Thomas

“Indeed, what `display' speeches seek to display is partly expertise at appealing to a (notional) demos audience. It is in this area where ideology meets rhetoric that the discussion of this chapter will be located.”
― David Gribble, Alcibiades and Athens: A Study in Literary Presentation

“The Eight Myths of Hanukah 1. Hanukah is the Jewish Christmas. False. How many times have I been asked, “Is Hanukah the Jewish Christmas?” Let me set the record straight. Christmas is the Jewish Christmas. Mary and Joseph were Jewish, Jesus was Jewish, and at least one of the Wise Men was Jewish — the one that brought the fur. 2. Hanukah is the holiest of Jewish holidays. False. Hanukah isn’t even a religious holiday. The holiest of Jewish holidays is April 24, Barbra Streisand’s birthday. The second holiest Jewish holiday is December 29, the wedding anniversary of Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme. 3. Hanukah is another Jewish holiday where they tried to kill us, they didn’t, so we eat. True. Also known as the Festival of Lights, Hanukah is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the re-dedication of the Holy Temple (the Second Temple) in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the second century BCE, which brings us to ... 4. Hanukah commemorates the miracle that one day’s worth of oil lasted eight days in the Holy Temple. True. But, this is hardly a miracle because I witnessed my grandmother doing the same thing with one tea bag. 5. During Hanukah, children get a gift every night for eight days. False. If you grew up in my house, you got a gift the first night, then for seven nights, you heard about how awful it was to grow up during The Great Depression. The ritual of gift giving is actually very American, since Jewish children in this country are totally exposed to Christmas customs. 6. Hanukah is a holiday when Jewish people eat bland, colorless foods that are fried in oil and difficult to digest. True for ALL Jewish holidays. On Hanukah, we eat latkes (potato pancakes) or sufganiot, if you are Sephardic. Sufganiot are similar to jelly donuts. I am part Sephardic, so I like donuts, just not jelly ones. 7. There are many popular songs about Hanukah, and Jewish people know the words to all of them. False. Other than “Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel,” there are no other Hanukah songs we can sing, except for “The Hanukah Song,” by Adam Sandler, which brings us to Number 8 ... 8. Steve & Eydie and Barbra Streisand have recorded Hanukah albums. SO NOT TRUE! Would you believe Steve and Eydie have recorded a Christmas album, and Barbra has recorded not one but two Christmas albums?! And all those Christmas songs we hear on the radio are mostly written, and oftentimes performed, by Jews! Oy vay! This brings us back to myth Number 1, proving once again that Christmas is the Jewish Christmas! So, from my Trailer Park to Yours, here is wishing you a very Happy Jewish Christmas and a Merry Hanukah! 261”
― Milton Stern, The Gay Jew in the Trailer Park

“My talents, such as they are, have usually been employed in finding the truth of some event that’s already taken place. I’ve never claimed to have any talent for prevention or precognition. I can’t foretell the future.”
― Steven Saylor, The Throne of Caesar

“To treat these speeches at this point, before considering 'I'hucydides, might seem contrary to natural chronology. Yet the History as we have it, including the important analysis of Alcibiades at 6. 15, must have achieved its final form after the end of the war-perhaps at around the time Lys. 14 and Isoc. 16 were composed. In any case, as I will argue in Chapter 3, the polarized debate of accusation and defence exemplified in these speeches is essential background to the presentation of Alcibiades in the Histor - v. Moreover, the discussion of the speeches will maintain the focus on Alcibiades' civic image which dominated the previous chapter. For these reasons, it is convenient to discuss the rhetorical material first.”
― David Gribble, Alcibiades and Athens: A Study in Literary Presentation