Day 6

Day 6 was dedicated to ancient Greek seminars, read and translated together with the students of Classics.

Professor dr. Maria Luiza Oancea (University of Bucharest) presented the myth of the golden age or Cronos' myth, according to Plato, first in Statesman, then in Laws, the last Platonic dialogue. The golden age is considered to be negative: although people did not have to work, as the earth provided them sponte sua all they need, there were no institutional structure, justice or laws. In the fourth book of Laws, Plato investigates the role of the laws in the daily life of the city. They are essential to the cohesion of the ideal city, and have a divine origine. Justice is the only value of the city, and the citizen has certain duties. Religion and law support each other, while the role of education is very important.

Dr. Ana-Maria Răducan (ISACCL) presented to the students some pieces of the work "The Library" of Photios, ninth-century Byzantine author and patriarch of Constantinople. She highlighted the way certain Classical works, that were not part of the school curricula, were perceived by the Byzantine intellectual elite, in terms of stylistic considerations and practical use. The commented works do not follow any chronological order, but are full of valuable spatio-temporal landmarks, especially since many of the works mentioned by Photius are not extant.