Seneca on Saturday — how to avoid envy

Posted on May 28, 2016 by Valerie Block

Mosaic in front of a fish monger’s shop in the Piazza of Corporations, Ostia Antica, 3rd century CE. The image is of a dolphin with a fish and an octopus in its jaws. “IMBIDE CALCO TE” means “Envious one, I tread on you.” Photo credit: Eric Taylor, from http://www.ostia-antica.org.

CV. On Facing the World with Confidence

Reflect on the things which goad man into destroying man: you will find that they are hope, envy, hatred, fear, and contempt. Now, of all these, contempt is the least harmful, so much so that many have skulked behind it as a sort of cure. When a man despises you, he works you injury, to be sure, but he passes on; and no one persistently or of set purpose does hurt to a person whom he despises. Even in battle, prostrate soldiers are neglected: men fight with those who stand their ground. And you can avoid the envious hopes of the wicked so long as you have nothing which can stir the evil desire of others, and so long as you possess nothing remarkable. For people crave even little things, if these catch the attention or of rare occurrence.

You will escape envy if you do not force yourself on the public view, if you do not boast your possessions, if you understand how to enjoy things privately. Hatred comes either from running foul of others: and this can be avoided by never provoking anyone; or else it is uncalled for: and common-sense will keep you safe from it. Yet it has been dangerous to many; some people have been hated without having had an enemy. As to not being feared, a moderate fortune and an easy disposition will guarantee you that; men should know that you are the sort of person who can be offended without danger; and your reconciliation should be easy and sure. Moreover, it is as troublesome to be feared at home as abroad; it is as bad to be feared by a slave as by a gentleman. For everyone has strength enough to do you some harm. Besides, he who is feared, fears also; no one has been able to arouse terror and live with peace of mind.

Seneca Epistles 93-124, Translation by Richard Gummere. Loeb Classical Library.

Arriving late to a classical education

Posted on May 24, 2016 by Valerie Block

“Untitled,” 1980, by Jannis Kounellis, at the Smithsonian’s Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC. Photo from Tumblr.

Seneca on Saturday: procrastinate later

Posted on May 21, 2016 by Valerie Block

Epistle LXXII. On business as the enemy of philosophy

For there is never a moment when fresh employments will not come along; we sow them, and for this reason several spring up from one. Then, too, we keep adjourning our own cases, saying “as soon as I am done with this, I shall settle down to hard work,” or: “If I ever set this troublesome matter in order, I shall devote myself to study”

But the study of philosophy is not to be postponed until you have leisure; everything else is to be neglected in order that we may attend to philosophy, for no amount of time is long enough for it… We must resist the affairs which occupy our time; they must not be untangled, but rather put out of the way. Indeed, there is no time that is unsuitable for helpful studies; and yet many a man fails to study amid the very circumstances which make study necessary.

Seneca Epistles 66-92, Translation by Richard Gummere. Loeb Classical Library.

Seneca on Saturday: when the mind needs to be unrolled and examined

Posted on May 14, 2016 by Valerie Block

academic-writing-scrolls

Epistle LXXII. On business as the enemy of philosophy

The subject concerning which you question me was once clear to my mind, and required no thought, so thoroughly had I mastered it. But I have not tested my memory of it for some time, and therefore it does not readily come back to me. I feel that I have suffered the fate of a book whose rolls have stuck together by disuse; my mind needs to be unrolled, and whatever has been stored away there ought to be examined from time to time, so that it may be ready for use when occasion demands. Let us therefore put this subject off for the present; for it demands much labour and much care. As soon as I can hope to stay for any length of time in the same place, I shall then take your question in hand. For there are certain subjects about which you can write even while traveling in a gig, and there are also subjects which need a study-chair, and quiet, and seclusion.

Seneca Epistles 66-92, Translation by Richard Gummere. Loeb Classical Library.

May Word of Mouth

Posted on May 5, 2016 by Valerie Block

Cultural Analysis: La Bella Figura: A Field Guide to the Italian Mind — Beppe Severgnini

Fiction: Dear Committee Members — Julie Schumacher

Non-fiction: How To Age (The School of Life) — Anne Karpf

Documentary: When Two Worlds Collide — Heidi Brandenburg and Matthew Orzel

Movie: Sing Street — John Carney

Music: Bonfires on the Heath — the Clientele.

Not-So-Ancient Inspiration: “If you never encounter anything in your community that offends you, then you are not living in a free society.” — Kim Campbell

Deity of the Month: Flora

Posted on May 4, 2016 by Valerie Block

Primavera, by Sandro Botticelli, c. 1477–82; in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence.

Flora was the ancient Roman goddess of flowers. Her story is chronicled in Ovid’s Fasti, Book V, when a nymph, Chloris, was kissed by the West Wind, Zephyrus, and was turned into Flora. This myth is the subject of Sandro Botticelli’s Primavera, above; Flora is the one decked in flowers, third from the right. Flora had her own festival, the Floralia, which was celebrated from April 27 to May 3 with dances, games and theatrical performances that were often lewd farces. It was considered good luck to joyfully welcome the onset of spring by offering the goddess milk and honey. Flowers decked both public and private buildings, and people wore wreaths around their necks and flowers in their hair. According to Ovid, Flora played the pivotal role in Juno’s immaculate conception of Apollo, by giving her a magic flower.

Image: Scala/Art Resource, New York.