Sometimes mistaken to be Plutarch himself,the above is a statue of an unknown philosopher or priest (ca. 270 BC)Photo taken by Max Lee © 2014 Museum of Delphi Sometimes an ancient text does not have any…
afterlife
Plutarch on the Soul Scarred by Many Colors
I’ve been reading through Plutarch‘s treatise De sera numinis vindicta (= On the Delays of Divine Vengeance) which features the character Thespesius experiencing an out-of-body vision. Thespesius narrαtes how the rational part of his soul walks through…
The Irritating Bite vs. the Sting Which Kills
It’s been hard to blog with the start-of-the-semester madness, but finally, I can get back to my previous post on Philodemus’ treatise On Death (Book IV). There I wrote about how the Epicurean sage manages…
The Sting of Death according to Paul
In a previous post on common popular fears surrounding the afterlife (here), I commented on Virgil’s depiction of Hades in the Aeneid and showed pictorially one anonymous artist’s rendition of the three judges of Hades…
Wake Up O Sleeper!
In my previous post on the grave reliefs depicting the agony of separation between the deceased and surviving family (here), I shared how many people in the Greco-Roman world grieved over the prospect of never…
Philodemus on Removing the Sting and Bite of Death
I’m posting a bit later than I had planned. The family and I went out of town over the weekend to show our support to my youngest son as he competed at a major chess…
Popular Fear and Dread of the Afterlife
Apulian red-figure volute κρατήρ by”Underworld Painter” (330-320 BC) Photo from Staatliche Antikensammlungen Museum, Munich, GermanyImage credit: http://www.vroma.org/images/mcmanus_images/ Before I can post on philosophical criticisms lodged against fearing death, I need to outline what those fears were. As…
Death’s Despair and Despondency
The post on writing well was a fun literary get-away, but my “official” July kickstarter is on everyone’s not-so-favorite but inescapable subject: death. I’m reading Philodemus’ On Death (Book 4) and so the subject has been on my…