LitWiki - User contributions [en]

Dante

2005-05-02T15:05:06Z

Sgilreath:

http://www.online-literature.com/authorpics/dante.jpg

Dante Alighieri was born in Florence in 1265. He was the son of Alighiero di Bellincione Alighieri who was considered neither wealthy nor especially prominent. There is not a whole lot known about Dante’s early education, but it is thought that he probably received elementary instruction in grammar, language and philosophy at one of the Franciscan schools in the city and was raised Catholic. Dante showed interest in literature and became an apprentice for [[Bruneto Latini]] who was a famed poet and prose writer. Dante studied literature and the rhetoric, soon becoming associated with some of the well known Florentine poets. Dante later met Guio Cavalcani who helped him refine his literary skills. (arches) Upon his 18th birthday, Dante received money inherited by his parents who died years back. At age 20, Dante married Gemma Donati through an arrangement set by his father. Gemma Donati’s family was very prominent in Florence and her cousin, Forese Donati, was one of Dante’s best friends. They had four children together. After Dante finished up his formal education at the University of Bologna, he enlisted in the Florentine army.

The death of Bice, (Beatrice) one of Dante’s childhood friends had a huge impact in his life. Her death in 1290 caused him to be inconsolable, and he passed the time by drinking and partying with friend Forese Donati. He soon began an intensive study on the classical works of Boethius, Cicero, and Aristotle. He received most of his education at two churches that were being enlarged outside the city walls at either end of the city: the Dominican church of Santa Maria Novella to the east and the Franciscan church of Santa Croce to the west. (waterfordschool) In 1292, Dante completed his first volume of poetry, the Vita Nuova, which means “New Life.” It was written to commemorate Beatrice’s death. Most of the poem were written the decade before, inspired by the chivalric poems of the French troubadours, who would sing them to the royal courts. The Vita Nuova was notable not only because Dante was among the first to compose poetry that was so sensitive and consciously refined in Italian, but also because he wove the poems together with prose commentaries reflecting on the texts and describing the circumstances of their composition. (waterfordschool)

Despite the success of the Vita Nuova, Dante became interested in politics. The rapid growth in Florence caused there to be civil wars between families over religious leaders. Dante was a very persuasive speaker and was elected to one of Florence’s highest offices. He and a group of other political leaders were against having the Pope as ruler and confirmed anti-papal measures. When in 1302, the French prince acting under orders from the Pope captured power in Florence; Dante was sentenced on charges of corruption and opposition to the Church and exiled from Florence on pain of execution by burning if he ever returned. (online-literature) Dante stayed in Verona for a while and then moved to Revenna where he died in 1321. Dante is considered one of the greatest Italian poets of all time. He is best known for his work The Divine Commedia, (The Divine Comedy) and Vita Nuova. (The New Life)

Works Cited

www.waterfordschool.org

www.archives.uqa.edu

www.online-literature.com

Dante

2005-05-02T15:03:53Z

Sgilreath:

http://www.online-literature.com/authorpics/dante.jpg

Dante Alighieri was born in Florence in 1265. He was the son of Alighiero di Bellincione Alighieri who were considered neither wealthy nor especially prominent. There is not a whole lot known about Dante’s early education, but it is thought that he probably received elementary instruction in grammar, language and philosophy at one of the Franciscan schools in the city and was raised Catholic. Dante showed interest in literature and became an apprentice for [[Bruneto Latini]] who was a famed poet and prose writer. Dante studied literature and the rhetoric, soon becoming associated with some of the well known Florentine poets. Dante later met Guio Cavalcani who helped him refine his literary skills. (arches) Upon his 18th birthday, Dante received money inherited by his parents who died years back. At age 20, Dante married Gemma Donati through an arrangement set by his father. Gemma Donati’s family was very prominent in Florence and her cousin, Forese Donati, was one of Dante’s best friends. They had four children together. After Dante finished up his formal education at the University of Bologna, he enlisted in the Florentine army.

The death of Bice, (Beatrice) one of Dante’s childhood friends had a huge impact in his life. Her death in 1290 caused him to be inconsolable, and he passed the time by drinking and partying with friend Forese Donati. He soon began an intensive study on the classical works of Boethius, Cicero, and Aristotle. He received most of his education at two churches that were being enlarged outside the city walls at either end of the city: the Dominican church of Santa Maria Novella to the east and the Franciscan church of Santa Croce to the west. (waterfordschool) In 1292, Dante completed his first volume of poetry, the Vita Nuova, which means “New Life.” It was written to commemorate Beatrice’s death. Most of the poem were written the decade before, inspired by the chivalric poems of the French troubadours, who would sing them to the royal courts. The Vita Nuova was notable not only because Dante was among the first to compose poetry that was so sensitive and consciously refined in Italian, but also because he wove the poems together with prose commentaries reflecting on the texts and describing the circumstances of their composition. (waterfordschool)

Despite the success of the Vita Nuova, Dante became interested in politics. The rapid growth in Florence caused there to be civil wars between families over religious leaders. Dante was a very persuasive speaker and was elected to one of Florence’s highest offices. He and a group of other political leaders were against having the Pope as ruler and confirmed anti-papal measures. When in 1302, the French prince acting under orders from the Pope captured power in Florence; Dante was sentenced on charges of corruption and opposition to the Church and exiled from Florence on pain of execution by burning if he ever returned. (online-literature) Dante stayed in Verona for a while and then moved to Revenna where he died in 1321. Dante is considered one of the greatest Italian poets of all time. He is best known for his work The Divine Commedia, (The Divine Comedy) and Vita Nuova. (The New Life)

Works Cited

www.waterfordschool.org

www.archives.uqa.edu

www.online-literature.com

Jason

2005-04-19T23:33:28Z

Sgilreath:

Jason is the hero and main character in the quest for the [[Golden Fleece]]. In that story he is the captain of the ship [[Argo]] (March 223). He is the son of [[Aeson]] and [[Alcimede]] (aka Polymede). Aeson was supposed to become the King of [[Iolcus]] when his father died, but his half-brother, [[Pelias]], took the throne. Fearing for Jason's safety Aeson told Pelias that Jason had been born dead, and then sent Jason to be raised by [[Charon]], the wise Centaur, on Mount Pelion (March 223).

When Jason grew to manhood he went back to Iolcus to reclaim his throne. Pelias was scared of Jason, and sent him on what he thought would be a quest of sure death, to find the Golden Fleece. Pelias said that the fleece was rightful property of his family and convinced him that it would be a glorious adventure. Jason liked the idea and had [[Argus]] build him the biggest boat Greece had ever seen; one that would hold up to 50 people. Jason was so pleased with this boat that he named it “Argo” after the builder. (geocities) Hercules, Theseus, Orpheus, and Nestor were a few of the heros that accompanied him in this journey. After Jason and the [[Argonauts]] had a couple of adventures, they came to Colchis. In Jason's quest to find the Golden Fleece he met the sorceress [[Medea]]. Jason's courage and abilities were put to the test by King Aeetes, who invited him to yoke the brazen-footed bulls that breathed fire from their jaws, and with their help plough the field of Ares where he was to sow from the half of the Dragon's teeth which [[Aeetes]] had got from Athena, after the killing of the Boeotian dragon by Cadmus years ago. (homepage.mac) He told Medea of his quest and promised to marry her if she would give him success. Medea gave Jason a magic salve that made him “hero for a day” by making him impervious to fire or weapons, and he was able to accomplish the tasks set by Aeëtes.(cnr) Jason and Medea stole the fleece and took off to Hellas, being pursued by a fleet of Aeetes. During the chase, Medea murdured her brother [[Apsurtus]] and threw his delimbed body into the ocean to slow up their pursuers. Medea helped Jason throughout his quest and he married her. (Willis 152).

In [[Euripides]]' [[tragedy]] ''Medea'', Jason is married to Medea, but as the play begins he has just betrayed her by getting remarried to King Kreon of Corinth's daughter. Jason tries to justify to Medea his reasons, saying that he did it to provide her and their two sons with security. He figured she was useful during a time of trouble because of her skills and strength but now surrounded by peaceful citizens, she seems like a foriegn barbarian. It is not you," answers Jason, "who once saved me, but love, and you have had from me more than you gave. (theatrehistory) He goes on to explain that he brought her from a barbarious land to Greece, and that he is marrying the princess to win wealth and power for himself and his sons. "Neither do I wish to send you away in need; take as ample a provision as you like, and I will recommend you to the care of my friends." (theatrehistory) Medea is enraged, and she sends a poisoned dress and crown to Jason's new bride. The poisoned items do kill the bride and inadvertently kill the king. Medea then kills her two sons in order to further hurt Jason. Jason returns to find his children dead, and he is not able to punish Medea because she has fled on a dragon-chariot provided by her grandfather [[Helios]].

It has sometimes said that Jason killed himself out of grief over the loss of his children, but the more common story is that a beam from the rotting Argo crushed him during a visit (March 224).

== Works Cited ==

* Willis, Roy. ''World Mythology The Illustrated Guide.'' London: Duncan Baird Publishers, 1993
* March, Jenny. ''Dictonary of Classical Mythology.'' London: Cassell, 1998

* www.theatrehistory.com

* www.cnr.edu

* www.geocities.com

* homepage.mac.com

Jason

2005-04-19T23:00:41Z

Sgilreath:

Jason is the hero and main character in the quest for the [[Golden Fleece]]. In that story he is the captain of the ship [[Argo]] (March 223). He is the son of [[Aeson]] and [[Alcimede]] (aka Polymede). Aeson was supposed to become the King of [[Iolcus]] when his father died, but his half-brother, [[Pelias]], took the throne. Fearing for Jason's safety Aeson told Pelias that Jason had been born dead, and then sent Jason to be raised by [[Charon]], the wise Centaur, on Mount Pelion (March 223).

When Jason grew to manhood he went back to Iolcus to reclaim his throne. Pelias was scared of Jason, and sent him on what he thought would be a quest of sure death, to find the Golden Fleece. Pelias said that the fleece was rightful property of his family and convinced him that it would be a glorious adventure. Jason liked the idea and had [[Argus]] build him the biggest boat Greece had ever seen; one that would hold up to 50 people. Jason was so pleased with this boat that he named it “Argo” after the builder. (geocities) Hercules, Theseus, Orpheus, and Nestor were a few of the heros that accompanied him in this journey. In Jason's quest to find the Golden Fleece he met the sorceress [[Medea]]. He told her of his quest and promised to marry her if she would give him success. Medea gave Jason a magic salve that made him “hero for a day” by making him impervious to fire or weapons, and he was able to accomplish the tasks set by Aeëtes.(cnr) Medea helped Jason throughout his quest and he married her. (Willis 152).

In [[Euripides]]' [[tragedy]] ''Medea'', Jason is married to Medea, but as the play begins he has just betrayed her by getting remarried to King Kreon of Corinth's daughter. Jason tries to justify to Medea his reasons, saying that he did it to provide her and their two sons with security. It is not you," answers Jason, "who once saved me, but love, and you have had from me more than you gave. (theatrehistory) He goes on to explain that he brought her from a barbarious land to Greece, and that he is marrying the princess to win wealth and power for himself and his sons. "Neither do I wish to send you away in need; take as ample a provision as you like, and I will recommend you to the care of my friends." (theatrehistory) Medea is enraged, and she sends a poisoned dress and crown to Jason's new bride. The poisoned items do kill the bride and inadvertently kill the king. Medea then kills her two sons in order to further hurt Jason. Jason returns to find his children dead, and he is not able to punish Medea because she has fled on a dragon-chariot provided by her grandfather [[Helios]].

It has sometimes said that Jason killed himself out of grief over the loss of his children, but the more common story is that a beam from the rotting Argo crushed him during a visit (March 224).

== Works Cited ==

* Willis, Roy. ''World Mythology The Illustrated Guide.'' London: Duncan Baird Publishers, 1993
* March, Jenny. ''Dictonary of Classical Mythology.'' London: Cassell, 1998

www.theatrehistory.com

www.cnr.edu

www.geocities.com

Sophocles

2005-04-04T23:26:55Z

Sgilreath:

[[Image:Sophocles.jpg|thumb|Sophocles]]Sophocles (ca. 496-406 BCE) lived in an Athens advanced in power and prosperity: a time of reevaluation of tradition and new intellectual standards — a critical and rationalist movement, confident in the power of human intelligence. He took an active role as a citizen and politician, dying two years before Athen’s surrender to Sparta. [[Oedipus Rex|Oedipus the King]] was a later play, probably produced sometime after the start of the Peloponnesian War, 431 BCE.

[[Category:World Literature]]
Sophocles was born around 496 B.C., in Colonus, a suburb outside of Athens. He was the son of a wealthy merchant named Sophillus, who provided him with a great aristocratic education. Not only that, be he had the pleasure of being friends with political leaders [[Pericles]] and [[Herodotus]]. Sophocles was active in public life starting at a very early age. When he was sixteen, he was chosen to lead a choir of boys at a celebration of the victory of Salamis. Years later, he began to enter contests in which plays were presented. His first year competing in the City Dionysia which was an annual festival, he took first prize. He defeated [[Aeschylus]], which was an astonishment. Aeschylus was known for his tragic poetry and had been the undisputed champ of these competitions. Sophocles went on to write more than 120 plays, taking home first place eighteen times and would never take less than second. Sophocles not only wrote these great dramatic plays, but would prove his acting ability by performing in them. In the play Nausicaa or The Women Washing Clothes, Sophocles performed a juggling act which had the townspeople talking for years.

Sophocles didn’t limit himself only to theatre. He served as an ordained priest for many years, served jointly as a general with Pericles during the Samian revolt, and may have served as a general during the Peloponnesian War. He was also one of the ten commissioners who governed Athens after the Sicilian Expedition.

Being known as an innovator of theatre, Sophocles takes credit for eliminating the trilogic form, which is basically using three different tragedies to tell one story. There were seven tragedies out of all the plays written which were completely preserved. The seven extant plays are ''Antigone'', ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' or ''Oedipus Rex'' (''Oedipus the King''), ''Electra'', ''Ajax'', ''Trachiniae'' (''Maidens of'' ''Trachis''), ''Philoctetes'', and ''Oedipus at Colonus'' (produced posthumously in 401 BC). Also preserved is a large fragment of the Ichneutae (Investigators), a satiric drama discovered on papyrus in Egypt about the turn of the 20th century. ''Ajax'', the earliest play, dramatizes nobility and the heroic ideal. ''Antigone'', written around the same time, is a drama about a woman who fights authority for a proper burial for her brother. “It has often been regarded as the classical statement of the struggle between the law of the individual conscience and the central power of the state.”(Grene, 3) ''Oedipus'' ''the King'' may be considered Sophocles’ greatest work. “It is powerful in its conjunction of character and destiny, its relentless recognition of hidden truth, and its paradoxes of human knowledge and ignorance.” (Segal)

“In every way Sophocles is the embodiment of what we know as Greek, so much so that all definitions of the Greek spirit and Greek art are first of all definitions of his spirit and his art.”(Hamilton, p163) Sophocles was a natural in dramatic theatre, but some say he was even a better poet than dramatist."Sophocles' great dramatic achievement was to reinterpret the ancient myths through a fuller development of individual character and to endow surface detail with deeper symbolic significance."(Segal) In 406, after the production of ''Oedipus at Colonus'', Sophocles passed away.

'''Works Cited'''

Grene, David. Et. Al. ''Sophocles'', Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1959

Hamilton, Edith. ''The Greek Way'', New York, W.W. Norton and Co. 1971

Segal, Charles <www.honors.montana.edu>