Barchester Towers
Chapters 13 to 15

chapter list

[10-12]   [16-19]

Chapter 13
The Rubbish Cart

St. Bartholomew and St. Sebastian
St. Bartholomew was one of the apostles, known in ancient times for preaching the Christian gospel in less-than-civlised areas.  He is said to have suffered martyrdom by being flayed alive or crucified.  St. Sebastian was executed by the emperor Diocletian around the year 284 C.E.; he was sentenced to be shot with arrows until dead.  However, he survived this and surprised the emperor by showing up alive to preach to him, at which point Diocletian had him beaten to death.  (St. Lorenzo, who is also mentioned by Trollope in this passage, does not have classical connections.)  [JM]

Carting away the useless rubbish of past centuries
See entry above in Chapter 12.

 

Chapter 14
The New Champion

The frogs and the mice
This is a reference to an ancient Greek mock epic poem, Batrachomyomachia, or The Battle of Frogs and Mice. This work parodies the ancient heroic epics with a battle fought between these two species of small animals. Eventually, the frogs begin struggling against the forces of the mice and thus the gods dispatch a large group of crabs to help the losing frogs. In this instance, this is a reference to the future war between Mr. Slope and Mr. Arabin and the argument of words and actions which will ensue as a result.
The New Century: Classical Handbook. Ed. Catherine B. Avery.  New York:  Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1972.  [MD]

The angers of Agamemnon and Achilles
Homer's Iliad begins with a quarrel between these two men; Agamemnon is the commander of the Greek forces fighting in the Trojan War, and Achilles is the most powerful Greek warrior. They get into an argument over two captured maidens, and Achilles turns the argument into an all-out refusal to work with Agamemnon.
http://www.bartleby.com/81/133.html  [MD]

 

Chapter 15
The Widow's Suitors

Sophistry
In the sense of the English word, sophistry is a form of argument that though persuasive, is in actuality false.  Trollope tries to convince his audience that Mr. Slope is not entirely bad.  Mr. Slope simply has a strong devotion to his concept of religion and a high opinion of himself.  This mix leads him to thinking that what actions are good for his advancement are also good for his church.  Trollope describes this argument as sophistry because it uses a form of logic that sounds appealing but is merely deceptive.  The Greek Sophists were traveling teachers and philosophers.  Their belief that there existed no certain truth but that all truth is only opinion caused them to be refuted by Socrates and his students.  
Encarta Electronic Encyclopedia 2006
OED  [TH]

[10-12]   [16-19]

home

chapter list