Sextus Julius Frontinus

"The Divine Comedy, considered by most to be the greatest Italian piece of literature ever written," (Soft Schools). The Inferno is one- third of the Divine Comedy, which was constructed after Dante Alegheri was exiled from Florence. This was the first piece of literature to be written in the common tongue. Lower class civilians were able to read his work, making it a very powerful poem. Many people praised Dante Alegheri and agreed with his opinions and examination of the government. Throughout…

In most of Shakespeare’s history plays, warfare is a mode major characters use to establish their legitimacy and power. More specifically, violence and battles solidifies a King’s leadership qualities and his right to sit on the throne. In Henry V Act IV, Shakespeare gives a voice to Michael Williams, a common soldier that is skeptical about the phenomenon of war and its ties to the devastation common people experience as a result. By hiding his identity, Henry V is able to have an unfiltered…

The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare is a classic representation of a Shakespearean masterpiece. An Aristotelian tragic hero is someone of noble status who has a tragic flaw and his (or her) personality suffers a fall from grace due to that tragic flaw, only to redeem a small measure of that lost nobility through self-awareness. In this drama Macbeth is given the main role. He is a noble war hero who experiences a tragic flaw. Macbeth undoubtedly fits the definition of a tragic hero…

The day is hot, two bodies lay bloody on the streets of Verona. One is Mercutio, best friend of Romeo, cousin to the prince. The other is Tybalt, part of the Capulet household. Who is to blame for this, this bloody fight. Who is to blame for Tybalt’s death. The brawl between Mercutio and Tybalt ended deadly for Mercutio. Later Tybalt came back to fight Romeo, and Romeo wanted revenge. Romeo won the fight and Tybalt died. Rome is responsible for Tybalt’s death because he did not tell Tybalt he…

The Theme of Hubris in Antigone’s Creon In his well-renowned play Antigone, Sophocles limns Creon as a just leader whose hubris, or excessive pride, ultimately spawns his untimely demise. He initially articulates rational justifications for the implementation of his draconian laws and punishments. However, Creon’s hubris, as evident in his refusal to accept his prophecy conveyed Tiresias, proves to be his tragic flaw, or hamartia, and such experiences help Creon to realize his tragic flaw and…

Julius Caesar is a tragedy play which displays countless instances of superstitions, supernatural and omens which foreshadow Caesar’s faith. It is one of the few plays by William Shakespeare which he wrote about true historical events in Roman history. Julius Caesar was originally published in the First Folio in 1623, having purely authoritative text about the play. However, it’s first performance was mentioned by Thomas Platter the Younger in his diary, which dates September 1599 . It is a play…

within Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, can very easily be judged as being evil due to a superficial deconstruction of his actions, his true character is found only upon deeper analysis. Brutus does suffer from what appears to be an objective lack of morality; however, further analysis of his motives, his internal conflicts, and Shakespeare’s careful construction of this character, makes it evident that Brutus is the tragic hero of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Brutus’s life revolves…

A cynical man named Montresor that seeks revenge from his “friend” Fortunato and successfully murders him brings him the exact opposite of what his name means, fortunate. Poe on the other hand, the author of this story, “The Cask of Amontillado”, was brought good fortune from this tale he made that became popular and got to make good money off of it. This success did not come with just his well thought out plot for the story, but also many other elements, mainly literary elements. Edgar Allan…

Antigone, written by Sophocles, is a tragic play that deals with three main ideas which are: whether Polyneices ought to be given burial rituals, whether someone who buried him in defiance of state ought to be punished and whether Creon’s actions are just or thoughtless. Written around 441 BC, the play is known to have been very controversial at the time, not only because of the plot it presented but rather because the themes it dealt with challenged Ancient Greek ideals. However, not all themes…

The play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, written by William Shakespeare, is written taking place with a very powerful and rogue ruler, Julius Caesar, and focuses on Brutus' struggle between the adverse demands of patriotism, honor, and friendship. Within the play, Shakespeare sympathizes with Caesar’s conspirators and is very much in favor of a democracy rather than one, powerful ruler as depicted in the play. And, as Shakespeare was writing this play, he was trying to convince the audience to…