Indescribably Zesty

Street magicians and stage magicians alike are most often known for marketing their “superhuman abilities” which are actually just sleight of hand or works of illusion. These people are just your average, everyday people that have very particular skills, yet they sometimes become celebrities, famous to the point of being world renowned. Nearly everyone knows or has at one point heard of Harry Houdini, David Copperfield, Criss Angel, or Penn and Teller, all of which are men famous for their skills in illusion which we commonly call “magic” even though any competent adult (and most kids, honestly) know that it is not actually magic. In the same way, there are other qualities that are seemingly superhuman but are really just… well, human. In Plato’s “Apology” from The Trial and Death of Socrates: Four Dialogues , Socrates talks about an extraordinary intelligence or wisdom that others may have, but he definitely does not. He describes his form of wisdom as “such wisdom as is attainabl...

Suppose there’s an old man standing on the side of the road, tiptoeing around and mumbling to himself. Immediately, what does the average person assume? He’s crazy, totally mad. So let’s alter the situation: the same man, tiptoeing and talking under his breath, except he’s in the middle of a forest whispering to a bear, remaining calm so he can escape without alarming the bear and getting himself attacked. Now? That man is a genius, an outdoorsman, or a bear whisperer if you like. Our general concept of madness is completely dependent on the situation in which we view it. Madness is not a constant quality but rather a temporary state of mind where instinct takes over and alters our behavior, typically having us act against the standard of social expectations, as is exemplified through Euripides’ play Bacchae. Dionysus is the primary influence of the madness in the women of Thebes; he has “stung these women into madness, goaded/ them outdoors, made them live in the mountain, struck/ o...

Don’t hit first, but hit back. An eye for an eye. Tooth for tooth. It isn’t an uncommon thing, this concept of repaying what is done to you. We live in a world in which we believe we are the center and everything revolves around us. Because of that, we are inclined to treat others the way that they treat us rather than the way that we want them to treat us. It’s not always a bad thing, but when it starts to sound like a broken record of hurting one another it becomes impossible to end the cycle of pain. Similarly in Aeschylus’ play Agamemnon , the first in the trilogy of plays referred to as The Oresteia , there are obvious chains of evildoing which become intertwined and irreparably tangled and drive the house of Atreus into inescapable darkness.   It’s most likely that the beginnings of this incredibly long series of unfortunate events (Lemony Snicket knows what’s goin’ on!) began far before any of the characters present in Agamemnon were even born. Atreus is long gone befo...

Whether it is a big, white wedding in a beautiful field next to a rustic barn, filled with lots of family and friends or a minuscule, intimate wedding with just the two betrothed, a witness, and a judge in the courthouse, weddings are a happy occasion for most everyone involved. No matter what kind of wedding, at the end it's pretty clear that the lovely couple is, in fact, married... most of the time . However, in Virgil's The Aeneid , King Aeneas of Troy and Dido, the Tragic Queen of Carthage, are stricken with love for one another. While they claim to be married, the reality of their relationship and the validity of their marriage is unclear. To be realistic, it’s arguable whether the nature of Aeneas and Dido’s relationship was fated to be romantic, or whether they were actually in love, based on the interferences of Juno and Venus both. Juno reveals to Venus her schemes, and about how she’s going to “bind [Dido and Aeneas] in lasting marriage, make them one,” (4.155)....

I love the word indescribable  for many reasons. One of these many reasons is that when the word indescribable is used, it immediately becomes untrue. How, you might ask? Well, if nothing more, simply describing something as indescribable then makes it... (here’s the kicker!) describable . In fact, it has just been described! The word indescribable is it’s own worst enemy in that way, I think. Like our dear friend indescribable , I also can be my own worst enemy at times. For instance, I have put far too much thought and energy into this simple introduction (which, if you were wondering, has absolutely no requirements or guidelines other than mere existence) when really, I could have easily knocked out a mediocre but acceptable introduction days ago ! I’m also my own worst enemy in that I am lactose intolerant but I still really love ice cream. Having high standards for myself is simultaneously a blessing and a curse; my work is of a higher quality and caliber (or so I’ve been ...