Friday, February 27, 2009

1200 to 1299: Aucissin and Nicolette to Tristan and Isolde

Anonymous. French. 1200 (?). Prose and Verse. Aucassin and Nicolette. Alternating prose and verse. Son of a count falls in love with a slave who turns out to be a king’s daughter.

Thomas of Celano. Italian. 1200 (?). Hymn. Dies Irae (Day of Wrath.) On the Last Judgment. Joel 2:31. Mass for the dead. Plainsong (Gregorian chant).

Wace. British. 1205. Poetry. The Brut. Middle English. Alliteration. Rhyme. First appearance of the story of Arthur in Britain. Britain from its founding by Brut to 689. Brut descendant of Aeneas. Stories of Lear, Cymbeline and other legendary kings of Britain.

Anonymous. German. 1210. Epic Poem. Gudrun. Sea settings are unusual. Three parts. Gudrun’s is the third part. Engaged, abducted, servant’s work, rescued by her lover.

Gotfried Von Strassburg. German. 1210. Tristan and Isolde. Illicit love of a knight and the Queen.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

1100 to 1199. Tales of the Heike to Parzival

Anonymous. Chinese. 1100. Epic. The Tales of the Heike. Rise of the Taira family, hubristic rule and crushing defeat by a rival clan. Buddhist theme of the transience of human endeavor. Fills the place of the Homeric epic of the West.

Anonymous. Welsh. 1100. Narrative. Kulwch and Olwen. Prose. Earliest full-fledged Arthurian romance. Hero gets help from Arthur to complete tasks set by giant whose daughter, Olwen, he seeks to win.

Pierre Abelard. French. 1100 (?). Nonfiction. Sic et Non. Unprejudiced arguments pro and con on doctrinal questions of the Middle Ages. No attempt to draw conclusions.

Chretien de Troyes. French. 1100 (?) Romance. Erec et Enide. Earliest Arthurian romance in French. Erec retires from adventures to enjoy domestic life. His wife bemoans loss of his reputation. He sets out and takes her with him, treating her harshly. She is abducted while he is in an apparent state of death. He revives in time to save her and they are reconciled. [A gunslinger can never retire!]

1200 to 1299.

Wolframm VonEschenbach. German. 1200. Epic poem. Parzival. Knight in search of the Grail.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

AD: "The Rubaiyat" to "Sir Launfal"

Omar Khayyam. Arabic. 1000 (?). Poetry. “The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.” Epigrammatic quatrains (“rubai”). Edward Fitzgerald’s translation into English. With no knowledge of afterlife, we must enjoy full sensory appreciation of life on earth.

Anonymous. French. 1050. Poetry. Chanson de Roland. Roland = Orlando who is too trusting, unsuspicious and impetuous. He is frank and straightforward and loses his life defending Charlemagne’s rear guard against the treacherous heathen Saracens.

William the Conqueror. Norman/British. 1086. Census. Domesday Book. Latin record of the census, including property, inhabitant, domestic animals. Final authority for litigation. Served as basis for tax assessments until 1522. (“domes” = “domestic).

1100 to 1199.
Anonymous. Welsh. 1100. Tale. “The Lady of the Fountain.”
Includes King Arthur and his court.

Marie de France. French. 1100. Poetry. Sir Launfal. Knight of King Arthur’s Court; falls in love with beautiful fairy. Receives rich gifts from her but cannot reveal the source. Guinevere challenges him to reveal. She says he has insulted her. Finally, he breaks oath to save himself. In spite of his action, the fairy rescues him.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

AD: "The Spoils of Annwn" to The Mabinogion.

Anonymous. Welsh. 900. Poetry. “The Spoils of Annwn.” Briefly mentions King Arthur.

Anonymous. British. 955. Nonfiction. Annales Cambriae. Latin history of Wales. Origins of the Arthurian legend.

Anonymous. British. 991 or later. Poetry. “Battle of Maldon.” Old English alliterative poem. English fail to withstand Viking invasion. Fragment.

Somadeva. India. 1000. Poetry and Tales. Kathasaritsagara. (Ocean of the Streams of Story). Written in Sanskrit. 22,000 verses. 124 chapters. Series of romantic adventure tales featuring King Udayana.

Anonymous. Welsh. 1000. Tales. The Mabinogion. Collection of medieval Welsh tales, first translated into English by Lady Charlotte Guest from 1838-1849. Eleven prose tales. 3 divisions. Concerned with Celtic mythological subjects and folk themes.

Monday, February 23, 2009

AD: Fables of Bidpai to The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

Anonymous. Arabian and Indian. 750. Fables. The Fables of Bidpai. Arabic version of Indian fables. Bidpai was a court scholar. Allegorical animal stories told as a wise man’s advice to a young Indian prince.

Anonymous. Japan. 750. Poetry anthology. Man’yoshu (Collection of Myriad Leaves). Japan before the importation of Chinese thought and culture.

Murasaki Shikibu. Japanese. 794/1185. Novel. The Tale of Genji. Prince and women with whom he was associated. Ornate style. Elaborate word play. Tremendous influence on subsequent literature. Greatest single work in Japanese fiction.

Anonymous. British. 800. Poetry. “Deor’s Lament.” Old English. Alliterative. Misfortunes of Germanic heroes. His own sad luck in being ousted by his lord in favor of another minstrel. “That has passed; this will too” is the refrain.

King Alfred. British. 891-924. Nonfiction. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. (Old English Annals). Old English history of England. Adapted from Bede. Account of Alfred’s wars against the Danes.

Friday, February 20, 2009

AD: "The Wanderer" to Bede's Ecclesiastical History

Anonymous. British. 700. Poetry. “The Wanderer.” Alliterative. Dramatic monologue of warrior, now homeless and kinless. He laments the passing of former glories and companions; elegy of times gone by.

Anonymous. British. 700. Poetry. Beowulf. Anglo-Saxon, Old English epic. 3200 lines. Alliterative. Combines Norse legends, historical events and Christianity. Colorful picture of life at that time. Unferth’s insult and the swimming contest. Finn and Hildeburh. Beowulf and 14 warriors vs. Grendel and Grendel’s mother. Final fight is with a fire-breathing dragon after all have deserted Beowulf except Wiglaf. They kill the dragon, but Beowulf receives his death wound and a stately burial.

Anonymous. British. 700. Poetry. The Fight at Finnsburg. Old English. 50-line fragment. King Finn of the Frisians marries Hildeburh of the Danes. Finn kills her brother Hnaef and his followers while they are his guests. The following spring, the Danes kill Finn and take Hildeburh to Denmark.

Anonymous. British. 700. “The Dream of the Rood.” Old English. 156 lines. Alliterative. Dreams that True Cross talks to him, urging a cult. Dream changes his life.

Bede. English. 731. History. Ecclesiastical History of the English People. From the Roman invasion of England to 731. Contains both historical and legendary information.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

AD: Fables of Bidpai to "The Seafarer."

Bidpai. India. AD 400. Fables. Panchatantra (Book of Five Chapters). Fables in Sanskrit for the edification of the Indian king’s sons.

Visakhadatta. India. AD 400. Play. Mudraraksasa (The Minister’s Signet Ring). Absence of any central female character. Clash between wily and loyal ministers in the government.

St. Augustine. Roman. 413/425. Treatise. The City of God. Apology for Christianity against the accusation that the Church was responsible for the decline of the Roman Empire.

Boethius. Roman. 524. Nonfiction. The Consolation of Philosophy. Written while in prison awaiting execution. Dialogue in alternating prose and verse with a majestic woman. Neo-Platonism, stoicism. Unreality of earthly fortunes. Highest good is happiness in God. Reconciles apparent contradiction between the existence of evil if God is all good and powerful and the existence of man’s free will if God has foreknowledge of everything.

Anonymous. British. 700. Poetry. “The Seafarer.” Alliterative. The joys and sorrows of life at sea and the pleasures of earth compared to those of Heaven.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

AD: Mahabharata to Confessions of Saint Augustine

Anonymous. India. 300. Epic poem. Mahabharata. Famous interpolation is the Bhagavadgita. Encyclopedia of Hindu life, legend and thought.

Heliodoros. Greek. 300. Romance. Ethiopica. Love between Theagenes, Chariclea; earliest extant Greek romance. Ten volumes. Frequently borrowed from.

Longus. Greek. 300-400? Poetry. Daphnis and Choloe. Pastoral. Love between the children of a goatherd and shepherd.

Council of Nicea. Catholic Church. 325. Creed. Nicene Creed. Asserts the divinity of Christ and faith in the Trinity vs. Arianism, the belief that Christ, the son, is not equal to the Father. Filioque clause: Holy Ghost proceeds from Son and Father. Cause of the schism between the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches.

St. Augustine. Roman. 397-401. Autobiography. The Confessions of Saint Augustine. Introspective analysis of the author’s own spiritual experiences. First autobiography in literature. Shows the details of the soul’s progress from the enjoyment of the beauties outside itself to the study of its own nature, finally to the joy in knowledge of God. Focuses on his mother, his concubine, manichaeanism, neo-Platonism, and his conversion to Christianity.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

AD: Golden Ass to The Little Clay Cart

Apuleius, Lucius. Roman. AD 100. Romance; satire. The Golden Ass. Takes a magic potion expecting to be turned into an owl; becomes an ass instead and wanders through Greece. He passes through the hands of owners who mistreat him. Interspersed are stories of intrigue, witchcraft, love. Most famous story is that of Cupid and Psyche.

Ch’u Yuan. Chinese. AD 100. Poetry. The Elegies of Ch’u. Sings of his misfortunes at court. Lush imagery; emotionalism. Shaministic religious practices.

Aurelius, Marcus. Roman. AD 171-180. The Meditations. Emperor of Rome from 161-180 A.D. At 50 began composing notes for his own benefit. Aimed at moral improvement. Paganism’s last moral pronouncements.

Kalidasa. India. AD 200. Narrative poem. Raghuvamsa. Life of Rama, hero of the Hindu epic Ramayana.

King Shudraka. India. 200. Play. The Little Clay Cart. Sanskrit. Villain smothers heroine, accuses hero. Heroine recovers to save hero from execution.

Monday, February 16, 2009

AD. New Testament: Jude to Seneca, Thyestes.

Bible. New Testament. Jude. Crisis. Defends the Christian faith against corrupt doctrines and practices. Antinomianism: person with faith is free from observing the law. “Once saved, always saved.” Also concerned with Gnosticism.

Bible. New Testament. Revelation. Only pure apocalyptic book in the New Testament. Unknown author, a prisoner. Vision of the end of the world and the triumph of Jesus. Symbolic. Mystic numbers. Antichrist precedes the second coming of Christ. Beast with 7 heads, 10 horns and the number 666 are associated with Antichrist.

Anonymous. Greek. AD 50? Treatise. On the Sublime. Five sources of the sublime in literature: significant thought; intense emotion; powerful figures of speech; excellence in choice of language; effective organization. Passion for novelty converts the sublime to the ridiculous.

Vatsyayana. India. AD 50? Nonfiction. Kama-sutra (Indian erotics). Kama = love; sutra = science. The art, techniques of Indian erotics.

Seneca. Roman. AD 60. Play. Thyestes. Thyestes, who had seduced Atreus’ wife and stolen power before being defeated by Atreus, is exiled, but then urged by Atreus to return to Argos. Atreus gets his revenge by killing Thyestes’ sons and feeding them to their father at a banquet. Most fiendish play in history. Senecan tragedy influenced Elizabethan and Jacobean revenge plays. The play embodies the tastes of the times in which it was written.

Friday, February 13, 2009

AD. New Testament: Paul to Philemon to the Epistles of John

Bible. New Testament. Paul to Philemon. The only personal letter in the New Testament. To the master of a runaway slave asking him to forgive the slave. Christian social order: harmoniously includes slaves, rabbis and pagans.

Bible. New Testament. Paul to the Hebrews. Who actually wrote this letter? The role of Jesus as the highest priest of God. Christ’s personal sacrifice made for all.

Bible. New Testament. The Epistle of James. Who was the author? Moral obligation of Christians; Christian acts.

Bible. New Testament. The Epistles of Peter. Who was the author? Encourages Christians who suffered persecution. Suffering will be rewarded with salvation. Moral and ethical responsibilities as a means to holiness. Denounces moral laxity and false teachers. Knowledge of Jesus is most important.

Bible. New Testament. The Epistles of John. Warn against false teachings, especially Gnosticism. Adherence to the Ten Commandments and brotherly love. Concern about an arrogant, ambitious young Church official. Also the author of the Gospel?

Thursday, February 12, 2009

AD: New Testament: Paul to the Phillippians to Paul to Titus

Bible. New Testament. Paul to the Phillippians. Letter of thanks and encouragement. Encourages those facing persecution. Joy; sense of triumph; the strength of Paul’s faith.

Bible. New Testament. Paul to the Colossians. Written while in prison. Difficult to reconstruct the doctrine he was fighting. People felt the need to propitiate spirits, controlling fates, powers. Affirms the importance of mystic visions. Circumcision is a prerequisite for salvation.

Bible. New Testament. Paul to the Thessalonians. Founding of the church in Thessalonica. Jesus’ second coming. Description of the Antichrist.

Bible. New Testament. Paul to Timothy. Theme: care of the Church. Written by someone else? Outlines course of Church action, guidelines for Christians. Administrative functions; selection of bishops and ministers. Theme: Gnosticism. Matter evil, spirit good. Gnosticism said that Christ allowed men to escape the prison of the flesh, leading to asceticism and licentiousness. Problems with Gnosticism: How could a good God create an evil world? If matter is evil, and Christ was both flesh and God, then Christ could not be truly human.

Bible. New Testament. Paul to Titus. The same as Timothy.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

AD: New Testament: Acts of the Apostles to Paul to the Ephesians

Bible. New Testament. Acts of the Apostles. Earliest history of the Christian church. Begins with the Ascension. Ends with the imprisonment of St. Paul. Author Luke? Preachings and events in lives of the apostles, especially Peter and Paul. Emphasis on Christianity as a universal religion, not restricted to Jews.

Bible. New Testament. Paul to the Romans. Profound exposition of the nature of Christianity. Christianity is the religion of the whole world with roots in the prophetic religion of the Jews.

Bible. New Testament. Paul to the Corinthians. Greek city of Corinth. Worldly, licentious atmosphere of the city. Internal dissension. First-century Christians’ problems with the Pagan world. Discussion of Christian love.

Bible. New Testament. Paul to the Galatians. Defense of Paul’s authority. Received the Gospel directly from God, not from the 12 apostles. Universality of the Christian faith.

Bible. New Testament. Paul to the Ephesians. God’s plan to unite all humanity in Jesus. The Church’s role in working of the plan. Probably written by someone else.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

AD: Ovid's Metamorphoses to New Testament: John

Ovid. Roman. AD8. Tales. Metamorphoses. Figures of myth, legend and history; from the creation through Julius Caesar to Augustus.

Bible. New Testament. Matthew. Unique in tracing Christ’s ancestry back through David and Abraham. Emphasizes Jesus as the Messiah. Probably written for Jewish readers. Most complete account of the saying of Jesus. Mark is more a narrative of actions. Written in Greek. Does not seem to be an eyewitness account. Some evidence that the author drew on the accounts of Mark and Luke.

Bible. New Testament. Mark. Earliest account of Christ’s life? Missionary companion of Barnabas, Peter, Paul? John the Baptist. Christ’s baptism. Miracles and teachings. Denial by Peter. Mockery of Jesus. The Crucifixion. Resurrection. Ascension to heaven. Source of the gospels of Matthew and Luke.

Bible. New Testament. Luke. Greek physician and painter; also author of Acts of the Apostles. John the Baptist, birth, ministry in Galilee, journey to Jerusalem. Crucifixion, resurrection, ascension. High literary merit.

Bible. New Testament. John. Most spiritual account of Jesus’ life. Meaning of his life and death. Less emphasis on recounting events. Emphasis on the incarnation. Truly man and God. Betrayal by Judas, crucifixion, resurrection.

Monday, February 9, 2009

BC: De amicitia (Friendship) to Ars Poetica

44 BC. De amicitia (Friendship). Cicero. Roman. Essay. Dialogue on the subject of friendship.

44 BC. De senectute (Old Age). Cicero. Roman. Essay on old age in the form of a dialogue. The advantages of serene old age.

43/37 BC. Bucolics. Virgil. Roman. Poetry. Ten pastoral poems. The Bucolics influenced the pastoral tradition after the Renaissance. Calm elegance is the dominant tone of pastoral verse.

37/30 BC. Georgics. Virgil. Roman. Poetry. Four books. Didactic. Agriculture is the subject. Based on Hesiod’s Works and Days. The work of a philosopher-poet. Advice on farming in general. Lament over the ills following the assassination of Julius Caesar. Paean to the crops and the heroes of Italy. Care and propagation of livestock. Describes the effect of a plague that killed all living things. Tales of miraculous regeneration. The tale of Orpheus and Eurydice.

19 BC. Aeneid. Virgil. Roman. Poetry. Twelve books. The Trojan origin of the Roman people, from the Trojan hero Aeneas to Octavius (Augustus).

13 BC. Ars Poetica. Horace. Roman. Poetry. Rules for writing poetry. Influenced English critics of the Renaissance and post-Renaissance.

Friday, February 6, 2009

BC: Aristotle's Poetics to Caesar's Commentaries

335 BC. Poetics. Aristotle. Greek. Treatise. All arts originate in imitation and instinct for harmony and rhythm. Poetry more philosophical than history: deals with universals vs. particulars. Objects of imitation are men of action. Tragedy is better than life; comedy is worse than life. Epic = no limits of time; tragedy: single revolution of sun. Tragedy: emotions of pity, fear are released: catharsis. Fortunes fall from good to bad because of tragic flaw. Disapproves of the use of deus ex machine. First treatise devoted wholly to literary criticism.

300 BC. Hsun Tzu. Hsun Ch’ing. Chinese. Nonfiction. First expository Confucian text. Man by nature is evil. Attacks superstition, extols reason. Emphasizes need for education. Contradicts Mencius who believed in the goodness of man’s nature.

205 BC. Miles Gloriosus. Plautus. Roman. Play. Prototype of a long line of military braggarts.

95/55 BC. On the Nature of Things. Lucretius. Roman. Poetry. (De rerum natura). Book 1: All things are made up of eternal atoms moving through infinite space. Book 2: The entire world of material substances is produced through joining of these atoms. Book 3: Mind and spirit are also arrangements of atoms. At death the soul is dispersed as imperishable atoms fly apart. Book 4: Sensation, perception, and thought are produced by images emitted by external surfaces. Book 5: The world as we know it is created by a fortuitous concourse of atoms. Book 6: All natural phenomena can be explained according to this atomic theory. All things operate according to their own laws and are not influenced by supernatural powers. Lucretius committed suicide before completing the final draft of his poem.

58/44 BC. Commentaries on the Gallic War. Julius Caesar. Roman. History. Seven books. Each book covers one year. Caesar made Gaul a permanent part of the Empire. Clear, concise Latin. Historical accuracy.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

BC: The Frogs to Plato's The Republic

405 BC. The Frogs Aristophanes. Greek. Play. Dionysus decides to go to Hades to bring back Euripides; dons lion’s garb of Heracles only to learn that Heracles is not popular there, so he changes costume; debate between Euripides and Sophocles. Dionysus decides to bring back Sophocles instead. He is a weightier playwright. This play is an example of the freedom of speech allowed to Athens. Dionysus is made an absurd figure.

405 BC. Iphigenia in Aulis. Euripides. Greek. Play. Seer Calchas predicts that only the sacrifice of Iphigenia will save Greeks from being trapped in the harbor of Aulis. She is sacrificed. But, was a deer substituted?

401 BC. Oedipus at Colonus. Sophocles. Greek. Play. Banished and shunned by sons Etiocles and Polynices. Oedipus wanders as outcast. Daughter Antigone leads him to grove at Colonus. Creon tries to force him to return to Thebes. Theseus of Athens defends him. Buried outside Athens where he has promised to protect the city at the time of war.

372 BC. The Mencius. Chinese. Philosophy. Unsystematic collection of sayings and dialogues. Model of classical Chinese prose. Lived in time of great social change and constant warfare. Goodness of man and necessity of virtuous, benevolent king to bring order to the world.

347 BC? The Republic. Plato. Greek. Dialogue. Attempt at definition of justice. Justice must exist in the state before the individual. Three classes of citizens: Guardians, soldiers, workers and producers. Rejects democracy and tyranny. Temperance, restraint required of all classes.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

BC: Helen to The Bacchants

412 BC. Helen. Euripides. Greek. Play. Paris actually abducted a spiritual version of Helen who is really in Egypt. Troy was destroyed because of a phantom. Menelaus arrives in Egypt. He realizes the war was fought for nothing. He escapes with her.

411 BC. The Women Who Celebrate the Thesmophoria. Aristophanes. Greek. Play. The women of Athens plan to kill Euripides because of his treatment of them in his plays. Humorous attempts to thwart these efforts. Eventually, Euripides is reconciled with the women.

410 BC. The Phoenician Women. Euripides. Greek. Play. Events of the war against Thebes.

408 BC. Orestes. Euripides. Greek. Play. Orestes as bungling criminal; inextricable problems solved by Deus ex Machina.

408 BC. The Bacchants. Euripides. Greek. Play. Tragic punishment of Pentheus, king of Thebes, who imprisons Dionysus; torn to pieces by mother, Agave, during Bacchanalian orgy; play most closely resembles Dionysian mysteries from which Greek tragedy came.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

BC: Lysistrata to Electra by Euripides

10-second reviews

415 BC. Lysistrata. Aristophanes. Greek. Play. In the twenty-first year of the Peloponnesian War, Lysistrata persuades the wives of Athens to shut themselves away from their husbands until peace shall be concluded. She has the satisfaction of dictating the terms.

414 BC. The Birds. Aristophanes. Greek. Play. Fugitives from Athenian taxation and litigation persuade the birds to build a city in the clouds to block smoke from sacrifices of mortals from reaching the gods unless the gods comply with the birds’ demands. They do.

414 BC. Electra. Sophocles. Greek. Play. Emphasizes the qualities of heroism and tragic endurance. Orestes, Electra are reunited. Electra is the heroine. Orestes is a paragon of virtue, an avenger, with no real character. The murder of Clytemnestra for the murder of Agamemnon. A key scene is the recognition between Electra and Orestes. Clytemnestra is also a strong character.

414 BC. Iphigenia in Tauris. Euripides. Greek. Play. Pursued by the furies, Orestes can be cured only by rescuing the statue of Artemis from the savages of Tauris who hate Greeks and put them to death if they capture them. Captured, taken before the high priestess who is Iphigenia, supposedly killed by her father. She recognizes her brother. She arranges the escape of Orestes, a friend and herself. Intervention of Artemis, Athene.

413 BC. Electra. Euripides. Greek. Play. Electra is forced to marry a farmer. As a peasant, she cannot avenge the murder of her father, Agamemnon, by her mother Clytemnestra and her consort Aegisthus. Orestes appears. They arrange for the murder of Aegisthus and Clytemnestra. Euripides emphasizes the horror of the act. He elicits pity for the victims. The play ends with Orestes’ madness.

Monday, February 2, 2009

BC: The Suppliants to The Trojan Women

10-second Literature Reviews

423 BC. The Suppliants. Euripides. Greek. Play. Mothers of the Seven against Thebes plead successfully with Theseus to bury the bodies of their sons.

422 BC. The Wasps. Aristophanes. Greek. Play. Attack on Aristophanes’ favorite butt, Cleon, who initiated paying citizens for jury duty. Parody of legal proceedings. Passion of a foolish old man for jury duty.

421 BC. The Peace. Aristophanes. Greek. Play. Farmers and workingmen rescue the goddess Peace from the clutches of War.

418 BC. Ion. Euripides. Greek. Play. Ion became the king of Athens and ancestor of the Ionian race. Interpreted as questioning Apollo and the honesty of his Delphic oracle.

415 BC. The Trojan Women. Euripides. Greek. Play. Fate of the family of Priam at the fall of Troy. Priam, Hector are dead. Their wives, Hecuba and Andromache, and Cassandra are to be slaves. The Greeks sacrifice Hector’s sister Polyxena to the ghost of Achilles. They also fling Hector’s infant son from the walls to end the royal line.

Helen appears and, through sheer sexual attraction, sways Menelaus from his intention of killing her. Her presence, vain and frivolous, demonstrates the futility of a war fought over her. Portrays the Greeks as cruel and cowardly. Rebukes the Athenians for the slaughter of Melos. One of the most powerful indictments of war ever.