Article
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The Paradise in Lo somni by Bernat Metge (c. 1340-1413)
Julia BUTINYÀ JIMÉNEZ
Original title: El Paradís en Lo somni de Bernat Metge (c. 1340-1413)
Published in Returning to Eden
The concept of Paradise is analyzed in Lo somni, the great humanist dialogue by the notary of the chancellery of Barcelona, Bernat Metge, from the perspective of different religions and traditions (Catholic, Classical, Saracen doctrine and Christianity). The observation also makes it possible to calibrate the strong influence of the Mallorca Philosopher Ramon Llull, who is confirmed behind the origins of the humanist movement, as well as underlines the very peculiar techniques, the intensity of his critical sense and especially the intimate classicist bond. Still, he advances positions which are current issues.
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Can a Christian agree with the “modern values” of Modernity about abortion and homosexuality?
Eirini ARTEMI
Published in Games from Antiquity to Baroque
Today, many people insist that their body belongs to them and they are free to use it as they want. Some argue that homosexuality and abortion are morally reprehensible and other try to embody in a law their moral or immoral convictions. Christianity refuses sodomy and abortion. God forbids the killing of innocent human beings because we are made in his image. Moreover, according to the doctrine of the Orthodox Church, fetus is a perfect human being since its conception. As for homosexuality, God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve, or Eve and Mary. Of course, a very small percentage of homosexuals indicate a genetic basis for their homoerotic sexual orientation. Is homosexuality accepted by Christianity in this case? What do the Church Fathers believe about that? People who support abortions argue that it is up to the woman to decide whether it is right for her to have an abortion because it is her body. Some Christians believe that a woman has a right to a safe abortion, and that it shows compassion if the law allows this. Here is the mistake, our body does not belong to us, it is a creature of God, and we should pray for the miracle in any case. We are the directors of our body, not the masters. Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christian believe that abortion is morally wrong because of their belief that human life begins at conception. They may make an exception if an abortion is essential to save the life of the mother (the 'principle of double effect'), assuming all efforts have been made to save the fetus. So, the sin of wilfully aborting a child, except in those very rare situations where it may be necessary to save the life of the mother, is a sinful act, totally contrary to the will of God. Additionally, the homosexuality is condemned in the Bible and by Church Fathers. Is there a common place between traditional and modern values? How can religious people face these new “values”?
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The traces of Blessed Ramon Llull in Sermo IV and Sermo CXCIII of Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa
Manuel ORTUÑO ARREGUI
Original title: Las huellas del beato Ramon Llull en el Sermo IV y Sermo CXCIII del cardenal Nicolás de Cusa
Published in Games from Antiquity to Baroque
The aim of this paper has been to present some features of the relationship between Faith and Reason based on the interest of Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464) in the work of Ramon Llull (1232-1316). Specifically, we have focused on two of his sermons: Sermo IV: “Fides autem catholica”, and Sermo X: “Beati mundo corde”, which represent an indisputable example of the lulian traces in the conception of the relationship between Faith and Reason in the work of the Cusan. In his analysis we discover the use of two foundations: on the one hand, the quotation of Isaiah 7, 9 to reaffirm the idea that faith is the beginning of science; and on the other hand, the use of the analogy of water and oil, which was already recognized in patristic authors, and which was generalized by St. Augustine. Augustine. In short, we can see an evolution of his thought from his youth (Sermo IV) to his maturity (Sermo X), which undoubtedly leads to the confirmation of Nicholas of Cusa's adherence to the model of lulian thought in the dialogue Faith and Reason.
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Aspects in Boethius (480-524) and his use of topical arguments and hypothetical syllogisms
Luana Talita da CRUZ
Original title: Aspectos lógicos em Boécio (480-524) e seu uso de argumentos tópicos e silogismos hipotéticos
Published in Games from Antiquity to Baroque
This paper intends to draw attention to logical aspects to be found in Boethius’s works. Our intention is to highlight a connection between topical arguments and hypothetical syllogisms as well as the way Boethius uses a logical approach as the foundation of his philosophical arguments in treatises other than his commentaries on specific logical theories.
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Play, bullfight and society in the mausoleum of Augustus (Rome): 16th-18th centuries
José Antonio GONZÁLEZ ALCANTUD
Original title: Juego, toros y sociedad en el mausoleo de Augusto (Roma): siglos XVI-XVIII
Published in Games from Antiquity to Baroque
The Mausoleum of Augustus in Rome was a funerary and sacred space, which in the Middle Ages evolved into a defensive space, and in the Modern Age into a place that hosted games and shows, particularly bullfighting and chivalry (giostra). It reached its zenith at the end of the 18th century. However, its archaeological component, however, prevented the "naturalization" of game and place, as in some Roman amphitheatres in southern France, or as a spectacle, as in the case of the opera in the arena of Verona. Today, nothing reminds us of its popular past as an amphitheatre in Corea, home of Roman amusements.
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Playing “Pythagoras” in Padua and Florence: a Sixteenth-Century Rithmomachia manuscript at the University of Pennsylvania
Ann E. MOYER
Published in Games from Antiquity to Baroque
A manuscript in the Lawrence J. Schoenberg Collection at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries (UPenn LJS 232) contains a manual for the medieval game rithmomachia by Carlo di Ruberto Strozzi, preceded by a brief treatise on proportion by Benedetto Varchi, both in vernacular; they were inspired by the Latin publication of Jacques Lefèvre d’Etaples. An examination of the treatise and the circle of learned Florentines involved in its production offer an example both of the ways that the game spread in European university cultures, and the limits of interest in the Boethian mathematics of proportion that the game was intended to exercise.
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A kind of joy: the Wise King games
Braulio VÁZQUEZ CAMPOS
Original title: Manera de alegría: los juegos del Rey Sabio
Published in Games from Antiquity to Baroque
The «Book of Games» is one of the most luxurious works to have emerged from the scriptorium in the service of King Alfonso X the Wise, but it is also one of the most content rich. It constitutes the foremost evidence of the board games played in the Castilian court in the 13th century, especially chess, backgammon, and dice. Its pages not only encompass explanations of the mechanics and strategy of these recreational activities, but also display an entire world view through allegories, metaphors, philosophical discussions, and political interpretations. This paper endeavours to dissect each of these aspects.
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Tracing the Origins of Checkmate Patterns and Paths in Alfonso X’s Libro de los juegos
Sonja MUSSER GOLLADAY
Published in Games from Antiquity to Baroque
The present study interrogates Alfonso X’s bibliographic sources through his chess problems’ checkmates and move patterns.
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Astragalomanteion, Sortes Sanctorum, Sortes Monacenses: stratification of gaming practices and cultural traditions from Early Antiquity to the Middle Ages
Marco TIBALDINI
Published in Games from Antiquity to Baroque
This paper analyses the complex relation between board games and divination, and the role those randomizing elements like dice and knucklebones played in it. It presents several literary quotations that show how the tradition of casting lots to take important decisions was diffused. It includes pieces of Sumerian and Akkadian, Hebrew, Greek and Latin literature referred to lots, and especially those related to the use of knucklebones and dice. It also outlines the stratification of divinatory practices based on gaming tools since the antiquity to the late Middle Age. It analyses the Astragalomanteia and Homeromanteia, and their points of contact with the Sortes Sanctorum and the Sortes Monacenses.
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The World of Dionysus. Visions of bodies in fun in Classical Greece
Manuel ÁLVAREZ JUNCO
Original title: El mundo de Dioniso. Visiones de los cuerpos en diversión en la Grecia Clásica
Published in Rhythms, expressions and representations of the body
The figure of the mythical Greek god Dionysus presided over the most playful aspects of classical Hellenic society, whether they were parties, banquets, comedies, or celebrations in general. The visualizations of the scenes of the divinity of wine and orgy, accompanied by his crazy cohort of satyrs and maenads, show the burlesque, critical and comic sense of a culture that laid the foundations of the West. Something as contemporary as today’s graphic humor finds images of its remote origins through the splendid figurative ceramics of the classical Greek period dedicated to this god. This article shows and analyzes some examples of that visual world where the festive, the comic and the conceptually ingenious provide the unveiling of the transgressive universe of Greek society.
