#classic studies

[earlgrey24]

Some Julius Caesar x The Danton Case Parallels to Celebrate the Ides of March, Frev Style 🔪🥳

Firstly, both Przybyszewska’s Danton Case and Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar are obviously (excellent!) tragedies that are set in a dying republic on the brink of collapse.

Here are some other interesting parallels I was able to trace:

1. Brutus and Robespierre:

Both of them are driven to execute an important figure even though they initially do not want to do it. They are both conflicted but feel like they have no other choice and have to commit the violent act for the good of the republic.

They are also arguably quite alike in terms of character: you have the „noble Brutus“ and then Robespierre, who is consistently referred to as „the Incorruptible“. Both are seen by others as selfless and committed to the good of the state (the people in the crowd very much emphasise this fact in both of the plays, I do have the receipts)

There is even the scene in which Brutus chastises Cassius for taking bribes, which plays into the idea of him as being (literally) “incorruptible” as well. And vice versa, traces of Brutus’ famed stoicism can then certainly be found in Maximilien.

2. Cassius and Saint-Just:

Both are characters who convince the protagonists (Brutus/Robespierre) to go along the violent act while not necessarily being portrayed as antagonists (at least Saint-Just definitely can't be seen as one in Przybyszewska’s play).

There are also parallels in the close relationship between Brutus and Cassius and Robespierre and Saint-Just, where they are very much portrayed as each other’s closest confidants. Of course, this idea can easily be pushed even further if one wishes to read between the lines. (There is no Camille Desmoulins in Shakespeare though)

3. Manipulating the Crowd:

I'm perhaps the most fascinated by how both Brutus and Mark Antony as well as Robespierre and Danton have the necessary rhetorical skills to manipulate the crowd of commoners (Robespierre being able to “play the crowd like an organ” very much came to my mind when I was reading Act 3 Scene 2 of the Shakespeare’s play).

Both Shakespeare and Przybyszewska portray “the court of public opinion” and how it can easily be manipulated - how opinions can be changed in the matter of minutes - in a way that is genuinely fascinating.

Specifically, the similarity between A3S2 in which people first listen to Brutus only to be immediately swayed by Mark Antony’s speech shortly after and the scene in the court in which Danton manipulates the crowd were in fact so similar in some respects that it was borderline uncanny.

The problem arises when looking for a mirror to Danton’s character in Shakespeare’s play.

4. The Case for Danton x Caesar:

It is Caesar who gets killed for being perceived as a danger to the republic

Both Caesar and Danton are portrayed as being very much beloved by the common people

Also, the idea of Danton being immortal is expressed at the end of Przybyszewka’s play, and while he does not come back literally as a ghost like Ceasar does, Robespierre nonetheless explains to Saint-Just that Danton’s spirit never truly dies.

5. The Case for Danton x Mark Antony:

If we see Danton and Robespierre as foils, Mark Antony makes more sense as a parallel to Danton (even though he does not die), since both Robespierre and Brutus as the classic ascetic/stoic archetype while Danton and Mark Antony’s are well-known for their appetite for drinking, women (or, you know, people, in the case of Mark Antony) , and the pleasures of life overall.

Both are also severely underestimated by their enemies at first, yet they prove to be quite cunning and are able to use their words skilfully to win over the public

Overall, reading both of the plays – especially the parts about manipulating the Roman public and the citizens of Paris just with the power of words – really makes me wonder if Przybyszewska read Shakespeare’s play and used it as a source of inspiration. It would make sense, especially given how the parallel between the French Republic and the Roman Republic was well-established long before her time (even, somewhat tragically, by the revolutionaries themselves).

I promise I think about Przybyszewska's and Shakespeare’s play and the Roman Republic along with the French Revolution a totally normal amount of time & that it definitely does not consume my every waking thought that should be very much going towards the exam preparation.

#ides of march #julius caesar #brutus #french revolution #maximilien robespierre #the danton case #stanisława przybyszewska #william shakespeare #mark antony #literature #classic literature #english literature #literary analysis #(attempted) #marcus junius brutus #georges jacques danton #antoine de saint-just #saint just #robespierre #frev #frev community #history #renaissance #tagamemnon #classics #roman republic #ancient rome #classic studies #you can tell this was not AI generated by the fact that it is so chaotic and at times barely coherent #but there is heart in it okay

[alyona11]

I posted the first pic but here is a second pic of Hadestown verse Demeter I drew.

#my art #tagamemnon #classic studies #Hadestown #demeter #greek mythology #greek gods #classics

[therealfrancisabernathy]

Classic Studies is half reading unhinged, mind-boggling stories about your dead fellows and half listening to boring people trying to be smart

#dying on a meeting #classic studies

[semperardens-juli]

"There is nothing more difficult in love than expressing in writing what ones does not feel."

Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Pierre Choderlos de Laclos from The Literature Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained, James Canton

leave a little kindness

#juli-quotes #juli-the-literature-book #the literature book #james canton #big ideas simply explained #les liaisons dangereuses #laclos #pierre choderlos de laclos #academia #light academia #dark academia #literature #history of literature #french #french literature #french classic #classic #classics #classical #classic studies #writers #writer #writing #writings #fiction #creativity #writers on tumblr #writerblr #novel #novelist

[moonlady101]

I must blame Suetonius for giving me the mental image of Augustus wearing so many layers in winter he looks like a walking blanket burrito and behaving like Edward Cullen on summer...

#ancient history #ancient literature #suetonius #octavian #augustus #classic studies #roman empire

[graysbullshit]

three months without studying latin and I have forgotten everything, don't ask me nothing I don't even remember the name of the cases T-T

#classic studies #latin #chaotic academia aesthetic #classics #maybe I should reread pro archia #its that or eneida #and I fucking hate eneida

[dvstgatherer]

ovid’s writings during exhile — so happy to own this particular copy from a publisher that’s devoted to translating old, sometimes forgotten pieces. <3

#ovid #ovídio #bookblr #studyblr #dark academia #classics #classic studies #studyspo

[andromedaexists]

so i finally got polls on my old account and imma make it y'all's problem

#submission #polls #submitted by myself lol #i can't make polls over here so im submitting them from my old account lmao #anyways #greek myth #classical mythology #classic studies

[leftoverfromeden]

hello! 🌼

my name is rue, this is my studyblr, and i’m looking for academic friends to talk about studies with. i am an english major and i currently go to a school i am not in love with but i am planning on transferring next year (my top choice is bryn mawr!)

if anyone in college and over 18 wants to practice french (i am about intermediate) or latin or swedish (i am beginning), or discuss classic lit and literature-centric history please dm me! :)

#studyblr #study buddy #bryn mawr #latin student #french student #swedish student #classic studies #literature student

[colombinna]

Playing Hades and trying to get Achilles and Patroclus back together counts as studying for my Intro to Classics class 👍

#iliad #Achilles #patroclus #hades #hadesgame #classic studies #classics #humanities #academia

[jennyyyeeettt]

The joys of having a mellenial professor ❤️😂

#Student #Uni #Uni life #University #Senior year #I feel so old omg #Uni student #Classic studies #studying #life #university #student life #university student #student's life #Fun

[earlgrey24]

When I tell people that I'm majoring in Liberal Arts they just go 'huh, what even is that?' so I've finally decided that from now on I'm just gonna start saying that I'm getting my degree in Weird White Dead People studies

#i mean it's not inaccurate #and i love it #except the lack of diversity in the curriculum ofc #liberal arts #humanities #student problems #university #college life #uni life #college memes #should stop posting after 11 pm #classics student #classic studies #history student #philosophy student #philosophy #history #soon to be literature hopefully #ramblings

[alatismeni-theitsa]

Γεια σου!

I'm a Greek American archaeologist and I've actually been meaning to recommend this for a while, but there is a really great article on the impact of the West's intellectual imperialism over Greece, among other types of exploitation in the field of archaeology. I think it really sharply articulates a lot of the points you make on this blog and I thought you might be interested.

It's called "The Archaeology of the Disenfranchised" by Sandra Arnold Scham

Idk if you would have access to it, but I can also try and send some excerpts if you are interested

Oh, wow!! Great suggestion, thank you so much! I found the pdf for free from the university, and I present some relevant to Greece excerpts here. Of course the whole article is a great read and it also includes the Israel-Palestine situation from the view of archeology.

Continuing in another chapter:

The impetus for the reaction/resistance view of the past can be found in some of the more preposterous attempts by dominant cultures to inculcate young people with the western idea of history as applicable to their own land. The educational models tend to outlast political domination and continue to rub salt into the wounds caused by past subjugation.

This is my favourite quote from the last page! Aaaall the times I had to explain to young North Americans that just because their buildings look like ancient Greek and Roman ones this doesn't mean they inherited Greek culture. These buildings are merely a presentation of the interest about ancient Greece their ancestors had centuries ago and the theft and appropriation that went along with it and never stopped. And it SHOWS that it's appropriation and not cultural sharing because it's verbose and inorganic and these people know shit about the history and culture of Greece. (They know 1% and think they are experts). Just because the appropriation goes on for centuries it doesn't mean it's natural and good.

#uscentrism #imperialism #colonialism #cultural appropriation #answered #article #archeology #history #classic studies #academia #classics

[therealfrancisabernathy]

You are not an antiquity student until you start counting years backwards

#the secret history #francis abernathy #ancient history #studies #classic studies

[spookyoakie]

Professor: *puts statue of an old bearded Roman guy on the projector*

Student: that’s obi wan Kenobi

#Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus #roman history #Ancient Rome #classics #classic studies #classical civilisation #obi wan kenobi

[bones-ivy-breath]

Ares who exchanges bodies for gold, Ares who holds the scales of war, sends home to the wife the dust of her man packed in an easy little urn.

Agamemnon by Aiskhylos (tr. Anne Carson)

#agamemnon #aiskhylos #anne carson #quote #literature #aesthetic #dark academia #light academia #classic literature #classic studies #original post #ares #theoi #ancient greek literature #ancient greece