove us to recognize the deep mastery of the work by Sophocles.

Oedipus, in spite of his window dressing from a culture with very different ideas about morality, is still a vital and believable hero to current audiences. He does things that are motivated by the best of intentions, but he ultimately functions as the architect of his own suffering. He, as an extension of the keen brilliance of Sophocles, advertises the morality and the cultural ideals of a civilization slowly relenting to the sunlight of decay. 

In a way, Oedipus is a member of an elite club—the Hero Room—in which live all the big characters who dreamed magnificently, but ultimately failed. They sought to set their names in the bricks of every city, to be remembered, to uphold justice and avert tragedy, to earn glory or challenge the will of deities.  

At the same time, they are terribly human in a way that does not fade when the cultural winds shift.  Their quests are relatable, even if some of their actions become absurd or obscure in their rationale. Their imperfections help us to bring them close and identify with them.

At bottom, they remind us that, while we have myriad ways of living in the world, we are all human. All mortal. All subject to factors beyond our knowledge or control.  

∼Essay By ©Erin Sandlin∼ May, 2016.-

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Oedipus and Antigone by Johann Peter Krafft. 1809.

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►About Erin Sandlin:

Erin Sandlin is a writer of both scholarly and lyric essays, poetry, and short fiction.  She possesses advanced degrees in both anthropology and history. Born and raised in the Deep South of the United States, oral traditions, language, and systems of cultural memory continue to fascinate her. Her research interests also include the politics of gender, restriction of social space, and diets within stratified societies.  

•She loves to connect with new people, and welcomes you to visit her author page on Facebook.

•Erin maintains a blog on WordPress, “Being Southern Somewhere Else”.  

•You can find her books for sale on Amazon. 

•You can also  follow Erin on Twitter

~ ~Thanks so much for being here as a guest author/ writer, dear Erin~ ~

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Erin Sandlin.

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►Links Post:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oedipus_the_King

http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/topic/oedipus-rex

http://www.columbia.edu/itc/lithum/gallo/freud.html

http://www.sparknotes.com/drama/oedipus/section5.rhtml

http://www.storyboardthat.com/teacher-guide/oedipus-rex-by-sophocles

http://thebestnotes.com/booknotes/Oedipus_The_King/Oedipus_Rex04.html

http://www.gradesaver.com/oedipus-rex-or-oedipus-the-king/study-guide/oedipus-and-aristotle

http://www.thegreatbookschallenge.com/sophocles-antigone-oedipus-the-king-oedipus-at-colonus/

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  A request: If you like my blog, please -show me some love ❤ – &  vote for me as  Most Informative Original Content Blogger, at the Annual Bloggers Bash Awards:

CHECK IT OUT HERE. IT IS THE 8TH AWARD.

Thanks to the Bash Commitee for the nomination, I am honoured no matter if I win or not!!! 😊

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►History: “The Greek Theatre” / Literature: Aristotle’s “Poetics“: “Theory of Tragedy“⭐️.-

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I.♠Introduction:

In my previous post, I made reference to the Muses. 

Back to the most common typology, I found interesting that Tragedy and Comedy were represented among the Nine Muses. I am specifically pointing out to Melpomene and Thalia. Melpomene was the muse of Tragedy and her symbol was the tragic mask. On the other hand, Thalia was the muse of Comedy while her symbol was the comic mask.

Furthermore, as I read about them, I couldn´t avoid thinking of the well known symbol of the two masks, depicting Tragedy and Comedy.

→Now, let´s see which were the masks´purposes when it comes to The Ancient Greek drama.

The Ancient Greek term for a mask is Prosopon (literally meaning,”face”).

The classical masks had an important function in plays of tragedies and comedies as they were able to create a sense of dread in the audience creating large scale panic, since they had intensely exaggerated facial features and expressions. They also enabled an actor to appear and reappear in several different roles, in addition to revealing a change in a particular character’s appearance. Finally, they facilitated the playing of women’s roles by men, as women were not allowed to perform Greek dramas.

As to the costumes, actors who played tragic roles wore boots called Cothurneses, that elevated them above other actors. When playing female roles, the male actors wore a Prosterneda which was a wooden structure infront of the chest to imitate breasts.

Common clothes were the Chiton and the Hemateon. The Chiton was made of linen or silk and it was worn long. The Hemateon was an exterior cloth, made of wool, which was worn over the shoulders.

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Greek Sculptures, 500 BCE approx. On the Left: Thalia, Muse of Comedy. On the Right: Melpomene, Muse of Tragedy.

Greek Masks. (Late 500 BC),

On the Left: Greek theatre at Ephesus (now in Turkey). Built in the 10th century BC. On the Right: Ancient Greek theatre of Epidauros. Date of Construction: ca. 300-340 BC.

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→Before getting to the specific subject of this post (Aristotle´s theory of Tragedy as shown in his book “Poetics”), I would like to overall present the main differences between Tragedy and Comedy.

•By and large, we can say that a Comedy is a story that illustrates idiosyncrasies of ordinary people, has a happy ending where protagonist achieves his goal at the end.

The word “comedy” in Ancient Greek, means “village revel”. It is derived from the Classical Greek κωμῳδία, kōmōidía, which is a compound either of kômos (revel) or κώμη (village) and ᾠδή (singing).

The Greeks confined their use of the word “Comedy” to descriptions of stage-plays with happy endings. Aristotle defined comedy as an imitation of men worse than the average.

The most famous ancient greek playwrights of the genre Comedy were: Aristophanes, Menander and Philemon.

•In general terms, a Tragedy is a story with a sad  ending. A tragedy always deals with an extraordinary person who is led to downfall through his own weakness. Besides, a successful tragedy may have the ability to evoke pity and fear in the audience.

Ancient Greek tragedy was a popular and influential form of drama performed in theatres across ancient Greece from the late 6th century BCE. According to Aristotle, tragedy evolved from the satyr dithyramb, an Ancient Greek hymn, which was sung along with dancing in honor of Dionysus. 

The most famous ancient greek playwrights of the genre Tragedy were: Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides and many of their works were still performed centuries after their initial premiere.

For a more detailed comparison between Tragedy and Comedy, I suggest you to read this list by John Morreall, which  thoroughly presents their prototypical characteristics, while comparing these genres as well.

Also, you can read more about Greek Theatres, staging and Structure of Comedy and Tragedy in the gallery below.

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►Gallery: Ancient Greek Theatres. Staging. Comedy and Tragedy (Characteristics ):

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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II.♠Aristotle’s “Poetics”: “Theory of Tragedy”:

•Tragedy. Definition and Aim:

Aristotle thoroughly analyzes the subject of Tragedy in Poetics. Section 1. Part VI.

He says: “Tragedy, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish its Catharsis of such emotions. . . . 

To Aristotle, Tragedy is the “imitation of an action” (mimesis) according to a certain “law of probability or necessity”.

The end of the tragedy is a Catharsis (purgation, cleansing) of the tragic emotions of pity and fear.

•The three Unities of Tragic Drama:

According to Aristotle these are the unities of time, place and action.
1→Unity of action: the play should have one main action that it follows, with no or few subplots.
2→Unity of place: the play should cover a single physical space and should not attempt to compress geography, nor should the stage represent more than one place.
3→Unity of time: the action in a play should take place over no more than  twenty-four (24)hours.

•The Six Parts of Tragedy:

Aristotles held that every Tragedy must have six parts, namely, Plot, Character. Thought, Diction, Spectacle, Song or Melody.

1→Plot (mythos): It refers to the structure of the incidents.  According to Aristotle `Dramatic action is not with a view to the representation of character… character comes in as subsidiary to the actions´. 

The plot must be “a whole,” with a beginning, middle, and end. The beginning (Protasis) is called by modern critics the incentive moment. The middle or climax  (Epitasis) must be caused by earlier incidents and itself cause the incidents that follow it. The end, or resolution (Catastrophe) must be caused by the preceding events and should therefore solvethe problem created during the incentive moment. The end  comprises events from the end of the falling action to the actual ending scene of the drama or narrative. Conflicts are resolved, creating normality for the characters and a sense of catharsis, or release of tension and anxiety, for the reader. 

2→Character (Ethos): The characters are the agents mainly with a view to the action, as Tragedy is defined as he imitation of an action.

In a tipical Tragedy, the protagonist should be renowned and prosperous, so his change of fortune can be from good to bad. This change “should come about as the result, not of vice, but of some great error or frailty in a character.” Such a plot is most likely to generate pity and fear in the audience, for “pity is aroused by unmerited misfortune, fear by the misfortune of a man like ourselves.” The term Aristotle uses here, Hamartia, often translated “tragic flaw”.

In the ideal tragedy, claims Aristotle, the protagonist will mistakenly bring about his own downfall—not because he is sinful or morally weak, but because he does not know enough. The role of the Hamartia (tragic flaw) in tragedy comes not from its moral status but from the inevitability of its consequences. 

In this way, the Peripeteia, meaning a “reversal of intention” entrains a crucial action from/on the protagonis that changes the situation, from seemingly secure to vulnerable. This leads to results diametrically opposed to those that were intended (often termed tragic irony), and the Anagnorisis, which means “recognition” and leads to the gaining of the essential knowledge that was previously lacking

3→Thought (Dianoia): It is, the faculty of `saying´what is possible and pertinent in given circumstances. Thought, on the other hand, is found where something is proved to be or not to be, or a general maxim is enunciated. 

4→Diction (Lexis): It refers to the quality of speech in tragedy. Speeches should reflect character, the moral qualities of those on the stage. The expression of the meaning of the words.

5→Spectacle (Opsis): It is related to the representation and actors. Spectacle, for Aristotle, is what happens to the text of a play when it is performed. It is created by the actors and “stage machinist” who through their work give physical form and expression to the words of the poet. It is what an audience sees and hears when they witness the performance of a play.

6→Song or Melody (Melos): It holds the chief place among the embellishments. It is is the musical element of the chorus. Aristotle argues that the Chorus should be fully integrated into the play like an actor. It should be an integral part of the whole, and share in the action.

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Tragedy. Terms in Greek.

Freytag´s Triangle on the Plot Structure of the Tragedy.

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►Links Post:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_of_ancient_Greece

http://pediaa.com/difference-between-comedy-and-tragedy/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dramatic_structure

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetics_(Aristotle)

https://greektheatre.wordpress.com/home/

https://www.whitman.edu/theatre/theatretour/ephesus/commentary/Ephesus.commentary.htm

http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/aristotle/section11.rhtml

https://aquileana.wordpress.com/2014/03/13/platos-ion-and-aristotles-poetics-on-the-concepts-of-mimesis-and-catharsis/

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/a/agamemnon-the-choephori-and-the-eumenides/critical-essay/aristotle-on-tragedy

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♠Two Quote Challenges and Several Awards:

►Quote Challenge: “Memory”, as a atribute to Mnemosyne and “Inspiration”, as tribute to The Muses:

Inese, from Making Memories, firstly and then Heena, from Heena Rathore P. have nominated me for a so called 3-Day Quote Challenge.

I had already joined this challenge once, with regard to the subject of Beauty, and was invited by Paul in that occasion.

I thought in that moment that it would be a good idea to take the challenge in order to illustrate the subject of that particular post, from a different perspective, of course… 

Hence I will do the same now. I will use as a pretext my posts on Mnemosyne, in which Resa McConaghy and Christy Birmingham took part and my post on The Muses, which include a poem by Eva Xanthopoulos.

Lastly, I will add photographs from my Instagram account, alongside the quotes, as I had previously done the first time I was nominated to join this Challenge.

The rules of this challenge are: ♠Post your favorite quotes or your own quotes for three (3) posts in a row. ♠Thank the person who nominated, by linking to the blog. ♠Pass it on to three (3) other bloggers per quote, each time you post them. Or pass it to nine (9) bloggers per challenge if you choose to post all the quotes together, in the same post.
Note: I will post the six (6) quotes together. Three for each of the two (2) Challenges I was invited to. Thus I will nominate eighteen (18) Bloggers. 

If you have been nominated for a Challenge, and decide to keep it up -no pressure, just If you want, of course- then, you will only have to choose three (3) bloggers per quote, meaning nine (9) bloggers in total.

You can decide whether to post the three (3) quotes altogether hitting two targets with one shot. Or you can post one quote at a time. That´s up to you.

Also, you can choose whichever subject fits you and you may you present the Quote Challenge however you want. You can go for any of the topics I have used as well (i.e Beauty, Memory-remembrances, or Inspiration).

So, well then, without further ado, my nominees for the Quotes Challenges are: 1. Arresting Imagery 2. Coffee Fuels my Photography 3. Tails Around the Ranch 4. Living the Dream 5. While there is life, there is hope 6. D.G.Kaye Writer  7. Have We Had Help? 8. Ted Giffin 9. Lens and Pens by Sally 10. The Muscleheaded Blog 11. Ringana- Paterakis 12. Georges 2679 13. 14. Les rêves d’Eugénie 15. Qhapaq 16. Living with my Ancestors 17. T Ibara Photo 18. The Bonny Blog.

 •~~~• ⭐ •~~~ • ⭐ •~~~• ⭐ •~~~• ⭐ •~~~• ⭐ •~~~• ⭐ •~~~•

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► Three Quotes and photographs on Memory-Remembrances, as a tribute to Goddess Mnemosyne:

~ Click on the images to read ~

“Our memory is a more perfect world than the universe: it gives back life to those who no longer exist”. (Guy de Maupassant).-

“The advantage of a bad memory is that one enjoys several times the same good things for the first time” (Friedrich Nietzsche).-

“I can only note that the past is beautiful because one never realises an emotion at the time. It expands later, and thus we don’t have complete emotions about the present, only about the past”. (Virginia Woolf ).-

 •~~~• ⭐ •~~~ • ⭐ •~~~• ⭐ •~~~• ⭐ •~~~• ⭐ •~~~• ⭐ •~~~•

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►Three Quotes and pics on Inspiration, as tribute to The Nine Muses:

~ Click on the images to read ~

“I dream my painting and I paint my dream”. (Vincent van Gogh).-

“I ask not for any crown/But that which all may win/Nor try to conquer any world/Except the one within.” (Louisa May Alcott).-

“It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving, but like morning light it scattered the night and made the day worth living”. (F. Scott Fitzgerald).-

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⭐ Last but not Least: “Several Awards” ⭐

I am quite behind with awards and challenges… I was going to make this blog an `award free blog´, but I have always liked to receive awards and enjoyed passing them to other bloggers… Besides, there is something about the gesture of giving itself which I believe is clearly intertwined with process of recognizing or being recognized.

I will keep it up with awards and similar stuff. But I just run off time at times in order to post, visit blogs and reply to comments here. Hence, when it comes to the amount of bloggers to nominate and the rules to follow, I might take certain licenses, usually nominating less bloggers than required. I might as well homogenize rules for all the awards and change their logos as well.

I really can not otherwise, not only because of lack of time but mostly because I find hard to nominate as many bloggers as sometimes is stipulated. 

Thanks for reading my attempt of `disclaimer´…  And thanks so much to all the Bloggers who have nominated me for different awards, which I will make reference to below.

I suggest you to check out these blogs and follow them, if you haven’t still done so…

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•Rules for all these Awards.

♠Thank the person who nominated you. ♠Add the logo to your post. ♠Nominate five (5) to ten (10) bloggers of your choice and tell them about the nomination. 

1.Best Blogger Award: Nominated by Loli Lopesino from “Comienzo de Cero”.-

Nominees for this Award: a. Shehanne Moore b. Course of Mirrors c. Making Memories d. An Unexpected Life Chosen. e. Eva Marks. 

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2.Best Blogger Award: Nomination coming from “Quimoji”.-

Nominees for this Award: a. Heena Rathore P.  b. Debi Riley c. Smile Calm. d. Kate McClelland e. Sacred Touches.

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3.Versatile Blogger Award: Nominated by Leire from “Leire´s “Room”.–

Nominees for this Award: a. A Russian Affair b. Inside The Life of Moi c. Pisces Rising d. Made of Sticks and Stones e. The Hardest Science.

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4. Sunshine Blogger Award: Nomination coming from “Pintowski’s Blog”.-

Nominees for this Award: a. An Unexpected Muse b. Anna Belfrage c. The Coastal Crone. d. Geokult Travel e. From Bluerock.

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5.Blogger Recognition Award: Nominated by “Robert M. Goldstein”.-

Nominees for this Award: a. Eva Poetex. b. Between Two Tides. c. Quimoji d. Luna Quebrada e. Sarah

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6.One Lovely Blog Award: Nominated by “Claudia Moss”.-

Nominees for this Award: a. D. Wallace Peach. b. House of Hearts. c. Comienzo de Cero d. Leire´s Room e. Cecile´s Writers.

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7.Liebster Award: Nominated by “Sarah”.-

Nominees for this Award: a. Almeno Tu b. Between Scarlett & Guest c. Pintowski’s Blog d. BrewNSpew e. Robert M. Goldstein

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8.Versatile Blogger Award: Nomination coming from “BrewNSpew”.-

Nominees for this Award: a. Millie Thom b. Jilanne Hoffmann c. “Claudia Moss” d. Carly Watters e. No Wasted Ink. 

⭐ •~~~• ⭐ •~~~• ⭐ •~~~• ⭐ •~~~• ⭐ •~~~• ⭐ •~~~• ⭐ •~~~• ⭐

9.Versatile Blogger Award: Nomination coming from “Luna Quebrada”.-

Nominees for this Award: a. Sloppy Buddhist b. The Half- Eaten Mind c. A Wing and Away. d. Loujen Haxm’Yor e. Create Art Everyday.

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10.Blogger Recognition Award: Nomination coming from “The Half- Eaten Mind”.-

Nominees for this Award: a. Reality through Fiction b. Quando la mente si Sveste c. Stealing Quiet Time In Noisy Disorder d. Inspiration Import e. Oana Roses.

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11.  One Lovely Blog Award coming from “Stealing Quiet Time In Noisy Disorder”.-

Nominees for this Award: a.The Little Mermaid b. Araoimi c. Dolls Global d. Kyrosmagica e. Becoming Cliche.

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•Note:

-If you have been nominated and want to follow the Nomination Process, just look for the award down here, in the slideshare. Once you did, click on it and save it. 

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Icarus´Fall: “The Myth. Symbolism and Interpretation”.-

“Icarus and Daedalus”, by Charles Paul Landon.-

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►Icarus´Fall: “The Myth”: 

Icarus’s father Daedalus, an athenian  craftsman, built the Labyrinth for King Minos  of Crete near his palace at Knossos  to imprison the Minotaur, a half-man, half-bull monster born of his wife and the Cretan bull. Minos imprisoned Daedalus himself in the labyrinth because he gave Minos’ daughter, Ariadne, a or ball of string in order to help  Theseus , the enemy of Minos, to survive the Labyrinth and defeat the Minotaur.

Daedalus fashioned two pairs of wings out of wax and feathers for himself and his son. Daedalus tried his wings first, but before taking off from the island, warned his son not to fly too close to the sun, nor too close to the sea, but to follow his path of flight.

If he were to do so, Daedalus explained, the wax that held his wings together would melt, rendering them useless, and Icarus would fall from the sky to his death.

Icarus, however, was overcome by the incredible feeling of flight. He was so taken by the experience, that he flew higher and higher. He flew so high that he got perilously close to the sun. Just as his father warned him would happen, the wax on his wings melted into a useless liquid. The wings fell to pieces and Icarus fell from the sky. The water into which Icarus is said to have fallen is near Icaria, a Grecian Island in the Aegean Sea. The island is named for the legendary flying man. Icaria is southwest of the island of Samos.

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►SlideShare: “Daedalus and Icarus”:

Click on the image above to watch the SlideShare.-

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►Icarus´Fall: “Symbolism and Interpretation”:

Symbols are insightful expressions of human nature.They are the external, lower expressions of higher truths and represent deep intuitive wisdom impossible by direct terms.

Joseph Campbell defined symbols as “giving expression to what is absolutely “unknowable” by  intellect”.

In the psychiatric mind features of disease were perceived in the shape of the pendulous emotional ecstatic-high and depressive-low of bipolar disorder. 

Henry Murray  having proposed the term Icarus complex, apparently found symptoms particularly in mania where a person is fond of heights, fascinated by both fire and water, narcissistic and observed with fantastical cognitio.

The myth of Icarus´moral is to “take the middle way” by warning against heedless pursuit of instant gratification.

In this sense it highlights the greek idea of  Sophrosyne (Greek: σωφροσύνη), which etymologically means healthy-mindedness and from there self-control or moderation guided by knowledge and balance. 

As Aristotle held, as shown in the post , “Aristotle´s Ethical Theory: On The Concept of Virtue and Golden Mean”, virtue is  a kind of moderation as it aims at the mean or moderate amount.

The flight of Icarus could be interpreted as a lesson in the value of moderation. The danger in flying “too high” (i.e. melting of the wax wings) or in flying “too low” (i.e. weighting down the wings by sea-water spray) were advocations for one to respect one’s limits and to act accordingly.

The moral of this myth could be also linked to Plato´s analogy of the divided line, in which the Sun symbolizes the highest Form (Idea of God). Therefore according to this perspective, Icarus has flown too high . He tried to become wiser than Gods whilst achieving Knowledge and, as he defied the godess,  he was punished for that reason.

A similar interpretation is found in Plato´s myth of Phaethon, as it appears in his elderly dialogue “Timaeus”.

Moreover and going further, considering Plato´s allegory of the cave, Icarus could be linked to the  escaped prisoner, who represents the Philosopher, who seeks knowledge outside of the cave (labyrinth).

Icarus´s myth may also be related to Plato´s analogy of the chariot. When flying high with his waxed wings, Icarus´ chariot  was driven by the obstinated black horse, which represents man’s appetites. The fact of disobeying Daedalus´advice proves that his rational part of the soul which should rule over appetites wasn´t strong  and determined enough to do so. In other words, the black horse beats the rational charioteer .

Icarus’ age is an aspect of the myth that deserves a mention here, for it is a characteristic of the period of adolescence to impulsively follow the appetite for life, to rush into the unknown adventure, to chase dreams, to follow temptation and not to heed warnings of danger.-

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“The Sun, or the Fall of Icarus” by Merry-Joseph Blondel

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“The Lament for Icarus” by H. J. Draper.-

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►Icarus´Fall: Paintings:

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► Links Post:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icarus

http://www.shmoop.com/daedalus-icarus/myth-text.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophrosyne

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaethon

https://aquileana.wordpress.com/2007/08/05/icaro/

https://aquileana.wordpress.com/2014/01/25/aristotles-ethical-theory-on-the-concepts-of-virtue-and-golden-mean/

https://aquileana.wordpress.com/2014/04/14/platos-phaedrus-the-allegory-of-the-chariot-and-the-tripartite-nature-of-the-soul/

https://aquileana.wordpress.com/2014/04/03/platos-republic-the-allegory-of-the-cave-and-the-analogy-of-the-divided-line/

https://aquileana.wordpress.com/2008/01/21/andre-comte-sponville-el-mito-de-icaro-tratado-de-la-deseperanza-y-de-la-felicidad/

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►”Happy Easter 2014″:

Best Wishes, Aquileana 😛

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Aristotle´s “Nicomachean Ethics” and “Politics”: “On The Concept of Justice”.-

♠Aristotle´s “Nicomachean Ethics” and “Politics”:

“On The Concept of Justice”:

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In Book V of “Nichomachean Ethics”, Aristotle attempted to apply his theory of the mean to define justice.

In this sense, he dissects justice into its smallest components, causing him to postulate three kinds, from two main types.

There are two distinct forms of justice: Universal and Particular.

1) Universal Justice is concerned with obeying laws and with virtue as a whole. (Type: c) Equitable Justice).

2) Particular Justice is seen as one of the virtues and is divided into two types (Types a) Distributive Justice and b) Corrective or Rectificatory Justice)

a) Distributive Justice, which involves distributing honors, money and other assets; and b) Corrective or Rectificatory Justice; which includes: voluntary transactions involving paying debts, buying and selling, and so on; and involuntary transactions involving the giving of just restitution of harms inflicted.  

→The Distributive justice reflects our understanding of justice as the mean between two extremes of unfairness. Everyone agrees that justice involves the distribution of things in proportion to merit. The man who acts unjustly gets too much, the victim too little, of what is good. Therefore that which is unjust in the narrow sense defies the proper “geometrical” proportion. 

→As for Corrective or Rectificatory Justice, this shows our belief that in any exchange the just is what is fair. Unlike distributive justice, it involves not “geometrical,” but “arithmetical” proportionality, because it doesn’t take into account the parties involved, just the transaction itself. Both parties are treated as equals before the law in the exchange of goods, regardless of their individual merits. The role of the judge, therefore, is to restore the mean between too much and too little: to remedy an inequitable division between two parties by means of some sort o f arithmetical progression. He tries to equalize the inequality of the injustice. 

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The Doctrine Of The Mean is related to justice as a mean between two extremes, (vices), deficiency, and excess, or gain and loss.  It is important to stress here that Aristotle intends to define justice as a determinable mean between excesses which he presumes are vices.  

Justice is the intermediate position between doing injustice and suffering it; one has more, the other less, than their share. It is that state of virtue in which the individual is capable of doing just acts from choice and of distributing property, not in a way which gives himself more than his neighbour, but to each in proportionately equal manner. Injustice is choosing excess or deficiency in defiance of proportion. 

c) Equitable Justice is that kind of Universal Justice that Aristotle postulated as being a form of justice superior to legal justice.  Realizing that the “generality” of the law sometimes gave rise to injustices, Aristotle postulated equity, which was to function, though the judge, as a “correction of the law where it is defective owing to its universality”. While all laws are stated universally, in some cases such a universal statement is not correct. The law thus states most is mostly right, and in cases where the statement does not apply correctly it is just for the legislator or the judge to correct for the deficiency of the law, as long as what is done is in accordance with the intention of the lawmaker, even if it conflicts with the exact statement. 

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►Comparative Graphic: Distributive Justice and Rectificatory or Corrective Justice (Types of Particular Justice):

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Aristotle also developed the idea of Justice in the Book III (chapter 12) of “Politics”. 

There he helds that “The political good is justice, and this is the common advantage”. Justice is considered to be a certain sort of equality, but what remains to be determined is what sort of equality and equality in what things. Persons preeminent in some things may not be preeminent in others, and some things are more of claim to honor and merit than others. 

Aristotle says “The virtue of justice is a feature of a state; for justice is the arrangement of the political association, an a sense of justice decides what is just”.

For him, Justice means giving equal measures to equals and unequal measures to unequals. Aristotle realizes that people are bad judges concerning themselves and that as in oligarchy and democracy they tend to confuse a part of justice with the whole of justice. Justice must be central concern for every city, because the city exists “not only for the sake of living but primarily for the sake of living well.” As a result, “virtue must be a care for every city,” and a city can only foster virtue to the extent that it is just.

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►Video: “On Aristotle´s Idea of Justice and The Theory of Golden Mean”:

Click on the image above to watch the video at YouTube.-

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►”Nicomachean Ethics” by Aristotle:

Click on the image above to read the book.-

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►”Politics” by Aristotle:

Click on the image above to read the book.-

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♠Links Post:

http://mysite.verizon.net/vzepglv8/file22b.html

 http://www.novelguide.com/aristotles-ethics/summaries/book5

  http://www.gradesaver.com/aristotles-ethics/study-guide/section5/

  http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~cp28/justice.htm 

http://www.gradesaver.com/aristotles-politics/study-guide/section3/

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