Books, Cookies, And Lucy

To be honest- I have a hard time during the summer staying focused and inspired to do things. After a spring full of essays, theater rehearsals, script-writing, piano recitals and syllabus- everything seemed blank. Which is not to say that I'm always diligent when projects abound- I can and do waste time. (Twitter? Facebook?) But I am the type that either works ridiculously hard on a task- or doesn't do anything about it all. Which is bad, or good- depending on how you see it. I'm thinking it's bad.

My companion for the next two months is Tacitus' Annals of Imperial Rome, assigned to all of Alexandria Tutorial's students who will be entering Great Books II next year. (Don't Roman numerals look more scholarly?)

Anyway, it hasn't proved to be as gory as Herodotus- yet. I've actually never met a book like this that didn't contain some enjoyable parts, though I always do drag my feet somewhat at the beginnings. At any rate, mutinies are always fascinating.

There are good speeches in this book, too. Oh yes. Kind of makes me want to read one out loud, but I'd hate to repeat the Tom-Sawyer-Reads-Patrick-Henry's-Give-Me-Liberty-Speech incident.

"For heaven forbid that the distinction and glory of having helped Rome and suppressed the peoples of Germany, should go the Belgae- Gauls and foreigners- for all their offers. Divine Augustus, I call upon your spirit now in heaven! Nero Drusus my father, I invoke your image that is in our memories!  Come to these soldiers of yours (into whose hearts shame and pride are making their way); wash clean this stain! Direct these revolutionary passions against enemy lives instead....Will you give the senate back its delegates, be obedient to the emperor again- and return me my wife and son? Then shake of the contagion. Single out the culprits! That will show you are sorry, and prove you are loyal...."

Oh, ahem, sorry. Just got a little carried away there. And now about the past few days:

---The performance of Handel's Messiah I went to see on Sunday was amazing. Especially "Surely He Has Borne Our Griefs."

---Meg from Our Spare Oom had a giveaway recently, and as I was the only one who entered it- I won! I thought it was really sweet and thoughtful of her to give away a copy of C.S. Lewis' The Horse And His Boy. (And going to all the trouble of shipping it halfway across the world, I might add).

This happens to be my favorite book in the Narnia series. Thanks Meg! 

Thursday night my family had another track meet. I decided to stay home and make cookies- Elspeth and Autumn came over. It was more fun than running in circles.

Behold, the Ravioli Cookies- that really do not look like ravioli at all:

And no, my family does not survive on a diet of shortbread (Though some people would gladly accept such a proposal).

I've just been baking a lot this July- it's a cookie/scone/biscotti/pie month for some reason.

I shoot many of my food pictures outside- where the lighting is better. We took these cookies outside forgetting about Lucy who was inside helping herself to the second plate. We dragged her outside so we could resume our photo shoot- and came up with this priceless image.

It's the stuff dogs dream about. 

Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Natalie

P.S. My "readers widget" is up now on my sidebar, thanks to Gabrielle's suggestion. You all can follow me now. Or not;)

Essay on the Iliad

    “He is so plaguy proud,” Odysseus says of Achilleus, in the Shakespearean play Troilus and Cressida, “that the death-tokens of it cry 'No recovery.’” The subject of pride has been a part of many books, and in some, a main theme. In The Iliad, we see a fascinating study of that sin which, as Claudianus asserted, “Sullies the noblest character.”

     The consequence of pride is the principal theme in The Iliad.

     As a first example, the pride of the main character, Achilleus, demonstrates the far reaching effects of pride, in causing the death of many Achaian men. Secondly, prideful Agamemnon’s arrogance helps bring about a bitter rift in the Greek army, which leads to a beating from the Trojans. Lastly, and in a more broad sense, the theme of pride is reflected in all the Greek and Trojan warriors, whose ultimate goal is glory for themselves, their country, and their children who come after them.

    When Agamemnon is forced to return his concubine Chryseis back to her father, and is thus humiliated in front of the whole Greek army, he froths with rage, demanding that Achilleus give up his own spoil of war, a girl named Briseis. Agamemnon cannot tolerate the thought of any of his great warriors smugly looking on, while one of his own possessions is forcibly taken. When Achilleus threatens to run away, Agamemnon nonchalantly replies, “Run away, by all means if your heart drives you. I will not entreat you to stay here for my sake. There are others with me who will do me honor, and above all, Zeus.” Agamemnon is so arrogant that he unwisely dismisses one of his most powerful fighters. Angry at Achilleus, he assumes that he can still conquer the flinty Trojans without the help of Achilleus and his tantrums. Agamemnon’s decision to treat Achilleus unjustly was a poor act of leadership, and his pride causes grave consequences to the Achaian army.

       As a corollary of Achilleus’ pride, the Greeks suffer a severe battering in the hands of Hektor and his men. In choosing to refrain from fighting after Agamemnon unjustly stole his concubine Briseis,  Achilleus inconsiderately puts all of his fellow warriors in danger. He is not sorrowing over the mistreatment of Briseis; rather mourning over his own crushed pride. In his clouded vision, the only way he can hope to win back his pride is to “teach them a lesson,” like a pugnacious school-yard bully. There the analogy stops, for Achilleus chooses to sit on the sidelines instead of biting or pulling hair. 

      “Pride is seldom delicate; it will please itself with very mean advantages,” Samuel Johnson once commented, an observation that seems to describe Achilleus refusing to give aid to his fellow warriors. Achilleus is successful in making the king appreciate his worth, but his pride helps bring about the death of his dear friend Patroklos, and countless other men besides. He is a living example of a proud man “who eats up himself,” as Shakespeare once remarked. Not only is Achilleus eaten up by his own sin, his friends are experiencing the pain of being eaten by some remarkably large and ferocious dogs, namely, the Trojans.

      

    In a broader sense, the pride of  all the Greek and Trojan soldiers can be seen throughout the book. 

     “It would be ignoble of me to shrink back in the fighting,” Diomedes stoically responds to a fellow soldier trying to persuade him to leave the forefront of battle. Trojan Hektor tells his wife that he cannot stand the thought of her “widowed of such a man who could not fight off the day of your slavery.” His pride is not necessarily that of bloated arrogance; rather a deep and rather “humble” pride, ready to fight for his wife, son, and country- the most important things in his life. In contrast to Hektor’s noble pride, Achilleus, still sitting in camp, selfishly bids Patroklos to “Win for me great honor and glory.” The ultimate goal of all Greek and Trojan fighters, was to achieve the elusive kleos, and time, a magnificent dream deeply entrenched in the pride of the warrior. Any soldier in the Iliad could have spoken the words uttered by Napoleon many years later- “Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily.” 

    It may seem that The Iliad is simply a gory description of war- the main theme being the pursuit of glory. The quest for military and social glory, however, always floats on top of pride- the driving force to achieve fame, riches, and honor. Thus the paramount theme of the Iliad is more profound than just a search for distiction. The Iliad is rather a story of how pride drives men to foolish actions and destruction, rather than a mere description of how desperate they were to attain majestic greatness.

    The best lessons to be learned from The Iliad are the far-reaching repercussions of prideful and arrogant actions. Homer masterfully illustrates this by showing the reader the conduct and exploits of both armies featured in The Iliad, especially the Achaians. Through the acts of brazen Achilleus, imperious Agamemnon, and Trojans such as Hektor and Paris, a useful lesson in human nature can be learned- that should not, and will not be forgotten. Many soldiers are are the same type of men David described in Psalm 73:6-“Pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.”

   Ultimately, The Iliad is simply an illustration of Proverbs 16:18- “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

(Thanks to Wikipedia and Crystal Links for the pictures.)

Thoughts on Screwtape

   

    Martin Luther once remarked, “The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn.” When C.S. Lewis wrote his series of letters, purportedly from one demon to another, it seemed as if the epitome of witty mockery had finally been directed at the Devil - for the edification of many reading the slim book.Titled the “Screwtape Letters,” C.S. Lewis accomplished the seemingly impossible task of mocking Satan while writing from a demon’s point of view.
     Screwtape, the elder demon, sends patronizing letters to his nephew Wormwood, desperately trying to instruct the youthful spirit on the right methods of sending a human soul down the road to perdition, and the “Lowarchy of Our Father Below.” We never see Wormwood’s replies, but we know how he answers, thanks to Screwtape’s reaction to his relative’s immature nonsense. The administration of Hell has assigned Wormwood a Christian convert to beguile, who remains a shadowy and nameless character throughout the book. Wormwood, as a junior tempter, is constantly reproved by his “affectionate uncle,” for making idiotic blunders and foolish mistakes.
    Not merely an amusing chunk of comic prose, or an intriguing look at demonology, the author has used some imagination to present a speculative view on hell and temptation, that is of great value to the Christian reader.

    Some non-Christians like to complain about the content and style of this book. At best it is “quite boring,” “enormously overrated,” and “old hat, very old hat.” One reviewer suggested it would be good if it was only “One-third as long, and not so centered on Christianity.” The Screwtape Letters is so seeped in Christianity that it would be absolutely useless otherwise. There have been no attempts to write an atheistic “Screwtape Letters,” and it is highly unlikely that such an effort will be made in the future. The Screwtape Letters as a piece of good British writing may be appealing to Christians and non-Christians alike, but true appreciation of the work is reserved for those who believe the Bible to be the holy and inspired word of God.
The main intent of the author was to help believers gain a clearer view on truths that can be presented powerfully from the viewpoint of the Enemy.
    One person remarked “This book is great- if you are studying for a degree in divinity.” This seems to be a very strange suggestion, since The Screwtape Letters does not focus on subjects that are above the average man’s head. Instead, Wormwood’s uncle gives him “practical” advice on how to tempt the human into sin, a subject which all people aware of sin and temptation can easily comprehend. The Screwtape Letters discusses temptations that almost all Christians have experienced- and the speculation of how the demons go about the task of tempting is a valuable tool to combat Satan.

                                                            ******

     In the end, when Wormwood’s victim dies and is sent to heaven, the story seems to recall a verse from 1 Corinthians: “God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” This would assuredly provoke Screwtape to grind his teeth, and wrathfully say “This is bad.”