Free Essays on Helen

Helen of Sparta was perhaps the most inspired character in all literature, ancient or modern. A whole war, one which lasted for ten years, was fought over her. Not only that, nearly all the myths of the heroic age were threaded together in such a way that this most idealized of all wars was the culmination of various exploits, including the Argonaut, the Theban wars, and the Calydonian boar hunt. It is as though this event was in the destiny of every dynasty formed from the beginning of things. Helen, the face that launched a thousand ships. She was flesh and blood, but she was also immortal, since her father was Zeus. Her mother was Leda, queen of Sparta. Leda's husband was Tyndarecus, who later the same night, unaware of his predecessor, also impregnated his wife. She produced two eggs, one of which yielded Helen and Polydeuces and the other of which contained Castor and Clytemnestra. It is difficult to imagine the childhood of the famous egg-born quartet. Two of them could be injured, perhaps, but not fatally; two had special gifts that made them physically and mentally superior. Apparently there was no jealousy among them. Castor and Polydeuces were so closely attached they swore to die together, even if Polydeuces could not hope to fulfill this resolve. The relationship between Helen and Clytemnestra was not so simple. Helen was stunningly beautiful, and this must have caused Clytemnestra some wistful moments when inevitable comparisons were made. When the sisters reached the teenage years, Helen was kidnapped. Both the aging Theseus, king of Athens, and his friend Peirithous, king of Larissa. Theseus chose Helen, whose remarkable beauty was already talked of far and wide. The abductors took her to Aphidna, a small city north of Athens, and left her in the safekeeping of one of Theseus' vassals. He put his mother, Aethra, with her as a guardian and companion. Inevitably, stories arose that Theseus took her into safekeeping to d... Free Essays on Helen Free Essays on Helen Helen of Sparta was perhaps the most inspired character in all literature, ancient or modern. A whole war, one which lasted for ten years, was fought over her. Not only that, nearly all the myths of the heroic age were threaded together in such a way that this most idealized of all wars was the culmination of various exploits, including the Argonaut, the Theban wars, and the Calydonian boar hunt. It is as though this event was in the destiny of every dynasty formed from the beginning of things. Helen, the face that launched a thousand ships. She was flesh and blood, but she was also immortal, since her father was Zeus. Her mother was Leda, queen of Sparta. Leda's husband was Tyndarecus, who later the same night, unaware of his predecessor, also impregnated his wife. She produced two eggs, one of which yielded Helen and Polydeuces and the other of which contained Castor and Clytemnestra. It is difficult to imagine the childhood of the famous egg-born quartet. Two of them could be injured, perhaps, but not fatally; two had special gifts that made them physically and mentally superior. Apparently there was no jealousy among them. Castor and Polydeuces were so closely attached they swore to die together, even if Polydeuces could not hope to fulfill this resolve. The relationship between Helen and Clytemnestra was not so simple. Helen was stunningly beautiful, and this must have caused Clytemnestra some wistful moments when inevitable comparisons were made. When the sisters reached the teenage years, Helen was kidnapped. Both the aging Theseus, king of Athens, and his friend Peirithous, king of Larissa. Theseus chose Helen, whose remarkable beauty was already talked of far and wide. The abductors took her to Aphidna, a small city north of Athens, and left her in the safekeeping of one of Theseus' vassals. He put his mother, Aethra, with her as a guardian and companion. Inevitably, stories arose that Theseus took her into safekeeping to d...

The Deep State Theory, Defined and Explained

The Deep State Theory, Defined and Explained The seed for many tantalizing conspiracy theories, the term â€Å"deep state† in the United States implies the existence of a premeditated effort by certain federal government employees or other persons to secretly manipulate or control the government without regard for the policies of Congress or the President of the United States. Origin and History of the Deep State The concept of a deep state - also called a â€Å"state within a state† or a â€Å"shadow government† – was first used in reference to political conditions in countries like Turkey and post-Soviet Russia. During the 1950s, an influential anti-democratic coalition within the Turkish political system called the â€Å"derin devlet† – literally the â€Å"deep state† - allegedly dedicated itself to ousting communists from the new Turkish Republic founded by Mustafa Ataturk after World War I. Made up of elements within the Turkish military, security, and judiciary branches, the derin devlet worked to turn the Turkish people against its enemies by staging â€Å"false flag† attacks and planned riots. Ultimately, the derin devlet was blamed for the deaths of thousands of people. In the 1970s, former high-ranking officials of the Soviet Union, after defecting to the West, publically stated that the Soviet political police – the KGB – had operated as a deep state secretly attempting to control the Communist Party and ultimately, the Soviet government. In a 2006 symposium, Ion Mihai Pacepa, a former general in the Communist Romania secret police who defected to the United States in 1978, stated, In the Soviet Union, the KGB was a state within a state.† Pacepa went on to claim, â€Å"Now former KGB officers are running the state. They have custody of the country’s 6,000 nuclear weapons, entrusted to the KGB in the 1950s, and they now also manage the strategic oil industry renationalized by Putin.† The Deep State Theory in the United States In 2014, former congressional aide Mike Lofgren alleged the existence of a different type of deep state operating within the United States government in his essay titled â€Å"Anatomy of the Deep State.† Instead of a group comprised exclusively of government entities, Lofgren calls the deep state in the United States â€Å"a hybrid association of elements of government and parts of top-level finance and industry that is effectively able to govern the United States without reference to the consent of the governed as expressed through the formal political process.† The Deep State, wrote Lofgren, is not â€Å"a secret, conspiratorial cabal; the state within a state is hiding mostly in plain sight, and its operators mainly act in the light of day. It is not a tight-knit group and has no clear objective. Rather, it is a sprawling network, stretching across the government and into the private sector.† In some ways, Lofgren’s description of a deep state in the United States echoes parts of President Dwight Eisenhower’s 1961 farewell address, in which he warned future presidents to â€Å"guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.† President Trump Alleges a Deep State Opposes Him Following the tumultuous 2016 presidential election, President Donald Trump and his supporters suggested that certain unnamed executive branch officials and intelligence officers were secretly operating as a deep state to block his policies and legislative agenda by leaking information considered critical of him. President Trump, White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, along with ultra-conservative news outlets like Breitbart News claimed that Former President Obama was orchestrating a deep state attack against the Trump administration. The allegation apparently grew out of Trump’s unsubstantiated claim that Obama had ordered the wiretapping of his telephone during the 2016 election campaign. Current and former intelligence officials remain divided on the question of the existence of a deep state secretly working to derail the Trump administration.   In a June 5, 2017 article published in The Hill Magazine, retired veteran CIA field operations agent Gene Coyle stated that while he doubted the existence of â€Å"hordes of government officials† operating as an anti-Trump deep state, he did believe the Trump administration was justified in complaining about the number of leaks being reported by news organizations. â€Å"If you are that appalled at the actions of an administration, you should quit, hold a press conference and publicly state your objections,† said Coyle. â€Å"You can’t run an executive branch if more and more people think, ‘I don’t like the policies of this president, therefore I will leak information to make him look bad.’† Other intelligence experts argued that individuals or small groups of individuals leaking information critical of a presidential administration lack the organizational coordination and depth of deep states such as those that existed in Turkey or the former Soviet Union. The Arrest of Reality Winner   On June 3, 2017, a third-party contractor working for the National Security Agency (NSA) was arrested on charges of violating the Espionage Act by leaking a top-secret document related to the possible involvement of the Russian government in the 2016 U.S. presidential election to an unnamed news organization. When questioned by the FBI on June 10, 2017, the woman, 25-year-old Reality Leigh Winner, â€Å"admitted intentionally identifying and printing the classified intelligence reporting at issue despite not having a ‘need to know,’ and with the knowledge that the intelligence report was classified,† according to the FBI affidavit. According to the Justice Department, Winner â€Å"further acknowledged that she was aware of the contents of the intelligence reporting and that she knew the contents of the reporting could be used to the injury of the United States and to the advantage of a foreign nation.† The arrest of Winner represented the first confirmed case of an attempt by a current government employee to discredit the Trump administration. As a result, many conservatives have been quick to use the case to bolster their arguments of a so-called deep state within the United States government. While its true that Winner had publicly expressed anti-Trump sentiments both to co-workers and on social media, her actions in no way prove the existence of an organized deep state effort to discredit the Trump administration.

Learning Organization and Human Motivation Essay

Learning Organization and Human Motivation - Essay Example As companies and corporations become larger and more complex, so do the responsibilities of management and the call for structured strategies. In our world of exploding technological changes, the burden of change upon individuals becomes greater and there is also the continual threat of downsizing or being replaced by automation. There are innumerable theories regarding human motivation and especially over the past twenty-five years, these theories have provided a maze through which management has walked, trying this and that; some theories worked, others did not. Let us examine just a few theories that have withstood the test of time and are the core of the newer theories. We shall begin with the advent of Maslow's theory of a hierarchy of needs since it was Maslow who countered Sigmund Freud's statements of declaring people as inherently lazy creatures who are motivated at work only through reward, coercion, intimidation, and punishment (accel Team, 2005). A. H. Maslow brought management and workers out of the dark ages and delivered them into a refreshing affirmation of themselves as human beings rather than animals. According to Mazlow, the highest needs of a human are self-esteem and self-actualisation (Maslow, 1943, pp 381 - 383). In the workplace (according to Maslow), the ability to exercise c... In the workplace (according to Maslow), the ability to exercise creativity and decision-making whilst practicing new skills is central to the self-esteem of the worker. In terms of management, the harbingers of change began to emerge as the workplace became less oppressive and more balanced between doing and learning. Still, there was work to be done in terms of addressing psychological needs of workers in terms of balancing rewards for incentives and motivational learning within organisations. Whilst an individual is hired on the basis of knowledge and skill for the task at hand, once in the workplace, the individual needs the opportunity to climb higher, do better, if they so choose. This is where the balance of power can get sticky, for those in management also need to engage in learning and adapting to changing trends. If those on the higher end of the work spectrum fail to adapt and learn, those from below have the opportunity to move up and replace them; here is where fear becomes the motivating force, and its presence is counterproductive for all concerned. The most famous motivation theories, upon which nearly all current theories are based, originate from four theorists: Sigmund Freud (Theory X), A. H. Maslow Theory Y), Douglas McGregor (Theory XY) and William Ouichi (Theory Z). It must be noted that there are arguments regarding the authorship of Theories Y and Z; we are referencing them here with the corresponding theorists for the sake of convenience.

Children's literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Children's literature - Essay Example During this period, many children books came up for publication, which included the Little House, the Hobbit, among others (Tolkien 1). However, these books received a lot of criticism based on their morality, purpose, themes, and target audience. The Hobbit by John Tolkien is one of the children books published from the period between the Golden Age and the Silver Age--roughly 1920 to 1950 and received numerous criticisms. The Hobbit is a childrens book with a lot of comic, which is popular and recognized in childrens literature. The author published the book inn 1937 in the midst of wide criticism. The novel has attracted international recognition in children literature. The Hobbit has different characters and depicts continued human quest. The Hobbit narrates the story of a simple English man, Bilbo Baggins as he seeks to possess a share of the treasure guarded by the dragon, Smaug (â€Å"The Tolkien Society† 1). The story also depicts human greed and human conflict as all characters disagree at the end of the story. The main themes of the novel include heroism and personal growth while warfare is a dominant motif in the novel that attracts critics over the experiences of the World War I as seen in the novel. There have been variant adaptations of the novel where every adaptation received critical recognition. The novel depicts a glorious, challenging, and entertaining adventure that entails humor and suspense (Eaton 1). The novel uses understandable language and English comics to entertain children. Additionally, the ideals of the Lord of the Rings trilogy (Abramson 1) are part of the novel. Notably, the novel presents a clear view of the authors thoughts about human complexity and human development combined with the ideas of Scandinavian epics he studied as well as a reflection of middle-class life in England as seen in the plot, character, and themes in the novel

Portfolio Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 6

Portfolio - Essay Example Japan has become one of the industrialised countries to some extent (Cusumano, 2013). The pillar Japanese industries like housing and the auto industry are developing in leaps and bounds. The main exported products in Japan are electric and machinery equipment and the most imported products are the raw materials used in industries. Because of economic extroversion, the industry of Japan has internationally competed in the recent years and as a result, the industrial development in the country is highly influenced by global economic environments (Cusumano, 2006). The price of exports in Japan keeps on declining thus making it more challenging than other sectors. Foreign-invested enterprises and products’ market share, on the other hand, keep on increasing. These two factors increase the challenges that the domestic industry of Japan faces based on production and selling (Krafcik, 2008).For instance, the domestic enterprises are affected particularly. In addition, industries such as light and textile have decreased their growth rate since the year 1990. Additionally, the production rate of products such as durable consumption goods has drastically decreased.The main dominant sector in the economic status of Japan remains its industries and manufacturing sectors. Despite decreasing the nation’s GDP by 5% percent, industrialization still remains the leading sector and has contributed to 55 percent of the country’s GDP in the year 2012 (Lieberman, Lau & Williams, 2000). This cemented the position of Japan as among the leadin g country in terms of industrial output. The industrial sector in Japan has not only increased the economic growth of the country, but also increased the rate of employment opportunities. More factories are being opened day by day in Japan, thus creating both professional and non-professional employment opportunities. Industrial development

Midterm Report Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Midterm Report - Term Paper Example However, the actual writing process enabled me to encounter, firsthand, the challenges entailed and how to address them. This is the case particularly in the context of my abilities and resources. To put it another way, the theories that the source texts and lectures provide are general concepts. Their actual application in my case - has given me interesting and valuable insights because it is contextualized to my own capabilities and resources. Another important skill that I was able to develop was the ability to design and adhere to a method or a system to complete specific writing tasks. Personally, it is challenging for me to focus on a particular element in the process so it is easy to be lost or digress. For instance, I used to write according to the flow of my thoughts. Often, this leads to redundant or unnecessary contents that I am forced to edit out. In this respect, I came to recognize the importance of outline and structure, which according to Riordan (2013), is crucial in helping the reader grasp the information provided (p.14). The same can be said in the area of teamwork. In group activities and research, there is an imperative for a roadmap that details roles, relationships and outcomes so that each member contributes meaningfully to the achievement of objectives. In the course of writing this progress report, I came to realize that there are still areas which I need to improve on. I noticed, for instance, that I still find it challenging to differentiate technical writing from other forms of writing that I am used to such as the essay format, which requires personal inputs and opinion. Sometimes, it is inevitable for me to include a comment on cited information. I have identified a way to address this problem. Aside from the familiarization of the rules in technical writing, it is important for me to think about

Church and world religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Church and world religion - Essay Example Familiarity with Muslim communities enhanced acceptance by the interviewee and openness during the interview. Effective communication is important for a successful interview to take place. Most Islamic teachings are in Arabic and have not been interpreted explicitly in English. The interview therefore was characterized with communication snags as the interviewee tried to express certain meanings as understood from the Quran. It was interesting to find out how a Muslim is well-versed with the teachings of the Quran, quoting from different verses to support answers to the interview questions. There was also a notable affection of Islam as the respondent participated in the interview. The readiness to explain more than requested indicated an inner driving force for the Muslim to help others understand his own faith, which demonstrated the need for dialogue. Religion emerged as a core aspect of a Muslim’s life and that there is a day of judgment when every individual will be required to account for all his/her actions. Islam is a peaceful religion that teaches on the existence of one supreme God who is unique and without equal. It instructs believers to maintain peace with others and to follow the desires of God as manifest in His angels as well as the revelations that were conveyed to human beings through prophets. Every human being is supposed to obey God who holds the ultimate authority over mankind. For this reason, perpetrators of the crimes against humanity committed all over the world by Muslims and non-Muslims are against God’s will and every individual will pay the price of sin on judgment day. There are a number of prophets that are held in high regard by Muslims with whom they associate with God’s intention to bring peace to the world. This is an indicator that God intended to bring happiness to man despi te the sins that distance people from Him. It was also an important realization that some of the prophets are