What We Are Reading Today: ‘How to Have Willpower'
Edited and translated by Michael Fontaine
'How to Have Willpower' brings together two profound ancient meditations on how to overcome pressures that encourage us to act against our own best interests—Plutarch's essay On Dysopia or How to Resist Pressure and Prudentius's poetic allegory Psychomachia or How to Slay Your Demons.
Challenging the idea that humans are helpless victims of vice, these works—introduced and presented in vivid, accessible new prose translations by Michael Fontaine, with the original Latin and Greek texts on facing pages—emphasize the power of personal choice and the possibility of personal growth, as they offer insights and practical advice about resisting temptation.
In the spirit of the best ancient self-help writing, Plutarch, a pagan Greek philosopher and historian, offers a set of practical recommendations and steps we can take to resist pressure and to stop saying 'yes' against our better judgment. And in a delightfully different work, Prudentius, a Latin Christian poet, dramatizes the necessity to actively fight temptation through the story of an epic battle within the human soul between fierce warrior women representing our virtues and vices.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
3 days ago
- Arab News
What We Are Reading Today: ‘How to Have Willpower'
Authors: Prudentius and Plutarch Edited and translated by Michael Fontaine 'How to Have Willpower' brings together two profound ancient meditations on how to overcome pressures that encourage us to act against our own best interests—Plutarch's essay On Dysopia or How to Resist Pressure and Prudentius's poetic allegory Psychomachia or How to Slay Your Demons. Challenging the idea that humans are helpless victims of vice, these works—introduced and presented in vivid, accessible new prose translations by Michael Fontaine, with the original Latin and Greek texts on facing pages—emphasize the power of personal choice and the possibility of personal growth, as they offer insights and practical advice about resisting temptation. In the spirit of the best ancient self-help writing, Plutarch, a pagan Greek philosopher and historian, offers a set of practical recommendations and steps we can take to resist pressure and to stop saying 'yes' against our better judgment. And in a delightfully different work, Prudentius, a Latin Christian poet, dramatizes the necessity to actively fight temptation through the story of an epic battle within the human soul between fierce warrior women representing our virtues and vices.
Arab News
5 days ago
- Arab News
Roman-era mosaic panel with erotic theme that was stolen during World War II returns to Pompeii
POMPEII: A mosaic panel on travertine slabs, depicting an erotic theme from the Roman era, was returned to the archaeological park of Pompeii on Tuesday, after being stolen by a Nazi German captain during World War II. The artwork was repatriated from Germany through diplomatic channels, arranged by the Italian Consulate in Stuttgart, Germany, after having been returned from the heirs of the last owner, a deceased German citizen. The owner had received the mosaic as a gift from a Wehrmacht captain, assigned to the military supply chain in Italy during the war. The mosaic — dating between mid- to last century B.C. and the first century — is considered a work of 'extraordinary cultural interest,' experts said. 'It is the moment when the theme of domestic love becomes an artistic subject,' said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii and co-author of an essay dedicated to the returned work. 'While the Hellenistic period, from the fourth to the first century B.C., exulted the passion of mythological and heroic figures, now we see a new theme.' The heirs of the mosaic's last owner in Germany contacted the Carabinieri unit in Rome that's dedicated to protecting cultural heritage, which was in charge of the investigation, asking for information on how to return the mosaic to the Italian state. Authorities carried out the necessary checks to establish its authenticity and provenance, and then worked to repatriate the mosaic in September 2023. The collaboration with the Archaeological Park of Pompeii was also key, as it made it possible to trace it to near the Mount Vesuvius volcano, despite the scarcity of data on the original context of its discovery, the Carabinieri said. The panel was then assigned to the Archaeological Park of Pompeii where, suitably catalogued, it will be protected and available for educational and research purposes. 'Today's return is like healing an open wound,' Zuchtriegel said, adding that the mosaic allows to reconstruct the story of that period, the first century A.D., before Pompeii was destroyed by the Vesuvius eruption in A.D. 79. The park's director also highlighted how the return by the heirs of its owner signals an important change in 'mentality,' as 'the sense of possession (of stolen art) becomes a heavy burden.' 'We see that often in the many letters we receive from people who may have stolen just a stone, to bring home a piece of Pompeii,' Zuchtriegel said. He recalled the so-called 'Pompeii curse,' which according to a popular superstition hits whoever steals artifacts in Pompeii. The world-known legend suggests that those who steal finds from the ancient city of Pompeii will experience bad luck or misfortune. That has been fueled over the years by several tourists who return stolen items, claiming they brought them bad luck and caused tragic events.
Al Arabiya
13-07-2025
- Al Arabiya
Pope celebrates mass in parish church with special ties to his augustinian order
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy – Pope Leo XIV called Sunday for merciful compassion for the world's poor victims of tyranny and wars as he celebrated Mass in a parish church that has special spiritual ties to Leo's own Augustinian religious order. Leo is on vacation and resuming the papal tradition of summering at the papal estate of Castel Gandolfo south of Rome and celebrated Mass in the St. Thomas of Villanova church. St. Thomas of Villanova was a 16th-century Spanish teacher who was a local and regional superior of the Augustinian order, a mendicant order inspired by the teachings of St. Augustine of Hippo. The saint is the patron and namesake of Leo's alma mater outside Philadelphia, Villanova University, and is known for his care for the poor and for having given away his wealth to those in need. In his homily, Leo offered a meditation on the biblical story of the Good Samaritan. Leo urged the faithful to be guided by empathy and be moved to act with the same merciful compassion as God. 'How we look at others is what counts because it shows what is in our hearts,' he said. 'We can look and walk by, or we can look and be moved with compassion.' That is especially true, he said, when looking at those who are 'stripped, robbed, and pillaged,' victims of tyrannical political systems, of an economy that forces them into poverty, and of wars that kill their dreams and their very lives. From his very first words as pope, Leo has repeatedly emphasized his identity as an Augustinian and infused his homilies and speeches with teachings from the 5th century theologian. The Rev. Tadeusz Rozmus, the priest at the St. Thomas's of Villanova parish, has said the return of a pope to Castel Gandolfo has filled the town with joy. In an interview ahead of Leo's arrival last week, Rozmus also noted the spiritual connection of history's first Augustinian pope to the town. 'St. Thomas of Villanova was an Augustinian saint and so with him (Leo) returns to the beginning of his history of his spirituality,' Rozmus said. Leo is taking an initial two weeks of vacation in Castel Gandolfo, though he has already interrupted it to receive Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a group of religious superiors and to celebrate a special Mass dedicated to caring for God's creation. He will go back to the Vatican at the end of July and then return for another spell in August.
