World Literature
Mostly dealing with Western World Literature, the following resources address mostly the epic genre and tragedy so far. More should be forthcoming.
Anglo-Saxon
Greek
Curt Howard English 2111 Dr. Gerald Lucas May 2, 2005 First Politician Although the light of almost four centuries has been focused on The Prince, its problems are still debatable and interesting, because they are the eternal political problems between the ruled and their rulers. The rulers have to make it seem to the ruled their best interests are taken to heart. Such as they are, its ethics are those of Machiavelli's contemporaries; yet they cannot be said to be out of date so long as the governments of the world rely on material rather than on moral forces (Marriott 117-118). Its historical incidents and rulers’ personalities become interesting by reason of the uses which Machiavelli makes of them to illustrate his theories of government and personal conduct. Principles of conduct and political savvy mentioned in his “handbook” written in 1513 A.D. are still useful today, so in essence, Machiavelli was the world’s first true politician because he understood the rules of the game and what it took to be a good politician. The Prince is full of truths that can be proved at every turn. Men are still the dupes of their simplicity and greed, as they were in the days of Alexander VI (Thomson). The cloak of religion still conceals the vices men try to hide. Men will not look at things as they really are, but as they wish them to be - and are ruined. In politics there are no perfectly safe courses; prudence consists in choosing the least dangerous ones. Then, to pass to a higher plane, Machiavelli reiterates that, although crimes may win an empire, they do not win glory (Marriott 129-131). Necessary wars are just wars, and the arms of a nation are hallowed when it has no other resource but to fight. A great leader and politician has to be able to make the ruled think they have no other alternative but to fight – to win honor and glory. These types of politicians and world leaders still use the same strategy today, and it still works on the populace. It is the cry of a far later day than Machiavelli's that government should be elevated into a living moral force, capable of inspiring the people with a just recognition of the fundamental principles of society; to this argument The Prince contributes but little. Machiavelli always refused to write either of men or of governments other than as he found them, and he writes with such skill and insight that his work is of abiding value. But what invests The Prince with more than a merely artistic or historical interest is the incontrovertible truth that it deals with the great political principles which still guides nations and rulers in their relationship with each other and their neighbors (Thomson). Though Machiavelli wrote and published other literary works his world reputation is based on The Prince. This “manual” on how to obtain and keep political power covers twenty-six chapters. The first eleven deal with different types of government and principalities and the ways in which they are acquired and preserved. The twelfth to fourteenth chapters focus particularly on problems of military power. The book’s astounding fame, however, is based on the final twelve chapters, which deals primarily with the attributes and “virtues” of the prince himself (Lawall 1706). Despite its reputation for cool, precise realism, the work presents a hypothetical type, the idealized portrait of a certain kind of person - the ideal political leader. Machiavelli is committed to his view of the human being not as a philosopher or as a religious man but as a practical politician Lawall 1707). His chapter concerning faith and bravery is written about in chapter 18. He talks about how to fight and act like a lion, and on the opposite side, when to be sneaky and use cleverness, like a fox, to outwit an opponent (Lawall 1716). He also says that it is not necessary for a prince to really have strong personal virtues, but it is very necessary to seem to have them. He said the prince should seem compassionate, trustworthy, humane, honest, and religious, and actually be so, but have his mind trained to be able to change to the opposite when needed Lawall 1717). Machiavelli was emphasizing the importance of flexibility when it said it was necessary that the prince (politician) have a mind capable of turning in whatever direction the winds of Fortune and the variations of affairs require. These political rules of the game, so precisely described in The Prince, make Machiavelli the world’s first true politician.
Works cited:
Marriott, W. K. Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince. Dent & Sons, London, 1908.
Thomson, N. H. Harvard Classics, Vol. 36, Part 1. P. F. Collier & Son Co. New York, N. Y. 1914.
Lawall, Sarah. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces, Seventh Edition. W. W. Norton & Company New York, N. Y. 1999.
Sumerian
- The epic of Gilgamesh
Relevant Links
Additional External Links
- LitWeb — San Antonio College’s World Literature outlines.
- Literature on the Web — Links to various world literature resources.
- World Literature — from Open Directory.
- World Literature Online — from Bedford/St. Martin’s Press.