Reflections on Year Three

For the readings of year one, I thought that the theme was 'challenge', as in the writers of the Great Books constantly challenged the way things were done.  Year two didn't have as clean a theme, I guess, though maybe it had a series of themes.  Year three?  It had quite a bit to do with power.  How power is granted, how it is seized and what the proper forms of government are.

• Prometheus is about a god that gave power from the 'gods' and gave it to people.
• Herodotus wrote about the Persians attempt to seize Greece.
• Thucydides wrote about the problems of balance of power and subsequent war in Greece.
• Plato wrote about legitimate forms of government.
• So did Aristotle.
• Tacitus wrote about the power struggles of 1st century Rome.  And it wasn't pretty.
• Aquinas wrote about the law and whether it is good or not.
• Shakespeare's Macbeth is a story about maniacal will to power.
• Milton's Paradise Lost is, in part, a story of how Satan refused to be ruled.
• Mill argued that representative government is the best form of all.

This is one of the themes of western thought, that through thought we can find a better way to organize and rule ourselves. 

Quick Thoughts on Year Three

These are some of my thumbnail thoughts on the past year's reading.  I'll have something more in depth with a shot at 'theme' next week.

1. Didn't know that Prometheus was a god. Didn't realize that he gave mankind more than fire. Per Aeschylus, was responsible for great strides of technological advancement.
2. Herodotus always enjoyable. Learned a lot about the 300 at Thermopalaye. Not hard to tell why they become such a legend.
3. Peloponessian War was a mess, mostly self inflicted wounds to Greek society/culture. Landmark book was crucial in understanding the war.
4. Interesting musings on who should hold power and why. Typical Plato in lack of clear answers but excellent questions.
5. Well thought out categories for logic. Included my favorite chart of the series. Maybe all time favorite.
6. Great read in connection with (4). Different forms of government with arguments on weaknesses and strengths of all.
7. Fun math puzzles. Enormous amount of intelligence went into they begining of geometry.
8. Roman upper society was crazy about power. Who had power meant literal life or death for followers. Repetive to a suprising amount. Very primitive justice system.
9. Great amount of admiration for Aquinas system. Easy to see his influence on how people thought about law.
10. Too much courtly love for my taste. Tragic story of love on the part of Troilus. Not sure as much about Cressida.
11. Awful, awful, Lady Macbeth. Almost crazy the lengths of awful nn to seize the throne. Also, why are witches so tricksy?
12. Hugely influential. Suprised that Satan is so sympathetic. The serpent got a raw deal.
13. Interesting thoughts on language. Very interesting that Locke makes room for muddled people, not just elite clear thinkers.
14. What's the German word for 'incomprehensible'?
15. Mill is so good. Most interesting was argument that rep. govt. is best but all countries nn what fits them best.
16. Basic groundwork for chemistry. Dull for laypeople.
17. Intriguing discussions on mercy and punishment.  Interesting church/state talks.
18. How much do repressed memories change your outlook?  How good is the science behind hysteria?

Readings for Year Three

Another year, another set of great things to read!  You may remember that when I started this, I linked to e-versions of the works but link rot attacked that list pretty quickly.  Now I'm linking to online versions.  The e-reader versions are easily available and fairly cheap so you can still go that route.

January
Aeschylus: Prometheus Bound link
Herodotus: The History (book VII-IX) link

February
Thucydides: The History of the Peloponnesian War (book I-II, V) link

March
Plato: Statesmen link
Aristotle: On Interpretation (Chapters 1-10) link
Aristotle: Politics (book III-V) link
Euclid: Elements (book I) link

April
Tacitus: The Annals link

May
St Thomas Aquinas: Summa Theologica (part I-II QQ 90-97) link

June
Chaucer: Troilus and Cressida link

July
Shakespeare: Macbeth link

August
Milton: Paradise Lost link

September
Locke: An Essay on Human Understanding (Book III, Ch 1-3, 9-11) link
Kant: Science of Right link

October
Mill: Representative Government (Ch 1-6) link
Lavoisier: Elements of Chemistry (Part I) link

November
Dostoevsky: The Brothers Karamazov (Part I-II) link

December
Freud: The Origin and Development of Psycho-Analysis link

There are a couple of things that I want to mention with this list.  The first is that the size of each month varies pretty widely for year three.  I did the best I could in portioning.  If you're planning on reading along this year, you may want to work ahead at times.  The meatiest part of the year is going to be September and October.  All four pieces will require some effort.
The other thing is that there are some wonderful bits of history and literature here.  We're getting more Herodotus and some Thucydides.  Tacitius is basically history.  We've got Shakespeare, Chaucer and Dostoevsky coming up.  Some absolutely wonderful reads.
Hope you come along!