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List Of Utopian Literature
This is a list of utopian literature. A utopia is a community or society possessing highly desirable or perfect qualities. It is a common literary theme, especially in speculative fiction and science fiction. The word "utopia" was coined in Greek language by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', but the genre has roots dating back to antiquity. One reference has it that 1500 works of fiction that can be characterized as utopian were published between 1516 and 1975. Early "utopian" works *''Assemblywomen'' (391 BC) by Aristophanes - Early piece of utopian satire. Aristophanes's play mocks Athenian democracy's excesses through the story of the Athenian women taking control of the government and instituting a proto-communist utopia. *'' The Republic'' (ca. 370-360 BC) a Socratic dialogue by Plato which eventually arrives at a thought experiment of Kallipolis, the "Beautiful City" - One of the earliest conceptions of a utopia. *''Laws'' (360 BC) by Plato *'' The Republic'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Utopian And Dystopian Fiction
Utopian and dystopian fiction are subgenres of speculative fiction that explore extreme forms of social and political structures. Utopian fiction portrays a setting that agrees with the author's ethos, having various attributes of another reality intended to appeal to readers. Dystopian fiction offers the opposite: the portrayal of a setting that completely disagrees with the author's ethos. Some novels combine both genres, often as a metaphor for the different directions humanity can take depending on its choices, ending up with one of two possible futures. Both utopias and dystopias are commonly found in science fiction and other types of speculative fiction. More than 400 utopian works in the English language were published prior to the year 1900, with more than a thousand others appearing during the 20th century. This increase is partially associated with the rise in popularity of science fiction and young adult fiction more generally, but also larger scale social change tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laws (dialogue)
The ''Laws'' () is Plato's last and longest dialogue. The conversation depicted in the work's twelve books begins with the question of who is given the credit for establishing a civilization's laws. Its musings on the ethics of government and law have frequently been compared to Plato's more widely read ''Republic''. Some scholars see this as the work of Plato as an older man having failed in his effort to guide the rule of the tyrant Dionysius II of Syracuse. These events are alluded to in the '' Seventh Letter''. The text is noteworthy as the only Platonic dialogue not to feature Socrates. Setting Characters Unlike most of Plato's dialogues, Socrates does not appear in the ''Laws''. The conversation is instead led by an Athenian Stranger * An Athenian "Stranger" () * Cleinias of Knossos * Megillus of Sparta Summary The Athenian Stranger joins the other two on their religious pilgrimage from Knossos, on Crete to the cave of Zeus on Mount Ida. The entire dialogue takes p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Virtuous City
''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with nouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of the archaic pronoun ''thee' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tao Yuanming
Tao Yuanming (365–427), also known as Tao Qian, courtesy name Yuanliang (元亮), was a Chinese poet and politician. He was one of the best-known poets who lived during the Six Dynasties period. Tao Yuanming spent much of his life in reclusion, living in the countryside, farming, reading, drinking wine, receiving the occasional guest, and writing poems in which he reflected on the pleasures and difficulties of life and his decision to withdraw from civil service. Tao's simple and direct style was somewhat at odds with the norms for literary writing in his time. In the Tang dynasty, he was well known as a recluse. During the Song dynasty#Northern Song, 960–1127, Northern Song dynasty, influential literati figures such as Su Shi declared him a paragon of authenticity and spontaneity in poetry, predicting that he would achieve lasting literary fame. But Tao's inclusion in the 6th-century literary anthology ''Wen Xuan'' implies he began to gain fame in his own era, at least in h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Peach Blossom Spring
''The Peach Blossom Spring'' (, also translated as “(The Record of) the Peach Blossom”), or ''Peach Blossom Spring Story'' or ''The Peach Blossom Land'' was a fable written by Tao Yuanming in 421 CE about a chance discovery of an ethereal utopia where the people lead an ideal existence in harmony with nature, unaware of the outside world for centuries. The phrase can be used to describe an idealistic place of beauty and repose, although it is sometimes used to refer to an unrealistic dream. Plot "The Peach Blossom Spring" was written during a time of political instability and national disunity; and, according to the story, set in the same (the Taiyuan era of the Jin dynasty). "Peach Blossom Spring" describes how a fisherman haphazardly sailed into a river in a forest made up entirely of blossoming peach trees, where even the ground was covered by peach petals. When he reached the end of the river (or spring in some translations), the source turned out to be a grotto. Though ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plutarch
Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', a series of biographies of illustrious Greeks and Romans, and ''Moralia'', a collection of essays and speeches. Upon becoming a Roman citizen, he was possibly named Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus (). Family Plutarch was born to a prominent family in the small town of Chaeronea, about east of Delphi, in the Greek region of Boeotia. His family was long established in the town; his father was named Autobulus and his grandfather was named Lamprias. His brothers, Timon and Lamprias, are frequently mentioned in his essays and dialogues, which speak of Timon in particular in the most affectionate terms. Studies and life Plutarch studied mathematics and philosophy in Athens under Ammonius of Athens, Ammonius from AD 66 to 67. He attended th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Life Of Lycurgus
* Culture of ancient Greece Culture of ancient Rome Ancient Greek biographical works Ethics literature History books about ancient Rome Cultural depictions of Gaius Marius Cultural depictions of Mark Antony Cultural depictions of Cicero Depictions of Julius Caesar in literature Cultural depictions of Pompey Cultural depictions of Marcus Junius Brutus Cultural depictions of Marcus Licinius Crassus Cultural depictions of Theseus Cultural depictions of Romulus and Remus Cultural depictions of Cato the Younger Cultural depictions of Sulla Cultural depictions of Alexander the Great The ''Parallel Lives'' (, ''Bíoi Parállēloi''; ) is a series of 48 biographies of famous men written in Greek by the Greco-Roman philosopher, historian, and Apollonian priest Plutarch, probably at the beginning of the second century. The lives are arranged in pairs to illuminate their common moral virtues or failings. While any historically valuable similarities are often forced, these s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iambulus
__NOTOC__ Iambulus or Jambulus (, ''Iamboulos'') was an ancient Greek merchant and the likely author of a utopian novel about the strange forms and figures of the inhabitants of the " Islands of the Sun". His name seems not to be Greek and reveals a Semitic or an Arabic origin. His work did not survive in the original, but only as a fragment in Diodorus Siculus' ''Bibliotheca historica'' (II, 55–60). Diodorus, who seems only to have transcribed lambulus in his description of the Indians, relates that lambulus was made a slave by the Ethiopians, and sent by them to a happy island in the eastern seas, where he acquired his knowledge. The whole account, however, has the appearance of a fiction, and the description which lambulus gives of the east, which he had probably never seen, consists of absurd statements. Iambulus is mentioned in the satirical novel ''A True Story'' by Lucian as writing "a lot of surprising things about the Atlantic Ocean".''True History'', page 3 He is listed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Islands Of The Sun
''Islands of the Sun'' or ''The Adventures of Iambulus in the Southern Ocean'' is a utopian novel by Iambulus which was written in Greek between 165 and 50 BCE. It chronicles the journey of the eponymous character Iambulus who discovers a seemingly perfect island nation. This book comprises eight chapters which describe the island's geography and its inhabitants’ culture. The character Iambulus was captured on his way through Arabia. Heeding orders from his Ethiopian captors, he journeys to a distant island where he meets the natives who would share their prosperity with the Ethiopians for six hundred years. The islands are part of an archipelago where the days and nights are equal length and the weather is temperate. The natives eat animals and plants; all of which are plentiful. They live in a society with communistic features and value restraint, beauty, and knowledge. Iambulus stays for seven years then returns to Greece. Background This presented first-person narrative descr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Panchaea
Panchaia (also Panchaea Greek: ) is an island, first mentioned by ancient Greek philosopher Euhemerus in the late 4th century BC. Euhemerus describes this place as home to a utopian society made up of a number of different ethnic tribes having a collective economy and his trip there in his major work ''Sacred History'', only fragments of which survive. Fragments preserved by followers such as the later Greek historian Diodorus Siculus and 4th century AD Christian writer Eusebius of Caesarea describe Panchaia as a rational island paradise located in the Indian Ocean. Euhemerus went there by traveling through the Red Sea and around the Arabian Peninsula; in the island's temple of Zeus Triphylius he discovered a register of the births and deaths of the gods, proving they were merely historical figures. The island is also mentioned by Lygdamus (Tib. 3.2.23), one of the Tibullan elegists, as a rich place from which he will hope for gifts to his grave. Virgil called the Island "incen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Euhemerus
Euhemerus (; also spelled Euemeros or Evemerus; ''Euhēmeros'', "happy; prosperous"; late fourth century BC) was a Greek mythographer at the court of Cassander, the king of Macedon. Euhemerus' birthplace is disputed, with Messina in Sicily as the most probable location, while others suggest Chios or Tegea. The philosophy attributed to and named for Euhemerus, euhemerism, holds that many mythological tales can be attributed to historical persons and events, the accounts of which have become altered and exaggerated over time. Euhemerus's work combined elements of fiction and political utopianism. Early Christian writers, such as Lactantius, used Euhemerus's belief that the ancient gods were originally human to confirm their inferiority regarding the Christian God. Life Little is known about Euhemerus's life, and his birthplace is disputed. Classical writers such as Diodorus Siculus, Plutarch, and Polybius, maintained that Euhemerus was a Messenian, but did not specify whe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sacred History
Sacred history is the retelling of history narratives "with the aim of instilling religious faith" regardless of whether or not the narratives are founded on fact. In the context of the Hebrew texts that form the basis of Judaism, the term is used for all of the historical books of the Bible – i.e., Books of Kings, Ezra–Nehemiah and Books of Chronicles – spanning the period of the 10th to 5th centuries BC, and by extension also of the later books such as Maccabees and the books of the New Testament. The term in this sense is used by Thomas Ellwood in ''Sacred history, or, the historical part of the holy scriptures of the Old and New Testaments'', published 1709. Parts of the Torah, such as the story of Moses and Exodus, may have historical kernels, but they are highly embellished and difficult to reconstitute. Rabbi Neil Gillman, professor of Jewish philosophy at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, states See also * The Bible and history * Exegesis * Historical t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
