Between Sophocles and Dante: Three Ideas That Created Europe

BETWEEN SOPHOCLES AND DANTE: THREE IDEAS THAT CREATED EUROPE

What happened between Greek tragedy and Dante’s Divine Comedy? How did Europe move from a world of fate and heroes to a world of the person, conscience and freedom? Why, two thousand years later, do we still read Plato, think in Aristotle’s categories and find support in the Christian tradition?

At the new meeting of the series Summer Reading we will talk about three ideas without which European culture cannot be imagined.

• Truth. Plato was the first to formulate the notion of eternal Forms — the Good, the Beautiful and the Just — as the highest reality. It was his philosophy that defined Europe’s understanding of truth, goodness, beauty, the immortality of the soul and the moral ideal.
• Reason. Aristotle created the language in which Europe learned to think for almost two thousand years. We will discuss logic, the nature of knowledge, virtue as a conscious choice, and why reason became the principal tool for understanding the world.
• Freedom and mercy. Christianity radically changed the way humans understood themselves. Where the ancient world saw the power of fate, Christianity proclaimed free will, personal responsibility and the dignity of every person. We will discuss how Christian thought entered into dialogue with ancient philosophy and why that conversation became the foundation of European civilization.

At the end of the lecture we will compile a reading circle of texts without which it is impossible to truly understand Dante, Shakespeare, Milton, Rembrandt and European culture as a whole.

The lecture will be led by Sonya Minina — philologist (Saint Petersburg State University), specialist in classical languages and literature, Latin instructor. [https://t.me/notabene_bookclub]

• Date and time: 11 August 2026 (Tuesday) at 7:00 PM
• Price: 1500 RSD; mandatory pre-registration required.
• Venue: Vojvode Dobrnjca 48, Belgrade [https://maps.app.goo.gl/e9z8stFHUZdGM7u88]