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Day 74 - Harvard Classics - 90 Day Challenge





Oct 23: Plutarch's CAESAR


When Caesar Turned the Tables

When only a boy, Caesar was captured by pirates. While awaiting
ransom he entered into every sport and game with them. Once
freed, he quickly returned with forces that captured the outlaws.
Then he took deliberate revenge.

Read from Plutarch's CESAR ....................   Vol. 12, pp. 264-273



Oct 24: Aeschylus' AGAMEMNON

Clytemnestra Meets Her Rival

Cassandra knew through a prophetic vision that a sword would
pierce her heart. Agamemnon, her captor, took her to his home
where an avenging wife, Clytemnestra, awaited. The tragedies
of the doom that requited the sins of the House of Atreus are
among the most powerful ever written.

Read from Aeschylus' AGAMEMNON ..............   Vol. 8, pp. 52-64



Oct 25: Macaulay's MACHIAVELLI


Greatly Encouraged Intrigue

After the publication of Machiavelli's " The Prince," the Sultans
became more addicted to strangling their brothers, tyrants became
more merciless, and murderous plots increased. The
influence of that book, as Macaulay points out, spread over Europe
and Asia.

Read from Macaulay's MACHIAVELLI ................    Vol. 27, pp. 363-372



Oct 26: Franklin's AUTOBIOGRAPHY


Franklin Learned the Secret

Poor at twenty, rich at forty, internationally famous at fifty. Benjamin
Franklin once walked the streets of Philadelphia alone,
poor, and with no education. Yet he rose to be a leader because
he learned the secret of careful reading.

Read from Franklin's AUTOBIOGRAPHY ...................    Vol. 1, pp. 14-21