GENERAL INTRODUCTION
to
CVSP 201
By Maher Jarrar
© 2015

Texts that have had a permanent significance for
generations of readers.

Influenced great minds and shaped cultural
heritages.

They speak to our reality and open up for us
questions relative to our being.
What is a Classic?

There are certain texts that have passed the test of time.

They have influenced great minds and shaped cultural heritages –
either universally or in a specific cultural milieu.

In a sense, they formed a vital part of the public consciousness of
many people or societies throughout the centuries till our present
day.

They speak to our reality and our existence today and open up for
us questions relative to our being in the 21st century.

They have an element of connectedness with the understanding
of ourselves and our societies.
What do we read in CVSP courses?

Books do something that other cultural products do not/cannot do.

There is a pleasure in reading a difficult book and developing a sense
of a critical understanding.

To be trained to understand and hence question every text we
analyze, and get exposed to a culture of various discourses and of
open discussion.

We develop a culture of debate which is at the core of critical thinking
and of academic life.

Together we would become accomplished active readers who
appreciate ambiguity and complexity, and who can articulate our own
interpretations with an awareness and curiosity for other
perspectives.
Why do we read?
The Land Between the Two Rivers
Cuneiform
> An epic is sublime authoritative narrative which went
through a long period of oral tradition before it was written in
poetry.
> The author of an epic poem is unknown – most probably it
is a cumulative work of many authors over a long period of
time.
> It is a narrative poem that narrates the deeds and
adventures of heroic or legendary figures and reflects a heroic
ethos.
> The events and the heroic deeds must have been significant
to the audience; the hero embodies the values of a culture.
> An epic is apt to condense long-drawn tensions into brief
senses of dramatic power enhanced by visual magnificence
that we call dramatic moments. They are expressive of their
mother cultures.
The Epic

Epics are mythical in the sense that a myth is
“a traditional or legendary story, usually
concerning some being or hero or event, with or
without a determinable basis of fact or a natural
explanation, especially one that is concerned
with deities or demigods and explains some
practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature.” (Dictionary)
Myth
Polytheism

The belief in many gods; a hierarchical pantheon of gods
each representing a cosmic phenomenon and a defined
sphere of influence, with a higher god residing as a
supreme figure. Belief in many demonic and ghostly
forces in addition to the gods, and some supernatural
beings will be malicious.

The gods interfere in human affairs and intermarry with
them. The balanced worshipper does not pick and choose
between them but pays some respect to them all.
Hero = godlike person with many characteristics:
Handsome appearance and strength, heroes are
subjected to the harshness of their fate and shaped
by the obstacles of their journeys.
The Hero (Gilgamesh & Odysseus)
Often, heroes begin their voyages full of recklessness and
selfishness, yet at the end, they acquire wisdom, justice and a
story of their own.
A hero excels in skill and courage faces difficulties and obstacles
created to him by the gods. accepts challenges and stands up to
them fights against monsters and demons makes unnecessary
risks and discovers frightful and unknown lands and mysteries.
The Hero II
A rite of passage (initiation rite) is a ritual that marks a change in
a person's social or sexual status. Rites of passage are often
ceremonies surrounding events such as childbirth, or other
milestones within puberty, and coming of age.
 Rites of passage have three phases: separation, liminality, and
incorporation. In the first phase, people withdraw from the group
and begin moving from one place or status to another. In the
third phase, they reenter society, having completed the rite. The
liminal phase is the period between states, during which people
have left one place or state but haven't yet entered or joined the
next. Initiation is a rite of passage ceremony marking entrance or
acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal
admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal
components. In an extended sense it can also signify a
transformation in which the initiate is 'reborn' into a new role.
(From Wikipedia)

Journey as “Rite of Passage”
Ancient Greece
 Polis. A community of adult male
citizens (since women and children as
well as slaves are non-citizens have no
rights).
The polis exists for the sake of good
life. Direct participation in the making of
rational choices after discussion.
 A human being fulfils his humanity
and excellence as an active member of
the polis.
The Greek Polis
“War is a violent teacher.”

History means inquiry; causes and effects of the war; selecting key
events; using his reason and intelligence.

Against excess in power - part of the mentality of empire. Contrast
between right and might; the Melian dialogue.

Thucydides understanding of Human Nature is Pessimistic.

"There is no human nature apart from culture." (Clifford Geertz)
Thucydides
Amphi Theatre

Tragedy: tragic action and human contentment
and goodness.

Tragic hero in misfortune and at grips with his
destiny “moira.”

A good person could fall short of full “goodness”
under circumstances not under his control ().

Excellence & standing up to challenges.
Tragic ambiguity and human goodness
Oedipus in grips with his destiny
“moira”
Justice in the city is the condition in which each
part of a thing performs the task to which it is in
a sense naturally suited; thus are all the aspects
of excellence (aretai) present (432b-34, 441-42).
Plato’s Quest for Justice
Aristotle, Ethics
 Our choice/or avoidance is affected by 3 factors:
1. The fine
#
The base = low,
degrading
2. The advantageous #
The harmful
3. The Pleasant
The painful
#
The mean RELATIVE TO US and this mean is not arithmetical
(p. 100).

Any one who is aiming at the mean should (p. 109):
1. Keep away from the extreme which is more contrary to the
mean (Calypso’s advice);
2. Notice our errors and drag ourselves in the opposite
direction;
3. Guard especially against pleasure and pleasant things.
The Mean
(the middle btw two extremes)
Epicurus (341-270 BCE) & the law of nature

The permanent constituents of the universe:
atoms and void

How atoms explain phenomena

The nature and mortality of the soul

Phenomena of the soul

The cosmos and its mortality

Cosmic phenomena
Lecretius
Lucretius, Atoms swerve