Quincy Fargo Economics Book Analysis 9/5/15 The POX Party Analysis The book The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Traitor to the Nation, Volume 1: The POX Party by M.T. Anderson was written and published in 2006. The story starts in 1760s and ends in the 1770s about an African Prince named Octavian Nothing who was born in America under the servitude of Mr. Gitney and was educated like European royalty as an experiment. The book is part of a series which contains two books, the second book being The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves.
The Life of Marius, written by Plutarch, is a fascinating ancient source detailing the career of the Roman Gaius Marius, 127-86BC. While there are interpretive and reliability issues, the Life of Marius is a particularly useful and significant source. It is our only extensive primary source on Marius, who was a key political figure of late Republican Rome. Additionally, Plutarch’s work indicates not only many crucial military and political development in Rome in the time period, but also gives a reflection of Plutarch’s own Rome and its values and political climate.
Many people assume that Jon Krakauer’s novel, “Into Thin Air”, is an extremely suspenseful novel of events that played out on top of Mount. Everest. “Into Thin Air” is a novel, describing an expedition involving Krakauer that turned terrifyingly fatal as casualties of fellow expeditioners grew in number. His novel contains numerous examples of mainly two literary devices. Tension, the first device, is a strained relationship between individuals, groups, nations, etc.
Epictetus’s handbook describes in detail what it means to be a Stoic, we find that it means to be detached from the things that one cannot change, and although it may seem contradictory, this very detachment is what allows or them to be such great members or society. I believe that a good member of society is one that can keep the peace and also can be able to get important things done and decisions made. The detachment the Stoic has allows for him to keep the peace by realizing that he cannot change other people instead the Stoic must, “…act conformably to them. Thus, at an entertainment, don 't talk how persons ought to eat, but eat as you ought” (#46).
Apart from Marcus Aurelius's prestigious political position, he was a well-known practitioner of stoicism. In fact his writing commonly old as "Meditations" is considered by many to be one of the greatest works of all of philosophy. The overarching theme that Marcus Aurelius attempts to convey, insta deal with your problems in an ideal and effective manner. He felt if you just miserably observe your problem, you wouldn't solve it as well as if you had just gotten it done
Athena is a major character throughout the book of The Odyssey and is known as the goddess of wisdom and battle. Throughout the course of the book, it is evident that Athena has a weak spot for the main character, Odysseus. Odysseus is trying to return home after the Trojan War, as the other Greek hero’s have already done, however he faces multiple challenges a long the way. Fortunately, for Odysseus, Athena was there to guide him through a few of these troubling situations.
The topic of negative visualization is important to the Stoics because of its effect on the life goal of tranquility. Through negative visualization the Stoics believe that a person can live a fuller and more meaningful life filled with purpose. I find that the art of negative visualization is a fundamental tool to living a full and prosperous life. By changing the state of your mind, living every moment as if it is your last, and being thankful for what you have now; provide convincing evidence for the benefits of negative visualization. These examples and more show how the act of negative visualization can help to live a more fulfilling life and fruitful life.
Elise Beauchemin Mr. Mosher English 2 2/23/18 Aeneas and the Quintessence of Stoicism The Aeneid, an epic written by Virgil, thousands of years old and yet still read today by many. It tells the story of the Trojan hero, Aeneas, and his efforts to establish order and defend his homeland. Throughout the 9,896 lines of the poem, he lives according to the Ancient Roman ideals of the Stoic. He is the paragon of a Trojan hero who places duty above pleasure, controls his passions and appetites through the power of reason, does not let the storms and stress of life disturb his self-possession and composure, and practices the virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance.
Which is live your life and accept, now I may not agree with what’s happening like if I break my leg its broke already how did that even it happen Epictetus mind I would have to accept it and move on. How it happens and why it happens it’s out of my control I accept it calmly and dispassionately. Even a Great man that was influence by his studies served in the same branch as me(Admiral James Bond Stockdale). Epictetus save his life in a way the Stoic philosopher save his life when he was shot down in Vietnam war and became a prisoner of war.
What he is saying is that it is a waste of time to value capitalistic ideologies, for example, wealth and fame. He implies that we are so wrapped up in our unnecessary desires that it just clouds our minds with things that really aren't important. By giving into temptations one has lost the ability to have self control. Epicurus tells us that when it comes down to it we will always pick things that bring us pleasure. He says what we don't think about is that a lot of our decisions we have made in hopes of the pleasure we were looking for only caused us pain in the end.
The chief end of Epictetus’ moral philosophy seems to be an individual 's happiness. In his Handbook he offers a way to achieve a maximum level of happiness. An ethical life is being aware of things which are in one’s control and out of one’s control. There is the internal human nature (i.e., things in our control) and the external events of nature (i.e., things not in our control). “Our opinions are up to us, and our impulses, desires, aversions,” are things within our power to influence.
The world being vast and unknown has attributed its conscious inhabitants to develop concepts, throughout thousands of years of living, to attempt to make sufficient sense of their environment. These attempts are classified as philosophies. Consequently from the world’s enigma, there’s an abundant amount of these philosophies, and one of them, relating to the endurance of unruly struggles, is called Stoicism. Stoicism was advanced from multiple philosophers but more specifically Epictetus. Epictetus counseled that Stoicism was a philosophy about enduring one’s uncontrolled conditions with disregard to factors that are negatively affecting you, for those factors are out of your hands.
Epictetus’s way of philosophy is one that is purely Stoic, imploring that the solution to human finitude is one where humans can live life without showing feeling or complaining about pain and hardships towards unsavory situations. Each of his rules in his handbook offers advice in which the subject simply “deals” with disappointment, or rather, doesn’t expect something out of the scopes of reason and logic, so that, figuratively, when occurrences don’t go their way, they aren’t disappointed. This is because to Epictetus, all external events in life are pre-determined by fate, so it’s already out of our hands from the beginning. With a calm dispassion, or indifference, we approach our fate and accept it. This is shown in his rules in The Handbook,
Stoicism in the Roman Empire was a major influence politically and ethically. Zeno from Cyprus was the founder of stoicism; he was also the student of Polemo who is the fourth head of Plato’s Academy (Sharples, 2003). The Stoics believe that the only good things are characteristic excellence or virtues of human beings such as wisdom, justice, courage, moderation and etc. Stoics claim that a good thing must be beneficial to its possessor under all circumstances but this is not true all the time for example if someone has money and he spent it on vices then it does not bring that person any benefit. For the Stoics philosophy is not a past time thing but a way of life (Baltzly, 2014).
In William Shakespeare’s drama Julius Caesar, the protagonist is Marcus Brutus. His decisions are based on his personal philosophy of stoicism as stoics try not to be influenced by their emotions. Examples of Brutus showing his stoicism include when Brutus tells the audience that he loves Caesar although this does not stop him from making the choice to kill him. Stoics believe that a person must make his own decisions based on logic and reasoning, which is why he didn’t let his feelings for Julius stop him from “saving” Rome. Although Brutus and Cassius are partners in killing Julius, Cassius was really using Brutus to gain power and later turn on him.
