Thursday, January 09, 2025

Agamemnon by Aeschylus

Agamemnon 
Aeschylus
c. 458 B. C. 
⭐⭐⭐

My first play for The Well-Educated Mind Reading Challenge was Agamemnon by Aeschylus. This was my first experience with this play, and I knew nothing about the plot ahead of reading. 

The setting was Argos, Greece, Atreus' palace, where a watchman waits for news from Troy, to see if Agamemnon, king of Argos, will return. It has been ten long years that he has been away, and he is eager to see the king. 

The Chorus, made up of twelve elders, recited the narrative of how Agamemnon had been pressured to choose between victory or shame by sacrificing his own daughter, Iphigenia, to appease Zeus and earn his favor. 

Agamemnon "...rather than retreat, endured to offer up his daughter's life to help a war fought for a faithless wife and pay the ransom for a storm-bound fleet."

Soon, news arrived that Argos had captured Troy and the king was on his way home. His wife, Clytemnestra, prepared for his arrival, to welcome him home. When the king arrived, he had with him the young Trojan princess, Cassandra, who was also a prophetess. 

While alone, she began a conversation with the god Apollo. (Obviously, very troubled she was, and I don't blame her because...) She saw the ghosts of "children butchered...by their own kindred..." who carr[ied] in their hands "their own flesh....food their father ate!" 

She also revealed that Agamemnon was cursed! There was going to be a murder..."Female shall murder male..." Agamemnon was going to "lie dead."

Near the end of the play, Aegisthus, Agamemnon's cousin and now lover to Clytemnestra, told the horrid story of how Atreus, Agamemnon's father, sought revenge on his brother Thyestes for committing adultery with Atreus' wife. He then roasted his brother's children and served them to Thyestes during a feast. When Thyestes realized what Atreus had done, he cursed his whole household, which fell upon Agamemnon. 

Aegisthus claimed to have plotted the whole "evil deed" from afar, but it was Clytemnestra who stabbed both the king and Cassandra. For Clytemnestra, it was revenge for the murder of her daughter Iphigenia.

However, it was Zeus who punished Agamemnon (for his father's wicked deed against his brother) by forcing the horrible choice to either disobey the gods and go home to Argos in shame or sacrifice his daughter and earn victory in Troy.

The play Agamemnon is about revenge and man's idea of justice. (Which is more like injustice.) Much like reality, when one seeks revenge to settle what he thinks is injustice against himself, he only perpetuates more injustice. As for the Greek gods, they were the last ones to know anything about justice. They thrived on bloodthirsty revenge. 

John Collier, Clytemnestra, 1882,

* * *

The next play for TWEM is King Oedipus by Sophocles. 

Wednesday, January 01, 2025

WHAT I WANT TO READ IN 2025


GOAL: 50 books

Here are some of the books I intend to read in 2025 : 
key: (UR) = unread / (RR) = reread / (CR) = currently reading

The Gentle Challenge hosted by Silvia Cachia & You Might as Well Read

1. Smith: A Land Remembered (my new home: Florida)

2. Virgil: The Aeneid (difficult) (UR)

3. Lewis: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (youth) (RR)

4. McCullough: John Adams (recommended) (UR)

5. Kirk: Roots of the American Order (monster unread of 25 years!) (UR)

6. McCullough: The Pioneers (judge by cover) (UR)

7. Barakat: Balcony on the Moon (different "nationality": Palestinian Folktale)

8. Stewart: Letters of a Woman Homesteader (reread) (RR)

9. Eliot: Middlemarch (classic) (UR)

10. (new by 3 years...will find new bk from the  library)

11. (borrowed...from the library)

12. Sinclair: The Jungle (blue topic) (UR)


The Classics Challenge hosted by Tea & Ink Society

1. January: Clark: The Ox-Bow Incident (used bookstore find)

2. February: Pasternak: Doctor Zhivago (Russian) (RR)

3. March: Parkman: The Oregon Trail (pioneer) (UR)

4. April: Selden: Cricket in Time Square (turf: NYC) (RR)

5. May: Emerson: Emerson Collection (supposed to read in school) (UR/RR some)

6. June: Muir: My First Summer in the Sierra (nature) (UR)

7. July: Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451 (sci fi) (RR)

8. August: Bainton: The Reformation of the Sixteenth Century (read author once) (UR)

9. September: Remarque: All Quiet on the Western Front (WWI or WWII) (RR)

10. October: Austen: Sense and Sensibility (Austen) (RR)

11. November: Wordsworth (Romantic poetry collection) 

12. December: Bulfinch: Bulfinch's Mythology (Medieval) (UR)


WEM Plays from The Well-Educated Mind Reading Challenge 

1. Aeschylus: Agamemnon (UR)

2. Sophocles: Oedipus the King (UR)

3. Euripides: Medea (UR)

4. Aristophanes: The Birds (UR)

5. Aristotle: Poetics

6. Everyman

7. Marlowe: Doctor Faustus (UR)

8. - 10.  Shakespeare: Richard III (UR) / A Midsummer Night's Dream (RR)  / Hamlet (RR)


Miscellaneous Must Reads

1. Kovaciny: My Rock and My Refuge

2. - 3. Morris: Theodore Rex (UR)(CR) / Colonel Roosevelt (UR)


Faith-based/Devotionals

1. Vincent: A Gospel Primer for Christians (UR)

2. Cleator: Always and in Everything (UR)

3. MacArthur: Truth Triumphs (UR)

4. McGee: Thru the Bible with Vernon McGee (UR)(CR)

5: Spurgeon: Morning and Evening (UR)


Christmas Reads

1. 

2.


* * * 

I'm am excited to start a new year of possibilities. Have you read any of these? Any favorites?

Monday, December 30, 2024

2025 Gentle Challenge


hosted by Silvia Cachia and You Might as Well Read

As per the categories, these are my committed titles I plan to read for the challenge :

HOME SWEET HOME : an author from where you currently live (Florida) : Smith : A Land Remembered

A DIFFICULT BOOK : difficult style / subject / length / setting : Virgil : The Aeneid

TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE : book from your youth : Lewis : The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

TRUST THE WORD OF OTHERS / SELF : a book recommendation : McCullough : John Adams

SHELF MONSTER : unread on shelf five plus years : Kirk : The Roots of American Order

JUDGED BOOK BY ITS COVER : and already had copy : McCullough : The Pioneers

TAKE A TRIP : author of different "nationality" : Barakat : Balcony on the Moon

REREAD : reread a book : Stewart : Letters of a Woman Homesteader

SOMETHING OLD : a classic : Eliot : Middlemarch

SOMETHING NEW : published last three years : (I'll need to find something from the library)

SOMETHING BORROWED : work in translation / borrowed from friend / library (again, I'll find something from the library)

SOMETHING BLUE : blue topic / mood / cover : Sinclair : The Jungle 

* * * 

Only two of these are rereads. The rest have been on my unread shelf forever, or they are really brand new to me. I actually decided to read a book by a Palestinian woman for TAKE A TRIP because that is one place I have never read about. As it was, I had a difficult time finding a female author FROM Palestine. They really are American or live in America writing about Palestine. But it should be interesting, and I am looking forward to it.

Sunday, December 29, 2024

2025 Classics Reading Challenge

 
Hosted by tea and ink society

All books should have been written / published before 1970.

These are the categories and my committed titles:

JANUARY

A book found at a used bookstore : Clark: The Ox-Bow Incident (1940)

FEBRUARY

Russian novel or short story : Pasternak : Doctor Zhivago (1957)

MARCH

Something about pioneers / immigrants : Parkman : The Oregon Trail (1849)

APRIL 

A book from your own turf (hometown) : Selden : Cricket in Times Square (New York City) (1960)

MAY 

Something you were supposed to read in school : Emerson : The Portable Emerson (1946)

JUNE

A book in or about nature : Muir : My First Summer in the Sierra (1911)

JULY

A sci-fi : Bradbury : Fahrenheit 451 (1953)

AUGUST 

A book by an author you read once : Bainton : Reformation of the 16th Century (1835)

SEPTEMBER

Something about WWI or II : Remarque : All Quiet on the Western Front (1928)

OCTOBER 

A book by Jane Austen : Sense and Sensibility (1811)

NOVEMBER

Romantic poetry : Wordsworth 

DECEMBER

A book from or about Medieval or Renaissance : Bulfinch : Bulfinch's Mythology (1959)

* * * 

Several of these are re-reads. Re-reads are important to me because if it is a good story, I want to read it again, and maybe again and again. There is so much more to gain and understand when you can revisit a story. I know there are countless more good stories out there that I have not read, but for now, I want to go deeper into the ones I have already fallen in love with. 

Also, there are a couple that are on my unreads list, and I am working on reading all of them out of existence. 

One of these I will listen to an audio version because it was so enjoyable when I listened to it with my kids many years ago. 

I am really excited about this list, and I hope I can complete it. God willing!

Thursday, December 26, 2024

2024 Year-end Recap. I fell short.

Falling double-digits short of my goal is disappointing. Yikes! I have no excuse. I could have finished a good book instead of doing some of the other lazy activities I chose. I also had very little enthusiasm to write about my reading experiences. Overall, I was uninspired, unmotivated, and distracted. 

the 2024 Totals:

read (incl bails): 34/50

reread: 6

bailed: 2 

TWEM poetry: 8

books donated: -4

new books added: +8

unread books finished: -13

unread books remaining: 54 

the 2024 Winners:

intriguing new-to-me fiction: 
Anthem
agreeable reread/fiction: (tie) 
The Great Gatsby
Nineteen Eighty-Four
agreeable reread/non-fiction: 
In Order to Live
amazing new biography/memoir:
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt 
excellent biblical non-fiction:
Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee
endearing children's historical fiction: 
The Endless Steppe
disappointing tome:
Les Misérables
most gratifying poetry:
Paul Laurence Dunbar
insightful children's/YA non-fiction
Red Scarf Girl
enjoyable honorable mention:
One Bad Apple

THE BREAKDOWN:

(KEY: CR = currently reading / UR = unread / RR = reread / 💣 = did not finish)


FICTION:

Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (RR)

Orwell: 1984 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (RR)

Wharton: House of Mirth ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (RR)

Hugo: Les Misérables : ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (UR)

Rand: Anthem ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (UR)

Kovaciny: One Bad Apple ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Buck: Sons ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (UR) / A House Divided 💣
Van Dyke: The Other Wise Man ⭐⭐⭐⭐

NONFICTION:

McCullough: 1776 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (UR)

Morris: The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (UR) / Theodore Rex (CR) 

Park: In Order to Live  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (RR)

McGee: Through the Bible, Vol. I - V ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (CR)

Hughes: Unmet Expectations ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (UR)

Popov: Tortured for His Faith ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (RR)

Lewis: The Four Loves ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (UR)

Gladstar: Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (UR)

Marshall / Manuel: The Light and the Glory ⭐⭐⭐ (UR)

Chambers: My Utmost for His Highest ⭐⭐⭐ 

Oursler / Armstrong: The Greatest Faith Ever Known 💣


CHILDRENS/YA:

Fraser (editor): The Little House Books, Vol. I & II ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (UR / RR)

Ji-li Jang: Red Scarf Girl ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (UR)

Tolkien: Letters From Father Christmas ⭐⭐⭐⭐

DeJong: House of Sixty Fathers ⭐⭐⭐ 

Wartski: Boat to Nowhere ⭐⭐⭐


WEM POETRY:

Dunbar, Paul Laurence ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Frost, Robert ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hughes, Langston ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Auden, W. H. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Sandburg, Carl ⭐⭐⭐

Williams, William Carlos ⭐⭐⭐

Pound, Ezra ⭐⭐⭐

Eliot, T. S. ⭐⭐⭐

This concludes the poetry section from TWEM. There are others, listed as post-modern, but I only read up through the suggested modernists. To see the other sections, including fiction, history, and biographies, visit HERE: