"Virtuous, Lovely or of Good Report or Praiseworthy"

This semester in my Classical Civilizations Class I have had the opportunity to study many different literary works from classical Greek, Roman, and Italian history. Studying these works has helped me to understand a lot about human nature, about writing, and about how mankind has developed to be what it is today. One work, in particular, though, stands out to me as a work that is "virtuous, lovely or of good report or praiseworthy." That work is the "Odyssey" by Homer.
I enjoyed this work above all others because of the lessons contained therein and the way Homer teaches those lessons. Throughout this book, he uses a very kind, wholesome language free from sarcasm, satire, pessimism, and untruths. The characters portrayed in the book each have a person and teach a specific lesson. The main character, Odysseus, though not portrayed as a perfect man, is a noble, honorable man who does much good for his people and his family. He respects his family, he has integrity, he cares for his men, and he is courageous. These things are the mark of a true hero, with no major character flaws. The way Homer tells the story is also noteworthy, because it does not end badly like a tragedy and it doesn't leave one feeling confused or betrayed. It ends happily, with Homer reuniting with his family and then going off to live his life and continually fulfill his duty. The entire work teaches good principles of morality, integrity, courage, and virtue. This I appreciate. For this reason have I chosen this book: like none other, it left me feeling good inside and well-fed spiritually after reading and studying it.

Machiavelli's outrageous statements in the Prince

In the first 50 pages of this book, Machiavelli spends most of his time talking about how Princes rise to power and difficulties they encounter along the way. He then spends a lot of time talking about the Prince in his high position and what happens to him there. I was reading specifically about why men, or princes are praised and blamed when I came across this quote: "Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good. Hence a prince who wants to keep his authority must learn how not to be good, and use that knowledge, or refrain from using it, as necessity requires." This seemed to me a ridiculous notion, after spending the last half hour reading about virtue, strength and good acts so that a Prince acts like he should within society. Now Machiavelli is telling us that they need not only to learn how to play dirty, but to actually play dirty when necessity requires. After thinking about this for a while, I have decided that Machiavelli is right, but one needs to be very careful when reading about this and taking this advice into consideration. It is necessary to become acquainted with the not-so-good side of society, to know what people do when they get down in the dirt to play dirty, but a Prince should spend his time rising above this, leaving those with less integrity down in the dirt. In this way, he would be using this advice the way Machiavelli meant it.