Month: June 2023

Xenophon’s Cyropaedia, Moral Sayings of Cyrus the Great, King of Persia
Greek Philosophy

Xenophon’s Cyropaedia, Moral Sayings of Cyrus the Great, King of Persia

06/30/2023 Bruce Strom 5

Was Xenophon’s Cyrus the source of Benjamin Franklin’s response to the question of what sort of government the delegates of the Constitutional Convention had created: “A republic, if you can keep it.” Xenophon’s Cyrus the Great observes, “It is a great work to found an empire, but a far greater work to keep it. To seize it may the fruit of daring and daring only, but to hold it is impossible without self-restraint and self-command and endless care.” […]

Xenophon’s Cyropaedia, Biography of Cyrus the Great, King of Persia
Greek and Roman History

Xenophon’s Cyropaedia, Biography of Cyrus the Great, King of Persia

06/28/2023 Bruce Strom 5

During his first hunt, Cyrus the Great eagerly pressed his horse to chase a great stag. His horse slipped, going to his knees, nearly throwing him, but “the boy managed to keep his seat, and the horse recovered its footing,” and shortly “Cyrus let fly his javelin, and the stag fell dead, a beautiful big creature.” When they were dismounted, admiring the slain stag, Cyrus sprang back on his horse when he heard a “frenzied wild boar charging down on them. He charged to meet it, drawing his bow with the surest aim possible, struck the beast in the forehead, and laid him low.” Cyrus would later display this brave coolness when under fire in battle. […]

Should Blacks Receive Reparations? Happy Juneteenth from Atlantic Magazine, Civil Rights Articles
Civil Rights

Should Blacks Receive Reparations? Happy Juneteenth from Atlantic Magazine, Civil Rights Articles

06/23/2023 Bruce Strom 0

The most compelling story in the Atlantic Juneteenth collection is “The Case for Reparations” by Ta-Nehisi Coates. He is one of the Black Lives Matter banned authors, banned for making sensitive white children ashamed of their past history, ashamed that slavery was indeed the cause of the Civil War, ashamed of the brutal history of Jim Crow and KKK violence during Reconstruction and Redemption targeted at blacks. Ta-Nehisi Coates’ works were deleted from the AP Black History Studies course in a futile attempt to make it acceptable to Red State schools. If they wanted to change the emphasis to the AP Lost Cause White History Studies course, they would have better luck. […]

Confessions Genesis Books 11 - 13
Morality

St Augustine’s Confessions, Creation in Genesis, Manicheism, and Pagan Myths, Books 11 Through 13

06/16/2023 Bruce Strom 2

How can the light shine in our lives? St Augustine prays, “since your Spirit moved over the waters, your mercy did not abandon us in our misery. You said, ‘Let there be light.’ You also said, ‘Repent; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ You told us to repent. You commanded light to be made.” So, to St Augustine, repentance is light. […]

St Augustine Confessions Book 10
Morality

St Augustine’s Confessions: On Soul, Mind, Memory, Stoicism, Salvation, and True Happiness, Book 10

06/09/2023 Bruce Strom 0

St Augustine is my favorite Catholic saint because in every major work he explicitly states that the foundation of the Christian faith is the two-fold Love of God, and love of neighbor, where we love our neighbors as ourselves. In Book 10 St Augustine prays to God that “you want us not only to Love you, but also to love our neighbor,” and he repeats this in other books of the Confessions. St Augustine prays to God: “Give me the grace to do as you command, and command me to do as you will!” […]