/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.5085780]

Be honest-- how many classics have you read? List 'em up, pick three favorite authors.

As for me, I've only read the Hebrew Bible thru Plato. About to get rolling with Aristotle, Hellenistic classics, New Testament, etc.

Three favorites?
Aesop, Pindar, Plato.

[Anonymous No.5085790]

I read the great gatsby, that's a classic.

[Anonymous No.5085796]

>>5085790

I only saw the movie. Was the book any good, anon?

[Anonymous No.5085805]

Classic is just a marketing term

Pindar rules though

Two things alone there are that cherish life's bloom to its utmost sweetness amidst the fair flowers of wealth--to have good success and
to win therefore fair fame. Seek not to be as Zeus; if the portion of these honours fall to thee, thou hast already all. The things of mortals best befit mortality.

[Anonymous No.5085840]

>>5085780
Gilgamesj Epos, and excerpts from Greek and Roman historions for uni.

[Anonymous No.5085851]

>>5085796
Finished gatsby yesterday. I picked it up because it was small and my reading habits were rusty

Good book, the author writes really well, it makes you feel like you're inside Gats' mansion.
Storywise it's average. It's a good read

[Anonymous No.5085956]

>>5085805

I know, man. And I really don't want to turn this thread into a debate about Western canon.

Of course, by "classics", I'm speaking in the strict sense of ancient Greek and Hellenistic literature.

In common parlance, many people think of 19c novels when they hear "classics". The truth is that we don't really know what to call great works of literature after the classical era...

Mainstream publishers just do a series of great works and call it their "classics". Oxford World's classics, Penguin classics, etc.

Also, thanks for the honey-sweet lines. It's true, you know. Pindar was writing odes to Olympic victors for money, but he's also preaching the hardcore philosophy of the pre-Socratics. Imagine standing on stage with your medal or amphora or whatever and hearing this dude talk about fatalism and death.

[Anonymous No.5085960]

>>5085851

I was being ironical, but that is an accurate analysis of the book. The prose is really good, like you said, so it's fit for the curriculum.

I doubt that it's required reading outside of the States, though.