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/lit/ - Literature

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17665697 No.17665697 [Reply] [Original]

Is it bad to start with the Greeks (and Romans)?
I haven't read much literature up until recently and recently I've read
-Theogony, Works and Days, Elegaics (Penguin classics)
-Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford classics)
-Iliad (tr. Pope)
-Odyssey (tr. Pope)
-Aeneid (tr. Dryden)
-Jason and The Golden Fleece (Oxford classics)
-Metamorphoses (tr. Samuel Garth)
I've found what I've read fairly enjoyable, but I feel like I'm missing something as though I should've read tons of tertiary background material first; am I missing something?
I'm reading 'A History of The Ancient World' by Chester G. Starr right now to get some context. What should I do next (planning on Herodotus, but I don't know)?

>> No.17665704

>>17665697
*I meant 'Elegies' instead of 'Elegaics', sorry.

>> No.17665711

>>17665697
Also, I usually read the Wikipedia page on the classic that i read, or am reading, to get some context. Is this bad?

>> No.17665827

Bump

>> No.17665844

Jesus Christ people really start with the Greeks? Lmao

>> No.17665857
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17665857

>>17665844
>not reading the greatest literature the world has to offer

>> No.17665876
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17665876

read pic related and stop reading pope lol

>> No.17665902

>>17665876
I read Pope because I heard he was an excellent poet and that excellent poets make the best translators of poems because the 'spirit' of the poem is transferred through them. I'm not too concerned with whether the translation is exact or not (as long as it doesn't comically miss the mark)

>> No.17665909

>>17665876
Also, is there any background material I should read first. Thanks for the chart though.

>> No.17665911

I'm trans btw I don't know if that matters

>> No.17665944

>>17665697
>Pope and Dryden
You're gonna make it, kid.

For Herodotos I can personally recommend Tom Holland's translation. Not only is it a good translation, but you'll be sticking it to the histrionic faggots that control the academic "Classics" discipline by patronizing an "amateur."

>> No.17665964

>>17665944
I've heard the 'Landmark Herodotus' is good because it has maps. As I understand it, Herodotus describes his travels around the known world and probably references places I'm unfamiliar with. Does Tom Holland's come with a map(s)? Do I need a map(s)?

>> No.17665970

OP here That's not me >>17665911

>> No.17665988

>>17665970
>>17665697
Why in the world would it be bad?
Do read some other translations of Homer though. Pope repurposes the whole thing to his version. Worse than the KJV bible

>> No.17666014

>>17665988
What other versions of Homer would you recommend?

>> No.17666037

>>17665911
>>17665970
I'm OP. I didn't post this but it's true

>> No.17666042

>>17666014
fitzgerald

>> No.17666056

I'm reading Plato in French, are there any translators I should look out for in particular?

>> No.17666062

>>17665876
Good but skip the philosophy.

>> No.17666079

I'm specifically concerned about whether I'm lacking a background understanding, as though there's still a lot of context I'm missing? Is this a bad idea >>17665711 ?

>> No.17666371

>>17665902
pope translation is good he's being a faggot

>> No.17666384

>>17666371
Is it really bad that I'm reading a translation in the first place? There's a lot of literature I'd like to get round to reading, but I think it will be quite hard to learn all the languages (I only know English, and I'd like to get better at that)

>> No.17666430

ONE SHOULD START WITH THE GREEKS, FOLLOW THROUGH THE ROMANS, AND END WITH THE HISPANICS —ALL OTHERS ARE SUPERFLUOUS.

>> No.17666440

Should I get "Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History", or is "A History Of The Ancient World (Chester G. Starr)" good enough for context?

>> No.17666444

>>17666384
No. The advantages to reading in the original language are great, but completely missed unless you're very very fluent, which will take years and years. Pick a language to get fluent in as it's a great skill, but don't avoid a book just as its not originally English.

>> No.17666478

>>17666430
End with the French moralists.

>> No.17666650

>>17666440
You don’t really need much context. Most books have annotations for that. In fact, I take most of my reading list out of the annotations.
Herodotus is THE starting point for ancient history and I’m pretty sure most editions contain maps, though the landmark ones seem to be the best.

>> No.17666674

>>17665964
It does have maps, they're pretty good and have different scales for areas where Herodotos is more detailed. It's annoying to flip to the back of the book to find the right map every time, and I would usually just find maps on the internet.

>> No.17666689

>>17666650
Unfortunately it seems that getting certain translations means I have to sacrifice the scholarly notes you get in penguin or oxford editions.
For example, the edition of the metamorphoses that most appealed to me was the Samuel Garth et al. translation, but it's rare enough to find on its own, let alone with notes. Though with the prose of Herodotus I'd be content with a modern translation with notes.

>> No.17666727

>>17665876
Completing this would take me several years. How can you expect anyone to start with this? I'd assume anons out there don't wanna get stuck for that long.

>> No.17666761

>>17666727
Just use your brain and do whatever feels right. It takes about a year to read everything on that chart but you may not want to read Xenophon or all Aristotle works, so just read around and see what works for you. It's a good starting off point and some people who are more completionists really do read all is it

>> No.17666848

>>17666761
>It takes about a year to read everything on that chart
Wonder how much you would take away if you read that in just a year.
I'm not OP by the way

>> No.17666901

>>17666848
Quite a bit but everyone rereads Greeks all the time so it's not like you'll get everything in the first go

>> No.17666913

>>17666901
The full Plato on its own might be half a year to read. Stop lying.

>> No.17666954

>>17666913
How? you can read a dialogue a day aside from stuff like the Republic, Laws, Parmenides, etc. Why are you so aggressive?

>> No.17666988

>>17666954
idk man, maybe we just have different comprehension speeds / time possibilities.
I, mean, have you actually read the list in a year? Props to you if yes.

>> No.17667064

>>17666988
Not everything. I didn't finish Aristotle, didn't read Euclid, one of the Xenophon books, and that orange book, but also I only spent about half a year and I read other things that weren't on the list such as Bacchylides, some Attic orators, and Callimachus. I'm planning to read all Aristotle works eventually and I estimated it at 2 months but maybe I'm wrong. I do read daily at least 2 hours and sometimes all weekend long.

>> No.17667209

READ THE STICKY

>> No.17667428

>>17667064
>I do read daily at least 2 hours and sometimes all weekend long.
ok ok, I can believe that then. Still impressive. Can you estimate how many pages a day that makes on average?

>> No.17667460

Start with Jocko Willink

>> No.17667466

>>17665876
How much secondary literature do you need for this?

>> No.17667486

>>17667428
maybe around 30 on average? Greek drama was obviously much easier to read, and stuff like Herodotus or Thucydides despite being very dry sometimes I was just reading all weekend and it'd go to 100 pages per day. Some works from Aristotle were hard so it could be much slower (maybe even 10 pages in 2 hours).

>> No.17667511

>>17667466
For historical context, just listen to the Greek history course from Yale by professor Kagan (it's on YouTube). The editions listed in the chart have introductions too to help. Not sure what else secondary material you'd need.

>> No.17667571

>>17667466
>>17667511
Also all episodes of In Our Time on ancient Greece

>> No.17667831

>>17665857
>posting a pic of Australia for no reason