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Original Leaves from Famous Books
Show moreCaption: "Aristotle, who lived in the fourth century B.C., had a profound effect on medieval thought. He became "the philosopher" and his word became to be regarded as comparable in weight to the Bible. Papal prohibitions against "reading" the treatises in the universities were disregarded and later withdrawn. Soon an intimate knowledge of Aristotelian writings frequently became the only requirement for the degree of Master of Arts. Of these works by one of the world?s greatest thinkers the Nicomachean Ethics has the greatest value to us today and is the most likely to survive. This masterpiece of Greek literature, named after the son of the philosopher to whom it was dedicated, offers logical explanation of all aspects of human behavior. In it Aristotle maintains that the chief human good and the end of life is happiness, (well being), and that this consists in virtuous activity, the highest form of which is contemplation. This manuscript page was written in Erfrut, Germany, in the year 1365 A.D., thirteen years before the great university was founded in that small city. This university of Erfrut was the first in Germany to introduce into its curriculum the study of classic literature and the humanities. The casual and natural cursive writing, done hastily, no doubt by a secular writer, is in sharp contrast to the handsome and leisurely executed book hands we usually find in the work of the monastic scribes." (Ege, Otto F.)
Original Leaves from Famous Books
Otto F. Ege Collection
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Show moreOdyssey , a sequel, which deals with the marvelous, the romantic and the domestic, was written for women. These works were existent as early as 1000 B.C. and were handed down for several hundred years by public reciters until reduced to writing under Pisistratus (605-527 B.C.). There are many famous translation made by men who were poets in their own right; Chapman 1614, Pope 1725, Bryant 1871, Morris 1887. Prose translations are also numerous, the latest being that of the Odyssey by the famous English soldier T.E. Lawrence. He attempted to instill new vigor into the old story by a striking modernization of the language,an example of the fine art of translation". Odyssey" (Ege, Otto F.).
Original Leaves from Famous Books
Otto F. Ege Collection
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