The Symposium by Plato
Plato (c. 427-348) was an ancient Greek philosopher from Athens, mostly known for his Socratic dialogues The Republic and The Symposium. Born into an aristocratic family, he would have been…
Ego Flos Campi by Jacobus Clemens non Papa
When my parents visited me last week, we went to a lovely concert dedicated to the works of Jacobus Clemens non Papa (c. 1510-1555), a relatively unknown Renaissance composer from…
Carpe Diem by Horace
Since I suffered a severe fever last week, I had all the time to do whatever I wanted – that is, when I was not confined to bed. And with…
Aristophanes on the Origin of Love
In Plato’s Symposium, the comic playwright Aristophanes recounts a lovely myth about the origin of Love. Together with other Athenians, like Socrates and Alcibiades, he is one of the guests…
Carthage: The Fall of an Empire
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem delendam esse. It was with this line that the Roman senator Cato the Elder famously ended all of his speeches. With it, he hammered home the message…
The Iliad by Homer
Sing, goddess, the anger of Achilles. These are the first words of the Iliad. Together with the Odyssey, it is the earliest and greatest work of literature from classical antiquity.…