Athenian Stranger

You’re going to really enjoy this one — link in comment

@Polymarket Lmao

NEW: Christopher Nolan says Homer’s original Odyssey ending was “so grim and so misogynistic” that it had to be altered for the film.

The claim that “Modernity” is a result of nominalism is simply wrong It’s exemplary of the refusal to recognize political philosophy as the natural entryway into philosophy proper. (And the naturalness of that entryway is *explicitly* made in both Plato and Aristotle)

Something that Twitter/X made me understand is that large swaths of people cannot take in even a short text, and get a general sense of the meaning. They will read one sentence - sometimes even a few words - and have a sharp emotional reaction. Then they attack the writer for something he didn’t even say - because the reader just couldn’t put it all together. I used to think ‘reading comprehension’ questions on standardized tests were dumb because anyone could do them. But that is not true. There are people so triggered by words or phrases that they lose the ability to process information - or they bring their own baggage into a text and can’t evaluate it objectively. This must be a little sliver in the IQ discourse (with which I’m only vaguely familiar as someone who read the Bell Curve a long time ago). It can’t just be about ‘g’ and processing complex info. It must also be about some people being overwhelmed with emotion that partially shuts down whatever ‘g’ they might have. This might explain why a chess grandmaster who can score 140+ on an IQ test can be a total idiot in politics.

I sat down yesterday to discuss Christopher Nolan’s “Odyssey” with @christopherrufo and @L0m3z. The conversation was a lot of fun, as we detail the merits and (more often!) demerits of Nolan’s film. Listen below, to hear how Nolan distorts Homer’s inquiry into human nature, its limits, and the gods and orders that suit him, on one hand, into a journey from taking SSRIs with a middle-aged Malibu yogi to drinking daiquiris on an island cruise with Penelope, on the other. Enjoy! youtu.be/QHU1mp75Ka0?si…

@polemoskarios Which part of Aristotle’s very clear terminology did you fail to understand? Or which part of the irreconcilable divisions of soul in Plato did you fail to understand? Or which part of Odysseus’s lying did you fail to understand as clearly lying?

@Athens_Stranger lol, I think I already had salad today.

It’s an enormous misunderstanding of poetry *and* philosophy to claim that Homer is a philosopher Plato’s Socrates speaks of an ancient quarrel between poetry and philosophy while elsewhere also saying they’re coextensive It’s Lucretius who most explicitly tells us why …

@HarrisonGarlic1 There’s no hierarchy because the soul itself is indeterminate with respect to any division between logos and eros — that’s the teaching in both Plato and Aristotle And when that teaching of soul is written large on the city it’s why philosophy is always subservient to poetry

@Athens_Stranger Hm. I would think more hierarchal, that philosophy is the superior and perfects the poetic, but the poetic, in turn, helps philosophy better complete its purpose. Not sure if we are too far off from one another.

Becoming a father brought me into the life of dad reflex, dad jokes and dad thought, all unbelievable experiences. Don't let anyone discourage you from becoming a father. (Yep, dad thought, it's above nous.)

@bitsofpaul @0x49fa98 🫶🏻

@0x49fa98 Over and over again Nietzsche is emphatic that hope is a virtue and, further, that cynicism is the greatest poison from which one rarely can recover The reason is that he recognizes one cannot escape the nemesis of resentment towards one’s own past without hope for the future

A client and great friend surprised me by sending me something he knew I would appreciate more than anything recently published

… this entire one died upon pressing “post” Truly amazing

… and in his autobiography, Vico says he applied his “new science” to Homer in 1721 to prove that Le Clerc was wrong in claiming for 50 years “that Italy produced no works” comparable to the rest of Europe Vico defends the Moderns while also preserving respect for the Ancients

On “the historical Homer,” Vico got there before Herder, Heyne, and Wolf (which Wolf later acknowledged) The 3rd of the 5 parts of his “new science” (ie the very middle of the parts of the book) is titled: “Discovery of the True Homer”

I received such good feedback on this that I combined both recorded spaces (since the first one crashed) and uploaded it here for more convenient listening — direct link in comment below

I am encouraged by this gift... we began seven years ago as an unfunded experiment. Just an idea I had. Now we’re building something that, God willing, might redefine how people think about higher education. But we need all the support we can get. Pitch in if you can.

@richardfitzw311 @FischerKing64 Crap I honestly thought her name was Elliot. I never would’ve used her fake man name if I had known 😒

@Athens_Stranger @FischerKing64 I don't think any less of Inception because of Ellen Page. It also comes the closest to an actual happy ending in Nolan's career.

I have an IMAX theater nearby. Maybe I will see ‘The Odyssey’ and tell you want I think. You know - I like Christopher Nolan and don’t agree with everyone trashing all his films. I liked Following, Memento, Inception and Oppenheimer.

@dnduplessie There are some commentaries which are so outstanding, so profoundly deep that people must earn the right to even know of their existence

As good a time as any to put in a plug for the most philosophically interesting book on the Odyssey amazon.com/dp/0742565963?…

@_theorycel It’s very simple: Men became effeminate

I don’t understand why the Odyssey seems to be much more popular and enjoyed amongst normies when compared to the Iliad (which is a far superior poem). Perhaps the more domestic nature of it makes it easier for them to digest?