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Literary Topoi
In classical Greek rhetoric, topos, ''pl.'' topoi, (from grc, τόπος "place", elliptical for grc, τόπος κοινός ''tópos koinós'', 'common place'), in Latin ''locus'' (from ''locus communis''), refers to a method for developing arguments. (See ''topoi'' in classical rhetoric.) Meaning and history Topos is translated variously as "topic", "themes", "line of argument", or "commonplace". Ernst Robert Curtius studied topoi as "commonplaces", themes common to orators and writers who re-worked them according to occasion, e.g., in classical antiquity the observation that "all must die" was a topos in consolatory oratory, for in facing death the knowledge that death comes even to great men brings comfort. Curtius also discussed the topoi in the invocation of nature (sky, seas, animals, etc.) for various rhetorical purposes, such as witnessing to an oath, rejoicing or praising God, or mourning with the speaker.Curtius, ''European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages'', 92 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic period (), and the Classical period (). Ancient Greek was the language of Homer and of fifth-century Athenian historians, playwrights, and philosophers. It has contributed many words to English vocabulary and has been a standard subject of study in educational institutions of the Western world since the Renaissance. This article primarily contains information about the Epic and Classical periods of the language. From the Hellenistic period (), Ancient Greek was followed by Koine Greek, which is regarded as a separate historical stage, although its earliest form closely resembles Attic Greek and its latest form approaches Medieval Greek. There were several regional dialects of Ancient Greek, of which Attic Greek developed into Koine. Dia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Golden Age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during which the Golden Race of humanity ( ''chrýseon génos'') lived. After the end of the first age was the Silver age, Silver, then the Bronze Age (mythology), Bronze, after this the Greek Heroic Age, Heroic age, with the fifth and current age being Iron Age (mythology), Iron. By extension, "Golden Age" denotes a period of primordial peace, harmony, ecological stability, stability, and prosperity. During this age, peace and harmony prevailed in that people did not have to work to feed themselves for the earth provided food in abundance. They lived to a very old age with a youthful appearance, eventually dying peacefully, with spirits living on as "guardians". Plato in ''Cratylus (dialogue), Cratylus'' (397 e) recounts the golden race of human ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Argumentation Scheme
In argumentation theory, an argumentation scheme or argument scheme is a template that represents a common type of argument used in ordinary conversation. Many different argumentation schemes have been identified. Each one has a name (for example, ''argument from effect to cause'') and presents a type of connection between ''premises'' and a '' conclusion'' in an argument, and this connection is expressed as a rule of inference. Argumentation schemes can include inferences based on different types of reasoning—deductive, inductive, abductive, probabilistic, etc. The study of argumentation schemes (under various names) dates back to the time of Aristotle, and today argumentation schemes are used for argument identification, argument analysis, argument evaluation, and argument invention. Some basic features of argumentation schemes can be seen by examining the scheme called ''argument from effect to cause'', which has the form: "If ''A'' occurs, then ''B'' will (or might) oc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hybris (mythology)
Hybris (; Ancient Greek: Ὕβρις means 'hubris') was a spirit (daemon) of insolence, violence, and outrageous behaviour. In Roman mythology, the personification was Petulantia who reflected the Greek conception of hubris. Family Hybris was the daughter of the primordial gods, Nyx (Night) and Erebus (Darkness)Hyginus, ''Fabulae'Prefaceas the goddess Petulantia or of Aether (Air) and Gaea (Earth).Hyginus, ''Fabulae'Prefaceas the goddess Superbia In some accounts, her mother was Dyssebia (Impiety). According to Apollodorus, she and Zeus had Pan together. Aeschylus' account I have a timely word of advice: arrogance (''hybris'') is truly the child of impiety (''dyssebia''), but from health of soul comes happiness, dear to all, much prayed for. Hyginus' account From Nox/ Nyx (Night) and Erebus ere born Fatum/ Moros (Fate), Senectus/ Geras (Old Age), Mors/ Thanatos (Death), Letum/ Ker (Dissolution), Continentia (Moderation), Somnus/ Hypnos (Sleep), Somnia/ One ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fountain Of Youth
The Fountain of Youth is a mythical spring which allegedly restores the youth of anyone who drinks or bathes in its waters. Tales of such a fountain have been recounted around the world for thousands of years, appearing in the writings of Herodotus (5th century BC), in the Alexander romance (3rd century AD), and in the stories of Prester John (early Crusades, 11th/12th centuries AD). Stories of similar waters also featured prominently among the people of the Caribbean during the Age of Exploration (early 16th century); they spoke of the restorative powers of the water in the mythical land of Bimini. Based on these many legends, explorers and adventurers looked for the elusive Fountain of Youth or some other remedy to aging, generally associated with magic waters. These waters might have been a river, a spring or any other water-source said to reverse the aging process and to cure sickness when swallowed or bathed in. The legend became particularly prominent in the 16th century, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Odyssey
The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major Ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek Epic poetry, epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Iliad'', the poem is divided into 24 books. It follows the Greek hero cult, Greek hero Odysseus, king of Homer's Ithaca, Ithaca, and his journey home after the Trojan War. After the war, which lasted ten years, his journey lasted for ten additional years, during which time he encountered many perils and all his crew mates were killed. In his absence, Odysseus was assumed dead, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus had to contend with a Suitors of Penelope, group of unruly suitors who were competing for Penelope's hand in marriage. The ''Odyssey'' was originally composed in Homeric Greek in around the 8th or 7th century BCE and, by the mid-6th century BCE, had become part of the Greek literary canon. In Classic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nostos
Nostos (Ancient Greek: ) is a theme used in Ancient Greek literature, which includes an epic hero returning home by sea. In Ancient Greek society, it was deemed a high level of heroism or greatness for those who managed to return. This journey is usually very extensive and includes being shipwrecked in an unknown location and going through certain trials that test the hero. The return is not only about returning home physically, but also focuses on the hero retaining or elevating their identity and status upon arrival. The theme of Nostos is brought to life in Homer's ''The Odyssey'', where the main hero Odysseus tries to return home after battling in the Trojan War. Odysseus is challenged by many temptations, such as the Sirens and the Lotus-eaters. If Odysseus had given into these temptations it would have meant certain death and thus failing to return home. Nostos is used today in many forms of literature and movies. Nostos in the ''Odyssey'' In the ''Odyssey'', Homer has nostos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Katabasis
A katabasis or catabasis ( grc, κατάβασις, from "down" and "go") is a journey to the underworld. Its original sense is usually associated with Greek mythology and Classical mythology more broadly, where the protagonist visits the Greek underworld, also known as Hades. The term is also used in a broad sense of any journey to the realm of the dead in other mythological and religious traditions. A katabasis is similar to a ''nekyia'' or necromancy, where someone experiences a vision of the underworld or its inhabitants; a ''nekyia'' does not generally involve a physical visit, however. One of the most famous examples is that of Odysseus, who performs something on the border of a ''nekyia'' and a katabasis in book 11 of ''The Odyssey''; he visits the border of the realms before calling the dead to him using a blood ritual, with it being disputed whether he was at the highest realm of the underworld or the lowest edge of the living world where he performed this. Overvie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhetoric
Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. Aristotle defines rhetoric as "the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion" and since mastery of the art was necessary for victory in a case at law, for passage of proposals in the assembly, or for fame as a speaker in civic ceremonies, he calls it "a combination of the science of logic and of the ethical branch of politics". Rhetoric typically provides heuristics for understanding, discovering, and developing arguments for particular situations, such as Aristotle's three persuasive audience appeals: logos, pathos, and ethos. The five canons of rhetoric or phases of developing a persuasive speech were first codified in classical Rome: invention, arrangement, style ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aphasia
Aphasia is an inability to comprehend or formulate language because of damage to specific brain regions. The major causes are stroke and head trauma; prevalence is hard to determine but aphasia due to stroke is estimated to be 0.1–0.4% in the Global North. Aphasia can also be the result of brain tumors, brain infections, or neurodegenerative diseases (such as dementias). To be diagnosed with aphasia, a person's speech or language must be significantly impaired in one (or more) of the four aspects of communication following acquired brain injury. Alternatively, in the case of progressive aphasia, it must have significantly declined over a short period of time. The four aspects of communication are auditory comprehension, verbal expression, reading and writing, and functional communication. The difficulties of people with aphasia can range from occasional trouble finding words, to losing the ability to speak, read, or write; intelligence, however, is unaffected. Expressive lan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Idyll
An idyll (, ; from Greek , ''eidullion'', "short poem"; occasionally spelt ''idyl'' in American English) is a short poem, descriptive of rustic life, written in the style of Theocritus' short pastoral poems, the ''Idylls'' (Εἰδύλλια). Unlike Homer, Theocritus did not engage in heroes and warfare. His idylls are limited to a small intimate world, and describe scenes from everyday life. Later imitators include the Roman poets Virgil and Catullus, Italian poets Torquato Tasso, Sannazaro and Leopardi, the English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson (''Idylls of the King''), and Nietzsche's ''Idylls from Messina''. Goethe called his poem ''Hermann and Dorothea''—which Schiller considered the very climax in Goethe's production—an idyll. Terminology The term is used in music to refer generally to a work evocative of pastoral or rural life such as Edward MacDowell's ''Forest Idylls'', and more specifically to a kind of French courtly entertainment (''divertissement'') of the baroque ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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