The Problem of Violence in the Ancient World

The Troubled House of Atreus

A brief essay that goes back to the origins of the curse on the House of Atreus and proposes a modern psychological interpretation.
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A site with a rich array of visual images that provides excerpts from Ovid, Euripides, and other writers who wrote about Iphigenia.
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An academic course site that provides links to a number of sources related to the Trojan matter, including Racine 's French neoclassical dramatic version of the story of Iphigenia.
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An excellent set of notes on the Iphigenia plays of Euripides, prepared for a series of performances at the University of Chicago; note the thoughtful discussion of the evolution of sacrificial practices, with reference to the story of Abraham and Isaac.
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Sacrifice and Violence

A good theater site that documents the evolution of Athenian tragedy from the sacrifices associated with Dionysus; diagrams show the prominent position of the altar.
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An example of rabbinical exegesis on the topic of Abraham's binding of Isaac: Why did God need to test Abraham? The interpreter sees a pattern of self-sacrifice in Abraham's behavior.
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A good discussion of the development of moral thinking in the early narratives of Genesis, including the story of Cain and Abel and the significance of the binding of Isaac. This site offers a variety of modern views of Judaic philosophy and practice.
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An academic syllabus devoted to "The Binding of Isaac." Excellent bibliographical resources and a good overview of the developing intellectual tradition stemming from Genesis 22.
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Visual responses to the sacrificial theme: Abraham and the knife

A discussion and illustration of Caravaggio's version of The Sacrifice of Isaac.
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Andrea del Sarto's vision of Isaac and Abraham.
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A drawing by Giulio Romano, emphasizing the intervention of the angel.
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Rembrandt's painting of the scene.
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Reflections on Violence in the Mahabharata

An essay on the persistence of archery as a nobleman's pursuit in India, with a good introductory review of Arjuna's prowess with the bow.
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A review of R. K. Narayan's brief adaptation of the Mahabharata, which compares the violence of the Homeric epics to that of the Mahabharata.
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A recent article commenting on the waves of violence sweeping the world in the early years of the twenty-first century, from India's national newspaper, The Hindu.
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Theories of Violence

A scholarly essay that summarizes the influential argument advanced by Rene Girard: human beings turned from violence to ritual sacrifice of a scapegoat.
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An excellent discussion of "Rene Girard's Insights into Christianity," with a good explication of Girard's explanation of "mimetic desire" as the source of violent conflict and the "surrogate victim mechanism" with which that conflict has been controlled.
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An amateur's reflections on Kierkegaard's reasons for raising the possibility that Abraham should be called a murderer.
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Managing Violence in the Chinese Tradition

An introduction by Lionel Giles to Sun Tzu's Art of War that begins with Ssu-ma Ch'ien's short biography of the author. Note the casual references to torture and mutilation: "Sun Tzu had his feet cut off and yet continued to discuss the art of war." See especially the section called "Apologies for War."
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A course syllabus that outlines the role of violence in Chinese political and social thought; the readings constitute a useful bibliography for further exploration of the topic.
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A brief analysis of the painted tiles from the Western Han dynasty called "Tales from History and Legends," explaining that the scene depicted illustrates the beginning of a court conspiracy that led to a successful coup.
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