tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post3590478071915108607..comments2024-03-28T04:26:30.557-05:00Comments on Boston 1775: George Washington’s “Gods”Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-9480693137887507812010-06-03T10:19:47.832-05:002010-06-03T10:19:47.832-05:00I tried to find other examples of the phrase, and ...I tried to find other examples of the phrase, and parts of it. Aside from quotations of Washington, some of it appears in a couple of nineteenth-century novels. But the phrase doesn’t appear to be a standard 1700s translation of a Stoic maxim.<br /><br />I think Washington was clearly playing off of that Roman tradition, and Gov. Nelson’s familiarity with it. Similarly, any allusions to Fortune as a female deity have classical roots.<br /><br />I get the sense that the general varied his use of “Providence,” “fortune,” “fate,” “God,” and even “Gods” to reflect his belief that the workings of that force are inscrutable. At the same time, he seems to have been naturally optimistic.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-39815732925880142262010-06-03T10:07:28.712-05:002010-06-03T10:07:28.712-05:00I wonder how much of the use of 'the gods'...I wonder how much of the use of 'the gods' in that passage is being actively Roman; it really reads like Cicero there, and I wonder if it might even be a paraphrase.Lydianoreply@blogger.com