(no subject)

[bedlamsbard]

Guys? I am writing the paper of doom. As in, a 7 to 10 page comparison of two of the texts we read this past couple of weeks -- in my case, Plutarch's The Life of Alexander and Taira Shigesuke's The Code of the Samurai.

No, it doesn't make that much sense to me either.

Also, not eating much. A, cafeteria food, B, workworkwork, C, friend doesn't like cafeteria food.

Also, should I get two CDs, or a CD and a book, or two books? The CDs are of the Stanford Band and Talisman, a Stanford a cappella group; the books are White Gold, about the white slave trade in the eighteenth century, and London: The Biography, which is about...uh, I think it's obvious. Opinions! I can only afford two of each.

Comments

[mentalhygiene.livejournal.com]

Dude. totally get the a cappella CD.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

And? And what! Possibly the band CD, I probably can't get that home, but books! Booksbooksbooks!

[mentalhygiene.livejournal.com]

Hmmm ... White Gold sounds really interesting. But London could be useful longer.

I don't know either. :'/

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

Or there's Albion, which is about British writing. It's a bargain books, so it's cheaper, but still...*despairs*

[minisinoo.livejournal.com]

Email me if you need info about Plutarch. I'm very familiar with that text.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

Thank you! At this point I'm getting horrifyingly familiar with it too. (After this? Never ever touching anything regarding Alexander or the samurai ever again.)

[minisinoo.livejournal.com]

Oh, Alexander's fascinating. I'd recommend John Keegan's THE MASK OF COMMAND for about 99 succinct and excellent pages on Alexander the Great.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

It's not that he's not fascinating (he is! And Plutarch's Lives is really interesting), but that I'm so sick of him at this point in time.

[minisinoo.livejournal.com]

LOL! Understood.

My whole time in grad school, I thought he was seriously overrated, then I read a couple bios on him when (of all things) researching Scott Summers. Decided he was far more interesting than I'd thought.

Btw, leading scholar on Plutarch's Alexander is J.R. Hamilton. I think he's written a commentary on it. I know he's written a little bio on ATG called (unexcitingly) Alexander the Great. Another (more recent) specialist on Plutarch is Sulochana Asirvatham (yes, she's Indian but she's from the U.S.).

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

What did he have to do with Scott? *curious*

The translator on the version we read was *checks* Robin Waterfield. And the Paper of DOOM is done! *throws confetti* Now I just need to get it to a computer that prints.

[minisinoo.livejournal.com]

Scott admired ATG. Couldn't figure out why, as I thought ATG was a bit of an egotistical priss. I still think he's an egotistical priss, but I can see why Scott would admire him as a general and leader. (g)

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

Oh, that makes sense. I can definitely see that. Did he, um, notice the "died at 32" part?

[minisinoo.livejournal.com]

LOL! I'm sure he did. He probably also noticed the 'had a male boyfriend and 3 wives part.' (G) Apparently, it didn't deter him. (Well, the three wives isn't that far off from Scott, even if he never married Emma!)

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

Had two male boyfriends, if I remember correctly. Hephaestion and Bagoas, right?

Which Scott was this for? Special or Accidental?

[minisinoo.livejournal.com]

It was just Scott in general. As for Bagoas, I've always been under the impression that 'affair' was created by Curtius to paint ATG as "corrupt" in a very Roman fashion. I think it's more 'moral' than 'historical.' That's a danger with a lot of these ancient writers -- as I'm sure you encountered with Plutarch. He's ALWAYS got a moral in mind, and he rearranges the order of material, crops it, does other things in an effort to get across that 'moral' point. Curtius is no different. They may well bring to light stories that Arrian suppresses, but we still have to be very careful.

One of the current trends in history generally (not just for ATG) is the recognition of how much "fiction" is a part of these ancient narratives. It's almost a minimalist approach. How much of the 'history' there is 'history' at all? E.g., the battle of Gaugamela as recounted in Arrian differs quite a bit from the battle as recorded in the Babylonian chronicles. Is one 'lying' and the other 'true' -- or are BOTH tweaked?

So yeah, I think we have to be very suspicious of some things, even to considering them whole-cloth inventions. Bagoas rates pretty high for me as a "whole cloth invention." He may well have existed, but the whole thing smacks FAR too much of Roman-style imperial "debauchery" for me to buy it. (All that quite aside from the point Greek men tended to be rather grossed-out by eunuchs. They might employ them by the Hellenistic era, but the Macedonians had a long tradition of the king taking Royal Pages to bed, apparently, so why would ATG take a eunuch when he cold have a 'whole' boy of his choosing? There are a lot of reasons for his era and culture that also make me doubt the story.)

Anyway, Hephaistion is a likely 'yes,' at least when they were boys. Bagoas is, imo, a likely *no*. I think you're safer looking into a couple of the Royal Pages as possible lovers than to Bagoas. ;> But that opinion is coming out of a lot of familiarity with both Greek and Roman historiographic traditions (take it with a grain of salt), and what I know about Greek sexual practices.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

*cocks head to one side* Hmm. That's very interesting, and it makes a lot of sense. I definitely see where you're coming from. (My area of expertise, or should I say interest, is British history; Greece is one of those things I'm interested in but not enough to research independently.) The pity about history -- especially ancient history -- is that there're so many accounts of what happened, and so many that are lost, and they've all changed over time.

[fruitbat00.livejournal.com]

Well I would go for a book and a CD. Best of both worlds. The music one I cant be much help on but I agree with mentalhygiene I think the London book is a better option, but then I am biased I like London (even if it is in England) Ooops.....sorry Celtic roots raising their ugly heads for a second..*g*

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

That's what I was thinking, but I could get the books somewhere else...I don't know! *headdesk*