Reading Material after Xenophon?

[Thessaloniki]

I'm teaching myself, and I've gotten to where I can read Xenophon pretty well. (Many negative comments on the Anabasis have been stated here but I'm enjoying it quite a lot).<br /><br />Who would be some good authors to try and read next?<br /><br />I was recommended Lysias but I read some on Perseus and found it extremely difficult (It seems to require much specific knowledge about athenian courts, and also because you're getting one side of a court argument many things pop up with no apparent context and I had difficulty following it).<br /><br />Would Isokrates be a good author to tackle next? I read a little bit of some his stuff on Perseus and was able to follow it fairly well (although I really had to slow down and think about nearly every sentence)<br /><br />Just looking for some guidance, thank you.<br /><br />While I'm at it I also have some other questions if any one feels like answering them.<br /><br />Are there any learning aids to help transition from Prose to Poetry? Is it necessary to have a real mastery of prose before trying to read poetry (I really want to be able to read Hesiod)<br /><br />Are there any greek text anthologies that have vocabulary glosses and/or nice literal translations of the texts?<br /><br />Does any one know of a source or have a helpful summary on how to read infinitives (The majority of the times I struggle with a sentence is due to infinitives). I read through the lengthy infinitive section in 'syntax of.. greek verb' by Goodwin available on this site and was just blown away, I was basically more confused after I read it.<br /><br /><br />

[Colin]

J.A.C.T. Does an intermediate reader. "The Age of Heroes" That is great in terms of vocabulary glosses. It covers a section of Homer, a section of Heroditus, and section of Sophocles it's a good way to blow through alot of text - just reading. I used the copy Plato's "Apology" from this site recently that has an excellent vocabulary and notes below the text with notes in conjunction with a commentary on it by James Helm (Bolchazy - Carducci) that links appropriate grammatical examples to both Smyth and Godwin. And I found that was really enjoyable.

[Jeff Tirey]

I liked the Age of Heroes too. Other good choices are Plato's Apology & Crito and Demosthenes. <br /><br />Oh, and if you liked Xenophon's Anabasis - try sections of Arrian's Anabasis and read about the accounts of Alexander the Great.<br /><br />jeff

[annis]

There's lot's of other nice reading by Xenophon, history, and the Cyropaedia. For different history there are both Herodotus (easier, even in dialect) and Thucydides (harder). I'm not a huge fan of the Orators, since their language tends to pyrotechnics.<br /><br />As for the transition to poetry, I actually started there. The biggest problem, compared to reading other texts, will be dialect. For various reasons different sorts of poetry are written in particular dialects. Hesiod uses the same Epic dialect as Homer, with surprisingly little variation considering what Hesiod's native dialect doubtless was.<br /><br />I'd again recommend Pharr's Homeric Greek text, still widely available. You'll be able to go through the early chapters quickly, since it is a beginner's book, but by Lesson 13 you'll be reading the Iliad. Pharr's appendix on Grammar is probably the most available Homeric grammar in English. Monro is too technical.<br /><br />As for comments on poems, my own web site http://www.aoidoi.org has vocab lists, and notes on tricky parts, but provides no actual translations.<br /><br />I add poems as I have time. I just got a house, so the commentaries have slowed down.<br /><br />I'll be starting a commentary on Hesiod's Theogony in the next few weeks, with about monthly updates.<br />

[Skylax]

And maybe Lucian (Loukiano/s)? But there's not much to read on the web. And what abour Pausanias?

[GlottalGreekGeek]

I'll be starting a commentary on Hesiod's Theogony in the next few weeks, with about monthly updates.

Ummm. How far are you in this commentary? Has it been abandoned in favor of other projects?

[annis]

I'll be starting a commentary on Hesiod's Theogony in the next few weeks, with about monthly updates.

Ummm. How far are you in this commentary? Has it been abandoned in favor of other projects?

Not abandoned, but put aside until I felt better prepared to undertake such a large project. I have other things I need to finish in the next two months or so, but planning for this has moved to the fore.