progress report

Greek Learning Greek
1

I just completed my first reading of Plato’s Apology of Socrates. I worked on it every day, seven days a week, for more than an hour, and fewer than three. The Apology required two months.

Each word is parsed, with the aid of the Attikos iOS app when it is needed, as it often is. I write out a full translation, sometimes in translationese, my informal code that is intended to show how the Greek works, in an English-like form. My notes consume about 1 and 1/2 of two 70-sheet spiral-bound notebooks, about 200 pages of writing, I reckon, since I write front-and-back. I use English translations to check my work, and to give me clues when I can’t make out a Greek sentence.

I go sentence-by-sentence, focusing on getting the literal meaning of each sentence. Continuity in the document, intertextual relations, and figurative language are mostly beyond my present ability, so I don’t worry about them.

There are some external issues I do work on. Some years ago, I read Leo Strauss’s famous essay, “Persecution and the Art of Writing,” which opened up for me a new way of reading pre-1800 philosophical writings. Besides that I continue to read Cicero in Latin, and I wonder about the New Academy presentation of the Platonic tradition.

Finally, I use this work to pursue peace of mind. While reading something difficult, there’s no mental room for the annoyances, vexations, and tragic events of life–few of which I can do anything about. I’m a little like Scarlett O’Hara, “I won’t think about that bad stuff now, I’ll study some Latin or Greek, and think about it tomorrow. Tomorrow is another day.”

2

Congrats Hugh on finishing one of the great works!

Cheers, Chad

3

Well done, Hugh!

I’ve just finished reading Strauss’ essay and I think I see now the motivation for your exploration of works by Plato, Cicero, Augustine et. al. in their original languages. How better to discover the truth hidden “between the lines” than to begin by reading an author in his native language? I was surprised at first that Strauss includes Xenophon in the group of the ancient writers that were subject to a form of persecution “more tangible than social ostracism”, but I should remember that he supported Socrates and the Spartans and spent most of his adult life exiled involuntarily and perhaps later voluntarily, from Athens. Another writer whom Strauss does not mention, Seneca the Younger, might well be included in this category. Consider his Epistoles Morales: Not once does he mention Nero.

4

Congratulations, Hugh! Your diligence is very impressive. Having worked through the Euthyphro, Apology and Crito – with nothing at all like your attention – I’m taking a break from Plato, reading the Life of Aesop and Hippocrates’ On Airs, Waters and Places.

Then I intend to start the Symposium. I stumbled on “Leo Strauss On Plato’s Symposium” – lecture notes edited for publication – which I ordered. I find that my ability to concentrate on Greek every morning doesn’t last even two hours, so the idea of reading a philosophical commentary along side seems very appealing. Needless to say finding partially hidden meanings in the text makes the effort all the more rewarding.

Mark

5

For Aetos: reading Strauss’s “Persecution. . .” reminded me of something in Aristotle’s Politics, when he justifies slavery by asserting his theory of the natural slave. I had read this in English as an undergraduate, and re-read it several times later, while studying the defenses put up for American slavery, when it came under criticism. Aristotle asserts his natural-slave defense, and then raises this point: some might ask, do actually existing slaves really have the characteristics of natural slaves? (OWTTE) But then, as I recall, instead of dealing with this objection, which seems devastating to me, Aristotle abruptly changes the subject. In the light of Strauss, this sudden shift of topic looks like an invitation to read Aristotle esoterically, at least on slavery.

So, I want to get my Greek up to Aristotle standards, in order to see for myself if a reading of the Greek text matches my reading of the English text, on this very interesting point. It would be a lot of fun to make out Aristotle an anti-slavery man, albeit on the QT.

But for now, I’m going to run through the Apology of Socrates again. I see that I’ve already forgotten many of the words I looked up. :wink: I think a re-reading will repair some of that.

6

Hugh, quite an accomplishment! Congrats are in order.

A question, which is not meant to be impertinent: do you find now that you can read with comprehension Plato’s Symposium or others of his (or other AG) without looking up vocab or idioms as much, or translating? Just curious, since you didn’t mention that part of the experience specifically.

Symposium was my first exposure to Attic (I began Greek with Koine from the New Testament) and it didn’t go well. I plan to try again later. I did, however, succeed with some excerpts from the Apology of Socrates and Xenophon’s Memorabilia. These were readings in Stephen Beall’s The Wisdom of Socrates: A Review Grammar and Reader of Attic Greek, which you can download here (free pdf on Academia.edu) :

https://www.academia.edu/3765420/The_Wisdom_of_Socrates_A_Review_Grammar_and_Reader_of_Attic_Greek

I recommend Beall as a good intro to Attic if you’re coming to it from Koine. His explanations are very clear, with good examples, and he has a sense of humor, which helps keep things from getting dry or boring.

All the best!

Persequor

7

A good question, and I’m happy to answer. No, I cannot yet “just pick up and read” any text of Plato that I’ve checked. I just checked only to discover that I can’t even “just pick up and read” a random passage from the Apology, which I just studied. So, I’m starting the Apology over.

I don’t let this discourage me. Achieving any kind of literacy in a second language, and especially in an ancient language, is a major accomplishment. I’ll add that I’m 83, and don’t have much longer to work on this. But, to borrow a metaphor from one who wrote in Greek, I run the race as best I can, and take pleasure in the daily accomplishments, even when some of them quickly fade. Some don’t fade, and there is the pleasure of the study itself, of concentration that expels from thought the vexations of life that I can’t do much about, the loss to death of old friends, the annoyances of the American political scene.

A thought about reading the New Testament. I have studied the gospel of John and the Acts, and found most helpful a New Testament lexicon, which I picked up at random in a used-book store. A NT lexicon indexes every word, not just the headwords, but the different inflections. You can use it to test and restudy knowledge of the inflections. Abebooks or Allibris (both online used-book vendors) lists NT lexicons, and you can get advice here about the various ones.

8

On “two hours” of concentration: I have always thought that my concentration is good for about 30 minutes. So, when fatigue appears, I take a short break.

9

I don’t know about reading esoterically, Hugh—maybe it’s just that even Aristotle had his blind spots—but I do think you’ve put your finger on the all-important point about his justification of slavery. He allowed that not all slaves are natural slaves (and conversely that some non-slaves might be) but failed to follow through. And surely he must have recognized the inadequacy of his either/or classification with regard to reasoning capability. In historical hindsight he has a lot to answer for, I think.

10

If someone were to lead Aristotle through a modern Walmart (the world’s largest employer), I wonder what word he would use to describe the uniformed clerks? Not δοῦλοι? And, before we corrected him, would he call what they are doing δουλεύειν? Would he agree with us when we passionately insisted that, no, these were actually ἄνθρωποι ἐλεύθεροι? Or would they not look exactly like what he would define as ἐλεύθεροι? Would we be able to answer him all that clearly about why his reasoning regarding τὰ ἥμερα ζῷα doesn’t apply to the economic system that we practice on these people? In fact, he might ask us, if these are really ἐλεύθεροι, and δυνάμενοι ἄρχειν, why they seem to have ἐπιστάται set over them? Why does their μισθός seem to be so small compared to that of the δεσπότης of the corporation? And then we’d say that ἐκείνοις βέλτιόν ἐστιν ἄρχεσθαι ταύτην τὴν ἀρχήν…

11

Very judicious observations, mwh. You are right that established custom can have a spellbinding effect on our thoughts.