zooot....
Uh yeah, life is boring as always. But last night was almost not so! In a very nerdy fashion no less. That's right, I went to a lecture last night for the Classics department.
Originally I only went because of the bribe of a perfect quiz score from my professor, but once I got there and the lecture finally began (no one knows how to preamble like a classics professor) it was one of the most engaging experiences I've had all year. The topic was "Epicurean Virtues, Epicurean Friendship: Cicero vs. the Herculaneum Papyri" and the lecturer was David Armstrong from the University of Austin, TX.
Dr. Armstrong exponded on the beliefs of the Epicureans through various writing of Philodemus a student of Epicurus and at the same time combating the general view of the Epicureans which was developed largely through Cicero's wrtings. All in all it was an amazing, enlightening, and inspirational lecture. Basically the Epicureans believed that the object of life was pleasure. They in turn believed that the only way to obtain the pleasurable life was to live justly and virtuously.
"One cannot live pleasurably without living nobly, justly and becomingly, nor live nobly, justly and becomingly without living pleasurably" (Epicurus, Letter to Menoeceus, 132).
They also believed in being altruistic in their friendships and that friends were one of the most important things in life, and that one of the greatest rewards of friendship is conversation.
Seriously, it was awesome, and I think I'm gonna need to add whatever collections of Philodemus' writings I can find to my collection. If you're into Greek philosophy at all, I'd seriously recommend looking into this stuff.
Originally I only went because of the bribe of a perfect quiz score from my professor, but once I got there and the lecture finally began (no one knows how to preamble like a classics professor) it was one of the most engaging experiences I've had all year. The topic was "Epicurean Virtues, Epicurean Friendship: Cicero vs. the Herculaneum Papyri" and the lecturer was David Armstrong from the University of Austin, TX.
Dr. Armstrong exponded on the beliefs of the Epicureans through various writing of Philodemus a student of Epicurus and at the same time combating the general view of the Epicureans which was developed largely through Cicero's wrtings. All in all it was an amazing, enlightening, and inspirational lecture. Basically the Epicureans believed that the object of life was pleasure. They in turn believed that the only way to obtain the pleasurable life was to live justly and virtuously.
"One cannot live pleasurably without living nobly, justly and becomingly, nor live nobly, justly and becomingly without living pleasurably" (Epicurus, Letter to Menoeceus, 132).
They also believed in being altruistic in their friendships and that friends were one of the most important things in life, and that one of the greatest rewards of friendship is conversation.
Seriously, it was awesome, and I think I'm gonna need to add whatever collections of Philodemus' writings I can find to my collection. If you're into Greek philosophy at all, I'd seriously recommend looking into this stuff.