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"The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well." Ralph Waldo Emerson

this is the stupidest thing i have ever heard , why would anyone even want to live if you werent happy, like omg , this is dumb, why would anyone else care about your accomplishments except you, when you accomplish something , then you are happy therefore happyness is your purpose. noone cares at all what you do , or whether you have lived well , or were honorable, it comes down to every man for themself.

No time to spare

"You get in there, you get the job done and you get the hell out."- Tom Petty

" only dumb people are happy " - courtney love , this is a genious quote because dumb people dont have time to think things through , which really is what makes you unhappy, the more you think about anything the more unhappy you get . with relation to oedipus or frankenstein they were smart and they got screwed, and with relation to the poor aids infected african people , they have no knowledge about anything , they just sing some songs and dance around , life's good for them.

The more The marrier

"The one man team is a complete and total myth."- Don Shula

This quote is telling people that in all great accomplishments there are many people in order to help succeed. Although there is always one person who gets the most credit, the reason i like this quote so much is that it shows even thou not every player has the same skills and there is a stand out but without all of them they wouldn't be as successful. A great example is Odysseus and Alexander the Great they were the leaders and guided their sides to greatness but no one else was really remembered even though without them they would not have been as successful.

Life at its fullest

"He who best enjoys each passing day is truly blest."- The Bacchae (pg. 224)

This is a great quote in the Bacchae, the reason for this is because it relates to everyone. Its basically saying if you enjoy your life and you are happy everyday that's what matters, not how much money you have and what not. This shows the main thing in life is to enjoy it because there is no point in stressing yourself out and worrying about everything because that defeats the purpose of life, Just relax and chill and you will be blest.

The Root of Health

"Walking is man's best medicine" - Hippocrates

After we talked about Roman medicine in class I found it interesting that they were so advanced. It's astonishing to think about how they performed all of these surgeries and made all of these tools that we still use.

This quote shows that health (other than unpreventable diseases and aging illnesses), is pretty simple. Exercise will always keep you healthy. Even the best and brightest, like the man who inspired the Hippocratic Oath, know the basic key to living a good life.

Strong Willed

“She does not know how to bend before her troubles”.

-I really liked this quote, because even after all that Antigone had done and gone through she remained strong willed and unafraid. But the fact that they could only portray women this way through plays and not in reality was unfair.

Bonds Between Women

“Tell him nothing of my intentions, if you are loyal to your mistress and a woman.”

-This quote is a bond Medea creates with her nurse to secure her safety.

Justice Through Capital Punishment

It is Justice, not Laws that cures the society. And Capital Punishment is the only Justice that suits a murderer.
Saqib Ali

-Doing a debate in Politics, and this quote was in my conclusion, it is true, the only puishment to give a murderer is murder itself, if that's what you consider Capital Punishment.

Alexander the Not So Great?

I find it interesting that the view of Alexander in the movie compared to the view of Alexander in the article is so different. It makes me wonder who Alexander really was as a person. Was he this great hero, or was he one who strives off of others' downfall? (in some cases in the article it says he killed his own friends to be successful). I think perception is very important when it comes to Alexander. The movie portrays him as one of the greatest heroes of the old world whereas the article tries to give the worst possible details about his life and personality. Personally, I think that both of these accounts make sense. Obviously, the article and movie are both focused on getting their points across and the points are totally opposite. Although facts show that he was both a hero and a villain, aren't we all? Nevertheless, I think that one would have had to live back then to really know who Alexander was as a person. Every human doesn't see everything the same way.

Value of Virtue

"Unlike Greek mythical figures, the heroes of Rome's early past were not taller, stronger, wealthier, or better-looking than their remote descendants; they were exceptional only in virtue." - Ancient Mediterranean World, p118

Virtue is defined as moral excellence; goodness; righteousness. This fact, that Romans chose to idolize those who portrayed these fine qualities instead of those which are merely shallow and superficial, evidently shows their great respect for what really matters. The Greeks praised men and women of strength leading to great heroic glory whether by means of athletic competition or even the slaying of a giant monster. But the Romans on the other hand showed respect for those who used their skills for the greater good, exemplifying how high they valued dignified morality.

Perception

"Too often we moderns have forgotten Bosworth's warnings and instead continue to glorify Alexander's conquest. Yet to do so is either to neglect or to underappreciate the sheer cost of human lives of Alexander's reign."

-The Butcher of Macedon

Inquiry

"Their insatiable spirit of inquiry drove them to question accepted knowledge and seek further information for themselves. Pythagoras, the philosopher-mathematician, encouraged his pupils to investigate the causes and reasons of nature, thus beginning a tradition of medical inquiry."

-Greece and Rome

Inquiry and questioning were fundamental values of both Greek and Roman society, however these values seem to have eroded in our society. For the most part, people simply accept their surroundings. Surely, they wonder why or how things came to be, but this amazement is only temporary, as modern responsibilities soon take precedent. For these ancient cultures, or at least their most well-known and intelligent members, this was not the case.

Hobo geniuses?

"The Cynic sect...Extremely antisocial...challenged and exposed the hypocrisy of virtually all civilized institutions...distinguished not so much by their belief in certain doctrines as by their way of life - bearded, wandering, simply dressed, carrying only a pouch and a staff..."

All I could think of when I read this was "raving hobo".
You place someone like that in our modern world, you'd find that when you walk by this person, you'd just pretend they aren't there. You ignore the opinions of someone who doesn't take care of themselves, someone who is enveloped in their complete misanthropy. It's interesting that back then they were a respected "sect".

A Time for Song

"Now we too shall sing a song of glory named

for proud victory to celebrate the thunder

and fire flung weapon of thunder-rousing Zeus,

the blazing lightning

that befits every triumph,

and the swelling strains of song

shall answer to the pipe's reed."

-Olympian Odes, LOEB

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O4VS6ikrik&feature=related

The Role of History

"What Herodotus the Halicarnassian has learnt by inquiry is here set forth: in order that so the memory of the past may not be blotted out from among men by time, and that great and marvellous deeds done by Greeks and foreigners and especially the reason why they warred against each other may not lack renown."

-Persian Wars, Herodotus

"Obviously, then, history is a social necessity. It gives us our identity. It helps us to find our bearings in an ever more complex present, providing us with a navigators chart by which we may to some degree orient ourselves...It helps us to find the particular example, to see the uniqueness in a past age or past even, while also helping us to see how the particular and the unique contribute to the general."

-The Ancient Mediterranean World

And the long road begins...

"Manus, the power of a husband over his wife, was less comprehensive than patria potestas, Even in the Twelve Tables it was fairly easy for a wife to avoid coming under the legal authority of her husband. Independent women whose fathers were dead could inherit property. They were required to have guardians (this may reflect Greek influence), but one clause in the code protects women's property rights against embezzlement by their guardians, thus recognizing women as the true owners of their property. These are some early indications that the status of women in the Roman world would be higher than their status in classical Athens."

-The Ancient Mediterranean World

The Myth of the Cave

"In the cave behind them is a bright fire. Unknown to them there is a rampart as high as a man between the fire and them; and on the other side of this rampart are people perpetually passing to and fro carrying things on their heads."

-Plato's Republic (The Myth of the Cave)

Good Character

"Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character."

~ Heraclitus

Anger

"Anybody can become angry - that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way - that is not within everybody's power and is not easy."
- Aristotle

The Ultimate Vanquisher

"Do you not think it a matter worthy of lamentation that when there is such a vast multitude of worlds, we have not yet conquered one?”
-Alexander the Great

As ultimate conqueror of his century, and under the belief that he was a descendant of the almighty Zeus, Alexander the Great was unsatisfied when in one place, knowing there were areas, other city-states, other societies he had yet to succeed and assume his place as a war hero. Unfortunately, his need to take over various places came at the toll of thousands of lives, no matter who they may be. Nonetheless, he used his god-given abilities to his advantage and didn't let a soul stand in his path

Alexander the Great: Conqueror or Killer?

"This army Alexander inherited, and with it the idea that war meant not the defeat of the enemy, the return of the dead, the construction of a trophy and the settlement of existing disputes but rather the annihilation of all combatants and the destruction of the culture itself that had dared to field such opposition to his imperial rule."
- Victor Davis Hanson, Butcher of Macedon

Alexander the Great is known as one of the greatest, most skilled battle strategists of all time, as he continued to take over a vast area of Asia Minor, Persia, winning war after war, combat after combat and taking life after life. He and his army killed thousands upon thousands, relentless in their slaughterings, whether man, woman, child, slave. But were these killings all justified? That is the question historians have and will continue to ask themselves for years to come, and the only real answer is, in my opinion, no. He was merciless in allowing endless amounts of lives to be taken on his account without a single regret. He felt he was born a warrior, and therefore meant to kill. So he conquered as much territory as possible, to fulfill his own greedy need to be almighty. How can this be justified?

Genocide

"Alexander's inaugural Theban holocaust puts his murder in league with ethnic obliterations of our own era-Adolf's Hitler wartime retaliatory annihilation of occupied communities, Hafez Assad's erasure of wayward Syrian villages or Saddam Hussein's gassing and butchery of Iraqi Kurds."

-Butcher of Macedon

The writer, Victor Davis Hanson, makes quite the claim when stating that Alexander the Great was in the same league of murderers as Sadaam Hussein and Hitler. Through his utter destruction of Thebes, Alexander sent a message to other city-states that he would take no prisoners. It also showed his pure ruthlessness and lack of respect for anyone or anything except for his army. It is evident that Alexander played by his own rules, blood-thirsty and willing to do anything to secure power.

Power

"What is wisdom? Or what fairer gift from the gods in men's eyes than to hold the hand of power over the head of one's enemies? And 'what is fair is always followed."

-The Bacchae

This quote is referring to the pursuit of power. It is stating that "holding the hald of power over the head of one's enemies" is the greatest feeling and the means to this end are the ones that are always followed. Also, up until this point, the chorus had been stating that observance of the Gods was the greatest cause, however the message is now changed in order to benefit them personally.

Heros

"A hero is born among a hundred, a wise man is found among a thousand, but an accomplished one might not be found even among a hundred thousand men."

~ Plato