Michel de Montaigne writes in a candid and unaffected style. He is always ready to belittle or humiliate himself, as shown in “Letter to Readers,” so that readers get the impression of his humility and modesty. In “Of Cannibals,” he describes the Brazilian cannibals in amiable and friendly terms. He does this to create contrast to Europeans’ misconceptions and biased judgments about other cultures. He goes on to convey their serene lifestyle, how they live in harmony with nature. Montaigne is a remarkable writer in that his seemingly simple insights provoke deep resonance within our mind about our own prejudices.

In Tao Ch’ien’s prose “The Peach Blossom Spring,” a fisherman came upon a mysterious cave by rowing upstream, mindless of the distance he had traveled. Once he entered the cave, he was greeted with hospitality and warmth. It was a rural community, with comely houses, various plantations, domesticated animals and livestock. The populace consisted of ordinary people who worked in the fields. The fisherman, being a newcomer, was invited to the villagers’ houses to feast and drink. He learned that they were a community who had lost contact with the outside world; past and present dynasties were unheard of to them. Before the fisherman left, the villagers said it’s not necessary to make known to outsiders their existence. The fisherman revealed it nonetheless to other people. However, nobody could reach that place even by following marked routes. The imagery hints at hermitage, independent on its own and wanting no outside interference. The cave is mystic and unfathomable, as the opening suggests, when the fisherman went on to find out how long the grove extended until he arrived at the spring stream. The village represents a quiet little place far from the decaying dynasties and the maddening crowd. Mulberry, bamboo, and other trees combine with the sound effect of cocks crowing and dogs barking to produce an atmosphere of harmony between nature and human.

In his poem “Begging for Food,” Tao ingeniously set up an encounter between two strangers to showcase their generosity and congeniality. A starving man walks with no destination in mind until he reached a town, where he knocked at a door and was let in. The house owner proffered free meal and they engaged in lively conversation. Consuming alcohol, they made happy acquaintance. A sort of feast it turned out to be, as they sang songs and wrote poems. Tao apparently considers it a virtue to readily welcome a supplicatory stranger into the house and feed him. The adequately fed fellow remarks on the host’s kindness and promises to repay him, if not with talent, as a ghost. This poem illustrates the role of food and drinks in fostering a comradeship and depicts the cordial relationship between people in the town.

Question: Analyze a literary device–most likely an image or metaphor–or series of devices you find in Plato, Sappho, or Catullus.

In poem 7, Catullus expresses his worship and adoration for Lesbian. Inviting readers to figure out the number of kisses he needs to kiss her, he tells us to “match them to every grain of Libyan sand in silphium-rich Cyrene.” From this vivid imagery we can readily visualize his passion for her, because he is comparing number of kisses to the innumerable sand. In poem 42, Catullus uses metaphor to humiliate himself and set a stage for his vicious talk against his treacherous girlfriend: “this vile slut seems under the impression I’m a walking joke.” He tries to rally people to go after her and demand back his writing tablets. First, he urges them to “demand in chorus: ‘Rotten slut, give back….'” Next, he urges then to change tune: “pure chaste maid, give back…” He uses paradox to submit to infertility of asking back the writing tablets, and to stress her brazenness.

Dido is the woman who was infatuated with Aeneas, and Aeneas is the man for whom her heart burned with flaming passion, allowing her to break the force of vow that bound her with her dead husband. Dido justifies her sexual relationship with Aeneas in a cave as marriage. The overdriving love for Aeneas distracts her from other tasks that require her attention: construction of Carthage has halted and maintenance of defense against enemies has been neglected. When Aeneas realizes he could not stay with her any longer and must leave immediately,  she is distraught. She tries to convince him to stay awhile longer, that she might be accustomed to his departure, but to no avail. His dogged determination to fulfill his duty gravely torments her. I think she is naive and too obsessed with this love affair between her and Aeneas. A man has a mission, she mustn’t stand in his way or make too much of a commotion, such as cursing him when his fleet is in sight, ready to sail, or committing suicide to end all of it. She is strongly possessive of the man she loves, and when that man is gone she throws a tantrum that inflicts harm upon herself and others.