Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Examine Critically The Dramatic Structure And Rele Essays - Trojans

Examine Critically The Dramatic Structure And Rele Essays - Trojans Examine Critically The Dramatic Structure And Relevance Of The Cassandra Scene In The Agamemnon Examine critically the dramatic structure and relevance of the Cassandra scene in the Agamemnon. BY SARAH SIKKES. Cassandra, was a daughter of Hecuba and King Priam, the rulers of Troy during the Trojan War according to Homer's Iliad. Cassandra was a beautiful young woman, blessed with the gift of prophecy by Apollo, who was infatuated with her. Unfortunately, she shunned Apollo at the last minute and he added a twist to her gift; Cassandra was doomed to tell the truth, but never to be believed. I promised consent to Apollo but broke my word... and ever since that fault I could persuade no one. [Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1208ff.] Have I missed the mark, or, like true archer, do I strike my quarry? Or am I prophet of lies, a babbler from door to door? [Cassandra. Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1194] For this reason Cassandra was not believed when, near the end of the Trojan War, she said that there was an armed force hidden in the wooden horse that the Achaeans had abandoned. King Priam did not know what to do with her, so he tried to keep Cassandra locked up and out of the way of the warriors of Troy. When Troy finally fell to the Greek invaders, Cassandra was attacked and supposedly raped by the Greek warrior Ajax of Locris, but eventually avenged by Athena. When Cassandra accompanied the Greek hero Agamemnon as his mistress to his homeland, she was killed by his vengeful wife, Clytaemnestra. Aeschylus's Agamemnon tells the story of the Greek hero Agamemnon's fateful return home to Myceneae, where his wife Clytaemnestra waits to kill him. Cassandra is a powerful figure in this play, foretelling the doom of the hero and herself through visions of a curse upon his household. On his arrival Agamemnon fell victim of a conspiracy conceived by his own wife Clytaemnestra and her lover Aegisthus, who murdered both Agamemnon and Cassandra. This too Cassandra predicted: ... for me waits destruction by the two-edged sword. [Cassandra. Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1149] The tragedy begins with Clytaemnestra awaiting Agamemnon's return from Troy, her secret lover and accomplice Aegisthus waiting for her instructions in the palace. Clytaemnestra has perfectly legitimate reasons for despising Agamemnon; he killed her former husband, Tantalus, and her baby, he married her by force, he ordered the sacrifice of their daughter Iphigeneia in order to calm the winds when the Greeks prepared to set sail for Troy, and he left her alone, sailing away to a war which lasted ten years. (Euripides Iphigeneia in Aulis 1148, Sophocles Electra 531) Plus, Clytaemnestra hears that Agamemnon is bringing back with him a concubine who was said to be a prophetess. Agamemnon and Cassandra enter the stage in a great parade. The parade is important to visualise the transformation in Agamemnons fortune. Three visual images represent three stages in his downfall: the parade, the purple cloths, and the tableau exhibiting the dead bodies. The intensity of these images is built up progressively. The more impressive the procession and the treading upon the purple cloths, the steeper the fall. The procession leads both characters and audience into the web, impelling Agamemnon towards his death and the city into chaos. The procession is a starting point as well as an end: Agamemnons and Cassandras entrance from Troy in the beginning finds its closure in the tableau of the exposure of the bodies. A movement that started with a victorious parade ends in death and defeat. The reversal of mans destiny is clearly manifested on the stage: the victorious procession becomes a slaughterhouse. When Agamemnon and Cassandra arrive, Clytaemnestra greets them warmly and tries to comfort her in her misery of slavery. But Cassandra ignores Clytaemnestra, ready to face her fate. During the dialogue between Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, Cassandra is present and silent. Her silence reinforces the power of her role as witness to the double meanings and irony in the encounter. Her presence augments the already heightened tension on stage and moves the meeting between the two into a multiplicity of triangles: the royal king, queen, and war prisoner; the husband, wife, lover; the religious king, queen, and the virgin priestess. Cassandras silent presence throughout the arrival scene of Agamemnon fills the scenic

Sunday, February 23, 2020

How can we combine Homeric texts and archeology to learn more about Essay

How can we combine Homeric texts and archeology to learn more about elite behaviour in Greek Society What are the difficulties - Essay Example What they help archaeologies in achieving are the clues of the things they need to study. They provide a road map on what to explore and the direction to take in the study of these ancient remains. Among the clues that have been provided before are the study and the investigation of the ancient Greek world in the tradition of Schieman digging at Troy with the hand of Iliad. To enhance the understanding of the past human activities, archeologists often utilize classical texts in conjunction with archeology to understand past way of the Greek world. The study of the past is also instrumental as it helps archeologist in understanding the contemporary way of life in relation to the origin of human activities. This paper focuses on how classical text in conjunction with archeology helps in the understanding of the ancient and the elite behavior of the Greek society as well as the probable problems that are likely to be faced in the study of past and present human activities. ... He wanted that that entire he does to come out to be beautiful (Kardaras 2011). The narrative rivets this thought by explaining how Walt was dying for excellence. He always wanted the best products and always did awesome jobs. Through the narrative, it is also beautiful to learn that Walt’s craziness and obsession with aretes, excellence pushes him into the production of the purest meth (Ross, & Hook, 2006). During the moments of war, archeologists through the script and text analysis discovers that during the moment of greatness and war, Homeric heroes displayed the strength and the might of aretes during the war. In search of recognition and honor, Walt took his good time in the meth lab to come up with exceptional and the most refined weapons. The second value held by the Homeric that inspires Walt is Kleos: that is, the urge to personal glory and might. In other words, the Greeks wanted to be known for something. In this case the subject wanted to be known for arete. Throu ghout the story, it is evident that the major motive that drives one to work is the desire to achieve something significant. The Greek education and culture have been dominated by the pursuit of excellence and the urge to greatness: personal glory. The Homer’s and Illiad are paeans and pursuant of arete. These very urges and desires still dominate the contemporary Greek way of life. A noble and apos aretes in Homer, is indicated by the acuity of his prowess in war and the excellence of his weapon manufacturing. In athletics, he is seen as a person who is peaceful and admirable (Sissa, & Detienne 2000). Both of these occasions, war time and moments of peace are all of immense value in show casing the

Thursday, February 6, 2020

Communication at work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Communication at work - Essay Example These two cultures are distinct not only in terms of norms and values but also differ with respect to how people behave and interact with each other. In today’s increasingly globalised world people from different cultural backgrounds are required to work together and have consensus on critical issues. Effective communication becomes very important in the context of such working relationships. It is therefore of particular significance to examine the influence of culture on the communication styles adopted by individuals as well its impact on people’s personal relationships. This paper illuminates the ways through which salient cultural characteristics influence an individual or whole society’s communication styles. It categorises the differences in cultures with respect to individualistic and collectivistic approaches as well as high and low context of communication. It basically aims to illustrate that culture plays a very important role in determining the way people communicate and interact with each other. Culture plays an important role in determining the specific traits and characteristics of individuals belonging to a group that are distinct from other groups of people. People tend to identify themselves with respect to cultural groups and take pride in associating with them. Hofstede defines culture as, â€Å"the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one category of people from another† (51). People in a separate group share similar characteristics that are identifiable with the help of visible traits and qualities. Drake delineates that, â€Å"culture describes a group’s relatively homogenous evaluations of multiple, interrelated phenomena† (320). These homogenous cultural traits develop into certain social norms and values that have a significant impact on how people think, feel, observe

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Team Work Essay Example for Free

Team Work Essay Teamwork is the concept of people working together as a   to achieve the underlying objectives of the organization. TheTeam must have a clear vision of each of these short-term milestone goals as well as their impact on the long-term business goals of the organization. In many organizations today people working by themselves in achieving the overall objectives of the organization cannot accomplish certain goals and usually require people to work together with others due to its complexity, interrelatedness and the voluminous of the tasks undertaken. In fostering there is no one individual who owns a work area or process all by themselves, people should be open and receptive to ideas and input from others in the Team . The values of teamwork should be shared among the members of the team while compensation and rewards should depend on collaborative practices as much as individual contribution and achievement. It is important to identify   and thereby set a benchmark to the rest of the teams. However before embarking on , conflicts of all kinds should be resolved within the organization. Apart from the required technical expertise, a variety of social skills are essential for success in aTeam culture. The Forming-Storming-Norming-Performing model (Bruce Tuckman, 1965) takes the team through four stages of TEAM development. These phases are essential and inevitable in order for the team to grow, to face up to challenges, to tackle problems, to find solutions, plan the work effectively and deliver the end results. However there is a need to establish and develop collaboration and trust between team members vis a vis interactive exercises, team assessments which will enable teams to cultivate effective team building strengths amongst each other. Modern society and culture continues to become more dynamic and the factors contributing towards this include the communications revolution, the global market, specialization and division of labor. Thereby individuals are now required to work with many different groups of people in their working environment and also the personal lives. Successful Team that creates effective, focused work teams requires attention to the following areas mentioned in Figure A.   Empowerment is the process of giving an opportunity or authorizing an individual to take decisions, think creatively and have a control of his/her duties in an organization. It is the responsibility on the organization to create a work environment, which helps the desire of employees to act in empowered ways. Top management of organizations has a very important role to play in making employee empowerment successful. Initially the managers need to understand what empowerment really means; and thereby establish boundaries for empowerment, in the event of the managers absence, the decisions that could be made by staff members should be clearly defined; Managers should also build faith and trust on their decisions made by their employees; further managers should coach, train and provide necessary information and learning opportunities for staff to make effective decisions. They should tackle situations wisely and not blame or punish their staff for minute mistakes to avoid employees flee from empowerment, The organizations should ensure that they remove barriers that limit the ability of staff to act in empowered ways. Employees should be motivated in terms of compensation, recognition and responsibility in order to drive success of empowerment. The Flow Chart below depicts the increasing role for employees and decreasing role for supervisors in the decision making process in today’s context. The supervisor makes the decision and cascades it to the staff The supervisor makes the decision and obtains commitment from staff The supervisor invites idea’s into a decision while retaining authority to make the final decision The supervisor invites employees to join him/her in order to make the final decision The supervisor delegates to another person to make the necessary decisions. This is only where empowerment steps in.   British American Tobacco (BAT) came into light with one objective; to seek market leadership in all countries where a market existed. BAT’s expansion to Ceylon was in 1905. Ceylon Tobacco Company (CTC) Limited continued it’s Sri Lankan operations and was incorporated in 1932. Between years of 1990 – 1994, a self assessment was conducted and CTC identified the following lacunas such as lack of overall direction, lack of awareness on business issues, discontinued management team, departments functioning in isolation and in disciplined environment. After which the management identified Key initiatives and actions such as knowledge management, people involvement, culture change, gaining confidence of unions/employees and improvements in productivity via practicing concepts of Teamwork, industrial harmony etc. During the period 1995 – 1996 CTC focused on building Trust within the company employees by adapting Teamwork throughout the organization, extensive training for shop floor employees, common time entry system, common recreation facilities, common social events etc. During 1997, shared vision and mission with focus business strategy, re-engineered business processes, multidisciplinary cross functional project teams, extensive training and education, creation of a winning culture, industrial and non industrial benchmarking and focus on continuous improvement.

Monday, January 20, 2020

Aristotle on Paideia of Principles :: Philosophy Philosophical Essays

Aristotle on Paideia of Principles ABSTRACT: Aristotle maintains that paideia enables one to judge the method used by a given speaker without judging the conclusions drawn as well (I.1 De Partibus Animalium). He contends that this "paideia of principles" requires three things: seeing that principles are not derived from one another; seeing that there is nothing before them within reason; and, seeing that they are the source of much knowledge. In order to grasp these principles, one must respectively learn to recognize what distinguishes the subject matters studied in different disciplines, see first principles as coming from experience and acquire the habit of seeking them in one’s experience and, finally, see first principles as being the source of conclusions. While the second and third points might at first seem to pertain to "nous" and science, respectively, rather than to paideia, the case can be made that paideia involves more of a firm grasp of principles than "nous" and a less perfect way of relating co nclusion to principles than science. Aristotle speaks explicitly of paideia of method, the most noteworthy passage being Bk. 1, c. 1 of The Parts of Animals. He also explicitly identifies certain thinkers as lacking paideia this sort of paideia. Paideia of method allows a person to judge the way a speaker is proceeding without for so much being able to judge his conclusions (639a15). What is less obvious is that Aristotle holds that there is paideia of principles. However, there is one passage which makes this fairly clear (NE 1098b5, cited below). In addition, careful examination of passages where Aristotle calls attention to judgments or misjudgments pertaining to paideia reveals that there is not one but many reasons for calling a method either good or bad, some of which reasons have to do with principles. This can be seen by contrasting the following two cases: Aristotle is critical of ethicists who insist on proceeding solely by demonstration because such rigor is inappropriate to ethical matters (NE 1094b20-28). However, the reason he criticizes Pythagoras for explaining moral virtue in terms of mathematical principles,(1) is that Pythagoras is starting from principles which are inadequate to explaining this matter. Of the two mistakes, that as to the starting point is plainly more serious. Every error as to starting point entails error as to one's subseque nt proceeding, but not vice versa. A principle is always a principle of something, and every method or orderly proceeding has a principle or starting point.

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Barriers of Critical Thinking Essay

There are many barriers to critical thinking. Barriers can distort your thinking a great deal. The way we are raised by our parents when are children can determine our religion, our political views, the way we view the world, and ultimately shapes our thinking and who we are as individuals. Our upbringing shapes our fears, our self-concept, and also shapes our emotions. Barriers can range from family, friends, peer pressure, the media, and so many more. To become a successful critical thinker, you have to face yourself and be completely honest with yourself. You have to do this so you can figure out exactly which barriers personally shapes your thinking. There are many barriers to critical thinking. Barriers can distort your thinking a great deal. The way we are raised by our parents when we are children can determine our religion, our political views, the way we view the world, and ultimately shapes our thinking and who we are as individuals. Our upbringing shapes our fears, our self-concept, and also shapes our emotions. Barriers can range from family, friends, peer pressure, the media, and so many more. To become a successful critical thinker, you have to face yourself and be completely honest with yourself. You have to do this so you can figure out exactly which barriers personally shapes your thinking. some more specific barriers are enculturation, self-concepts, ego defenses, self-serving bias, emotional influences, and the list goes on! I am going to describe the three barriers that influence my personal thinking. Self- concept is one of my biggest personal barriers. Self- concept is the way we view ourselves. I view myself in a negative way. I do not think I’m smart or pretty, and I realize that the way that I view myself is really unhealthy. I also view myself as an Ohio State fan, the average student, a middle-class family, a Christian, an American, and someone who values honesty and respect. Traits, physi cal things, values, and affiliations define everyone, including me and form our self- concept. I know I defend these components as I would defend myself because these elements define who I am. Since these  things define who I am I do not think critically about them, my emotions get involved, and I begin to use ego-defence mechanisms, self-serving biases, and that begins to distort reality to make sure that I am comfortable and to make sure I am â€Å"right.† Emotional influences are another one of my personal barriers. I am a very emotional and passionate person. I also suffer from depression and anger issues. Emotions can cause a lot of problems for a lot of individuals in the world including myself. When trying to think critically emotions tend to cloud your head and begin to distort reality and influence your thoughts without you even realizing it. If I feel strong about an issue, I will defend it till I can not talk anymore. I am very stubborn and bullheaded. I am passionate towards many things, and I know that being passionate towards some people can end up hurting me in the long run. But passion and selfishness can blind your intelligence. Depression is a pe rsonal barrier that runs in my family. With depression I have a hard time looking at the bright side of any situation, some days are better than others. The negative always outweighs the positive in my eyes. Stress is the last of my personal barriers I am going to share with you. Too much stress can cause a lot of psychological or physical strain on your mind and body. Stress comes in many shapes and sizes. My main stress triggers are work, school, family issues, boyfriend, and there are many more. I know it sounds silly, but stress contributes between 60 to 80 percent of diseases. Stress can obstruct our ability to make decisions. When I am under stress I have a tendency to snap at people when I do not mean to, I tend to cry a lot, and those things stress me out more. I work with people with developmental disabilities, and it is stressful, but it has also taught me patience. I work full-time and go to school full time. My boyfriend is in the Marine Corps and is currently stationed in California. Having a long distance relationship is extremely stressful and hard. I can overcome this barrier by thinking critically is the issue worth debating about? Does this directly affect me or my well being? Is it worth getting upset about? Many of these elements do not directly affect me, so these elements are not worth debating. I deal with my depression by spending time with my family and the few friends I have. I like to listen to music and spend time with my boyfriend when I am feeling depressed. I can overcome these emotional  barriers by stepping back and looking at the bigger picture. When I feel like my emotions are getting out of hand, step back, breathe, think about the situation rationally before things get out of control. I am beginning to overcome stress by working out. I work out about five to six times a week. When I work out it feels as if the stress completely disappears, and I feel so much better inside and out. The gym has become my escape from all the stressors in my life.