Tag Archives: Thucydides

Reading the Great Books: Another Volume Down

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Dr. J

Yes, you read that correctly. With the completion of Thucydides’s History of the Peloponnesian War last week, we have now finished in their entirety two—count them, two!—volumes of the Great Books of the Western World series. It might not seem … Continue reading →

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When Athenians Attack!

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Dr. J

I’m logging in a day late with this weekly Great Books post; I hope you’ll forgive my tardiness. We’re halfway through the Aeneid and are nearing the completion of a couple of other longer works. I’m enjoying all these works … Continue reading →

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Funeral Games and Giant Aliens

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Dr. J

Another Monday means another report on the Great Books. We’re still plugging along and on pace to finish in 2017. This week we will cross the 6,500-page mark in the program. Here are the readings for the upcoming week: The … Continue reading →

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Spartans Actually Do Surrender Sometimes

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Dr. J

Having just come off a weekend where I had the satisfying experience of seeing a live stream of Wagner’s Götterdämmerung from the Met, I feel like I ought to start an opera (or at least a classical music) project. Maybe … Continue reading →

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Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Dr. J

Do you feel a sense of responsibility when you realize that, when you read the Great Books, you are dealing with some of the most profound and influential documents in the history of the world? I think that some people … Continue reading →

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The Great Books Are Diversity

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Dr. J

Anyone who claims to appreciate diversity should enjoy reading the Great Books. In the past week we read one of the world’s greatest historians, a philosopher who thinks history is for little minds, and authors who variously interpret life as … Continue reading →

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Augustine Censures the Pagans

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Dr. J

On this Great Books Monday, we launch into the reading of the most influential epic (I do not say the greatest) in the history of the West. With Virgil added to the readings from the most important post-apostolic theologian in … Continue reading →

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