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Van Bryan ---

Van Bryan is a contributing author for Classical Wisdom. Van is an intrepid young writer who divides his time between the bustling streets of Manhattan and the sandy beaches of Miami, Florida. He is a graduate from the University of Central Florida where he studied classical literature as well as ancient and contemporary philosophy.

History

Member for: 6 years 5 months

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Posts

‘Sappho and Alcaeus’ (1881) by Lawrence Alma-Tadema.

4 August, 2018 - 22:30 Van Bryan

Sappho: Putting Together Fragments to Gain an Image of the Tenth Muse

By Van Bryan/ Classical Wisdom Besides being born on the island of Lesbos around 630 BC, and this date is often disputed, surprisingly little is known about the life of the beloved poet Sappho. The...

The Thinker in The Gates of Hell at the Musée Rodin.

21 July, 2018 - 18:54 Van Bryan

How Should You Lead Your Life? Greek Philosophers May Have the Answer

It is human nature to wonder how best to live our lives. No doubt you have lost sleep over this notion, perhaps staring at the ceiling contemplating the very nature of your existence and what is the...

The Banquet (after Plato). second version (1874) by Anselm Feuerbach.

7 May, 2018 - 13:58 Van Bryan

Plato’s Symposium: Is it Just a Joke?

When talking about love in the classical age, we would be utterly remiss to not include Plato’s Symposium in our conversation. Symposium is Plato’s recounting of a, supposedly true, ancient cocktail...

Triumph of Achilles in Corfu Achilleion.

1 May, 2018 - 14:01 Van Bryan

Death and Glory: Heroes in Search of Kleos

By Van Bryan/ Classical Wisdom It was the great philosopher, Woody Allen, who said, “I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to achieve immortality through not dying. I don’t want...

Detail of ‘The Punishment of Sisyphus’ (1548-1549) by Titian

26 March, 2018 - 23:00 Van Bryan

The Myth of Sisyphus: Lessons in Absurdity

The legend of Sisyphus begins with a man who, if we are to believe Homer, was one of the wisest and most prudent of mortals. Nonetheless he would fall out of favor with the gods of ancient Greece. He...

Prometheus and Hercules by Christian Griepenkerl.

17 March, 2018 - 12:50 Van Bryan

Betrayed by the Acts of Others? The Events that Led to Prometheus’s Perennial Punishment

The story of Prometheus, Epimetheus and Pandora is a popular myth of ancient Greece - one that has been told and retold throughout the ages. It is a tale of Prometheus, the son of a titan, who was...

Pericles' Funeral Oration, Philipp Foltz, 1877.

15 March, 2018 - 17:55 Van Bryan

Are We in Tyrannical Times? Has Plato’s Terrible Prediction Come True?

Okay, so Plato once predicted that all democratic governments would inevitably lead to chaos and anarchy. And sure, he foresaw that elected leaders would try to lie to us, in attempts to placate the...