A Philological Approach to Comparative Studies? The Development of Pulse Lore in Classical Greco-Roman and Chinese Medicine
By James Zainaldin, Vanderbilt University
Comparative studies increasingly tantalize as a way to reframe the Western Classics in a global perspective. Adopting the broader geographic, temporal, and cultural frameworks demanded by comparative work is likely not only to change our understanding of Greek and Roman civilization, but also to bear on increasingly urgent questions such as who should study the Classics today and how. One especially rich vein of comparative study to date has focused on premodern Chinese civilization as a counterpoint to Greece and Rome.
The One and Many in Heraclitus and the Heng Xian
By Didier Natalizi Baldi, Harvard University
The investigation of “that of which everything consists, from which everything comes, and to which everything shall finally dissolve” (Arist. Met. 983b), the quest for a principle (ἀρχή), that remains stable amidst change, that orders the world and allows for its comprehension, can be considered as the dominating feature of pre-Socratic intellectual speculation. In Heraclitus (c. 535-475 BC), in particular, this research assumes most distinctively the connotation of an “henology” (Reale in Marcovic et al.
Roles, Boundaries, Blurriness? Reading Seneca Epistle 47 in Early Medieval China
By Benjamin Porteous, Harvard University
Few figures from Graeco-Roman Antiquity have attracted more controversy than Seneca the Younger. Scholars have long crossed swords over the nature of this captivating and contradictory man: the Stoic philosopher, and speech writer for Nero; the advocate of a controlled mind, and writer of plays that depend on Sturm und Drang for their effectiveness; the man who thought a retired life fitting for a lover of wisdom, and the canny, wealthy politician; the heroic man of principle, and the cynical power player whose debts caught up with him. (Griffin 1992; Wilson 2014).