Live Theatre Review

The actors and director of The â€Å"Woman In Black† had complete power and control over the audience's reactions and emotions. For our Drama GCSE we went to see â€Å"The Woman in Black†, on Monday 1st December 2003. The play was showing at the Fourtune theatre and was based on a book by Susan Hill; which was adapted by Stephen Mallatratt. The â€Å"Woman In Black† is about a middle aged solicitor called Arthur Kipps, who years earlier had lost an infant son following some eerie incidents in an English town. In hopes of getting rid of his personal demons and ghosts, he approaches a young actor to turn his written account into a theatre piece (re-enactment.) It shows all of the happenings with a recently deceased woman called Alice Drableau and her remote, mysterious house. The play explores the issues of the supernatural and things beyond the human world, such as ghosts and things that are invisible to the human eye; created by mime and the actors and audience's imagination. I think that the play and the actors explored these issues very well, but I am not sure if they were explored in a believable way. I thought that the first half of the play was quite slow, tedious, and we weren't drawn in so there wasn't any control over us whilst watching it. However, when the play reached the second half the pace started to pick up, and tension was created, which drew us in and gave the actors control over our reactions. It was remarkable how far people in the audience were willing to go with their imaginations. They seemed to be really involved with the performance; I think that to a certain extent we all were. The play was structured with flashbacks and crosscutting which gave us a more in depth understanding of what had happened in the past to effect the future. The actors took us on a journey with them in whichever time they were in. We knew what time they were in, as the actors clicked their fingers towards the lighting technician each time. At first it didn't seem to be part of the performance, later on when it occurred again it was clear that this was a repeated action and was necessary to the play. When actually thinking about it they were actors, acting as though they were acting a re-enactment. Quite confusing I thought. The lights changed from being bright when in the present, to being dim; and almost seemed like sepia tones to give that more ancient feel when in the past. I don't think that this was done as well or creative as it could have been. The clicking to me just seemed odd and something that didn't belong in the play, even though I can understand what they were trying to do. The lighting technician brought us back to reality and removed us from the performance; it drew us back out from the tense gripping story. The tension that was built up before these points suddenly dropped and then tension tried to build up again after that point. The actual changes between times eras was very fast, it was almost like there was a sudden change in tempo for that spilt second. The structure of the stage also affected the amount of space used by the characters. In the first half of the play we only saw half of the stage. The basic layout of it was rather boring. There wasn't much space for anything and the layout just wasn't interesting or eye-catching at all. As the play moved into the second half, the other part of the stage was revealed to us. It was an exciting change that spiced things up a bit. They suddenly had so much more space to work with. The â€Å"Woman in Black† has two main characters. Arthur Kipps played by Paul Stewart and the young actor who is actor Matt Holland. There was also the shadowed â€Å"Woman in Black† (Who is Alice Drableau the deceased,) although she didn't have a huge role in the play. The two main actors portrayed many characters, with the usage of costume and their vocal techniques and tones of voices. I thought that they portrayed the different characters quite well but it definitely wasn't believable for me personally. The actors changed costume in front of us (the audience), which once again drew us away from the drama. In my eyes. Once again, I realise that this was part of the piece, and if you think of it as an actual play, it was a great technique to use. I just found it rather off putting when I was actually getting into the drama; I realised that we weren't seeing the story, we were seeing people tell us and re-enact the story. Some of the two men's movements were very interesting and engaged us in the performance. Mr Kipps didn't really use much movement when narrating. On the other hand when he took on the role of other characters and the young actor played a younger version of Mr Kipps, they used movement to the best of their ability. An example would be a simple motion of a horse and cart. The two characters mimed this very well in a believable way, showing how they would be when on a real horse. A great bit of movement that I found really effective, was when they pretended to be on a train. The actors were really aware of the space and objects around them. For example they used 2 briefcases as doors and a couple of chairs as seats, when walking through the imaginary train and we could tell instantly what it was. One of the men walked sideways along to show the compact space on a train, the two men also sat diagonal from each other which gave us the impression that there could have been more people on t he train. The woman in black definitely had the ultimate power over the other characters reactions, and over us. She moved silently in and out drifting along in an almost Godley fashion and She made it look as though the dark stage was her shadowed sky; she was swooping down and scaring the prey. We were the prey, and we were shocked, in fact some people did let their emotions get the better of them. She wore pinnacled headgear, under a black veil. The black costume seemed as though it was to symbolise death and possibly evil. I would say that the actors had partial control over the audience and controlled the tension and atmosphere. The blackouts and lighting also helped create the woman in black's fast movement on the rocking chair; she was furious, focused and very creepy in a psychotic sort of way. This drew us in further. A rocking chair normally moves slowly and contains a nice old person maybe knitting. It came as a huge shock when this happened, because it was such a huge contrast. There were two moments where there was a huge amount of control on the audience. The young actor approached a door this was concealed before and as it is now in light we are intrigued to know what is behind it. There was a lot of tension at this point and the use of pauses made the intense slow hand movements towards the door quite nerve-wracking. It was surprising how much this affected people. A great moment of tension which created a really strong atmosphere was when the young actor who was pretending to be Mr Kipps was sleeping. There was a long empty silence and a complete blackout. This was a moment that was really tense, we the audience were also in a total blackout, so they were putting us in the same situation. We were under control, as we couldn't see anything, so we didn't really know what was going on or what was going to happen. We were really involved. The actor also used a torch in the audience, whilst the whole room was black. The light was shone all around the audience, kind of like a spotlight. This whole moment, reminds me of childhood and being scared of the dark. Set, lighting, props and special effects I feel were all necessary to create a real sense of atmosphere. There were quite a few sound effects, to try and make the play seem as real as possible. Not only that, but some of the sound effects seemed to be symbolic. The sound of crows at the Graveyard, I'm sure this is a bad omen, death and a sign of evil. The sound of a rocking chair, which sounded like a heartbeat racing, to build tension and suspense. A double use. A music box in the Childs room, so innocent, yet the music seemed quite creepy when in the dark. Lots of them seemed to symbolise childhood, the innocence, and good. Because we knew what was going on and it was dark and tense, that goodness seemed almost possessed by evil. I thought that the sets were great and were concealed very well behind the gauze. It helped them to change the environment and setting quite efficiently without us knowing. From a graveyard which was furniture covered in white sheets maybe to symbolise ghosts, or when a person is dead them being covered in a sheet to be concealed. A sense of age and death. We saw the old house, which was covered in sheets again, kind of like an old house that hasn't been lived in for years, derelict. They created long stairs for the characters to run up and down, that for me seemed to create a gradual build to something. There must have been something at the top of the stairs. Also a child's room. A sweet little room, distorted from the innocence of it as soon as the woman in black steps in it. The play ended at a climactic cliff-hanger and it was gradually built up to a high point of tension. I personally didn't find it a fear-provoking piece of drama although I know others did, and I can understand how it happened. People were sucked into the drama and its world and certain things didn't remove them from it. I felt that all of the clicking and the people in the audience screaming just distracted me too much for me to actually enjoy it. I thought that they made a great effort with only two actors, it must have been a lot of hard work, and it used lots of great techniques. They definitely used role play a lot, when becoming different characters and acting out their situations. Marking the moment, using sound and light to emphasis something, such as the immensely tense movement towards the door; will he open it won't he? Clear usage of crosscutting to show us different times they also used different lighting to show this. Narration, this kept informing us of what was going o n, Mr Kipps was telling us the story. I think that the playwright wrote the play to make the audience think about death, how it is a time of isolation. Maybe to make us remember a time when we were scared, something that everyone can relate to. Fear. I think he also wanted to tell a story that would excite people and to bring the typical ghost story to the 2lst century. People enjoy being scared because they get to use their imagination. Most of the play just really reminded me of childhood memories, something that everyone in the audience could relate to. Being scared of the darkness, that children's room with the music coming from a doll, the excitement of discovering something, bag loads of curiocity.This was why we felt so involved, small parts of the play would have related to us as the audience. We all know it is safe environment/ atmosphere, and that the play isn't real life, but there is still that sense of danger. The thrill of not knowing something. The idea that we have all been scared in our lives, something that we can relate to. The thing is that I thought most things were just too predictable. We knew something was going to happen, we could kind of guess what would happen; we just didn't know when it would happen.

Gladiator: Comparison from the movie to actual history Essay

In the movie, many things portrayed are the same as what really happened in Roman history. Some things though, are a little different in the actual history of Rome than in the movie. Scenes were changed in the movie too, to make the plot more interesting. I connected what I could between the movie and the actual history of Rome. Maximus was the general of Rome and a really good general at that. He lead Rome to many victories. He was so great and loyal that in the movie, Marcus Aurelius actually asked him to succeed him in the throne. When Commodus heard this from his father, he killed him and sentenced Maximus to death. When Maximus escaped, he was picked up by a group of men and sold as a slave to become a gladiator. As a gladiator, he fought many different types of gladiators. Quicker ones had nets with tridents and slower ones had curved swords with shields. There were some gladiators that even had chariots. In the actual history of Rome, there really were different types of gladiators. The gladiators with the net and trident were called the retarius. The gladiator with the curved sword and shield were called the samnite. I’m not too sure if there were gladiators that used chariots as their weapons but it sounds likely since it is thought that the colosseum was filled up and used for boat wars. Using chariots would be easy for them and entertaining for the crowd. There’s a scene in the movie where it’s a one on one battle between Maximus and a champion gladiator. Maximus is barely armed and protected. All he has is a sword and shield I believe. The other man has two swords, a mask for protection, and heavy armor. This shows how each type of gladiator was to fight a different kind of gladiator so the match would be even and fair. In the movie, Commodus is very sneaky and vengeful. He uses murder in his politics also. He killed his father, tried to kill Maximus and even wanted to get rid of the senate in order for him to become a â€Å"true emperor.† He thinks the senate is unneeded and believes himself to be more of a people’s person then the actual senators. In history, there was much murder in the government also. The Gracchis were murdered as well as Caesar. Commodus tries to assassinate and kill Maximus since Maximus is supposed to be the successor to the throne after Marcus Aurelius. In Roman History, the Romans  never developed a formal policy of succession. Although many emperors named their successors, the Roman army often refused to accept the new emperors and assassinated them. This is what Commodus tried to do with Maximus in order for himself to become emperor and rule. Gracchus wants the citizens of Rome to be happy in the movie and makes sure the emperor hears the problems and needs of the people when he councils with him. He even suggests possible solutions to the problems. He seems to be a people’s person very much and knows how some of the senators can be crooked. In Roman history, there were actually two Gracchis who were actually both murdered because they were disliked by crooked senators who used violence to get ahead. The real Gracchis wanted to help the citizens out also. They even used public funds to purchase grain to be sold to the poor at low prices so they can afford it. They also improved the political status of the equites (business and land owning people.) Lucillia, sister of Commodus, has a son named Lucius. I did some research to find out that her son was named after his father who died in 169 A.D. His name was Lucius Veras. In the movie, she is portrayed as a widow, but, in real history, she remarries to Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus Quintianus of Antioch. In the movie, she joins the plot for the good of the Roman people but she really participated in this plot because she lusted after power. She also supports her brother in the movie but was actually involved in a plot with her cousin to assassinate Commodus and raise her husband up as emperor. The plan was figured out and she was banished to the island of Capri. In the movie, it shows her as out- living her brother but she is actually executed at the island because he changed his mind. As you can see, many things throughout the movie were the same as to what happened in the history of Rome. A few minor details were changed but nothing too noticeable. The only major difference I could see was in Lucillia and how she was portrayed. Her role had to be changed or else the whole movie would have been different and probably more boring. Definitely when you put the two, movie and history, side-by-side, you see how good of a job they really did sticking to the facts and at the same time, making the  movie wicked-awesome with its totally cool action.

Week 5 Quizzes – Eco/Gm 561

Week 5 Quizzes ECO/GM 561 Your Results for: â€Å"Readiness Assessment Quiz†Print this page Site Title:Economics UOP custom CW Book Title:UOP-custom course for Economics Book Author:Case Summary of Results 100% Correct of 7 Scored items: 7 Correct: 100% 0 Incorrect: 0% More information about scoring ________________________________________ 1. GDP includes all transactions in which money or goods change hands. Your Answer:False ________________________________________ 2. GDP is equal to the value of total sales in an economy. Your Answer:False _______________________________________ 3. I bought a record last year. I don't like it any more and am going to sell it to my cousin for $2. This sale should be included in GDP. Your Answer:False ________________________________________ 4. Consumption, investment, government purchases, and net exports are the four components of total expenditures. Your Answer:True ________________________________________ 5. Households have all of their p ersonal income to spend or save. Your Answer:False ________________________________________ 6. When economists calculate nominal GDP it means they are calculating GDP only approximately. Your Answer:False ________________________________________ 7. Per capital GDP is a country's GDP divided by its population. Your Answer:True ________________________________________ Your Results for: â€Å"Readiness Assessment Quiz†Print this page Site Title:Economics UOP custom CW Book Title:UOP-custom course for Economics Summary of Results 100% Correct of 8 Scored items: 8 Correct: 100% 0 Incorrect: 0% More information about scoring ________________________________________ . The twin evils of macroeconomics are unemployment and inflation. Your Answer:True ________________________________________ 2. Recessions last six months. Anything longer is called a depression. Your Answer:False ________________________________________ 3. To be considered employed a person must be working for pay for at least 20 hours per week. Your Answer:False ________________________________________ 4. You nee d to be 14 years old to be considered part of the labor force. Your Answer:False ________________________________________ . A discouraged worker is not actually working. Your Answer:True ________________________________________ 6. People typically are unemployed for at least six months. Your Answer:False ________________________________________ 7. Recessions have a good side to them because they help reduce inflation. Your Answer:True ________________________________________ 8. The consumer price index is based on a bundle of goods and services purchased yearly by the typical urban consumer. Your Answer:False ________________________________________

Philadelphia movie Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Philadelphia movie - Essay Example Tom Hanks brilliantly portrayed the character of Andy and communicated to viewers the need to look at gays suffering from AIDS in a different light. It was an emotional issue, to be sure, but Hanks did a good job at causing everyone to rethink their views towards people suffering from this horrible disease. When Andy began looking for a lawyer, he discovered that many people did not want to represent him simply on the basis of his illness. The frustration that he began to feel must surely have been overwhelming. Most people he met were afraid and would not get close to him. The movie effectively points out that even the lawyer who was brave enough to represent Andy was also afraid of him. In the end, however, this lawyer began to understand that Andy was no threat to his own health or to his reputation. He ended up learning a great deal from Andy and they turned into good friends. The overarching theme of this movie is to educate the public about AIDS and homosexuality. These two issues have divided society and have caused this segment of the population to be segregated and discriminated against in many communities across the country. This movie shows me that discrimination will likely always exist in our society, either on the basis of gender, race, or sexual preference. Philadelphia gives me, and other viewers as well, a good look at the reasons why we should shed our discriminatory views. Such thoughts serve to hurt not only the specific group being discriminated against, but also society in general. The message that the movie sends is that discriminating against homosexual people, especially those with AIDS, is illegal. It also conveys the message that judging people, commonly referred to as stereotyping, is wrong. Understanding people and our difference comes with time. This understanding came happen if we all take the time to get to know each

Henry David Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Henry David - Essay Example Thoreau is believed to have been one of the most influential icons of his times. Actually, leadership icons such as Martin Luther Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi were greatly inspired by Thoreau. Thoreau wrote many books in diverse fields. Particularly, he wrote on subjects that involved public oppression by oppressive leadership. Reforms and political courses were most of his favorite areas of writing. Thoreau was a diversified writer who wrote as a poet, author, critique, philosopher, naturalist, and realist. It is believed that his literary works totaled over 20 volumes and mainly consisted of poems, journals, and essays. In his late years, Thoreau became so interested in natural history and wrote most of his late writings through expedition narratives. Although he inspired many, he also got inspiration from Darwin and Bartram. One of his most widely read essay is called "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience." Thoreau is a figure to be emulated. He believed in a better and just society. Altho ugh he is criticized for promoting civil disobedience, he actually advocated for betterment of leadership rather than change (Thoreau

Comparing Sources in Ethnomusicology Research Paper

Comparing Sources in Ethnomusicology - Research Paper Example In 1948, a Dutch, Jaap Kunst coined the term â€Å"ethnomusicology† which would emphasize the role of culture in the study of world music (Frishkopf, 13). Ethnomusicology referred to the study of any music outside the European art tradition and all varieties of music found in one locale.Ethnomusicology is a highly inter-disciplinary field yet all ethnomusicologists share a common foundation in approaches and methods, namely; understanding music as a social practice, taking a global approach to music, engaging in ethnographic fieldwork(Frishkopf, 16). This research paper provides a description of three articles from the journal for ethnomusicology, its subject and characterizes the ethnological approaches that each author demonstrates. The field of ethnomusicology has expanded rapidly that it now includes almost any type of human activity that can be related in some manner to what may be termed as music. Michael Frishkopf approaches the issue of ethnomusicology using a compilation of essays by various ethnomusicologist that concentrate on many of the contemporary concerns. This includes nine topical sections discussed herein. The essays offer approaches to theoretical frameworks, insights and research that connect with current methods in diverse disciplines. Works from developing areas of focus have been â€Å"consulted and fully integrated in research methodologies especially gender issues, cultural studies, history, linguistics, religion and political science† (Frishkopf, 31). Tourism studies are relatively new in ethnomusicology. The concept of cultural tourism has become a major force in the contemporary music scenes. Some researchers identify cultural tourism as vital to the continuation of traditional practices and renewal of traditional musical styles and forms. He explores how families use festivals to create, preserve and represent their unique identity (Frishkopf, 50). The concept of commodification and consumption applied to music involves the

Socioculture Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Socioculture - Research Paper Example During the â€Å"Trail of Tears† towards the end of the 1830s, many Native American Cherokees were forced to shift from their homes to Oklahoma; nearly 20% of their total population did not survive this migration. This coupled with the onset of diseases and the rise of colonization ensured that the number of Cherokees dwindled and today, only a fraction of their population remains. Although, with the recent modernization and modern policy implementations, their population has spread to many different areas of America from eastern America, which is where they had concentrated themselves as a result of the â€Å"Trail of Tears†. The southwestern part of America is one of the most fascinating places, geographically, of Cherokee settlement. This area is agriculturally intensive and houses Cherokees in small settlements which are characteristic of the area’s overall culture. Native Cherokee Indians from the Northwestern Coast were famous for making totem poles and oth er handicrafts. Many of the tribesmen and tribeswomen belonging to this area were employed in boat making, wood carving, lumbering and other similar activities. Initially, the Native Cherokee Indians held a lot of power and status in America. This was because, as a group they had the largest land holdings. But the status of the Native Cherokee Indians deteriorated once the white men set foot on their land and slowly started taking over; first they took their land and eventually the power that came with its possession. The negative effects of the white people taking over and assuming the power position have not faded from the face of the Cherokee nation; there still remains in their reservations a high level of unemployment and resultant poverty. Progress towards development is being made; however, the past of the Cherokee people will always have an imprint on their prospective future (Ballas, n.d). The Cherokees have very strong and vibrant religious beliefs and practices and related

Forensics Based On Evidence Gathered With Peep Attacks Essay

Forensics Based On Evidence Gathered With Peep Attacks - Essay Example Cybercrime has been cited as one of the most prevalent problems in society. The vast majority of investigators perceive this crime to be on the rise and of becoming an ever increasingly complex and multi-faceted problem. This paper attempts to clarify the complex investigation effort following a Peep attack. We describe evidence collection and problem-solving techniques in the application of computer forensic analyses. A Peep attack is one of the most notorious hacking tools, based on the Robot Network (Botnet) Structure. A Botnet is a term for a collection of zombie systems and autonomous software robots. The threat from Botnets is growing at an alarming rate and the attack techniques are becoming increasingly sophisticated. The majority of the literature describing Botnet attacks is focused on a varied level of IRC-based malware, the activity of Spam mail and the structure of Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS). However, some Botnets are used primarily for data collection, remote control or various other purposes (Microsoft Corporation, 2005). Botnets have gained a significant presence on the Internet as a remote control means for malicious purposes. A Botnet can run programs under the control of a managed network infrastructure. In practice, Botnet communities usually have one or several owners and rely on individual friend-to-friend relationships for their operation (Desmond, 2005). Because new attacks originating from a Botnet are difficult to identify by default fingerprinting., there is rarely a geographically identifiable pattern to the distribution of the infected computers. Firewalls cannot readily be configured to react to a Botnet attack by using information obtained from previous attacks. The Peep attack is still a developing technique. In this paper we introduce a digital forensic analysis applied to the investigation of a Peep attack, and discuss some of the resulting problems and concerns. Although differing somewhat from the original definition of IRC Botnets, a huge network of zombie computers is

Reflection about nursing home visit Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reflection about nursing home visit - Essay Example In order to improve on my verbal communication skills, as I am not a native English speaker, I think I need to improve my English speaking skills through practice and by enrolling in an English language course. Non-verbal cues include eye contact, touch and use of space, gestures, body posture and presentation, and use of voice. Non-verbal cues reflect the real emotions and feelings of individuals involved in the conversation. Such was the case in my conversation with the patient. By establishing eye contact, I was able to assess the sincerity of her words. I also paid attention to her gestures which told me if my questions were getting uncomfortable for her to answer. And if she got uncomfortable answering, I changed my questions. I noticed that she gestured with her hands a lot; and being a former teacher, I understood why she has this habit. When I first approached her, I maintained a respectful distance between us. Since it was my first time to meet her, I respected her personal space. I asked if I could move my chair closer to her, and she agreed. I maintained a 3-feet distance from her; it was close enough for us to hear each other, and far enough to avoid invading her personal space (Rhode Island Health Literacy Project, n.d). I think I need to improve my non-verbal communication skills by increasing my interaction with patients. Through increased interaction, I will be able to improve my interpretation of patients’ non-verbal cues (Earp, et.al., 2007, p.197). Establishing rapport is seen in how we relate and perceive our patients. It also involves genuine concern and empathy for our patients (Travelbee, 1963). Upon meeting my patient, I immediately set out to establish rapport by greeting her by her first name, shaking her hand, and introducing myself. I asked permission to converse with her and when she agreed, I sat

QUESTION SET Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

QUESTION SET - Movie Review Example The story would change drastically if told by someone else other than Martha since they do not understand the real hardships due to lack of contact with the women. This would overshadow the real struggles of women. Things left behind provide evidence of the living conditions during a historical period (Richard, 1997). They help us understand the experiences through reconnection. An example is Martha’s diary helps us to see her world and make a film depicting her life and experiences as a midwife. Other remote issues such as religious conflicts affected the ordinary lives of people. They reduced interactions among community members sharing differences in this remote factors. As a result, racism becomes an issue and an ordinary way of life making it difficult for ordinary people to relate with those of opposite race. Racism is seen as big issue at the time when mothers states she uses the same speed and skill to deliver white women and black women proving race was there but she did not let it affect her (Richard, 1997). The movie helps us understand the struggles faced by women during the post-revolutionary period. It helps to shed light on medical practices, religious animosity and sexual roles in the 18th century. These issues still affect us right now and, therefore, the movie can help individuals recognize this issues and address them

Financial Intermediation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Financial Intermediation - Essay Example In addition, the study would also reflect about how the policymakers have made deliberate efforts to ease up different financial markets, encourage foreign competition and deregulate interest rates (Ariss, 2010). Globalisation is another issue in today’s economic concern. Increasing competitiveness would be the result of increasing the level of globalisation, as this tends to promote foreign investments by developing domestic businesses and improvising the performance of domestic banks. In relation to the above context, the study of Ariss (2010) mainly depicted the implications of changing banks’ structure and their prospects towards rapid development in contemporary world. Ariss (2010) reflected in the study that the banks could improve their profit efficiency with commanding a high price mark-up over the marginal costs, but it could not help in terms of cost efficiency levels. Apart from this, the study of Ariss (2010) also inferred that when the banks are able to gain market power, it can reduce various risks that emerge while performing distinct operations and likewise confirm firm stability. In this particular issue of stability, the study of Ariss (2010) discussed about the methodology of distinct economic variables including market power, regulatory environment, cost efficiency, sustainability in economic market and alternative efficiency with portfolio characteristics. The aforesaid study of Ariss (2010) indicated the acquisition process prevailing in the economic market including merger between domestic business and foreign investments or business to develop sustainability programme in competitive business setting of developing countries (Aris s, 2010). More importantly, with regards to the above context, the study of Ariss (2010) revealed that the occurrence of worldwide crisis in financial sectors would demonstrate the role of a country towards developing its uproar hitting financial

Factors to Determine Ethical Behavior Essay Example for Free

Factors to Determine Ethical Behavior Essay Scott: I couldn’t agree more. And nowhere is this more evident than in corporate America. We see ethics at play all the time, with Bernie Madoff and his Ponzi scheme, the Enron scandal, Exxon, BP, and many, many more examples. Ethical behavior can make or break a company. Diane: Sure, I remember people passing up Exxon stations after the Valdez accident several years ago; same with the BP oil spill. Boycotts against companies happen all the time if they forget they have to be good corporate citizens, in addition to turning a profit. Scott: I think the issue here, in a discussion of ethics though, is what determines ethical and unethical behavior. Can we give people any kind of a framework that might help to easily determine what is seen as correct behavior and what needs changing in a corporate setting? Diane: Of course! And while none of these ideas are foolproof, in general, they cover the majority of signs or problems to look out for and be aware of. You have to look at the individual employee’s stage of moral development, their individual characteristics, the structure of the company, the company culture and then look at how big the issue itself really is. Scott: Well, I’m interested in a few concepts that I’ve never really heard of before. Talk to us a little about â€Å"the stages of moral development.† Diane: Gladly. There are three levels inherent in moral development. You have the pre-conventional level, which deals with consequences from the outside dictating moral behavior†¦ Scott: So, an example might be my grandfather, who  always talked about the nuns who taught at his Catholic school breaking out the rulers. That would be pre-conventional, right? Diane: Exactly. It’s all about how outside punishment or reward affects the choices people make between what is right and what is wrong. Scott: So, if that’s pre-conventional, I’m betting that the second level is conventional, then. People just living up to the standards of society – what other people believe for the most part is right and wrong. Diane: That is it exactly, and that leads to the third level, which is the principled level. This is beyond responding to an outside stimulus or to our own notions of what others believe is right and wrong. At the principled level, people now look inside themselves and make a determination removed from all those other factors affecting what they believe is right or wrong behavior. Scott: Well, that does make a lot of sense. So then, what are the individual characteristics that can have an influence on moral behavior? Diane: Values and personality are the two things that govern these individual characteristics. A person’s individual values begin developing during childhood and continue to develop through experiences, discussions with other people and interactions with family, friends, teachers, religious figures, and others. A person’s value system is very broad and includes many different areas. Personality deals more with two specific ideas, that of ego strength and locus of control. Scott: Sure, ego strength influences a person’s convictions. If you have a high degree of ego strength, then moral convictions will be easier to hold. â€Å"Locus of control† isn’t a concept I’m too familiar with though. Diane: A person’s locus of control has to do with fate. Some people believe they have a lot of control in their lives, while others believe that things are left to the wind. Those who have an internal locus of control believe they are in control, while those who have an external locus are more apt to believe that things will happen to them because of fate or luck or mere happenstance. Scott: So I know we’ve talked before about how a company is structured; whether or not it is centralized or decentralized. That plays a significant role as well, correct? Diane: It does, very much so. The more hands touch something, the less likely it is that any strict controls put in place will stick. The less people you have managing a process, the more tightly the controls can be monitored. This of course would be inaccurate if you had, say, one person managing everything who was inherently unethical. Then there would be nobody to call them to account. The structure of a company is a significant factor in the ethical behavior put into practice. Scott: The ethical behavior of individuals is fascinating and all, but what about the ethical behavior of organizational culture? Some companies encourage transparency and ethical behavior at all times. They have realized that openness and honesty are good for the bottom line in the long run and ensure a strong core brand. Other companies may not overtly tell people to act unethically, but have individual â€Å"bad actors† inside the corporation who might encourage people to do things they shouldn’t. Diane: Exactly. And we all know examples of this. We hear about chemical companies dumping dangerous waste that contaminates ground water, about cigarette companies lying about how dangerous and addictive their product is, or about banks and the â€Å"robo-signing† scandal during the last recession. All of these activities, while not necessarily condoned by everyone across the enterprise, were OK’d by certain people within the corporation and seriously damaged the brands involved. Scott: And of course, this is where issue intensity is important, because while we don’t like to admit it, some unethical behaviors are worse or more impactful than others. While all unethical behavior should be avoided, dumping toxic chemicals into water that could kill thousands of people could arguably be seen as worse than, say, an employee who is skimming a few dollars here and there from a company. Both are bad, wrong, and can cause harm, but the characteristics  that determine issue intensity show us that there are indeed levels of unethical behavior, and they can determine the likelihood of this kind of behavior occurring in the future. Diane: And these characteristics – greatness of harm, consensus of wrong, probability of harm, immediacy of consequences, proximity to the victim, and concentration of effect – all play a role in determining when and why something unethical might occur. The less these factors play a role, the more likely for fraud or other unethical behavior to occur. If the victim isn’t seen, if the consequences are far in the future, or if the behavior only affects one person, the possibility for unethical behavior is likely to see a jump. Scott: And to talk more about this, we’d like to welcome to the show Scott Hyder, attorney at law. Diane: Hello Scott – welcome to our show. Let me ask you, how does ethics play a part with respect to certain professions that require licensing to do business? Scott Hyder: Well, it’s incredibly important particularly in very regulated businesses such as businesses where you need a license. I’m an attorney and so every attorney has to follow a certain set of ethics guidelines regardless of the state that you’re in. Every state has passed very detailed ethical rules that are approved by the state’s Supreme Court and it’s not a matter of if, or a matter of choice, or just a matter of morals when following the ethical rules. It’s a matter about whether your license will be revoked if you don’t and many times you’re violating ethical rules unintentionally; it’s usually NOT an intentional  thing. It goes anywhere from disclosing client confidences to wrongful accounting practices, even if they are innocent mistakes. So, we really have to be careful as lawyers because if we don’t comply with these rules, all it takes is one client’s bar complaint to open up the flood gates. A client could complain about poor service from a lawyer, file a complaint with the state bar who regulates all lawyers but, by the end of the day, even if the client’s complaint about the service of the lawyer is frivolous, the attorney could be sanctioned for other unrelated things that become apparent as a result of the investigation. It’s very common, for example, for a complaint to be filed but ultimate charges are implemented that have to do with wrongful accounting practices, competence issues and if that kind of thing happens, your license can be suspended and if it’s very egregious, it can be revoked. Scott: Very interesting discussion, Scott, thank you so much for all your time. Diane: And thank you all of you listening. We’ve appreciated your time and hope that you’ve gained a great deal from this content. Scott: Until next time!

Passenger To Freighter Conversion Of Aircrafts Engineering Essay

Passenger To Freighter Conversion Of Aircrafts Engineering Essay The purpose of the report is to provide detailed description for future aerospace engineers on how and why a P2F (also known as PTF or Passenger-to-Freighter) conversion is carried out. 1.2. Background Ever since the new millennium started, P2F conversions on aircrafts have become more common in the civil aviation industry. Major civil aviation industry companies (Airbus, Boeing, etc.) started researching with designs on how to modify an airframe structure of their ageing passenger jets to cargo freighters. In conjunction with the current economic situation, civil aviation logistic companies are trying to find ways to cut down expenses on replacing older cargo freighter aircrafts- buying P2F converted aircrafts. Furthermore, P2F conversions extend lifespan of passenger jets, providing first-hand quality P2F cargo aircrafts at second-hand cargo freighter prices. Since there is an increase in demand in the cargo freighter industry more companies will look at P2F conversions .Mainly because it is more economical for the company and they can gain the same amount of revenue at the same time. 1.3. Methodology The information was gathered from a few websites through the internet, books and magazine references .The content was retrieved from websites like http://www.eads.com , books like, magazines like. 1.4. Scope The Focused areas are mainly about the structural differences between a freighter aircraft and a passenger aircraft. In addition, the report will include structure of freighter planes. In addition, it will include the pros and cons of P2F and how the conversion is carried out. Lastly, this report includes the technical effects to the aircraft structure. 2. P2F Conversion Procedures There are various types of P2F conversion procedures. The various procedures are basically created by primary manufacturers (Boeing and Airbus) and assorted conversion companies (EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company) and SIAEC (Singapore International Airlines Engineering Company)).As a result , there are many different procedures for a P2F conversion to be complete. The following procedures will be according to the 4-month conversion of the Airbus A310 wide-bodied airliner into the Airbus A310-200F by Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW).In the following few paragraphs I will discuss about the different procedures carried out during a P2F conversion procedure. (SPG Media Limited, 2010. Airbus A310-200F Freighter Aircraft-Aerospace Technology [online]. Available from: http://www.aerospace-technology.com/projects/a310-200f/) 2.1. Preparation before conversion The airplanes paintwork is scraped off. Thereafter, a fraction of the passenger cabin is taken out. The aircraft is then jacked into a neutral stress point for 4 weeks for the modification of the airframe. With the plane partially empty it is jacked up into a neutral stress point for 4 weeks for the adjustment of the aeroplanes body. (SPG Media Limited, 2010. Airbus A310-200F Freighter Aircraft-Aerospace Technology [online]. Available from: http://www.aerospace-technology.com/projects/a310-200f/) 2.2. Plug windows Now that the aircraft does not carry any more passengers, windows in the aircraft are useless. The windows previously used for passengers to look out of the aircraft are now plugged (covered up). As u can see in the image below, there are no more windows in a freighter aircraft because it saves time on maintenance and for safety reasons. Therefore the windows are plugged.(Marcel van Leeuwen, 2006, Boeing 747 Large Cargo Freighter Arrives in Seattle [online]. Civilian aviation news. Available from: http://www.aviationnews.eu/2006/09/17/boeing- 747-large-cargo-freighter-arrives-in-seattle/) Figure 2.6: Plugging of Windows (Airbus Freighter Conversion, 2010) 2.3. Removal of unwanted material Anything in the aircraft that is not needed anymore is removed from the aircraft. Passenger- related facilities and structure (like seats and carpet flooring) is take out of the as it does not come in handy for a cargo freighter. This is to make room for the installation of the new freighter equipment. With the removal of redundant material it creates space for the cargo. (SPG Media Limited, 2010. Airbus A310-200F Freighter Aircraft-Aerospace Technology [online]. Available from: http://www.aerospace-technology.com/projects/a310-200f/) 2.4. Fitting of cargo door The front-end of the fuselage section is opened up in 2 stages for the installation of the cargo door. The upper frame shell is held at its position and is secured by riveting the frame to the fuselage. The old lower frame shell section is substituted with a new lower frame shell that is lowered into the prepared cut-out location and incorporated strongly to the airframe. The frames forward and aft of the cut-out are entirely replaced by reinforced frames. After the installation of the frames, electric components and hydraulic systems are added for the cargo door to operate with ease. (SPG Media Limited, 2010. Airbus A310-200F Freighter Aircraft-Aerospace Technology [online]. Available from: http://www.aerospace- technology.com/projects/a310-200f/) Figure 2.1 à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ Cargo door of Boeing 747-200BDSF http://www.iai.co.il/sip_storage/files/6/34576.wmv, 2002 2.5. Installation of new flooring The normal flooring on a passenger aircraft cannot be used. Hence, the flooring on a passenger plane has to be removed and reinforced with a higher strength floor to resist heavy cargo loads. To move the cargo in the aircraft easily, ball mats and roller tracks are installed onto the cargo flooring. With the new flooring the aircraft can carry more load and be tough at the same time and move the cargo within the aircraft easily.(SPG Media Limited, 2010. Airbus A310-200F Freighter Aircraft-Aerospace Technology [online]. Available from:http://www.aerospace-technology.com/projects/a310-200f/) Figure 2.2-cargo loading system of airbus http://www.eads.com/eads/int/en.html 2.6. Final checks after conversion Once the body of the aircraft has been converted and all thatà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s left to do is to do a final check on the whole aircraft. Firstly, the aircraft avionics is adjusted before tests are carried out. Thereafter, the customer inspects the flight to make sure everything is in working condition. However, before the aircraft is handed over to the customer the documentation for the conversion is finalised. With all these procedures done, the P2F conversion is complete. (SPG Media Limited, 2010. Airbus A310-200F Freighter Aircraft-Aerospace Technology [online]. Available from: http://www.aerospace-technology.com/projects/a310-200f/) 3. P2F conversionà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s cost impact 3.1 Replacement of ageing Freighters by P2Fs. Since the current condition for the economy is not at a very healthy condition, many aero- logistic companies would scout around for second hand cargo freighters. However, second-hand freighters have now reduced in numbers so drastically that most of them will stop flying within a few years. Hence, P2F conversions will help solve the problem of ageing cargo freighters in the near future. In 2009, airbus presented their 20-year forecast of their future freighter fleet. In their statistics shown in Fig3.1, Airbus emphasised on P2F conversions as the way to go to solve the problem of freighter insufficiency Therefore, by 2028 more than half the freighters around the world will be P2F converted. This is because P2F conversion requires low cost, shorter time and less material than manufacturing a freighter from scratch, making it a cost effective solution. (J. Leahy, L. Rouaud, 2009. Global market forecast 2009-2028 [online], 164.Avaialable from: http://www.airbus.com/en/gmf2009/appli.htm ?onglet=HYPERLINK http://www.airbus.com/en/gmf2009/appli.htm?onglet=page=HYPERLINK http://www.airbus.com/en/gmf2009/appli.htm?onglet=page=page= .) Figure3.1: graph of PTF in demand (Airbus 2009) http://www.airbus.com/en/gmf2009/appli.htm?onglet=HYPERLINK http://www.airbus.com/en/gmf2009/appli.htm?onglet=page=HYPERLINK http://www.airbus.com/en/gmf2009/appli.htm?onglet=page=page= 3.2. Demand of P2F aircrafts P2F conversion will take the freighter industry to a whole different level. In addition, the wider range of freighter types from P2F conversion will create a new generation of small jet freighters (e.g. Airbus A320 P2F).Besides that ,majority of Airbus freighter demand will be aided with P2F conversion as 96% of freighters in 2028 will be P2F aircrafts. This shows that the future of the P2F conversion industry will have a bright future. (J. Leahy, L. Rouaud,2009. Global market forecast 2009-2028 [online], 164.Avaialable from: http://www.airbus.com/en/gmf2009/appli.htm?onglet=HYPERLINK http://www.airbus.com/en/gmf2009/appli.htm?onglet=page=HYPERLINK http://www.airbus.com/en/gmf2009/appli.htm?onglet=page=page=.) figure3.2: graph on small jet freighters (Airbus 2009) http://www.airbus.com/en/gmf2009/appli.htm?onglet=HYPERLINK http://www.airbus.com/en/gmf2009/appli.htm?onglet=page=HYPERLINK http://www.airbus.com/en/gmf2009/appli.htm?onglet=page=page= 4. Benefits and limitations of P2F conversion Despite its many advantages such as its ability to save money time, material and manpower needed. Alongside, it helps extend an aircrafts life and replaces ageing freighters in the market. However, its disadvantages include acceptable use of market price as well as availability of aircraft. The next few paragraphs will explain and elaborate more on the benefits and limitations of P2F conversion. 4.1 Benefits 4.1.1 Saves cost Companies around the world who are looking to purchase freighter cargo aircraft would most likely try to save up on anything they can save on. One of the benefits of P2F conversions is that it helps companies save money. A P2F converted aircraft costs nearly one third of a freighter aircraft made from scratch. Since ità ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s just part of the aircraft that is reconstructed, it will help save cost on the amount of material used. When there is less work to be done, less manpower is needed. Hence; they can save cost by employing fewer engineers to work. Therefore, P2F conversions help save money for companies. (According to Phillip Securities Research (2005), initiating coverage Singapore) 4.1.2 Extends aircraft life A P2F conversion helps extend an aircrafts life span as well. When an aircraft is almost reaching its age of retirement it can either be scrapped or reborn again. In this case the aircraft is sent to companies that deal with conversions. The old structure is replaced with new structure in order for it to fly safely. Therefore, P2F conversions help extend the lifespan of an aircraft.(EADS media centre, Rising (like a phoenix [online], available from: http://www.contentforce.de/iptv/player/macros/_s_eads/_x_s- 35848193/mediacenter.html?height=500HYPERLINK http://www.contentforce.de/iptv/player/macros/_s_eads/_x_s- 35848193/mediacenter.html?height=500width=1024attrs=scrolling=noHYPERLINK http://www.contentforce.de/iptv/player/macros/_s_eads/_x_s- 35848193/mediacenter.html?height=500width=1024attrs=scrolling=nowidth=1024HYPERLINK http://www.contentforce.de/iptv/player/macros/_s_eads/_x_s- 35848193/mediacenter.html?height=500width=1024attrs=scrolling=noHYPERLINK http://www.contentforce.de /iptv/player/macros/_s_eads/_x_s- 35848193/mediacenter.html?height=500width=1024attrs=scrolling=noattrs=scrolling%3Dno) (SIA engineering company websiteprovides information on what P2F conversion is) 4.2 Limitations 4.2.1 Acceptable used market price P2F conversions serve as a form of investment for airline companies. If the cost of the conversion is more than the proposed price to sell the aircraft, the owner selling the P2F converted aircraft will incur a loss. In addition, different models of aircraft go through different kinds of conversion processes. Hence, the standard of quality and the workmanship to set prices for the P2F aircrafts vary widely, which might lead to underpriced P2F planes. (Hamilton, http://museair.googlepages.com/ThePassingofanUnrecognisedIndustryGi.pdf , 2007) 4.2.2 Airframe availability In order to perform a P2F conversion, there must be available airframes. The airframe needs to be from an airworthy passenger jet which is not in service anymore. If not, it would make no sense just to make an aircraft and convert it. Therefore, the number of used jets there are out there is limited to availability. (Hamilton, http://museair.googlepages.com/ThePassingofanUnrecognisedIndustryGi.pdf , 2007) 5. Conclusion The P2F conversion procedure may seem simple to digest. However, it is much more sophisticated compared to the other areas in the aeronautical market. Regardless, the freighter market is shinning their spotlight on P2F conversions to give old passenger aircrafts a second chance to fly again as freighters. In addition, P2F aircrafts are able to perform almost as well as new freighters made from scratch. No matter how advanced P2F conversion gets, there are limits for the acceptable used market price. Otherwise, the conversion will result in heavy loss financially. 6. Recommendations P2F conversion is a very profitable market to invest in. Companies dealing with P2F can take one more step by making use of more advanced technology when they are converting aircrafts. It can help save cost by using less material and maybe even with efficiency. Therefore P2F conversions can take one more step ahead by doing more research in this industry as there will be a rise in demand for freighter aircrafts in the future. III. References SPG Media Limited, 2010. Airbus A310-200F Freighter Aircraft-Aerospace Technology [online]. Available from: http://www.aerospace-technology.com/projects/a310-200f/ [Accessed 16 august 2010] Marcel van Leeuwen, 2006, Boeing 747 Large Cargo Freighter Arrives in Seattle [online]. Civilian aviation news. Available from: http://www.aviationnews.eu/2006/09/17/boeing-747-large-cargo-freighter-arrives-in-seattle/, [Accessed 16 august 2010] J. Leahy, L. Rouaud,2009. Global market forecast 2009-2028 [online], 164.Avaialable from: http://www.airbus.com/en/gmf2009/appli.htm?onglet=HYPERLINK http://www.airbus.com/en/gmf2009/appli.htm?onglet=page=HYPERLINK http://www.airbus.com/en/gmf2009/appli.htm?onglet=page=page= .[Accessed 16 august 2010] like a phoenix [online], available from: http://www.contentforce.de/iptv/player/macros/_s_eads/_x_s-35848193/mediacenter.html .[Accessed 16 august 2010] SIA engineering company websiteprovides information on what P2F conversion is. [Accessed 16 august 2010] Hamilton,http://museair.googlepages.com/ThePassingofanUnrecognisedIndustryGi.pdf , 2007 [Accessed 16 august 2010]

Developing Leadership: Innate or learned?

Developing Leadership: Innate or learned? Leadership has been an issue of much debate and research over the past century. It has evolved from which was essentially an individual and trait based phenomena to what we currently know as distributed leadership (Edwards 2011). The individual however remains in the heart of the matter. Current studies have emphasised the importance of learning and cognitive approach for effective leadership (Northhouse 2010). Evolved research studies have laid down the importance of acquired skills as much as personality traits that exist within individuals to lead. One of the early criticisms of the trait theory was that leaders may find it difficult to adapt to changing roles and circumstances leading to the development of the situational theory (Edwards 2011). Emerging concepts of leadership emphasise on learning and propagate that leadership abilities can be developed and cultivated with training. However in order to develop oneself as a successful leader one needs to develop himself or herself as an individual first. This essay will discuss and analyse the possibilities of leadership development and the theories that propagate it and would explain how leadership development is linked to personal development. Developing leadership: Leadership development is focused on developing the leadership abilities and attitudes of individuals. People might be born with certain physical attributes to perform at the highest level like sport stars or artists, yet they also need to practice and training to make it to the top and maintain consistency. No one can dismiss the importance of coaches in soccer in spite of the raw talent that exists in a team. It requires a great deal of planning, training and mentoring to bring about the best in individual genius. Williams, 2005 has put forth that leadership is a matter of mindset which can essentially be worked on and put into practice he has also highlighted high leaning and use of expertise as the need of managerial leadership competency. Similarly, not every individual is born with the ability to lead. Personal attributes can facilitate or deter a persons leadership abilities and require formalised programs for developing leadership competencies (Bennis 1989). Yet, everyone can develop their leadership effectiveness. However it requires a lot of conscious individual effort in or der to achieve such development. As in the case of a football player with born physical attributes, leadership has also been ascribed to an individuals early life influence. Some are more gifted than others and are born with some special talents. Traits like; personality, intelligence, energy and intuition which are indispensible for a leader are characteristics people are born with (Levicki 2002). Looking for traits associated with effective leadership, researchers have cited attributes like resolute energy, foresight and great persuasive skills (Yukl and Lepsinger 2004). We have come across so many political leaders fighting against the odds and making people believe in their vision with impeccable conviction and resolute. Mahatma Gandhi is a perfect example of drive, foresight and persuasive skills. It has however not been ascertained the specific traits which could guarantee leadership success. According to Edwards, 2011, it is possible for managers to develop their leadership a bility regardless of their gender and early life influences. Environmental factors play a key role amongst individuals as to how they develop themselves into leaders. A leaders problem solving abilities has a bearing on the effectiveness in solving organizational problems. Bennis, 1989 has also clearly stated that irrespective of the traits one might posses; it requires a great degree of personal effort and skill accumulation to propel an individual to a position of effective leadership. Various training programmes and related learning effectively help leaders to understand the requisites of successful leadership. However, knowing what to do and doing what one knows are two entirely diverse outcomes. An estimated 15% of classroom training results in sustained behavioural change with in the work place (Metcalfe 2011). Skill sets that can be developed to be an effective leader are discussed below; Technical Skill- Technical skills help organizations in realizing the actual product or service a company is designed to produce (Northhouse 2010). It is the knowledge or core competency in someones specialised area and activity. Possession of such skills could be referred to as leadership of knowledge (Edwards 2011). Mumford, Zaccaro, Harding et al., 2000 has suggested a skill based model based on five components such as; Competencies, individual attributes, leadership outcomes, career experiences and environmental influences. Human Skill- Human or people skill is the ability to work effectively with colleagues in order to achieve organisational goals. It could be walking along with subordinates, mentoring them or working in tandem with other team members. It is about getting a right mix of ones own perspectives and also being aware of others view of things (Katz 1955). Leaders with human skills adapt their own ideas to those of others. By doing that they manage to build a culture of trust and mutual respect, which in turn results in a conducive work environment where employees feel comfortable working with the leader and get the encouragement to get involved. A leader with human skills is one who is sensitive to the motivational factors affecting the sub ordinates and is considerate of others needs in his or her own decision making (Northhouse 2010). Conceptual Skill- It is the skill or ability to work on ideas and concepts. Leaders with conceptual skills bring about ideas that shape the future of the organisation as also the intricacies involved in bringing about the change (Northhouse 2010). This is critical to any organisation in creating a long term vision and strategic plan for future course of action. However conceptual skill is more relevant at the higher management levels (Edwards 2011). The skills approach provides a structure for understanding the nature of effective leadership (Katz 1955). Mumford, Zaccaro,Harding et al.(2000) opine that an effective leaderships skill model contends that leadership outcomes are the direct result of a leaders competencies in problem solving skills, social judgement skills and knowledge. Each of the competencies include large repertoire of abilities and they can be learned and developed. If we analyse the leadership style of business leader and investor Warren Buffet, he has shown tremendous expertise in all the leadership aspects discussed above. He has become an iconic figure by repeatedly proving his core expertise as an investor. Warren Buffett took the falls that any other leader has to take. He learned from his mistakes and turned his mistakes into a positive thing. Talking of human skills, Warren Buffett shares his leadership at all organizational levels and Buffett is empowered to share leadership responsibilities. Mr. Buffets continual approach of analyzing both possible investment choices, market trends, and the ability to place management resources of the right caliber in the right position has consistently brought this investor to the forefront amongst peers and the marketplace.Warren Buffett has leadership in all three departments and one must have these traits to be a good business leader. For a normal individual, it might require some events or a conscious effort so as to ignite the spark which can lead to development as a leader. The writer of the essay has benefitted from a close relationship with the managing director of a company who in turn was mentored by Dr. B. V. Rao (known as the father of Indian poultry industry). Getting into business, I had a chance meeting with the said person and was reluctant talking to him about my poultry start up. Considering the fact that I was a first generation businessman and that too in my early twenties, I thought I stood no where in the world of business. As it turned out, he seemed to be quite impressed with my enthusiasm and the fact that I had left my job in a FMCG MNC to start my own business. The talk was inspiring and supplemented me with the requisite courage to take the plunge. I have since remained in constant touch with him and benefitted immensely from his insight and mentoring. In spite of the presence of large pro ducers who were established players in the business we made our way through to become the states largest egg producer. Apart from the efforts put in by our team members and other factors, I have always realised my education, past experience and a global exposure has had a major role to play in providing our organisation the edge in the face of competition. We have been the early adaptors, technology leaders and have always taken the risk in pursuit of exponential growth. Turnbull and Bentley (2005) have identified certain occurrences which might play as triggers of leadership development: Experimental leadership development courses. Observing positive role models. Mentoring, coaching and consultant relationships. MBAs and leadership development courses. International and multicultural experiences. Voluntary and community work. Team sports. The suggested activities can be taken up at an individual level, which in turn can lead to development of leadership abilities by any individual if he or she pursues such interest. Modern day research on the learning process has been advocated as transformational learning theory. It accentuates on the self directed learning methodology and about change an individual brings in to oneself in order to live up to the responsibilities and achievement of organisational goals. Meizrow (1994, p.222) has put forth transformational learning as the process of constructing and appropriating a new or revised interpretation of meaning of ones experience as a guide to action. The cognitive process of learning is a key element of self development. (Merriam and Cafarella, 1999) have identified psychological edifice of experience, inner meaning and reflection being the components of the transformational learning process. Taylor (2000) has highlighted the importance of individual development as a vital aspect of transformational learning. Mr. Warren Buffets investment strategies and course of leadership are shining examples of characteristics shared by cognitive theorists. Going by the principles of Cognitive theory, he has demonstrated all the requisite skills of perception, anticipation, and thinking. At the core of every sound investor is a creative innovator. Leadership as self development: A personal development regime can enable one to develop a plan that facilitates acquiring essential leadership skills required for delivering to the organisational demands and across a wide spectrum of environment (Buswell, 2010) .The stepping stone on a journey of personal development is knowing and taking control of oneself. Training modules like PDP run by Bradford school of management requires the students to identify, skills that they believe they are inadequate at and to work on developing the same. The whole process starts from identifying strengths and weaknesses, developing an action plan and addressing the issues. The writer of this essay being an entrepreneur himself has been greatly influenced by Sir Richard Branson. Sir Branson, in his book Losing my virginity has mentioned about his scribe pad where he would note down all the ideas that come to his mind and events that he thought might have a relevance to self development. Bennis, 1989 has also talked about an erstwhile Disney executive who used a yellow pad to jot down unfamiliar terms and references to seek answers to at the next opportune moment. The same approach helped getting to know where I as an individual stood and to work on the weaknesses. Early life influences have been suggested as one of the factors for any individual to develop leadership abilities. Edwards 2011 however suggests that all managers can develop their leadership ability irrespective of gender and early life influences. It is only a matter of ability as to how much someone can develop more than other. The way forward to developing as a leader for an individual is to know and take control of oneself. Overcoming emotional barriers, building self confidence and emotional intelligence play a pivotal role for an individual to develop as a leader (Edwards 2011). Bennis(1989) talks about the importance of knowing the world as much as knowing oneself. A person can develop himself or herself beyond limits given the right attitude and a hunger for knowledge. Broad and systematic education, extensive travel and associations with mentors and groups make a big difference in personal development. It gives the individual the leverage over others in terms of authority and confidence. French and Raven (1959) in their classical behavioural model, mention of expert power which is power through knowledge. Travelling broadens up ones mind and makes people adapt to alien things. It helps seeing things in a different perspective which consequentially makes an individual flexible enough to adapt to the external environment and the challenging task of dealing with changing human behaviour. A well organised leadership development programme can provide the right platform for an individual to cultivate requisite leadership skills needed to perform across a wide spectrum of roles. As is said, knowing the problem is half the problem solved. Understanding oneself can take an individual to a situation where he or she starts working on the weaknesses and develops skills as necessary for the demands of the situation. As is cited above for the triggers of leadership, certain attributes from leaders or role models can be observed and emulated in the individuals context. Edwards, 2011 has mentioned being thrown in the deep end as a potential initiation of leadership development. Whereas it could be a practice followed by leaders to develop or nurture their sub ordinates, an individual can also get involved into circumstances with a conscious effort, where he or she is not familiar with and learn in the process. Bennis, 1989 has quoted Atkin as saying that, one sees a problem as an opportunity and learns through the experience of dealing with it. By doing so the individual not only develops own skills but could also earn the admiration of others. If we consider situati onal approach of leadership, it stresses of a dimension which consists of both directive and supportive elements which is applied appropriately in a given situation (Northhouse 2011). An individual who has gone through the process of dealing in unchartered territory will be better poised to understand the changing needs of subordinates and might be able to fine tune the degree to which he or she is directive or supportive. Bennis 1989, has emphasised the importance of knowing oneself, self knowledge, self invention for self development and consequently as leaders. Individuals need to inculcate a process of self knowledge so as to develop as a leader. Characteristics like being ones own teacher, learning to take responsibility add value to personal development and that one can learn as much as one wants to learn and true understanding comes from reflecting the individuals own experience are being noted as tools to leadership development. It could be worked out as a journey one embarks upon to achieve personal identity with a focussed approach of self development. Communication plays a pivotal role in getting people around to buy ones ideas. Effective leaders use it as a tool to get people involved in their ideas (Avery 2004). Apple founder Steve Jobs is famed for his ability to give speeches and captivate the audience attention. He has been highly effective in inspiring his employees and audience with the ability of an evangelist. Levici (2002) has stated that communication ability constitutes an important ingredient of the individual charisma. In this respect it can be observed that Steve Jobs posses the charismatic abilities by communicating his ideas using metaphors and analogies and storytelling. However Jobs charisma could also be related to the deep understanding he has about the business, which could be co related to the expert power. According to Levici (2002) charisma can be developed by adopting a systematic acquisition of certain superficial attributes coupled with certain self development of tone of voice, style of speech and phra seology. It has however been highlighted that one needs to posses a character in order to have a sustainable impact on people. Electromagnetic induction: An introduction Electromagnetic induction: An introduction Introduction Electromagnetic induction is the production of voltage across a conductor situated in a changing magnetic field or a conductor moving through a stationary magnetic field. Michael Faraday is generally credited with the discovery of the induction phenomenon in 1831 though it may have been anticipated by the work of Francesco Zantedeschi in 1829. Around 1830 to 1832 Joseph Henry made a similar discovery, but did not publish his findings until later History Faradays law was originally an experimental law based upon observations. Later it was formalized, and along with the other laws of electromagnetism a partial time derivative restricted version of it was incorporated into the modern Heaviside versions of Maxwells equations. Faradays law of induction is based on Michael Faradays experiments in 1831. The effect was also discovered by Joseph Henry at about the same time, but Faraday published first. Lenzs law, formulated by Baltic German physicist Heinrich Lenz in 1834, gives the direction of the induced electromotive force and current resulting from electromagnetic induction[2] Technical details Faraday found that the electromotive force (EMF) produced around a closed path is proportional to the rate of change of the magnetic flux through any surface bounded by that path. In practice, this means that an electrical current will be induced in any closed circuit when the magnetic flux through a surface bounded by the conductor changes. This applies whether the field itself changes in strength or the conductor is moved through it. Electromagnetic induction underlies the operation of generators, all electric motors, transformers, induction motors, synchronous motors, solenoids, and most other electrical machines. Faradays law of electromagnetic induction states that: Thus: is the electromotive force (emf) in volts ÃŽ ¦B is the magnetic flux in webers For the common but special case of a coil of wire, composed of N loops with the same area, Faradays law of electromagnetic induction states that where is the electromotive force (emf) in volts N is the number of turns of wire ÃŽ ¦B is the magnetic flux in webers through a single loop. A corollary of Faradays Law, together with Amperes and Ohms laws is Lenzs law: The emf induced in an electric circuit always acts in such a direction that the current it drives around. Consider the case in Figure 3 of a closed rectangular loop of wire in the xy-plane translated in the x-direction at velocity v. Thus, the center of the loop at xC satisfies v = dxC / dt. The loop has length â„“ in the y-direction and width w in the x-direction. A time-independent but spatially varying magnetic field B(x) points in the z-direction. The magnetic field on the left side is B( xC − w / 2), and on the right side is B( xC + w / 2). The electromotive force is to be found directly and by using Faradays law above. Lorentz force law method A charge q in the wire on the left side of the loop experiences a Lorentz force q v Ãâ€" B k = −q v B(xC − w / 2) j   ( j, k unit vectors in the y- and z-directions; see vector cross product), leading to an EMF (work per unit charge) of v â„“ B(xC − w / 2) along the length of the left side of the loop. On the right side of the loop the same argument shows the EMF to be v â„“ B(xC + w / 2). The two EMFs oppose each other, both pushing positive charge toward the bottom of the loop. In the case where the B-field increases with increase in x, the force on the right side is largest, and the current will be clockwise: using the right-hand rule, the B-field generated by the current opposes the impressed fieldThe EMF driving the current must increase as we move counterclockwise (opposite to the current). Adding the EMFs in a counterclockwise tour of the loop we find Faradays law method At any position of the loop the magnetic flux through the loop is The sign choice is decided by whether the normal to the surface points in the same direction as B, or in the opposite direction. If we take the normal to the surface as pointing in the same direction as the B-field of the induced current, this sign is negative. The time derivative of the flux is then (using the chain rule of differentiation or the general form of Leibniz rule for differentiation of an integral): (where v = dxC / dt is the rate of motion of the loop in the x-direction ) leading to: as before. The equivalence of these two approaches is general and, depending on the example, one or the other method may prove more practical. Moving loop in uniform B-field Figure 4: Rectangular wire loop rotating at angular velocity ω in radially outward pointing magnetic field B of fixed magnitude. Current is collected by brushes attached to top and bottom discs, which have conducting rims. Figure 4 shows a spindle formed of two discs with conducting rims and a conducting loop attached vertically between these rims. The entire assembly spins in a magnetic field that points radially outward, but is the same magnitude regardless of its direction. A radially oriented collecting return loop picks up current from the conducting rims. At the location of the collecting return loop, the radial B-field lies in the plane of the collecting loop, so the collecting loop contributes no flux to the circuit. The electromotive force is to be found Lorentz force law method In this case the Lorentz force drives the current in the two vertical arms of the moving loop downward, so current flows from the top disc to the bottom disc. In the conducting rims of the discs, the Lorentz force is perpendicular to the rim, so no EMF is generated in the rims, nor in the horizontal portions of the moving loop. Current is transmitted from the bottom rim to the top rim through the external return loop, which is oriented so the B-field is in its plane. Thus, the Lorentz force in the return loop is perpendicular to the loop, and no EMF is generated in this return loop. Traversing the current path in the direction opposite to the current flow, work is done against the Lorentz force only in the vertical arms of the moving loop, where Consequently the EMF is where â„“ is the vertical length of the loop, and the velocity is related to the angular rate of rotation by v = r ω, with r = radius of cylinder. Notice that the same work is done on any path that rotates with the loop and connects the upper and lower rim. Faradays law method An intuitively appealing but mistaken approach to using the flux rule would say the flux through the circuit was just ÃŽ ¦B = B w â„“, where w = width of the moving loop. This number is time-independent, so the approach predicts incorrectly that no EMF is generated. The flaw in this argument is that it fails to consider the entire current path, which is a closed loop. To use the flux rule, we have to look at the entire current path, which includes the path through the rims in the top and bottom discs. We can choose an arbitrary closed path through the rims and the rotating loop, and the flux law will find the EMF around the chosen path. Any path that has a segment attached to the rotating loop captures the relative motion of the parts of the circuit. As an example path, lets traverse the circuit in the direction of rotation in the top disc, and in the direction opposite to the direction of rotation in the bottom disc (shown by arrows in Figure 4). In this case, for the moving loop at an angle ÃŽ ¸ from the collecting loop, a portion of the cylinder of area A = r â„“ ÃŽ ¸ is part of the circuit. This area is perpendicular to the B-field, and so contributes to the flux an amount: where the sign is negative because the right-hand rule suggests the B-field generated by the current loop is opposite in direction to the applied B field. As this is the only time-dependent portion of the flux, the flux law predicts an EMF of in agreement with the Lorentz force law calculation. Now lets try a different path. Follow a path traversing the rims via the opposite choice of segments. Then the coupled flux would decrease as ÃŽ ¸ increased, but the right-hand rule would suggest the current loop added to the applied B-field, so the EMF around this path is the same as for the first path. Any mixture of return paths leads to the same result for EMF, so it is actually immaterial which path is followed. The use of a closed path to find EMF as done above appears to depend upon details of the path geometry. In contrast, the Lorentz-law approach is independent of such restrictions. A discussion follows intended to understand better the equivalence of paths and escape the particulars of path selection when using the flux law. Figure 5 is an idealization of with the cylinder unwrapped onto a plane. The same path-related analysis works, but a simplification is suggested. The time-independent aspects of the circuit cannot affect the time-rate-of-change of flux. For example, at a constant velocity of sliding the loop, the details of current flow through the loop are not time dependent. Instead of concern over details of the closed loop selected to find the EMF, one can focus on the area of B-field swept out by the moving loop. This suggestion amounts to finding the rate at which flux is cut by the circuit. That notion provides direct evaluation of the rate of change of flux, without concern over the time-independent details of various path choices around the circuit. Just as with the Lorentz law approach, it is clear that any two paths attached to the sliding loop, but differing in how they cross the loop, produce the same rate-of-change of flux. In Figure 5 the area swept out in unit time is simply dA / dt = v â„“, regardless of the details of the selected closed path, so Faradays law of induction provides the EMF as: This path independence of EMF shows that if the sliding loop is replaced by a solid conducting plate, or even some complex warped surface, the analysis is the same: find the flux in the area swept out by the moving portion of the circuit. In a similar way, if the sliding loop in the drum generator of Figure 4 is replaced by a 360 ° solid conducting cylinder, the swept area calculation is exactly the same as for the case with only a loop. That is, the EMF predicted by Faradays law is exactly the same for the case with a cylinder with solid conducting walls or, for that matter, a cylinder with a cheese grater for walls. Notice, though, that the current that flows as a result of this EMF will not be the same because the resistance of the circuit determines the current[3] Applications The principles of electromagnetic induction are applied in many devices and systems, including: Induction Sealing Induction motors Electrical generators Transformers Contactless charging of rechargeable batteries The 6.6kW Magne Charge system for Battery electric vehicles Induction cookers Induction welding Inductors Electromagnetic forming Magnetic flow meters Transcranial magnetic stimulation Faraday Flashlight Graphics tablet Wireless energy transfer Electric Guitar Pickups Hall effect meters Current transformer meters Clamp meter Audio and video tapes the circuit opposes the change in magnetic flux which produces the emf. The direction mentioned in Lenzs law can be thought of as the result of the minus sign in the above equation Eddy currents An eddy current is a swirling current set up in a conductor in response to a changing magnetic field. By Lenz ¹s law, the current swirls in such a way as to create a magnetic field opposing the change; to do this in a conductor, electrons swirl in a plane perpendicular to the magnetic field. Because of the tendency of eddy currents to oppose, eddy currents cause energy to be lost. More accurately, eddy currents transform more useful forms of energy, such as kinetic energy, into heat, which is generally much less useful. In many applications the loss of useful energy is not particularly desirable, but there are some practical applications. One is in the brakes of some trains. During braking, the metal wheels are exposed to a magnetic field from an electromagnet, generating eddy currents in the wheels. The magnetic interaction between the applied field and the eddy currents acts to slow the wheels down. The faster the wheels are spinning, the stronger the effect, meaning that as the train slows the braking force is reduced, producing a smooth stopping motion. Electrical generator Faradays disc electric generator. The disc rotates with angular rate ω, sweeping the conducting radius circularly in the static magnetic field B. The magnetic Lorentz force v Ãâ€" B drives the current along the conducting radius to the conducting rim, and from there the circuit completes through the lower brush and the axle supporting the disc. Thus, current is generated from mechanical motion. The EMF generated by Faradays law of induction due to relative movement of a circuit and a magnetic field is the phenomenon underlying electrical generators. When a permanent magnet is moved relative to a conductor, or vice versa, an electromotive force is created. If the wire is connected through an electrical load, current will flow, and thus electrical energy is generated, converting the mechanical energy of motion to electrical energy. For example, the drum generator is based upon . A different implementation of this idea is the Faradays disc, shown in simplified form in Figure 8. Note that either the analysis of Figure 5, or direct application of the Lorentz force law, shows that a solid conducting disc works the same way. In the Faradays disc example, the disc is rotated in a uniform magnetic field perpendicular to the disc, causing a current to flow in the radial arm due to the Lorentz force. It is interesting to understand how it arises that mechanical work is necessary to drive this current. When the generated current flows through the conducting rim, a magnetic field is generated by this current through Amperes circuital law (labeled induced B in Figure 8). The rim thus becomes an electromagnet that resists rotation of the disc (an example of Lenzs law). On the far side of the figure, the return current flows from the rotating arm through the far side of the rim to the bottom brush. The B-field induced by this return current opposes the applied B-field, tending to decrease the flux through that side of the circuit, opposing the increase in flux due to rotation. On the near side of the figure, the return current flows from the rotating arm through the near side of the rim to the bottom brush. The i nduced B-field increases the flux on this side of the circuit, opposing the decrease in flux due to rotation. Thus, both sides of the circuit generate an emf opposing the rotation. The energy required to keep the disc moving, despite this reactive force, is exactly equal to the electrical energy generated (plus energy wasted due to friction, Joule heating, and other inefficiencies). This behavior is common to all generators converting mechanical energy to electrical energy. Although Faradays law always describes the working of electrical generators, the detailed mechanism can differ in different cases. When the magnet is rotated around a stationary conductor, the changing magnetic field creates an electric field, as described by the Maxwell-Faraday equation, and that electric field pushes the charges through the wire. This case is called an induced EMF. On the other hand, when the magnet is stationary and the conductor is rotated, the moving charges experience a magnetic force (as described by the Lorentz force law), and this magnetic force pushes the charges through the wire. This case is called motional EMF. (For more information on motional EMF, induced EMF, Faradays law, and the Lorentz force. Electrical motor An electrical generator can be run backwards to become a motor. For example, with the Faraday disc, suppose a DC current is driven through the conducting radial arm by a voltage. Then by the Lorentz force law, this traveling charge experiences a force in the magnetic field B that will turn the disc in a direction given by Flemings left hand rule. In the absence of irreversible effects, like friction or Joule heating, the disc turns at the rate necessary to make d ÃŽ ¦B / dt equal to the voltage driving the current. Electrical transformer The EMF predicted by Faradays law is also responsible for electrical transformers. When the electric current in a loop of wire changes, the changing current creates a changing magnetic field. A second wire in reach of this magnetic field will experience this change in magnetic field as a change in its coupled magnetic flux, a d ÃŽ ¦B / d t. Therefore, an electromotive force is set up in the second loop called the induced EMF or transformer EMF. If the two ends of this loop are connected through an electrical load, current will flow. Magnetic flow meter Faradays law is used for measuring the flow of electrically conductive liquids and slurries. Such instruments are called magnetic flow meters. The induced voltage ÃŽ µ generated in the magnetic field B due to a conductive liquid moving at velocity v is thus given by: where â„“ is the distance between electrodes in the magnetic flow meter. Parasitic induction and waste heating All metal objects moving in relation to a static magnetic field will experience inductive power flow, as do all stationary metal objects in relation to a moving magnetic field. These power flows are occasionally undesirable, resulting in flowing electric current at very low voltage and heating of the metal. There are a number of methods employed to control these undesirable inductive effects. Electromagnets in electric motors, generators, and transformers do not use solid metal, but instead use thin sheets of metal plate, called laminations. These thin plates reduce the parasitic eddy currents, as described below. Inductive coils in electronics typically use magnetic cores to minimize parasitic current flow. They are a mixture of metal powder plus a resin binder that can hold any shape. The binder prevents parasitic current flow through the powdered metal.

Princes and Paupers Essay -- Wealth Poor Rich Economy Essays

Princes and Paupers Year by year the world becomes more sharply divided by two. On the one hand, there are the advanced, industrial, developed, with mature economics. And then there are the rest--developing, less developed, underdeveloped, undeveloped, and pre-industrial. The exact description is unimportant; for the basic division is, of course, one between the rich and the poor. What does it mean to be poor? It has always been advantageous to be born on the right side of the tracks. But the accident of birth has never had quite the significance that it holds today, for every child born to parents in the developed countries, seven are born in the underdeveloped world. This fact, above all else, will determine the course of their lives. The chances are that most of the seven children will be born, and brought up in poverty. Being born poor, the chances are that you will spend your life being hungry. This is not ordinary hunger as we may know it, but actual starvation and ill health brought on by lack of nutrition. Two-thirds of the world suffers from malnutrition, and thirty thousand children under five years of age die from malnutrition everyday. It is hard to imagine that within a twenty-four hour period we actually lose that many children. The total food resources in the world today would be perfectly adequate to feed everyone properly, unfortunately, there is an unfair distribution among nations and social groups. The United States is the net importer of food and agriculture from the rest of the world. While we make only five- percent of the worlds population, we import forty- percent of all beef traded, we buy one-third of all the fish and seafood and one-third of all dairy products. The overcompensation of... .... It costs only pennies a day and could make a tremendous difference in a child's life. Think about all of the small change that we spend everyday. The facts provided are not given to be critical of any one person or any particular Western country. Yet, they are facts, and are grim reality for so many disadvantaged people in these Third World countries. Instead of turning our backs on these individuals, we must start educating ourselves on the large gap that consist between the rich and the poor. They are trapped in a pattern of overlapping vicious circles. The people in these poor countries had no choice in where they would be born, but we do have a choice in trying to make a difference in their lives. We must remember that they are human beings just as we are, and have been put at a disadvantage and we in the West are in the position to lessen their suffering.

The End of Play Essay -- Article Review, Marie Winn

Long gone are the days of playing kickball and flying kites in the park on a Saturday afternoon. Children of today's society would most likely prefer staying inside playing Guitar Hero on their Xboxes or watching the latest episodes of their favorite television show during their free time. The time for imaginative and physical play is slowly being pushed to the side as the years pass by, and room is being made for empty, redundant television shows and video games. The essence of childhood play is gradually diminishing as today's society encourages the idea of growing up as quickly as possible. In the process of allowing children to indulge in as much television and video games as they please, the problem of childhood obesity is introduced since outdoor play and physical activities are not of great importance to today's children anymore. Children should have a restricted amount of time on how much they are allowed to watch television or play video games so that they learn the importan t benefits of outdoor and imaginative play, ultimately resulting to a healthier lifestyle. In Marie Winn's article titled â€Å"The End of Play†, she discusses the topic of how children today are seeming to lose the sense of being a child. Compared to children of previous generations, the children of today's society have parallel interests and occupations of modern day adults. (Winn 1). They seem to be losing touch with their inner child and skipping straight to adulthood. A child a couple of decades ago would be easily distinguished from an adult due to their interests, but since then television and video games have replaced the imaginative play that children once enjoyed. (Winn 2). In Winn's article, a parent of two school-age children mentions that s... ... relationships to be shaped effectively. (Winn 29). The issues of losing the essence of being a child, the encouragement of obesity and the inability to function socially have one common factor that ties them together. They are all negatively influenced by the presence of television and video games. The regulation of television and video games has not been brought to attention until recently, but is it too late to reverse the effects it is having on the present generation of children? Not much can be done to undo the leniency society has allowed for the past couple decades except to educate the children and implement more restrictions on what is being broadcasted and marketed towards their age group. The children are a very important fundamental to society because they are, after all, the ones who will run our future and generations after the next.

Ancient Greece Essay

Greek Mythology, set of diverse traditional tales told by the ancient Greeks about the exploits of gods and heroes and their relations with ordinary mortals. The ancient Greeks worshiped many gods within a culture that tolerated diversity. Unlike other belief systems, Greek culture recognized no single truth or code and produced no sacred, written text like the Bible or the Qur’an. Stories about the origins and actions of Greek divinities varied widely, depending, for example, on whether the tale appeared in a comedy, tragedy, or epic poem. Greek mythology was like a complex and rich language, in which the Greeks could express a vast range of perceptions about the world. A Greek city-state devoted itself to a particular god or group of gods in whose honor it built temples. The temple generally housed a statue of the god or gods. The Greeks honored the city’s gods in festivals and also offered sacrifices to the gods, usually a domestic animal such as a goat. Stories about the gods varied by geographic location: A god might have one set of characteristics in one city or region and quite different characteristics elsewhere. II A A1  PRINCIPAL FIGURES IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY Greek mythology has several distinguishing characteristics, in addition to its multiple versions. The Greek gods resembled human beings in their form and in their emotions, and they lived in a society that resembled human society in its levels of authority and power. However, a crucial difference existed between gods and human beings: Humans died, and gods were immortal. Heroes also played an important role in Greek mythology, and stories about them conveyed serious themes. The Greeks considered human heroes from the past closer to themselves than were the immortal gods. Gods  Given the multiplicity of myths that circulated in Greece, it is difficult to present a single version of the genealogy (family history) of the gods. However, two accounts together provide a genealogy that most ancient Greeks would have recognized. One is the account given by Greek poet Hesiod in his Theogony (Genealogy of the Gods), written in the 8th century BC. The other account, The Library, is attributed to a mythographer (compiler of myths) named Apollodorus, who lived during the 2nd century BC. The Creation of the Gods According to Greek myths about creation, the god Chaos (Greek for â€Å"Gaping Void†) was the foundation of all things. From Chaos came Gaea (â€Å"Earth†); the bottomless depth of the underworld, known as Tartarus; and Eros (â€Å"Love†). Eros, the god of love, was needed to draw divinities together so they Greek Mythology might produce offspring. Chaos produced Night, while Gaea first bore Uranus, the god of the heavens, and after him produced the mountains, sea, and gods known as Titans. The Titans were strong and large, and they committed arrogant deeds. The youngest and most important Titan was Cronus. Uranus and Gaea, who came to personify Heaven and Earth, also gave birth to the Cyclopes, one-eyed giants who made thunderbolts. See also Creation Stories. A2 A3 A4 Cronus and Rhea Uranus tried to block any successors from taking over his supreme position by forcing back into Gaea the children she bore. But the youngest child, Cronus, thwarted his father, cutting off his genitals and tossing them into the sea. From the bloody foam in the sea Aphrodite, goddess of sexual love, was born. After wounding his father and taking away his power, Cronus became ruler of the universe. But Cronus, in turn, feared that his own son would supplant him. When his sister and wife Rhea gave birth to offspring—Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon—Cronus swallowed them. Only the youngest, Zeus, escaped this fate, because Rhea tricked Cronus. She gave him a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes to swallow in place of the baby. Zeus and the Olympian Gods When fully grown, Zeus forced his father, Cronus, to disgorge the children he had swallowed. With their help and armed with the thunderbolt, Zeus made war on Cronus and the Titans, and overcame them. He established a new regime, based on Mount Olympus in northern Greece. Zeus ruled the sky. His brother Poseidon ruled the sea, and his brother Hades, the underworld. Their sister Hestia ruled the hearth, and Demeter took charge of the harvest. Zeus married his sister Hera, who became queen of the heavens and guardian of marriage and childbirth. Among their children was Ares, whose sphere of influence was war. Twelve major gods and goddesses had their homes on Mount Olympus and were known as the Olympians. Four children of Zeus and one child of Hera joined the Olympian gods Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Demeter, and Ares. Zeus’s Olympian offspring were Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, and Athena. Hera gave birth to Hephaestus. The Offspring of Zeus  Zeus had numerous children by both mortal and immortal women. By the mortal Semele he had Dionysus, a god associated with wine and with other forms of intoxication and ecstasy. By Leto, a Titan, Zeus fathered the twins Apollo and Artemis, who became two of the most important Olympian divinities. Artemis remained a virgin and took hunting as her special province. Apollo became associated with music and prophecy. People visited his oracle (shrine) at Delphi to seek his prophetic advice. By the nymph Maia, Zeus became father of Hermes, the Olympian trickster god who had the power to cross all kinds of boundaries. Hermes guided the souls of the dead down to the underworld, Greek Mythology carried messages between gods and mortals, and wafted a magical sleep upon the wakeful. Two other Olympian divinities, Hephaestus and Athena, had unusual births. Hera conceived Hephaestus, the blacksmith god, without a male partner. Subsequently he suffered the wrath of Zeus, who once hurled him from Olympus for coming to the aid of his mother; this fall down onto the island of Lemnos crippled Hephaestus. The birth of Athena was even stranger. Zeus and Metis, daughter of the Titan Oceanus, were the parents of Athena. But Gaea had warned Zeus that, after giving birth to the girl with whom she was pregnant, Metis would bear a son destined to rule heaven. To avoid losing his throne to a son, Zeus swallowed Metis, just as Cronus had previously swallowed his own children to thwart succession. Metis’s child Athena was born from the head of Zeus, which Hephaestus split open with an axe. Athena, another virgin goddess, embodied the power of practical intelligence in warfare and crafts work. She also served as the protector of the city of Athens. Another of Zeus’s children was Persephone; her mother was Demeter, goddess of grain, vegetation, and the harvest. Once when Persephone was gathering flowers in a meadow, Hades, god of the underworld, saw and abducted her, taking her down to the kingdom of the dead to be his bride. Her grief-stricken mother wandered the world in search of her; as a result, fertility left the earth. Zeus commanded Hades to release Persephone, but Hades had cunningly given her a pomegranate seed to eat. Having consumed food from the underworld, Persephone was obliged to return below the earth for part of each year. Her return from the underworld each year meant the revival of nature and the beginning of spring. This myth was told especially in connection with the Eleusinian Mysteries, sacred rituals observed in the Greek town of Elevsis near Athens. The rituals offered initiates in the mysteries the hope of rebirth, just as Persephone had been reborn after her journey to the underworld. Many Greek myths report the exploits of the principal Olympians, but Greek myths also refer to a variety of other divinities, each with their particular sphere of influence. Many of these divinities were children of Zeus, symbolizing the fact that they belonged to the new Olympian order of Zeus’s regime. The Muses, nine daughters of Zeus and the goddess of memory, Mnemosyne, presided over song, dance, and music. The Fates, three goddesses who controlled human life and destiny, and the Horae, goddesses who controlled the seasons, were appropriately the children of Zeus and Themis, the goddess of divine justice and law. Far different in temperament were the Erinyes (Furies), ancient and repellent goddesses who had sprung from the earth after it had been impregnated with the blood of Uranus’s severed genitals. Terrible though they were, the Erinyes also had a legitimate role in the world: to pursue those who had murdered their own kin. A5 Disruptive Deities Human existence is characterized by disorder as well as order, and many of the most characteristic figures in Greek mythology exert a powerfully disruptive effect. Satyrs, whom the Greeks imagined as part human and part horse (or part goat), led lives dominated by wine and lust. Myths depicted them as companions of Dionysus who drunkenly pursued nymphs, spirits of nature represented as young and beautiful maidens. Many of the jugs used at Greek symposia (drinking parties) carry images of satyrs. Equally wild, but more threatening than the satyrs, were the savage centaurs. These monsters, Greek Mythology depicted as half-man and half-horse, tended toward uncontrolled aggression. The centaurs are known for combat with their neighbors, the Lapiths, which resulted from an attempt to carry off the Lapith women at a wedding feast. This combat was depicted in sculpture on the Parthenon, a temple dedicated to Athena in Athens. The Sirens, usually portrayed as birds with women’s heads, posed a different sort of threat. These island-dwelling enchantresses lured mariners to their deaths by the irresistible beauty of their song. The seafaring Greek hero Odysseus alone survived this temptation by ordering his companions to block their own ears, to bind him to the mast of his ship, and to ignore all his entreaties to be allowed to follow the lure of the Sirens’ song. B B1 B2 Mortals The Greeks had several myths to account for the origins of humanity. According to one version, human beings sprang from the ground, and this origin explained their devotion to the land. According to another myth, a Titan molded the first human beings from clay. The Greeks also had a story about the destruction of humanity, similar to the biblical deluge. The Creation of Human Beings Conflicting Greek myths tell about the creation of humanity. Some myths recount how the populations of particular localities sprang directly from the earth. The Arcadians, residents of a region of Greece known as Arcadia, claimed this distinction for their original inhabitant, Pelasgus (see Pelasgians). The Thebans boasted descent from earthborn men who had sprung from the spot where Cadmus, the founder of Thebes, had sown the ground with the teeth of a sacred dragon. According to another tale, one of the Titans, Prometheus, fashioned the first human being from water and earth. In the more usual version of the story Prometheus did not actually create humanity but simply lent it assistance through the gift of fire. Another tale dealt with humanity’s re-creation. When Zeus planned to destroy an ancient race living on Earth, he sent a deluge. However, Deucalion, a son of Prometheus, and his wife Pyrrha—the Greek equivalents of the biblical Noah and his wife—put provisions into a chest and climbed into it. Carried across the waters of the flood, they landed on Mount Parnassus. After the waters receded, the couple gratefully made sacrifices to Zeus. His response was to send Hermes to instruct them how to repopulate the world. They should cast stones behind them. Stones thrown by Deucalion became men; those thrown by Pyrrha, women. The Greek People According to myth, the various peoples of Greece descended from Hellen, son of Deucalion and Pyrrha. One genealogy related that the Dorian and the Aeolian Greeks sprang from Hellen’s sons Dorus and Aeolus. The Achaeans and Ionians descended from Achaeos and Ion, sons of Hellen’s other son, Xuthus. These figures, in their turn, produced offspring who, along with children born of unions Greek Mythology between divinities and mortals, made up the collection of heroes and heroines whose exploits constitute a central part of Greek mythology. C C1 C2 C3 Heroes Myths about heroes are particularly characteristic of Greek mythology. Many of these heroes were the sons of gods, and a number of myths involved expeditions by these heroes. The expeditions generally related to quests or combats. Scholars consider some of these myths partly historical in nature—that is, they explained events in the distant past and were handed down orally from one generation to the next. Two of the most important of the semihistorical myths involve the search for the Golden Fleece and the quest that led to the Trojan War. In other myths heroes such as Heracles and Theseus had to overcome fearsome monsters. Jason and the Golden Fleece Jason was a hero who sailed in the ship Argo, with a band of heroes called the Argonauts, on a dangerous quest for the Golden Fleece at the eastern end of the Black Sea in the land of Colchis. Jason had to fetch this family property, a fleece made of gold from a winged ram, in order to regain his throne. A dragon that never slept guarded the fleece and made the mission nearly impossible. Thanks to the magical powers of Medea, daughter of the ruler of Colchis, Jason performed the impossible tasks necessary to win the fleece and to take it from the dragon. Afterward Medea took horrible revenge on Pelias, who had killed Jason’s parents, stolen Jason’s throne, and sent Jason on the quest for the fleece. She tricked Pelias’s daughters into cutting him up and boiling him in a cauldron. Medea’s story continued to involve horrific violence. When Jason rejected her for another woman, Medea once more used her magic to avenge herself with extreme cruelty. Meleager Jason and the same generation of heroes took part in another adventure, with Meleager, the son of King Oeneus of Calydon and his wife Althea. At Meleager’s birth the Fates predicted that he would die when a log burning on the hearth was completely consumed. His mother snatched the log and hid it in a chest. Meleager grew to manhood. One day, his father accidentally omitted Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, from a sacrifice. In revenge Artemis sent a mighty boar to ravage the country. Meleager set out to destroy it, accompanied by some of the greatest heroes of the day, including Peleus, Telamon, Theseus, Jason, and Castor and Polydeuces. The boar was killed. However, Meleager killed his mother’s brothers in a quarrel about who should receive the boar skin. In her anger Althea threw the log on to the fire, so ending her son’s life; she then hanged herself. Heroes of the Trojan War The greatest expedition of all was that which resulted in the Trojan War. The object of this quest was Helen, a beautiful Greek woman who had been abducted by Paris, son of King Priam of Troy. Helen’s husband Menelaus and his brother Agamemnon led an army of Greeks to besiege Troy. After ten Greek Mythology years, with many heroes dead on both sides, the city fell to the trick of the Trojan Horse—a giant wooden horse that the Greeks built and left outside the gates of Troy while their army pretended to withdraw. Not knowing that Greek heroes were hiding inside the horse, the Trojans took the horse into the city. The hidden Greeks then slipped out, opened the city gates and let their army in, thus defeating Troy. The Iliad, an epic poem attributed to Greek poet Homer, tells the story of the Trojan War. The story continued with the Odyssey, another long poem attributed to Homer, in which the Greek hero Odysseus made his way home after the Trojan War. Odysseus returned to his faithful wife, Penelope, whereas Agamemnon returned to be murdered by his faithless wife, Clytemnestra, and her lover. Historians considered the Trojan War entirely mythical until excavations in Turkey showed that there had been cities on the site of Troy and that fire had destroyed one of these cities at about the time of the Trojan War, sometime from 1230 BC to 1180 BC. C4 C5 Heracles and Theseus. The deeds of the heroes Heracles (see Hercules) and Theseus exemplify a central theme in Greek mythology: the conflict between civilization and wild savagery. Each hero confronted and overcame monstrous opponents, yet neither enjoyed unclouded happiness. Heracles had been an Argonaut but left the expedition after being plunged into grief at the loss of his companion Hylas. In another story, a fit of madness led Heracles to kill his own wife and children. But he is best known for his feats of prowess against beasts and monsters, which began soon after his birth. The most difficult of these feats are known as the 12 labors, which are believed to represent efforts to conquer death and achieve immortality. Although Heracles died, his father, Zeus, gave him a place on Mount Olympus. Theseus successfully slew the Minotaur, a monster that was half man and half bull. On his voyage home to Athens, however, he forgot to hoist the white sails that would have signified the success of his adventure. According to one tale, Theseus’s heartbroken father Aegeus, seeing black sails, believed his son had died, and committed suicide. The Aegean Sea in which he drowned is presumably named after Aegeus. Oedipus No hero of Greek mythology has proved more fascinating than Oedipus. He destroyed a monster, the Sphinx, by answering its riddle. Yet his ultimate downfall served as a terrifying warning of the instability of human fortune. As a baby, Oedipus had been abandoned on a mountainside by his parents, King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes, because of a prophecy that the child would grow up to kill his father and marry his mother. Saved by the pity of a shepherd, the child—its identity unknown—was reared by the king and queen of the neighboring city of Corinth. In due course, Oedipus unwittingly fulfilled the prophecy, matching the horrific crimes he had committed with the equally ghastly self-punishment of piercing his own eyes with Jocasta’s brooch-pins. Greek Mythology III A Gods and Goddesses B THE NATURE OF GREEK GODS AND HEROES In many respects the gods and goddesses of Greek mythology resembled extraordinarily powerful human beings. They experienced emotions such as jealousy, love, and grief, and they shared with humans a desire to assert their own authority and to punish anyone who flouted it. However, these emotions and desires took supernaturally intense form in gods and goddesses. As numerous literary descriptions and artistic representations testify, the Greeks imagined their gods to have human shape, although this form was strongly idealized. The Greeks, moreover, modeled relationships between divinities on those between human beings. Apollo and Artemis were brother and sister, Zeus and Hera were husband and wife, and the society of the gods on Mount Olympus resembled that of an unruly family, with Zeus at its head. The gods could temporarily enter the human world. They might, for example, fall in love with a mortal, as Aphrodite did with Adonis; Apollo with Daphne; and Zeus with Leda, Alcmene, and Danae. Or they might destroy a mortal who displeased them, as Dionysus destroyed King Pentheus of Thebes for mocking his rites. Not all Greek divinities resembled human beings. They could also be uncanny, strange, and alien, a quality made visible in artistic representations of monsters. For example, the snake-haired Gorgon Medusa had a stare that turned her victims to stone. The Graeae, sisters of the Gorgons, were gray-haired old crones from birth. They possessed but a single tooth and a single eye between them. Typhoeus was a hideous monster from whose shoulders grew a hundred snakeheads with dark, flickering tongues. Even the major deities of Olympus showed alien characteristics at times. A recurrent sign of divine power is the ability to change shape, either one’s own or that of others. Athena once transformed herself into a vulture; Poseidon once took the form of a stallion. This ability could prove convenient such as when Zeus assumed the form of a swan to woo Leda. Zeus turned Lycaon, a disrespectful king, into a wolf to punish him for his wickedness. The ability to exercise power over the crossing of boundaries is a crucial feature of divine power among the Greeks. Heroes Greek mythology also told how divinities interacted with heroes, a category of mortals who, though dead, were believed to retain power to influence the lives of the living. In myths heroes represented a kind of bridge between gods and mortals. Heroes such as Achilles, Perseus, and Aeneas were the products of a union between a deity and a mortal. The fact that the gods often intervened to help heroes—for example, during combat—indicated not the heroes’ weakness but their special importance. Yet heroes were not the equals of the gods. With a logic characteristic of Greek myth, heroes typically possessed a defect to balance out their exceptional power. For example, the warrior Achilles, hero of the Trojan War, was invulnerable except in the heel. The prophet Cassandra, who warned the Trojans of dangers such as the Trojan Horse, Greek Mythology always prophesied the truth but was never believed. Heracles constituted an extreme example of this paradox: His awesome strength was balanced by his tendency to become a victim of his own excessive violence. Nevertheless, the gods allowed Heracles to cross the ultimate boundary by gaining admission to Olympus. IV A B THE FUNCTIONS OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY Like most other mythological traditions, Greek myths served several purposes. First, Greek myths explained the world. Second, they acted as a means of exploration. Third, they provided authority and legitimacy. Finally, they provided entertainment. Explanation Greek myths lent structure and order to the world and explained how the current state of things had originated. Hesiod’s Theogony narrated the development of the present order of the universe by relating it to Chaos, the origin of all things. By a complex process of violence, struggle, and sexual attraction, the regime led by Zeus had eventually taken over. Another poem by Hesiod, Works and Days, explained why the world is full of trouble. According to the poem the first woman, Pandora, opened a jar whose lid she had been forbidden to lift. As a result of her disobedience all the diseases and miseries previously confined in the jar escaped into the world. Such a myth also makes a statement about relationships between the sexes in Hesiod’s own world. Scholars assume that he composed the poem for a largely male audience that was receptive to a tale that put women at the root of all evil. One of the commonest types of explanation given in myths relates to ritual. Myths helped worshipers make sense of a religious practice by telling how the practice originated. A prime example is sacrifice, a ritual that involved killing a domesticated animal as an offering to the gods. The ceremony culminated in the butchering, cooking, and sharing of the meat of the victim. Hesiod recounts the myth associated with this rite. According to this myth, the tricky Titan Prometheus tried to outwit Zeus by offering him a cunningly devised choice of meals. Zeus could have either an apparently unappetizing dish—an ox paunch, which had tasty meat concealed within—or a seemingly delicious one, gleaming fat on the outside, which had nothing but bones hidden beneath. Zeus chose the second dish, and ever since human beings have kept the tastiest part of every sacrifice for themselves, leaving the gods nothing but the savor of the rising smoke. Exploration Myths charted paths through difficult territory, examining contradictions and ambiguities. For instance, Homer’s Iliad explores the consequences during the Trojan War of the Greek leader Agamemnon’s decision to deprive the warrior Achilles of his allotted prize, a female slave. Achilles feels that Agamemnon has assailed his honor or worth but wonders how far he should go in reaction. Is he right to refuse to fight, if that means the destruction of the Greek army? Is he justified in rejecting Agamemnon’s offer of compensation? One of this poem’s themes explores the limits of honor. Greek Mythology The dramatic genre of tragedy provides the clearest example of mythical exploration (see see Greek Literature; Drama and Dramatic Arts). The great Athenian playwrights of the 5th century BC— Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides—wrote tragedies that explored social questions by placing them, in extreme and exaggerated form, in a mythical context. Sophocles’s tragic play Antigone concerns just such an extreme situation. Two brothers have killed each other in battle: Eteocles defending his homeland, and Polynices attacking it. Their sister Antigone, in defiance of an edict by the city’s ruler, attempts to bury her ostensibly traitorous brother Polynices. Sophocles raises several moral issues. Is Antigone justified in seeking to bury her brother? Which should prevail, a religious obligation to tend and bury a corpse, or a city’s well-being? The answers to these moral issues are far from clear-cut, as we might expect from a work whose subtlety and profundity have so often been admired. C D V A Legitimation Myths also had the function of legitimation. A claim, an action, or a relationship acquired extra authority if it had a precedent in myth. Aristocratic Greek families liked to trace their ancestry back to the heroes or gods of mythology. The Greek poet Pindar, who wrote in the early 5th century BC, offers ample evidence for this preference. In his songs Pindar praised the exploits of current victors in the Olympian Games by linking them with the deeds of their mythical ancestors. In addition, two Greek city-states could cement bonds between them by showing that they had an alliance in the mythological past. Entertainment Finally, myth telling was a source of enjoyment and entertainment. Homer’s epics contain several descriptions of audiences held spellbound by the songs of bards (poets), and recitations of Homer’s poems also captivated audiences. Public performances of tragic drama were also hugely popular, regularly drawing some 15,000 spectators. ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY Our knowledge of Greek mythology begins with the epic poems attributed to Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey, which date from about the 8th century BC even though the stories they relate probably have their origins in events that occurred several centuries earlier. Scholars, however, know that the origins of Greek mythology reach even farther back than that. Origins of Greek Mythology Linguists (people who study languages) have concluded that some names of Greek deities, including Zeus, can be traced back to gods worshiped by speakers of Proto-Indo-European, the common ancestor of the Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit languages. But it would be misleading to regard the people who may have spoken this language as originators of Greek mythology because many other elements contributed. Greek Mythology Archaeologists have shown that many of the places where mythical events presumably took place correspond to sites that had historical importance during the Mycenaean period of Greek history (second half of the 2nd millennium BC). Scholars thus consider it likely that the Mycenaeans made a major contribution to the development of the stories, even if this contribution is hard to demonstrate in detail. Some scholars have argued that the Minoan civilization of Crete also had a formative influence on Greek myths. The myth of the Minotaur confined in a labyrinth in the palace of King Minos, for example, might be a memory of historical bull-worship in the labyrinthine palace at Knossos on Crete. However, there is little evidence that Cretan religion survived in Greece. Nor have any ancient inscriptions confirmed that Minos ever existed outside of myth. Scholars can demonstrate influence on Greek mythology from the Middle East much more reliably than influence from Crete. Greek mythology owed much to cultures in Mesopotamia and Anatolia, especially in the realm of cosmogony (origin of the universe) and theogony (origin of the gods). To take one example, a clear parallel exists in an early Middle Eastern myth for Greek poet Hesiod’s story about the castration of Uranus by his son Cronus and the subsequent overthrow of Cronus by his son Zeus. The Middle Eastern myth tells of the sky god Anu who was castrated by Kumarbi, father of the gods. The weather and storm god Teshub, in turn, displaced Anu. Scholars continue to bring to light more and more similarities between Greek and Middle Eastern mythologies. B Development of Greek Mythology Our knowledge of Greek myths comes from a mixture of written texts, sculpture, and decorated pottery. Scholars have reconstructed stories that circulated orally by inference and guesswork. Homer’s epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, stand at the beginning of Greek literary tradition (see Greek literature), even though they almost certainly depended on a lengthy previous tradition of oral poetry. The Iliad is set during the Trojan War; it focuses on the consequences of a quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles, two of the leading Greek warriors. The Odyssey is about the aftermath of the Trojan War, when the Greek hero Odysseus at last returns to his home on the island of Ithaca following years of wandering in wild and magical lands. The Trojan War later provided subject matter for many tragic dramas and for imagery on countless painted vases. Hesiod’s Theogony, composed in the 8th century BC at about the same time as the Homeric epics, gave an authoritative account of how things began. The creation of the world, described by Hesiod in terms of passions and crimes of the gods, is a theme that later Greek philosophers such as Empedocles and Plato developed but took in new directions. This connection serves as a reminder that mythology was not a separate aspect of Greek culture, but one that interacted with many other fields of experience, particularly the writing of history. For example, in the 5th century BC Greek historian Herodotus employed numerous themes and story patterns from Greek epics and tragedies in writing his historical account of the war between Greeks and Persians (see Persian Wars). Although the authority of Homer and Hesiod remained dominant, the poetic retelling of myths continued throughout antiquity. Myths were constantly remade in the light of new social and political circumstances. The Hellenistic period of Greek history (4th century to 1st century BC) saw many new trends in the treatment of myths. One of the most important was the development of mythography, Greek Mythology the compilation and organization of myths on the basis of particular themes (for example, myths about metamorphosis). Such organization corresponded to a wish of newly established Hellenistic rulers to lend legitimacy to their regimes by claiming that they continued a cultural tradition reaching back into a great past. Artists, too, portrayed myths. Statues of gods stood inside Greek temples, and relief sculptures of scenes from mythology adorned pediments and friezes on the outside of these temples (see Greek Art and Architecture). Among the best-known examples are the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon in Athens. These reliefs include depictions of combat between centaurs and Lapiths. Other visual representations of mythology were more modest in size and scope. The best evidence for the use of mythology in Greek painting comes from painted ceramic vases. The Greeks used these vases in a variety of contexts, from cookery to funerary ritual to athletic games. (Vases filled with oil were awarded as prizes in games. ) In most cases scholars can securely identify the imagery on Greek vases as mythological, but sometimes they have no way of telling whether the artist intended an allusion to mythology because myth became fused with everyday life. For example, does a representation of a woman weaving signify Penelope, wife of Odysseus who spent her days at a loom, or does it portray someone engaged in an everyday activity? The Greeks retold myths orally, as well as preserving them in literary and artistic works. The Greeks transmitted to children tales of monsters and myths of gods and heroes. Old men gathered to exchange tales in leschai (clubs or conversation places). Storytelling, whether in writing, art, or speech, was at the heart of Greek civilization. VI A THE LEGACY OF GR.