Synopsis
A study of Greek tragedy and philosophy arguing that living well is exposed to luck, and that the goodness of a life depends partly on things beyond our control.
Core passage idea
Paraphrase · Modern copyrighted workA genuinely good life remains vulnerable to fortune, and trying to make virtue wholly self-sufficient impoverishes what it means to live well.
It challenges the wish for invulnerability, showing that openness to loss is part of, not opposed to, human excellence.
To avoid a bubble
Pair with Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics.
Reading note
Read it as close readings of tragedy and Plato and Aristotle, letting the literary analysis carry the philosophy.
Best paired with
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics