Re: Great thinkers and weaponry

Brilliant, must add to my list

Thx,

Dan

On Sun, Nov 24, 2019 at 1:30 PM Szegedy-Maszak, Andrew <
[email protected]> wrote:

> Great quotation. I'm put in mind of Thales, who speculated about the basi=
c
> substance of the cosmos, and is also said to have predicted an eclipse, a=
nd
> to have engineered the diversion of the River Halys so that the army of
> Croesus could cross it. Which didn't turn out so well for Croesus, of
> course.
>
>
> Andrew Szegedy-Maszak
> Professor of Classical Studies
> Jane A. Seney Professor of Greek
> Wesleyan University
> Middletown, CT  06459
> ph: 860.685.2065
> fax: 860.685.2089
> ________________________________
> From: Classical Greek and Latin Discussion Group <[email protected]>
> on behalf of DANIEL P. Tompkins <[email protected]>
> Sent: Sunday, November 24, 2019 1:12 PM
> To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
> Subject: [CLASSICS-L] Great thinkers and weaponry
>
> We're trained to a degree to think of earlier thinkers as specialists in
> the useless and ethereal -- "values," "morality," "beauty": "The Good," a=
s
> one line of scholars has it.
>
> So it's worthwhile to note that these dudes also, often, understood
> weaponry.  Leonardo da Vinci's famous job application letter
> <
> https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.b=
usinessinsider.com%2Fleonardo-da-vinci-cover-letter-from-1400s-2014-6&amp;d=
ata=3D02%7C01%7CCLASSICS-L%40lsv.uky.edu%7C2c7b3a18c3fb40fb1ce108d7710cabb5=
%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C0%7C637102171544769396&amp;sdata=
=3DWdfl2zrIAR0LD1LmOE5%2Bg4eoLGEMs0wgLtIq93fHyYM%3D&amp;reserved=3D0
> '>
> to Ludovico Sforza in Milan omitted *La Gioconda* and hit on the items of
> more value to Ludovico:
>
>  I have also types of cannon, most convenient and easily portable, with
> which to hurl small stones almost like a hail-storm; and the smoke from t=
he
> cannon will instil a great fear in the enemy on account of the grave dama=
ge
> and confusion.
> Also, I have means of arriving at a designated spot through mines and
> secret winding passages constructed completely without noise, even if it
> should be necessary to pass underneath moats or any river.
> Also, I will make covered vehicles, safe and unassailable, which will
> penetrate the enemy and their artillery, and there is no host of armed me=
n
> so great that they would not break through it. And behind these the
> infantry will be able to follow, quite uninjured and unimpeded.... etc.
> etc.
>
> It does seem worthwhile to scope out an employer's interests in advance.
>
> That occurred to me when I notice this in Aristotle's *Politics *(1330-31=
,
> abridged, from the Perseus
> <
> https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.pe=
rseus.tufts.edu%2Fhopper%2Ftext%3Fdoc%3DPerseus%253atext%253a1999.01.0057&a=
mp;data=3D02%7C01%7CCLASSICS-L%40lsv.uky.edu%7C2c7b3a18c3fb40fb1ce108d7710c=
abb5%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C0%7C637102171544769396&amp;sd=
ata=3D5L%2Bp5RZR4FlS%2BGZGCmFyB42rACJZfYNL%2BWjnBQzsOIY%3D&amp;reserved=3D0
> >
> site):
>
> Against an evenly matched foe it is not honorable [really, "not Good," as
> above: =CE=BF=CF=85 =CE=BA=CE=B1=CE=BB=CF=8C=CE=BD] to try to secure ones=
elf by the strength of one's
> fortifications; but as it does and may happen that the superior numbers o=
f
> the attackers may be too much for the human valor of a small force, if th=
e
> city is to survive and not to suffer disaster or insult [=CF=80=CE=AC=CF=
=83=CF=87=CE=B5=CE=B9=CE=BD =CE=BA=CE=B1=CE=BA=E1=BF=B6=CF=82 =CE=BC=CE=B7=
=CE=B4=E1=BD=B2
> =E1=BD=91=CE=B2=CF=81=CE=AF=CE=B6=CE=B5=CF=83=CE=B8=CE=B1=CE=B9], the sec=
urest fortification of walls must be deemed to be the
> most warlike,  particularly in view of the* inventions that have now been=
 *
> *made in the direction of precision with missiles and artillery for
> sieges*.
>
>
> In both cases, the "thinkers" have thought about how to win and /or
> survive.  There must be others.  Values are one thing, staying alive is
> another.
>
> There is a tendency in classical scholarship (e.g. Thucydides) to transla=
te
> "good" as "honorable."  This leads, occasionally, to disasters.
>
> Dan
>