Aristotle

Is Aristotle right saying that “man is a political animal”?

            The present essay is an attempt to assess Aristotle’s claim that man as “a political animal” made in his treatise The Politics. Obviously, such an assessment requires clear understanding of what the philosopher meant by his definition given three hundred years BC. And the only way to grasp the meaning of Aristotle’s writings is […]

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The column of Trajan

The column of Trajan is one of the most impressive monuments of Roman art and architecture (See Picture 1 of Illustrations). It attracted my attention by its size and superb marble carvings containing a lot of historical information. Another consideration which defined my choice was the almost perfect state of preservation of this antique masterpiece. […]

_Don Quixote

Chivalry books in Don Quixote : From Criticism to funny Parody

The present essay is devoted to the role of chivalry books in Cervantes’s   Don Quixote. The very plot of the novel is based on the collision of foolish fantasies contained in chivalry books with the realities of the author’s time. But Cervantes not only clearly presents to the public all drawbacks and shortcomings of chivalry […]

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Trip to Paris (day 1)

Eiffel Tower from the Palais de Chaillot (Place du Trocadero) Place de la Concorde Arc de Tromphe Les Champs Élysées The Grand Palais Palais place du Trocadéro 

Sidonius Appolinaris

Sidonius Appolinaris on King Theodoric II, the Visigoth, 455

Sidonius Appolinaris The letter written by Sidonius Appolinaris to his brother-in-law Agricola represents an enthusiastic panegyric to the Visigoth king Theodoric II. The real meaning of this document remains unclear without careful analysis of its contents on the one hand and without additional information about its author, its addressee and the conditions of its creation […]

desiderius erasmus

Desiderius Erasmus, Adages

Desiderius Erasmus c.1520 In his work Adages (1515) the famous Dutch humanist Erasmus of Rotterdam explains the meaning of numerous Greek and Latin proverbs using the examples taken from his own times. These comments provide the Christian moralist with an excellent opportunity to criticize the sins and exactions of secular and clerical authorities of the […]

florence plague of 1348

Giovanni Boccaccio, Prologue to the Decameron

Black death in Florence (1348) Boccaccio’s description of the outbreak of the Black Death in Florence in 1348 is a valuable source of information not only for historians but also for those who study human behaviour under extreme conditions. As an eyewitness the author of the Decameron reported in details how different groups and classes […]

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