Introduction

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markcmueller
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Joined: Sat May 12, 2018 11:43 am
Location: New Hampshire

Introduction

Post by markcmueller »

I studied Ancient Greek in college many years ago. At that time it was unusual for people to study Greek without first having studied Latin. The intro to Latin was two years, to Greek, one year. I managed to muddle through. Nevertheless, I always assumed I would return to Greek later in life and kept all of my books.

Recently I decided to plan a trip to Sicily and started reading history. I knew that there were Greek temples there, but I guess I had assumed that Sicily was quite provincial in the Greek world. I was surprised to learn how central it was in Greek culture. Gorgias, Archimedes, Theocritus lived or came from there. Plato attempted to influence the rulers of Syracuse. So I figured it would be fun to pick up Greek again and read up before my trip (which is probably several years off.) I realize now that my original idea -- why not read Thucydides account of the siege of Syracuse? -- was way too ambitious to tackle before reading easier authors such as Herodotus.

I am presently working my way through the second volume of the Italian Athenaze. Sentences in Miraglia readings can go on for days. I'd find myself stuck in spots and discovered that when the Greek seemed opaque there was a good chance the passage was based on an ancient author. With the help of Perseus I was able to find the ancient passage, look at the translation, and then understand the reading.

When I ran across Textkit, I discovered all sorts of interesting discussions and realized that there was a board where I could ask for help in understanding passages that I couldn't figure out. It's also fun to be able to share an interest with others which would make my friends' eyes glaze over. The other day a friend picked up a book off the table near my reading chair, 'The Syntax and Semantics of the Verb in Classical Greek'. He didn't say anything, but I can imagine what he was thinking.

Mark

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bedwere
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Re: Introduction

Post by bedwere »

Welcome to Textkit, Mark!

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