/lit/ - Literature

The City in Speech of the Republic is Scheria and Timaeus is the (pre-Socratic) philosopher-king.
Discuss.

r/ing that quote from the Two Towers, about Sam and Frodo talking about heroism and adventure, and how different reality is.

What you think is an adventure and heroism as in the old tales is not what you think it is when you are in one. The Odyssey is about hardship and finding yourself after many wanderings. Odysseus returns home a wiser man, he never enjoyed the adventure itself but having a goal. Hence "nostos", longing for his homeland. The goal in itself is never glory or adventure by themselves, but remaining steadfast when doing your duty. Heroism is needed for the hard times, for the times when hope is scarce, and when people feel lost. It is never borne out of fancies or whims of a man.

>>9604951

>but as is the case with all intelligent and articulate commentators even when they create distance between concepts they make them all seem more appealing.

I would normally agree with this, however in this circumstance where Zizek seems to be using elements of catholic theology as a stepping stone to what he sees as a greater truth or deeper physiological understanding, how could a religious person not find this condescending? Surely Zizek's message is that these concepts only have value precisely because we live in a world where god does NOT exist and therefore the message we take from them is completely different then if he did. It seems to me for all the admiration of christian values or theology which he does profess that really because he filters them through the perspective of a godless world he really is on a very different page from the average catholic to who the existence or non existence of god really is a crucial factor that underpins their ideology.

Is Odysseus the greatest character in all of literature /lit/?

i want to read odyssey before iliad. is this a bad idea?