Philip Hughes: A Popular History of the Catholic Church. Burns and Oates. London.1958. (f.p. 1939)
Very interesting book, putting some flesh on many people and movements that were little more than names to me. The author's attitude to the temporal power and the wealth of the papacy differs radically from mine. I see these as the root of most of the truly horrible abuses that he faithfully catalogues. Hughes goes so far as to commend one pope for his talent as a commander on the field of battle.
Coincidentally, the authors of the history of the Canary Islands that I'm currently reading credit "Juan de Paris, William of Occam, and Mansilio de Padua" with proposing that the pope has no temporal power. The context for their interest in the matter relates to papal bulls of 1433 and 1436, granting control of the archipelago to, respectively, Prince Henry the Navigator and the crown of Castille.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Horace
I re-read the odes, over a few weeks. I did not study these in school, possibly a blessing: one of my Russian friends tells me she can't enjoy Pushkin, ever since school. About forty years ago I became aware of the central place Q. Horatius Flaccus occupies in European civilization, and determined to get to grips with him. I've bought and inherited some material, over the years. Three slim volumes, and three fatter ones:
[1] A.H. Allcroft and B.J. Hayes (eds). Horace, Odes, Book I. Text and Notes. London. W.B. Clive. No date. Marked 2/- for second-hand sale.
Possibly belonged to my Uncle Billy, who finished at Synge St. CBS in the early 30's. Then again, I may have bought it somewhere, or it might have been Aunt Peggy's. Those two were the only two in my mother's family to complete secondary school. Includes an elaborate account of metres, besides the usual biography, dates, commentary, and vocabulary.
[2] Stephen Gwynn (ed). The Odes of Horace. Book III. Blackie. London, Glasgow and Bombay. No date. One colour plate. Once belonged to A. Lafferty.
[3] T.E. Page. Horace Odes IV. MacMillan 1933. Resold in Green's of Clare St. Owned by D.P. Moffitt, and by L. Sexton, of Ballineen, Ennis Road, Limerick and 64 O'Connell St., Limerick. Many (B+W) illustrations, with interesting commentary. All three of these school texts have extensive vocabularies, tailored to the volume in question.
[4] Horace Odes and Epodes, edited by C.E. Bennett and revised by J.C. Rolfe. Allyn and Bacon, Boston, etc. 1968. Bought this at Brown, in 1970. Text, followed by elaborate notes and commentary, but he expects you to work with a separate dictionary. This is a university text. In effect, he rubbishes what the English editors have to say about the metrical structure, and he has some interesting suggestions about pronunciation.
[5] Anon. The Complete Works of Horace. The original text reduced to the natural English order, with a literal interlinear translation. David McKay. New York. 1964 reprint. (Original Arthur Hinds, 1894). Also bought Brown, 1970, for $3.50. A brutal crib, but very handy, after you get a first impression of the text.
[6] James Michie. The Odes of Horace. Rupert Hart-Davis. 1964. This gives a very free verse translation (using unrelated metres suitable for English). This copy has been around: Simon J. Armad?, Sept 1981, Clare College. Lancashire Library (withdrawn from circulation). It came with some typed notes, as well as the usual (mostly pencil) glosses one finds in all the second-hand texts. Michie's objective was to make Horace accessible, and to compose English verse.
The commentators all agree that Horace had essentially nothing original to say, and that his fame rests on the utter perfection of his way of expressing the ideas. Gwynn says of the odes: "They are undoubtedly the best-known poetry in the world. If every copy of them were destroyed to-morrow, it would be easy to form for instance a committee of the House of Commons, which could restore from memory the entire text with in a week." This was written some time ago, and one doubts that it remains true. My own preference is for content over form, but one has to take seriously a writer of this reputation and perenniel impact. I found it hard work, when first I slogged though [4], using [5] as a crutch. For someone starting in, I think I'd recommend using [6], first. Read the Latin aloud. Then read the English on the opposite page, and go back. Later, poke at the details, referring to whatever you have handy, which should include a decent dictionary. It repays any effort expended.
[1] A.H. Allcroft and B.J. Hayes (eds). Horace, Odes, Book I. Text and Notes. London. W.B. Clive. No date. Marked 2/- for second-hand sale.
Possibly belonged to my Uncle Billy, who finished at Synge St. CBS in the early 30's. Then again, I may have bought it somewhere, or it might have been Aunt Peggy's. Those two were the only two in my mother's family to complete secondary school. Includes an elaborate account of metres, besides the usual biography, dates, commentary, and vocabulary.
[2] Stephen Gwynn (ed). The Odes of Horace. Book III. Blackie. London, Glasgow and Bombay. No date. One colour plate. Once belonged to A. Lafferty.
[3] T.E. Page. Horace Odes IV. MacMillan 1933. Resold in Green's of Clare St. Owned by D.P. Moffitt, and by L. Sexton, of Ballineen, Ennis Road, Limerick and 64 O'Connell St., Limerick. Many (B+W) illustrations, with interesting commentary. All three of these school texts have extensive vocabularies, tailored to the volume in question.
[4] Horace Odes and Epodes, edited by C.E. Bennett and revised by J.C. Rolfe. Allyn and Bacon, Boston, etc. 1968. Bought this at Brown, in 1970. Text, followed by elaborate notes and commentary, but he expects you to work with a separate dictionary. This is a university text. In effect, he rubbishes what the English editors have to say about the metrical structure, and he has some interesting suggestions about pronunciation.
[5] Anon. The Complete Works of Horace. The original text reduced to the natural English order, with a literal interlinear translation. David McKay. New York. 1964 reprint. (Original Arthur Hinds, 1894). Also bought Brown, 1970, for $3.50. A brutal crib, but very handy, after you get a first impression of the text.
[6] James Michie. The Odes of Horace. Rupert Hart-Davis. 1964. This gives a very free verse translation (using unrelated metres suitable for English). This copy has been around: Simon J. Armad?, Sept 1981, Clare College. Lancashire Library (withdrawn from circulation). It came with some typed notes, as well as the usual (mostly pencil) glosses one finds in all the second-hand texts. Michie's objective was to make Horace accessible, and to compose English verse.
The commentators all agree that Horace had essentially nothing original to say, and that his fame rests on the utter perfection of his way of expressing the ideas. Gwynn says of the odes: "They are undoubtedly the best-known poetry in the world. If every copy of them were destroyed to-morrow, it would be easy to form for instance a committee of the House of Commons, which could restore from memory the entire text with in a week." This was written some time ago, and one doubts that it remains true. My own preference is for content over form, but one has to take seriously a writer of this reputation and perenniel impact. I found it hard work, when first I slogged though [4], using [5] as a crutch. For someone starting in, I think I'd recommend using [6], first. Read the Latin aloud. Then read the English on the opposite page, and go back. Later, poke at the details, referring to whatever you have handy, which should include a decent dictionary. It repays any effort expended.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Antigone
George Huxley is speaking this afternoon, on Piety and Power in the Antigone of Sophocles.
Text translation online at http://classics.mit.edu/Sophocles/antigone.html
Antigone, on the gulf that separates her from her sister Ismene: "One world approved thy wisdom; another, mine."
Text translation online at http://classics.mit.edu/Sophocles/antigone.html
Antigone, on the gulf that separates her from her sister Ismene: "One world approved thy wisdom; another, mine."
Monday, March 22, 2010
Who rules?
On Q. 161 of
the Catechism .
According to this, the bishop has authority, inter alia, to rule the faithful. The answer does not indicate any limits on the scope of this authority, except that it must be exercised in subjection to the Pope, and in accordance with the laws of the Church. It seems to me that this has caused a lot of trouble.
The logic behind this goes back to Q.138.
The relevant Articles of our Constitution run as follows:
Article 5.
Ireland is a sovereign, independent, democratic state.
Article 6.
1. All powers of government, legislative, executive and judicial, derive, under God, from the people, whose right it is to designate the rulers of the state and, in final appeal, to decide all questions of national policy, according to the requirements of the common good.
2. These powers of government are exercisable only by or on the authority of the organs of State established by this Constitution.
There has been some criticism lately that our constitution does not say that the state is a republic, but in fact it does better: 'republic' is only a word, but Article 6 spells it out. God's sovereignty is acknowledged, but it is quite clear that there is only one way God can influence our policy: through the people. Moreover, the bishops are not organs of state established by the constitution, so they don't get to rule, or decide on national policy, or exercise any powers of government.
Unfortunately, I'm afraid that since the days of the emperor Constantine, the clerical hierarchy has lusted after temporal power, and as a result the failure to be explicit about the limits of clerical power was deliberate, not careless. It ought to be spelled out explicitly. I note that in Pope Benedict's pastoral letter of the 19th of March, he says only one thing relevant to this concern of mine, and he says it not in the section addressed to people like me, but in section 11, addressed to the bishops. He gives a direct order:
the Catechism .
According to this, the bishop has authority, inter alia, to rule the faithful. The answer does not indicate any limits on the scope of this authority, except that it must be exercised in subjection to the Pope, and in accordance with the laws of the Church. It seems to me that this has caused a lot of trouble.
The logic behind this goes back to Q.138.
The relevant Articles of our Constitution run as follows:
Article 5.
Ireland is a sovereign, independent, democratic state.
Article 6.
1. All powers of government, legislative, executive and judicial, derive, under God, from the people, whose right it is to designate the rulers of the state and, in final appeal, to decide all questions of national policy, according to the requirements of the common good.
2. These powers of government are exercisable only by or on the authority of the organs of State established by this Constitution.
There has been some criticism lately that our constitution does not say that the state is a republic, but in fact it does better: 'republic' is only a word, but Article 6 spells it out. God's sovereignty is acknowledged, but it is quite clear that there is only one way God can influence our policy: through the people. Moreover, the bishops are not organs of state established by the constitution, so they don't get to rule, or decide on national policy, or exercise any powers of government.
Unfortunately, I'm afraid that since the days of the emperor Constantine, the clerical hierarchy has lusted after temporal power, and as a result the failure to be explicit about the limits of clerical power was deliberate, not careless. It ought to be spelled out explicitly. I note that in Pope Benedict's pastoral letter of the 19th of March, he says only one thing relevant to this concern of mine, and he says it not in the section addressed to people like me, but in section 11, addressed to the bishops. He gives a direct order:
Besides fully implementing the norms of canon law in addressing cases of child abuse, continue to cooperate with the civil authorities in their area of competence.This certainly recognises the existence of an area of competence, but we need completely explicit recognition of the sovereign competence of civil society in the appropriate areas (those specified in Article 6). We seem to be getting this recognition from individual bishops, but it should come from the Church as a whole, and be addressed to all people, and it should be repeated on occasions like this.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Two novels and an autobiography
Cormac McCarthy. The Road. 897-0-330-44754-6. Most people seem to enjoy this story about the efforts of a man to protect his son during the final stages of a global extinction caused by a nuclear winter. I found it a curious mixture of sentimentality and pessimism about humanity.
Seamus Murphy. Stone Mad. 1-903464-81-1. Wonderful book. Exposes the vanished world of Irish stone-carvers, in which Murphy trained. Completely changed the way I look at the city. I went out of my way on Sunday, to walk across downtown and examine some of the work he writes about, such as the rivers on the Custom House. He records a great deal about the men who carved what we see about us in this country: who did what, where the stones came from, their characteristics. The discipline, the hardship, the pleasure of working in stone. "Getting to like doing what you don't like doing." I've long thought that "art" is nothing more than "craft". And nothing less. Murphy says: "Art grows out of good work done by men who enjoy it." Much of the book records, or recreates, the conversations and anecdotes of his elders and peers in the stoneworks, quarries, churches and graveyards of the first half of the last century. There are many good lines. For instance: "What are we doing, but making dust for time to rub away?", and "Once you realise that life isn't important anymore, departing from it takes on full significance." It was amusing to learn that Stephen is the patron saint of stone-carvers. This is, no doubt, for the same reason that Lawrence is the patron of cooks.
There is a fine bust of St. Patrick in the cloister in Maynooth, by Murphy. Just inside the President's Arch.
P.D. James. Shroud for a Nightingale. Penguin. f.p. Faber & Faber, 1971. A beautifully-crafted murder mystery.
Seamus Murphy. Stone Mad. 1-903464-81-1. Wonderful book. Exposes the vanished world of Irish stone-carvers, in which Murphy trained. Completely changed the way I look at the city. I went out of my way on Sunday, to walk across downtown and examine some of the work he writes about, such as the rivers on the Custom House. He records a great deal about the men who carved what we see about us in this country: who did what, where the stones came from, their characteristics. The discipline, the hardship, the pleasure of working in stone. "Getting to like doing what you don't like doing." I've long thought that "art" is nothing more than "craft". And nothing less. Murphy says: "Art grows out of good work done by men who enjoy it." Much of the book records, or recreates, the conversations and anecdotes of his elders and peers in the stoneworks, quarries, churches and graveyards of the first half of the last century. There are many good lines. For instance: "What are we doing, but making dust for time to rub away?", and "Once you realise that life isn't important anymore, departing from it takes on full significance." It was amusing to learn that Stephen is the patron saint of stone-carvers. This is, no doubt, for the same reason that Lawrence is the patron of cooks.
There is a fine bust of St. Patrick in the cloister in Maynooth, by Murphy. Just inside the President's Arch.
P.D. James. Shroud for a Nightingale. Penguin. f.p. Faber & Faber, 1971. A beautifully-crafted murder mystery.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Marguerite Yourcenar
Anna, Soror...
with
An Obscure Man
and
A Lovely Morning
0-00-271222-9
Translated from French (Comme l'eau qui coule..) by Walter Kaiser.
Fast-moving stories, set in the 16th and early 17th, visceral, revolving round sexual relationships. Not prurient, the account is matter-of-fact.
AOM and ALM go together. They are about this dutchman Nathanaël, who is swept though life, and never really knows what's happening to him. Not quite like any other chronicle. I liked it. Anna, Soror... is an intense and troubling tale of consensual incest, in the family of a spanish aristocratic occupying Naples, in which the principals are tortured by religious scruples, and tragedy reigns.
The book includes very interesting 'Postfaces', in which Yourcenar writes about the process of composition. It includes a survey of incest in literature, and this:
MY was the first woman elected to the French Academy. She died in 1987.
Shelving it, I saw and remembered Zeno of Bruges. This was a gift from a friend who tries to improve my mind, but my mind proved resistant to improvement. I found it unreadable, at the time, and set it aside, implementing my 'life is too short' policy. Perhaps, if I live, I will give myself another chance with it, someday. But right now, the to-read shelf is 2.5 linear metres, and that doesn't count all sorts of other books that are likely to interlope. Besides, one should read french writers in french.
with
An Obscure Man
and
A Lovely Morning
0-00-271222-9
Translated from French (Comme l'eau qui coule..) by Walter Kaiser.
Fast-moving stories, set in the 16th and early 17th, visceral, revolving round sexual relationships. Not prurient, the account is matter-of-fact.
AOM and ALM go together. They are about this dutchman Nathanaël, who is swept though life, and never really knows what's happening to him. Not quite like any other chronicle. I liked it. Anna, Soror... is an intense and troubling tale of consensual incest, in the family of a spanish aristocratic occupying Naples, in which the principals are tortured by religious scruples, and tragedy reigns.
The book includes very interesting 'Postfaces', in which Yourcenar writes about the process of composition. It includes a survey of incest in literature, and this:
With Anna, Soror..., I tasted for the first time the ultimate privelege of the novelist, that of losing himself completely in his characters, or of letting himself be possessed by them. Thoughout those few weeks ... I lived uninterruptedly within those two bodies and those two souls, slipping from Anna into Miguel and from Miguel into Anna with that indifference to sex which is, I believe, that of all creators in the presence of their creations, and which silences with shame those who would express astonishment that a man could excel in depicting a woman's emotions -- the Juliet of Shakespeare, the Roxane or Phédre of Racine, the Natasha or Anna Karenina of Tolstoy ... -- or the rarer paradox that a woman could create a man in all his essential masculinity, whether the Genji of Lady Murasaki, the Rochester of Jane Eyre, or the Gösta Berling of Selma Lagerlöf.
MY was the first woman elected to the French Academy. She died in 1987.
Shelving it, I saw and remembered Zeno of Bruges. This was a gift from a friend who tries to improve my mind, but my mind proved resistant to improvement. I found it unreadable, at the time, and set it aside, implementing my 'life is too short' policy. Perhaps, if I live, I will give myself another chance with it, someday. But right now, the to-read shelf is 2.5 linear metres, and that doesn't count all sorts of other books that are likely to interlope. Besides, one should read french writers in french.
Friday, March 05, 2010
Robert Harris: The Ghost
ISBN 9780099527497.
Enjoyable quick read. Witty. Not in the league of Pompeii, Archangel,
or the Cicero novels.
Enjoyable quick read. Witty. Not in the league of Pompeii, Archangel,
or the Cicero novels.
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