For me, reading Plutarch’s Lives was like reading fine print
for several hours; both literally and metaphorically. Although bulky and
somewhat dry in my opinion, Plutarch succeeded in captivating me at times. For
instance, the pirate ordeal at the beginning of the biography was an effective
way to both grab the reader’s attention and introduce the reader to Caesar as
an entertaining character. I believe Plutarch was strategic in introducing the
reader to Caesar with this story. Caesar’s actions upon being captured by
pirates as a child evidence his perseverance, motivation, narcissism, and
general attitude towards resolving conflicts. Moreover, this introduction
provides a framework and foreshadows how Caesar gains his power throughout his
life.
 |
| Literally me last night while trying to read the introduction before bed. Bad idea. |
I think it’s important to keep context in mind when reading
Plutarch’s Lives. Written at the beginning of the second century A.D., I can
imagine the story of Caesar to be much more entertaining and relevant back
then. For me, Caesar has always be presented as such a fictional and distant
character so I find it hard to be fascinated by him; however, I can understand
how his life and legacy could be much more enthralling to someone living closer
to that time and context.
Throughout reading the text I found it increasingly hard to
stay focused and motivated to finish the content. As mentioned in class, I
agree that this is likely largely due to the plethora of distractions in the 21st
century as well as shifts and developments in media. It’s no secret that print
media is losing its popularity with the steady rise of electronic media. TV
shows, movies, music, radio, the Internet, cell phones, etc.…. all seem to
dominate print media in regards to entertainment in the 21st
century. It only seems inevitable that this trend will play into socializing
future generations and thus perpetuate the disconnect with print media. With
that being said, this concept is not prescriptive and just a thought I would
like to explore more sometime.
I can I agree with you in how some moments captivated me while reading ceasars life. One of which is some of the battle moments where I found myself glued to the pages. I found the one event entertainingly to read when it was talking about how he and his army where at one point trapped and fighting with their backs against the wall until fellow legions of Romans came down and saved them including cesesr. It is shocking to me that this was a popular book, or one that they would give to young men starting their lives as discussed in class
ReplyDeleteI like how you mentioned Plutarch's strategy in introducing Caesar. You can get to know a lot about a person based on how they act, especially during a time in their life where they're in an impressionable age. You can tell by an early age that Caesar is above average intellectually (and also very over confident and arrogant). I didn't think about this when I read it the first time that he is setting up a framework.
ReplyDeleteI have to say before even reading your post I saw the picture and that made me laugh. Because that's exactly how I felt when trying to get through the reading. You make a good point when saying this was written way before our time. The way Plutarchs introduced Caesar was probably only half the man he really was, he really talked up Caesar to be this brave guy, I wonder if that's who he really was.
ReplyDeleteGreat point discussing how this book would have been popular back when it was written. While some of us found the pirate part entertaining, others I know did not. I wonder if that has something to do with the fact that in today's society, we expect stuff to have to be blown up (I can't stop thinking about the Transformers movies right now... God help me) or littered with explicit language in order to find it entertaining. I found it easier to read when I first woke up surprisingly. I was definitely like the guy in the picture when I tried to read it at night
ReplyDeleteWhat a perfect image to capture reading this book! Your last point about the increasing disconnection with print media is very interesting. It is so true that we are constantly bombarded with audio and visual stimuli and it can be difficult to just sit down and read a book ESPECIALLY one that is quite boring like Lives. Converting the book into an audio or visual form would make the material much easier to follow!
ReplyDelete