scholarly journals When Art Betrays Mythology: Acquitting Cronus (Κρόνος) in Goya’s Saturn

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boban Dedovic
Keyword(s):  
Mental State ◽  
English Translation ◽  
Biblical Story ◽  
Textual Evidence ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Objective Evidence

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828) was a famous Spanish painter who is credited with painting a work known as Saturn Devouring One of His Sons. This work was one of over ten others known as the ‘Black Paintings,’ which were painted on the walls of his Quinta home in Spain. The painting’s contents have been widely accepted as depicting a deity named Saturn, whose Greek equivalent is Cronus (Κρόνος). The concomitant mythological story is the Greek cosmogonic myth known as the Theogony, attributed to Hesiod (ca. 700 BCE). The title and attribution stated above were assigned posthumously, not by Goya himself. No other authorship sources seem to be available. Prior investigations have relied on psychological inferences about Goya. This approach did not seem warranted and was thus avoided. The present investigation adopted a mythological mode of analysis, wherein the contents of Hesiod’s Theogony in the original Greek and English translation were compared with the Saturn painting’s depiction. All three posited hypotheses were supported: (1) prior investigators seemed to rely on psychological analyses concerned with Goya’s mental state, despite a lack of objective evidence from the time period in question; (2) textual evidence from Hesiod’s Theogony did not provide support for Cronus being the figure depicted in the Saturn painting, and; (3) Grendel’s depiction in Beowulf did align with the Saturn painting’s contents, textually and graphically. Further probing was conducted with regard to whether Goya could have profited from the materials and concepts found in the manuscript during his lifetime. The Beowulf manuscript was available to an artist between 1820-1823 and the plot of Beowulf was written about in European publications. Finally, the Beowulf manuscript’s contents included the Biblical story of Judith and Beowulf in the same spine, which corresponds to the adjacent location of the Judith and Saturn paintings in Goya’s Quinta home. Implications and limitations are discussed.

A NEW VERSION OF MISKAWAYH’S BOOK OF TRIUMPH: AN ALTERNATIVE RECENSION OF AL-FAWZ AL-AṢGHAR OR THE LOST FAWZ AL-AKBAR?

2009 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
ELVIRA WAKELNIG
Keyword(s):  
English Translation ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Arabic Text ◽  
Additional Material ◽  
Textual Evidence ◽  
Standard Version ◽  
The World ◽  
Alternative Version ◽  
The One ◽  
Unpublished Manuscripts

Textual evidence preserved in two still unpublished manuscripts strongly suggests that there once existed an alternative version of Miskawayh’s Fawz al-aṣghar, the Minor Book of Triumph. The article discusses possible explanations for why Miskawayh may have composed two recensions of his Fawz and compares structure and content of the alternative version with the edited standard version. The one passage which is contained in the alternative Fawz only is presented in Arabic with an English translation. Part of this additional material is parallel to al-Fārābī’s Iḥṣā’ al-‘ulūm, namely its division of natural sciences, and may ultimately derive from a no longer extant treatise by Paul the Persian. An appendix provides the Arabic text and English translation of a hitherto unknown fragment of al-Balkhī in which he discusses Plato’s saying that the world has a causative, but no temporal beginning.

AL-FĀRĀBĪ'S LOST COMMENTARY ON THE ETHICS: NEW TEXTUAL EVIDENCE

2013 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chaim Meir Neria
Keyword(s):  
English Translation ◽  
Human Existence ◽  
Textual Evidence ◽  
Ibn Rushd ◽  
Ibn Tufayl ◽  
Active Intellect ◽  
Shed Light

AbstractAl-Fārābī's lost commentary on Aristotle's Ethica Nicomachea is without doubt one of the most sorely missed lost works of the Islamic falāsifa. In part, this is because the commentary was in some respects a scandal, and scholars accordingly believe it may hold the key to resolving present-day disagreements on how to interpret al-Fārābī's views as expressed in his independent treatises. Perhaps al-Fārābī's most shocking or scandalous statement is that preserved by the Hispano-Muslim philosophers Ibn Bājja, Ibn Ṭufayl, and Ibn Rushd. According to them al-Fārābī says in his commentary on Aristotle's Ethica Nicomachea that happiness is to be achieved only in this life, not in the afterlife; that there is no happiness but political happiness; and that union with the active intellect – generally considered the highest goal of human existence by the philosophers – is impossible. This paper addresses the following questions: What exactly is the debate about? Why is the question of immortality or conjunction related to Aristotle's Ethica Nicomachea? And why was it so controversial to say, in the context of the Ethica Nicomachea, that there is no happiness but political happiness? Although the bulk of al-Fārābī's commentary is still lost, I have discovered two quotations of it in Hebrew manuscripts. As I will argue in this paper, these newly-discovered quotations – which are included with an English translation in the appendix – can shed light on the mysteries concerning al-Fārābī's commentary.

The Gospel of Jesus' Wife: Textual Evidence of Modern Forgery

2015 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Bernhard
Keyword(s):  
English Translation ◽  
Direct Link ◽  
Gospel Of Thomas ◽  
Textual Evidence ◽  
Nag Hammadi ◽  
Present Essay ◽  
Grammatical Error

The present essay summarises textual evidence indicating that the Gospel of Jesus' Wife is essentially a ‘patchwork’ of words and short phrases culled from the lone extant Coptic manuscript of the Gospel of Thomas (Nag Hammadi Codex ii), prepared by a forger using Michael W. Grondin's 2002 PDF edition of this manuscript. The text contains at least five tell-tale signs of its modern origin, including the apparent replication of a typographical (and grammatical) error from Grondin's edition. A direct link between it and Grondin's work also seems to be confirmed by the earliest known English translation of the fragment.

scholarly journals Effect of Yoga on the Mental State of People

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Madhava Chandran ◽  
P. Unniraman ◽  
Rajan Malayil ◽  
N. Devadasan
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental State ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Yoga Practice ◽  
Medical Problems ◽  
Interview Schedule ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Maximum Improvement

Background: Yoga is considered to be effective in overcoming various physical and mental health problems. Effect of yoga on promoting mental health has been reported. Aim: This study was undertaken to analyze the effect of yoga on mental state of people, which indicates the psychological condition of the mind. Research Design: Survey method was adopted under the study. Sample: Consisted of 100 randomly selected yoga practitioners. Tools used: Used an interview schedule containing questions on how much yoga has contributed to improvement in their “mental state” through yoga, and what period of time were they able to experience the improvement in the mental state. They were given five point responses, which were scored from 5 to 1. The interview schedule also asked the respondents about the diseases / medical problems which have reduced through the practice of yoga, when compared to taking treatment alone (which was scored based on the percentage of reported diseases which have reduced), the number of years of yoga practice and the average number of days of yoga practice per week. The data was analyzed through correlation, regression and t test. Results: While about 45 % of women report maximum improvement in their mental state through the practice of yoga, only about 21% of men report maximum improvement. While 34% of women experience improvement in mental state for 75 to 90% of the time, only 18.6 % of men experience improvement for this period of time. The score for the level of improvement in mental state through yoga for women and men are 4.23 and 3.78 respectively, with statistically significant difference between them. Regression analysis indicates that 77% of the variation in the level of mental state improvement through the practice of yoga is explained by the parameters, namely, reduction in diseases / medical problems due to the practice of yoga, number of years of yoga practice, number of days of yoga practice and the time period of mental state improvement through the practice of yoga. Among these, number of days of yoga practice and time period of mental state improvement through yoga exerts more influence on the level of mental state improvement. There also exists good correlation between various parameters considered in the study. Conclusion: The study establishes the effect of yoga in maintaining good mental state among the practitioners. Hence, practice of yoga will ultimately help in reducing various psycho-somatic disorders also due to improvement in the mental state of people

Is a Picture Worth a Thousand Words? Neuroimaging in the Courtroom

2007 ◽  
Vol 33 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 239-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph H. Baskin ◽  
Judith G. Edersheim ◽  
Bruce H. Price
Keyword(s):  
Mental State ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Scientific Integrity ◽  
Brain Images ◽  
Legal Standards ◽  
Medical Standards ◽  
Functional Images ◽  
Objective Evidence ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Shed Light

Neuroimaging has advanced our understanding of how the living brain operates, providing structural and functional images of both healthy and diseased brains. This technology pervades today's society, particularly affecting the legal arena. Some judges argue that scientific evidence, which offers insight into the offender's mental state, is crucial because it is the only means of determining whether an offender's punishment is proportional to his crime. Other judges argue that “objective” evidence does not “wholly determine the controversy,” and focus instead on their duty as gatekeepers to independently evaluate scientific evidence. If courts use brain images to make their culpability determinations more objective and sound, these images must meet pertinent legal standards and shed light on medical conditions. For neuroimaging to meet these legal and medical standards with scientific integrity, scientists must convincingly correlate the dynamic images in a person's brain with the way the person is thinking or acting at that moment.

scholarly journals A Reconstruction of the Lost Chronology of Zhou

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pengcheng Zhang
Keyword(s):  
East Asian ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Formative Period ◽  
Lunar Phase ◽  
Chinese History ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Textual Evidence ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Western Zhou ◽  
Textual Records

The first half of the Zhou Dynasty, known as Western Zhou, was a critical formative period of Chinese civilization. Western Zhou introduced philosophical ideas, cultural motifs, governing practices, and social institutions that have had a profound and lasting impact on Chinese and East Asian societies. Unfortunately, only a partial chronology of this time period survives. Recovering the absolute dates of Western Zhou has since become a classical question that remained unresolved for over two millennia. Here I report a successful reconstruction of this long-sought chronology using archaeoastronomical methods. Systematic analysis of the relative compatibility of all 81 known fully-dated bronze inscriptions revealed the definitions of the lunar phase terms, which enabled computation of absolute dates. These calculations, combined with available archaeological and textual evidence, produced a complete chronology starting in the year King Wen received the Mandate of Heaven and ending in the year of King Ping's death. The results also reveal a previously unknown seven-year gap in the regnal years of Zhou, which explains the inconsistencies between excavated material and the annals of Shiji. The complete chronology reported here is highly consistent with archaeological evidence, textual records, and astronomical events, thus providing a reliable temporal framework for studying ancient Chinese history, and facilitating a deeper understanding of the origins of Chinese civilization.

Cats’ Self-stryt een Arminiaanse tekst?

2020 ◽  
Vol 136 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-126
Author(s):  
Riet Schenkeveld van der Dussen
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
English Translation ◽  
The Real ◽  
Biblical Story ◽  
Good Will ◽  
God's Grace ◽  
Born Again

Abstract In 1620 Jacob Cats published his didactic poem Self-stryt, about the biblical story of Joseph in Potiphar’s house (Genesis 39) the title of which he might have borrowed from the English translation by his friend Josuah Sylvester, of George Goodwin’s Automachia (1607). Self-stryt can be read as an Arminian text, as the protagonist Joseph fights off the advances of Potiphar’s wife, with God’s help surely but in the first place by his own good will. In 1620 this would be a dangerous view. The persecution of the Remonstrants was still in full flow. Maybe at instigation of the clergy of Middelburg, good friends of the poet, he therefore added an emblematic poem Sinne-beelt, plus commentary in which he defended the Counter-remonstrant theology, with a heavy accent on God’s grace through Jesus Christ. The real Self-stryt is now only to be found in born-again Christians and not in all well-meaning people. The combination of Self-stryt and Sinne-beelt makes the book acceptable for orthodox readers. My argument is that Cats himself did not want to be involved in the dogmatic quarrels of the period. When commenting on the Synod of Dordt (1618-1619), at the time but also later on, he always avoids taking sides. His own position might be characterized as semipela-gianist or synergist: man must be willing to accept God’s grace.

The Tempo and mode(S) of Prebiotic Evolution

1997 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 419-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Lazcano
Keyword(s):  
Origin Of Life ◽  
Organic Compounds ◽  
Biological Evolution ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Early Diversification ◽  
Time Period ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
History Of ◽  
Widespread Phenomenon ◽  
The Origin Of Life

AbstractDifferent current ideas on the origin of life are critically examined. Comparison of the now fashionable FeS/H2S pyrite-based autotrophic theory of the origin of life with the heterotrophic viewpoint suggest that the later is still the most fertile explanation for the emergence of life. However, the theory of chemical evolution and heterotrophic origins of life requires major updating, which should include the abandonment of the idea that the appearance of life was a slow process involving billions of years. Stability of organic compounds and the genetics of bacteria suggest that the origin and early diversification of life took place in a time period of the order of 10 million years. Current evidence suggest that the abiotic synthesis of organic compounds may be a widespread phenomenon in the Galaxy and may have a deterministic nature. However, the history of the biosphere does not exhibits any obvious trend towards greater complexity or «higher» forms of life. Therefore, the role of contingency in biological evolution should not be understimated in the discussions of the possibilities of life in the Universe.

Alteration of Mitochondria in Oxythiamine-Induced, Acute Thiamine Deficiency in the Mouse

1976 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 284-285
Author(s):  
Itaru Watanabe ◽  
Dante G. Scarpelli
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Adult Male ◽  
Thiamine Deficiency ◽  
Light And Electron Microscopy ◽  
Fatty Change ◽  
Deficient Diet ◽  
Subcutaneous Injections ◽  
Swiss Mice ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Ad Libitum

Acute thiamine deficiency was produced in mice by the administration of oxythiamine, a thiamine analogue, superimposed upon a thiamine deficient diet. Adult male Swiss mice (30 gm. B.W.) were fed with a thiamine deficient diet ad libitumand were injected with oxythiamine (170 mg/Kg B.W.) subcutaneously on days 4 and 10. On day 11, severe lassitude and anorexia developed, followed by death within 48 hours. The animals treated daily with subcutaneous injections of thiamine (300 μg/Kg B.W.) from day 11 through 15 were kept alive. Similarly, feeding with a diet containing thiamine (600 μg/Kg B.W./day) from day 9 through 17 reversed the condition. During this time period, no fatal illness occurred in the controls which were pair-fed with a thiamine deficient diet.The oxythiamine-treated mice showed a significant enlargement of the liver, which weighed approximately 1.5 times as much as that of the pair-fed controls. By light and electron microscopy, the hepatocytes were markedly swollen due to severe fatty change and swelling of the mitochondria.

Is there a “universal” MAC equation?

1990 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 228-229
Author(s):  
Robert E. Ogilvie
Keyword(s):  
Absorption Coefficient ◽  
Atomic Absorption ◽  
Atomic Number ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Image Position

The search for an empirical absorption equation begins with the work of Siegbahn (1) in 1914. At that time Siegbahn showed that the value of (μ/ρ) for a given element could be expressed as a function of the wavelength (λ) of the x-ray photon by the following equationwhere C is a constant for a given material, which will have sudden jumps in value at critial absorption limits. Siegbahn found that n varied from 2.66 to 2.71 for various solids, and from 2.66 to 2.94 for various gases.Bragg and Pierce (2) , at this same time period, showed that their results on materials ranging from Al(13) to Au(79) could be represented by the followingwhere μa is the atomic absorption coefficient, Z the atomic number. Today equation (2) is known as the “Bragg-Pierce” Law. The exponent of 5/2(n) was questioned by many investigators, and that n should be closer to 3. The work of Wingardh (3) showed that the exponent of Z should be much lower, p = 2.95, however, this is much lower than that found by most investigators.

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