‘Rhetoric’ has a bad rap – but some of the original rhetoricians’ techniques can actually help foster productive conversations.
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Ryan Leack, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Ancient Greek philosophers despised the Sophists’ rhetoric because it searched for relative truth, not absolutes. But learning how to do that thoughtfully can help constructive debates.
An ancient Greek relief depicting a baby with its mother and grandmother.
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Raphael Falco, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Because Dylan draws from songs from the past, he has been accused of plagiarism. But this view has been colored by a distorted understanding of the creative process.
Laurel was an ancient symbol of medicine, the arts and the end of war.
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Just in time for this year’s Nobel Prize announcements, here’s how the symbolism of a plant associated with the god Apollo lives on in modern-day laureates.
A Ukrainian inspects a ruined Russian tank displayed on the streets of Kyiv.
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These books and poems give the women of the Odyssey a say and other new perspectives on the classic tale.
Three soldiers (far right) carry karnyxes, long horns with frightening boar-headed mouths that produce eerie calls during battle.
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Epic poetry tends to be seen as highbrow, while action films are regarded as puerile and brutish. But the two share an affinity for dressing up brutal deaths with rhetorical flair.
Rapper Lil Nas X in a Cinderalla-style, toile-inspired gown designed by Andrea Grossi.
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More famous men are wearing dresses, harking back to ancient times, when androgynous clothing was the norm. But for male dresses to truly take off they might need a style separate to women’s.
There are many nods to Mesopotamian myth in Marvel’s Eternals. The character of Gilgamesh is the first ancient Near Eastern hero with a leading role in a Marvel film.