Where exactly with the Greeks should I start?

>she

How can you guys remember these Greek names? They all sound so similar. I mean, Sappho doesn't even sound like a feminine name

I was considering going this angle too

whywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhy

why do they let toddlers on this board

It does kind of sound feminine, maybe not in english.
And i only named three names in my original post, and they sound nothing alike.
But i get what you're saying, it gets tricky remembering the difference between Aeschylus, Archilochus and Aristophanes

can you tell me what it is that we are "starting" when we "start" with the greeks?

Oh easy, this:

Well, duh, that's because you don't speak the language. To someone who doesn't speak one word of English it's gonna be pretty hard telling Jane, Jenny and Jean apart too.

plato and aristophanes are way different from the other jank on the list, though!
i'm beginning to suspect that "start with the greeks" is just a silly meme that people regurgitate!

No, you're misunderstanding me. The way we say Sappho where i am from does sound feminine, so it's difficult for me to not have an association when i pronounce it in englisg, even when the difference is slight.

What do you mean different?
What kind of idiot wouldn't read Homer or Sofokles when starting with the greeks?

...

...

What do the colours of the lines mean?

what kind of idiot "starts" something without being able to articulate exactly what it is that he is starting?
when we "start" with the greeks, what is our endgame?

To get a foundation.

a foundation for what? foundations exist to be built upon, not just for their own sakes. what are you building??

An understanding of literature.
The same reason you would want to read the bible.

If you had started with the Greeks you would know the symbolism behind those colors you fucking fool

>Start with Iliad and Odyssey. You don't need to read Mythology, but instead just look up a god when you see their name, and eventually you'll know them.
>Hesiod (he's short)
>Read A Brief History of Ancient Greece her if you'd like. Again, not necessary.
>Read the Greek Tragedians. Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.
Then...
>Aristophanes
>Herodotus
>Thucydides
>Plato (Complete Works, user. Do not start with the Republic, and do not end with the Republic. Re-read him and re-read him)
>Aristotle (De Organan if you're dedicated, and then ethics, poetics, physics and metaphysics as required)

After that you should go back to the beginning and re-read, and then read some of the essays mentioned in these charts, and then read the fill-ins if you'd like (Sappho, Pre-socratics).

sonic.net/~rteeter/grtbloom.html#demo

>the bible
ah, there it is. i made you say it, tee hee :p

Gosh darn!

troled fuckin HARDD

Jesus christ I have never seen someone simultaneously asking about the Greeks while being so completely unprepared for reading the Greeks

What an embarrassing thread

>Be me
>Want to start reading lit the right way
>Discover I'm unprepared to build a foundation

Should I start with goodnight moon instead?

there is no useful foundation

Lurk a few greek threads before you start reading any Greeks. Within literally a week of (almost) daily threads you should know which writers matter, why they matter, and in (vaguely) what order you should read them.

Or I could just ask and get a couple good charts instead of waiting a few weeks

The two charts are posted in literally every greek thread

Including this Greek thread
I don't see the problem

But the colours contradict each other. I've read some of these and I still don't don't understand what the colours mean.

>Iliad
>Preferred Translation: Pope

these need an update

the order is iliad, odyssey, then the aeniad?

What's wrong with Pope? Fagles is good but Pope has been used for hundreds of years

Yes, but the Aeneid is not Greek.

yeah i looked it up, Virgil is Roman master race. I just want to build on my pre-requisite reading for the Divine Comedy.

Which translation of the Aeneid is the best? Is the Dryden translation good? It's the only one I have.

They really don't. They firmly represent the core of all Greek lit, and frankly most people on lit won't get through those lists, let alone go beyond them.

USE FITZGERALD
REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

1) go on craigslist
2)find a Greek man
3)get him to orate the Iliad and the Odyssea to you in a toga as the Gods intended
It is the only way.

If I just want to understand Greek philosophy, can I just watch the movies for Iliad/Odyssey to get the general idea? I'm not sure how reading those will help understand Plato and Aristotle more, especially since I won't be reading ancient Greek and will miss the musical aspect of the poems.

>implying modern Greeks can read Homer

Jesus, Homer can be read in like 4 days. Just fucking read him.

>Jesus, Homer can be read in like 4 days. Just fucking read him.

1000 pages is not something all of us can read quickly, especially when it's boring (I tried reading the Odyssey many years ago). Unfortunately I have a job.

>implying modern Greeks can read Homer
Most modern Greeks I have talked to, including my family members, say they can.

>Just fucking read him
But he has a point, he will be missing the important parts of the poem if he reads a translation. If he doensn't want to then there is no point in forcing himself.

It's poetry. It's not 1000 pages of Tolstoy with text covering the whole page. You can literally read it at double your normal rate for novels, if not faster.

Most modern English speakers can't read fucking Shakespeare; I don't believe those fucking Greeks for a second.

>he will be missing the important parts of the poem if he reads a translation
kys

>Most modern English speakers can't read fucking Shakespeare
This is an exaggeration. You can read Shakespeare after a bit of puzzling out and patience. Same with Middle English.

>I don't believe those fucking Greeks for a second
Why not? If they sit down and puzzle it out then what fucking reason do they have to lie to you?

>kys
But he said his main concern was that he won't get the musical tone of the text, so here the translation meme makes sense. If he justs needs the materials to understand Athenian philosophy, why would he need to read the Illiad?

>If he justs needs the materials to understand Athenian philosophy, why would he need to read the Illiad?

This. I don't get the meme that reading the Odyssey somehow prepares you for understanding Apology in any way. It's literally just an autism fueled progression chart.

Audiobooks for the Iliad are about 14 hours, and the Odyssey is 11, it's not that much because it's poetry.
By comparison a book like Infinite Meme, which is about 1000 large and print filled pages is nearly 70 hours in audio.
It's also easy to read, it flows well and is straightforward.

oops.
Meant this
for you, also it isn't boring shit lord, they are two of the greatest adventures ever told.

if i had started with the greeks i wouldn't need this guide in the first place

what is this even an illustration of

do people just get bored and draw their buddies from the local norwegian fish market as ape people riding polar bear people

who is this outsider artist and why do they keep doing it

I wish more people read Aristophanes on this board. It'd be nice to discuss him sometime.

>>I wish more people read on this board
ftfy.

>read a few pages of book
>pause to check if new responses to Veeky Forums thread
>start browsing the catalog
>check email
>read 5 more pages
>repeat

Help

turn pc off
throw phone away from arms length

it is from a book about the future and that's the only thing I remember about it

>!

No! It would just be so, like, mean!
Can't be true

>!
;p

more like arms length + 1 inch (including stretchiness)

valid point i must admit