December — ᾰ̓τᾰρᾰξῐ́ᾱ
"Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself. I am large, I contain multitudes."
There is not much to say for December, I spent much of it occupied by academic studies.
Graduate school applications, finals, home at last.
The beauty of San Francisco is unparalleled—the cold breeze of the Pacific evokes our primordial instincts.
Auld Lang Syne.
It felt good seeing my friends at home for Christmas—I am beginning to warm up next to the hearth.
In the blink of an eye, the sixth entry of De Poetica is before you, marking the 6-month anniversary of my self-absorbed “creative” project.
Given my fear of commitment, it is a personal triumph to have made it thus far.
So cheers to those of you who read my pompous monthly newsletter.
Σ’αγαπώ.
It means I love you.
I know you lazy bastards will not take the effort to translate the Greek if I didn’t do it for you.
(I beseech you to read my “Ancient Greek Word of the Month” section—it is by far the most riveting aspect of my newsletter.)
Ancient Greek Word of the Month: ᾰ̓τᾰρᾰξῐ́ᾱ (ataraxia)
Like most Ancient Greek words, there is no single definition for ᾰ̓τᾰρᾰξῐ́ᾱ: tranquility, unperturbedness, equipoise, freedom from disturbance, calmness.
ᾰ̓τᾰρᾰξῐ́ᾱ is a critical concept in Hellenistic Philosophy, shared by the Stoics, Epicureans, and most distinctively, the Skeptics. It is a state of consciousness characterized by a lack of mental disturbances, the ideal condition for proper living according to Sextus Empiricus.
To achieve ᾰ̓τᾰρᾰξῐ́ᾱ, Sextus Empiricus advocates for the following way of living in Chapter 4 of Outlines of Pyrrhonism:
Έστι δε ή σκεπτική δυναμις αντιθετική φαινομένων τε και νοουμένων καθ' οίονδήποτε τρόπον, άφ’ ής ερχόμεθα διά τήν εν τοΐς άντικειμενοις πράγμασι και λόγοις ίσοσθενειαν τό μεν πρώτον εις εποχήν, τό δε μετά τούτο εις αταραξίαν.
Skepticism is an ability, or mental attitude, which opposes appearances to judgements in any way whatsoever, with the result that, owing to the equipollence of the objects and reasons thus opposed, we are brought firstly to a state of mental suspense and next to a state of “ unperturbedness ” or quietude."
So what is Sextus Empiricus saying?
The Skeptics claim that they do not make any “positive” assertions—they only assert things that they believe to be an accurate report of what their impressions inform them at that moment. Skepticism is about weighing your options and recognizing that everything is, in some sense, ungrounded and subject to doubt. Thus, to avoid mental agitation, one ought to suspend judgment and operate on degrees of credibility without affirming or rejecting any assertions.
ᾰ̓τᾰρᾰξῐ́ᾱ is related to its neighboring concept, ἀπάθειᾰ (apatheia, without passions), but ᾰ̓τᾰρᾰξῐ́ᾱ specifically concerns mental agitation—it might be instructive to think of ᾰ̓τᾰρᾰξῐ́ᾱ as a condition brought about by exercising ἀπάθειᾰ.
Etymologically speaking, ᾰ̓τᾰρᾰξῐ́ᾱ contains three parts: the alpha privative -ἀ, the stem τᾰρᾰκ- from the verb τᾰρᾰ́σσω (to stir, to trouble, to agitate, to disturb), and the feminine noun abstract suffix -σῐ́ᾱ.
Some of you might be wondering, where did the letter ξ (xi) come from in ᾰ̓τᾰρᾰξῐ́ᾱ? How does the κ (kappa) and σ (sigma) turn into ξ? Furthermore, why is the stem of τᾰρᾰ́σσω not σ but κ? Excellent observations, my dear reader. The answer lies in the verb τᾰρᾰ́σσω, which has the stem ending—somewhat unexpectedly—of κ, not σ. For verbs ending in -σσω, which in the Attic dialect becomes -ττω, the abstract noun formed by the suffix σῐ́ᾱ always ends in ξ because σ merges with the κ when placed next to each other. For τᾰρᾰ́σσω, this is evident in the aorist participle τᾰρᾰ́ξων where the sigmatic marker of the Aorist tense has merged with the κ to become ξ.
Reading:
Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris
Songs of Innocence and of Experience by William Blake
This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Watching
Unchecked mommy issues takes you to weird places…
Don't you know sarcasm when you hear it…?
Listening
You Never Wanted Me by Jackson C. Frank
Random Rules by Silver Jews
I Think You Were in My Profile Picture Once by Modern Baseball
2023 in Review
Books Read: 46
Movies Watched: 121
Countries Visited: Canada, Germany, England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Turkey.
Auld Lang Syne!
Here’s to painting a prettier picture—together.
wanna see my sigmatic marker of the Aorist tense...?
also, <3 jackson c frank !!!
beat me by one book