Start with the Greeks

How much of this should I read to 'start with the greeks'?

Other urls found in this thread:

google.com/#q=heroic couplet
twitter.com/SFWRedditImages

I'm going to kill myself because if this

All of it; are you fucking retarded?

Those are the barest of the bare essentials, you bumbling moron. But of course you don't want to educate yourself or read the classics for their own sake, you want to say you did.
So just say you did, talk out of your ass about them, and be done with it, like most people do. You have everyone's permission.

All of it, obviously. That is the absolute minimum.

Just read the intro of the first book, and maybe the first third of the wikipedia entry for "Greece".

The chart is shitty and outdated.
You can dispense with all the secondary bullshit like Wharton, Strauss, et cetera.

The Penguin editions of Herodotus and Thucydides are totally obsolete in light of the Landmark editions.

Fagles' Iliad and Odyssey is free verse trash. He couldn't even do blank verse properly and does absolutely nothing to capture the essence of heroic epics, which is after all what the Homeric poems actually are.
Go for the Pope translations, which are in strict heroic couplets and give the English reader a much better sense of the character of the poems.

>implying 'heroic couplets' isn't 't just a term you pulled out of your ass

google.com/#q=heroic couplet

Are you enjoying your summer vacation?

>pope
>"translation"

you should kys because of that typo instead

This is good advice, except for the fucking Pope recommendation. Who unironically recommends Pope?

For Homer, Fitzgerald may be the best choice

All of it.

But lets be frank, unless you want the Greeks for their own sake, you could probably very well just read most of Mythology, Iliad, Odyssey and an assortment of the philosophy parts (the amount depending on how much you care about philosophy).

That'll be a decent chunk of general knowledge. Then read more if you want to.

Won't comment on the particular editions in the image 'cause honestly, I don't know jack shit about them.

Not OP but I recently picked up Histories from Herodotus, is it necessary to read the books before it on the chart?

I enjoyed Lombardo for the odyssey. My only complaint might be the occasional cringe worthy modern slang.

>pope
>fagles
>lombardo

Lattimore is the true patrician translation

>patrician
>translation

holy shit fucking pick one

I really don't think reading Homer in ancient greek is a plausible option

Shouldn't one start with the bible rather than the greeks? What about ancient Chinese texts?

Ancient Chinese texts may be interesting but it had very little impact on Western philosophy really, so you can skip it

Lattimore really is the best translation (especially for the Odyssey). His is the most literal translation while also using Homer's meter in the epic. I suppose it could be a little hard to digest for first timers but Lattimore really is the best way to go.

Also this. We do have lives. Not all of us have unlocked this level of autism.

>he thinks language learning requires superhuman levels of autism

>Greeks
>Outdated

/thread
This is what the majority of lit posters do anyway

>superhuman levels of autism
What would that even be?

>learning a dead ancient language while going to work full time and raising a family.

not everyone can have that NEET lifestyle user

>a family

why make such a horrible mistake? What do you expect from life if you have a fucking "family"?

Wow I'm surprised you have time to read at all with your "busy" life

>not Butler

Unenlightened plebs

Start with the pre-confucians.