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Is it fair to say that Vergil represents Aeneas as a passive follower of fate in The Aeneid?

The concepts of fate and destiny are fundamental components of Roman mythology and culture. These themes are intrinsic in Vergil’s poem, The Aeneid; the cornerstone of Roman literature. As the son of the Trojan Prince Anchises, and Venus, the goddess of love, Aeneas is the protagonist in Vergil’s Aeneid. Aeneas is destined to survive the siege of Troy and to establish a new state in Italy for the subsequent glory of the Roman Empire. Aeneas subordinates his feelings to the will of the gods and fate in his journey to Italy, and consequently Aeneas’ personal desire to duty define his character and thus earn him the moniker ‘pious Aeneas’ (Casali 2010, p.39).  Although Aeneas is portrayed to be a passive follower of fate, Vergil crafts Aeneas to be a worthy hero of the epic which bears his name.
 

Fate is the overarching theme that is present in the Aeneid. Before evaluating the intricate relationship between Aeneas’ actions and his preordained fate, it is imperative to understand the purpose of this specific literary device in the Aeneid. Arguably, Roman mythology was derived from the Greeks; the Roman gods merely adopted Romanized names (Roman 2010, p.291). The Romans were keen to reinterpret stories about the Greek deities under the names of their Roman counterparts. Among the key beliefs and traditions, the idea of fate was largely influential. In the Greek tradition, fate was the path which a person’s life was meant to travel; and ultimately the course could not be avoided (Roman 2010, p. 302). For instance, a classic Greek example is the tragic tale of Oedipus (Sophocles, Oedipus Rex). In the Aeneid, similar notions of fate guide Aeneas to his promised land. Aeneas’s actions in relation to fate are distinctive amongst the main characters. Juno, Turnus, and Mezentius act in opposition to the fated order of events and suffer the will of the gods; while Aeneas acts in harmony and cooperates with destiny. Hence Vergil utilises the concept of fate in the Aeneid to express that the origins of Rome were fated and therefore divinely mandated.
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Is it possible to argue that the Roman slaves were respected as human beings?

Roman Italy was understood to be a ‘slave society’ considering slaves comprised twenty-percent of the population (Hopkins, 1978, p.99). It is arguable whether Roman slaves were respected as human beings, despite their low level status in society. In this essay, I will examine the claim by analysing the complex relationships between slaves and the citizens of Rome and also the economical impact of slavery. It is important to note that one of the key issues in this essay is the concept of cultural relativism. The Roman’s customs, beliefs and ethics are relative to their own time period and culture. Morality in the twenty-first century cannot be compared with Roman morality, since the notions of “right” and “wrong” are culture specific. When analysing the concept of slavery in antiquity, it is imperative to take into account that a slave’s fate is inextricably bound by the social hierarchy of power. In such a hierarchy, without the under-class there is simply no upper-class.

Many slaves lived in complete conditions of trust alongside their masters and mistresses (Rawson, 2010, p.24). The writings of several Roman authors illustrate the notion that slaves were considered by some citizens to be human beings instead of commodities. In a letter to his friend Lucilius, Seneca the Younger articulates a high level of respect towards slaves; stating that slaves and their respective masters are equal, as the fate of both social classes are effectively intertwined:

“I am glad to learn, through those who come from you, that you live on friendly terms with your slaves. This befits a sensible and well-educated man like yourself. “They are slaves,” people declare. Nay, rather they are men. “Slaves!” No, comrades. “Slaves!” No, they are unpretentious friends. “Slaves!” No, they are our fellow-slaves, if one reflects that Fortune has equal rights over slaves and free men alike.”
(Seneca the Younger, Moral Letters to Lucilius 47.1)

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The Ten Commandments of Rational Debate

Various similar lists of the 10 commandments of rational debate have been posted thousands of times on the net, and today it is my turn to post a list of commandments.

1. Do not attack the person or his character, but only the argument itself. (“Ad hominem”)

2. Do not misrepresent or exaggerate a person’s argument in order to make their argument easier to attack. (“Straw Man Fallacy”)

3. Do not reduce the argument down to only two possibilities. (“False Dichotomy”)

4. Do not claim that just because something has occurred before something else then it must be the cause of the second thing. (“Post Hoc/False Cause”)

5. Do not argue your position by assuming one of its premises is true. (“Begging the Question”)

6. Do not claim that because a premise or argument is popular then it must be true. (“Bandwagon Fallacy”)

7. Do not argue that because of our ignorance at this point in time that your claim must be true or false. (“Ad Ignorantiam”)

8. Do not assume “this” follows “that,” when there is no logical connection. (“Non sequitur”)

9. Do not appeal to an outside “experts” to claim support. (“Appeal to Authority”)

10. Do not claim moral authority as support for your argument. (“Moral high ground fallacy”)

Why Chris Hansen should be doing code reviews for your company

Another breathtaking excerpt from Thomas LaRock’s “DBA Survivor: Become a Rockstar DBA”.

Good code reviews are a necessary evil. They should be performed at regular intervals, perhaps at a project milestone or tollgate. Code reviews are a time for you to explain to your peers your thought process, as well as receive feedback on your code and design. The end result is better code, which results in a stabler system, which results in fewer production support issues. So why are most companies not bothering to do code reviews? Because everyone dreads code reviews.

Most people are not good at presenting. To make things worse, they know they are not good and that makes them even worse. Some people could be good, but get nervous when talking in front of a group of their peers. And those that are having their code reviewed feel as if they are being interrogated by Chris Hansen from “To Catch a Predator.” It all adds up to some of the most dreadful assemblies of employees you could ever hope to imagine. So we know code reviews are important, right? And we know that everyone dreads them, and as a result no one does them anymore, right? Now, I want you to imagine that Chris Hansen is leading the code review and you are the developer currently making your presentation.

CH: Do you know how old DTS is? What were you thinking? And you were not going to batch your transactions? Do you know what that will do to your log file?

You: I swear man, it was just talk, that’s all it was. I wasn’t going to do anything. I came here to tell my DBA that we needed to go our separate ways.

CH: Just talk? It’s a lot of talk. I’ve got the transcript right here. You say here, “I want to cursor through all your rows.” Man, that’s just wrong.

You: I know, I know. I’m getting help. The other day I bought a book on SQL Server 2008. And I am willing to do whatever I can to help you guys. Just tell me what you want me to do.

CH: Help us?

You: Yeah, with whatever.

CH: There’s the door. Go tell your friends we’re watching. And the next time they hand us deployment instructions that are more complicated than a NASA launch sequence, we’re coming after them.

What does a DBA have in common with the President?

Another TERRIFIC excerpt from Thomas LaRock’s book “DBA Survivor: Become a Rockstar DBA”. If you haven’t bought this book already, you need to cancel your Internet subscription.

Do you really have anything in common with the President? Yes. More than you probably realize. First, about half of the people around you doubt whether you are qualified to actually hold the job you have been given. Second, every time you make a decision or plot a course of action, you will constantly be criticized, even by your supporters. And third, you are going to be judged by what you accomplish in your first one hundred days, good or bad, even if it is not in your control. Every four years we elect a new President, and the person in office is always subject to approval ratings. You will have your own version of this fact of life; it is called your annual performance review. Come review time, you want your approval ratings to be as high as possible.

Luck, Preparation, and Opportunity

“Luck Is What Happens When Preparation Meets Opportunity”. This quote, attributed to Roman philosopher Seneca, reminds us that we make our own luck. The difference between lucky and unlucky people is all in our perspective.

Luck isn’t just about being at the right place at the right time, but also about being open to and ready for new opportunities. As Richard Wiseman’s ten-year study has shown:

Lucky people generate their own good fortune via four basic principles. They are skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities, make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition, create self-fulfilling prophesies via positive expectations, and adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good.

Landing a DBA job out of university I frequently remind myself “Boy am I lucky!!!”. But when I reflect back upon my own experiences, I remember how I attended those postgraduate database classes, how I was like a sponge soaking up everything possible. Over time I would get involved in the database community, read forums, contribute, etc. It got to the point where I visualising myself as a DBA. Fast forward a few months after graduation and along comes the opportunity – a Graduate DBA position.

Sometimes you make your own luck.

First Day DBA: Harsh Truths

Thomas LaRock (absolute legend) presents some harsh truths that any Graduate/Junior DBA must accept if they are to succeed as a Default Blame Acceptor…

First off, let’s get some basics out of the way. You do not know everything. Sorry to tell you, but better to find out now rather than later on. Trust me. No one person knows everything; it is a fact of human existence. You are human, right? Because that simple fact will be questioned periodically, so you better check again just to make certain. Last thing you want is to find out you are actually a Cylon or something worse.

Another thing you need to know about being a DBA is that you will have fewer friends at work than when you started. Now, that is not necessarily a bad thing. See, you have been placed into a position of responsibility, and with this responsibility you will need to make some decisions, and those decisions will not always be popular. Thus, you may lose some friends at work, but these losses will be more than offset by the gains you have in the overall DBA community. So you have that going for you, which is nice.

With that responsibility, you will also find that you start getting more blame than credit for your work. I promise you this: no one will ever stop by your desk in the morning and thank you for the fact that everything ran smoothly last night. But you better believe if a batch load took five minutes longer than expected, you will have four different people asking you “WTF?”

Based on my first three months as a Graduate DBA, these harsh truths are totally accurate. But ask any DBA if they would have it any other way 🙂