The Panchatantra: statecraft for blockheads

Image from Wikipedia, from an illustration of a tale
in an Arabic version of the Panchatantra.

Emeritus professor of philosophy and eastern religions Walter Benesch will present the first Ester library lecture of 2011, on the Panchatantra, one of the world’s oldest and most satirical/practical guides to politics and political science—applied to the politics of our time!

Come hear Benesch talk about this collection of fables originally composed between 400 and 200 BCE. The author(s) are not clearly known, but the whole is attributed to a Brahman, Vishnusharman, who had been asked by a king in Kashmir to teach the king’s three blockheaded sons the art of statecraft so that when the king died, his kingdom would continue to flourish.

Wednesday, March 16, 7 pm, Hartung Hall
at the corner of Main Street and Ester Loop (parking available at the Golden Eagle Saloon just a block away)

All Ester library lectures are free and open to the public (donations gratefully accepted, however!).