Perhaps strangely, I prefer Aristotle to Plato going merely on
these two readings (as unfortunately, I'm not nearly as well-read as I'd like
to be yet in the area of the classics). After talking about it in class today,
I realized that my opinion was unpopular in the discussion at the time, though
I can honestly see the merit in liking either more than the other. They each
appear to have their individual strengths. My basis for preferring Aristotle
really is that his teachings in the Poetics are so familiar. In both theatre
classes and some high school English classes, I recall discussing the basic
construction of plot and poetry, and it delighted me to see something I knew
and honestly understood from that period in my life because this is the source.
It's intriguing to see where these things come from, and make one really think
about their importance to society. Where would we be without Aristotle's
frameworks for tragedy and basic plot sequence, including denouement, climax,
and the like? I'm amazed by the fact that we still teach using Aristotle's
models even today. His work was so well-planned out and considered that we
still haven't come up with a better way to formulate and discuss/teach the
creation of basic stories and plays. I suppose this makes me look like a fool,
which I will by no means deny, but I enjoy learning about Aristotle's ideas all
the same. After all, I've been spoon-fed many of his theories from a young age
anyway--at least now I know why!
Plato is interesting in his own way as well, and definitely
creative in a different way. His way is more towards a story-telling mode of
getting across his ideas, which I very much enjoy, though perhaps I would enjoy
it more if I read more of his work. The
Apology of Socrates, while very interesting, made me (quite honestly)
physically tired because of its length, and matched with my weakened state at
the moment due to recent illness, I think it was more the fault of outside
forces than Plato's writing ability that made it difficult for me to follow overall.
But I appreciate the concept of the writing, and I thought it was humorous in
its way and accomplished what it set out to accomplish. My next venture,
sparked by this reading and the discussion in class, is to read Plato's Hippias (minor). It discusses
Homer (which also has something to do with something mentioned in class...),
and the title apparently means "On Lying." I recall someone
mentioning it in high school years ago, but as I've put off a lot of reading I
have wanted to do since high school up until now, I am hopefully going to start
broadening my reading horizons more in the next few weeks... starting tonight.
I found a translation online of the full Hippias (minor) to read HERE (click
the link to go to it--it should open in a new window). And HERE is a humorous blog post about
Aristotle (that isn't very flattering to him but that's okay, I'm sure he
wouldn't be all that offended... cough... okay maybe a little) that was not
created by me or anyone affiliated with myself but I found it funny and it was
attached to this very charming illustration I found while I was googling...
...Who WOULDN'T want to click on that and see what the website was
all about? I mean, really...
Alright, I leave you now to the wonderful world of not-Sarah-land
to frolic and be free and merry and jovial and
insert-other-synonym-for-happy-here.
Okay, toodles!
~Sarah
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