How many times is it worth reading a work after you’ve read it through once?
I have read Euthyphro but I used dictionary and commentaries and translation. A few people recommend that I have to read again and again to deepen the knowledge.
What do you advice?
Do reread if you think the first reading was worth your time (and I suppose a book by one of the greatest Greek philosophers is very much worth one’s time, although I am not at all acquainted with philosophy). Passages which were at first obscure or completely unintelligible may become much clearer, you may have new insights into those you already understood, you will become more familiar with the Greek language, words and idioms, and able to read it more smoothly.
Thanks. You confirmed me in re-reading
You can’t re-read Homer too many times.
Hi, rereading is an excellent way to improve when learning a language. Many years ago, when I was starting with Ancient Greek, I read this article about rereading:
Don’t Read, Reread
At first I didn’t realize how good it was. But today I do it in such a way that I read most texts multiple times. And not just read — once I understand the text very well directly in Greek, I listen to it as well. Also multiple times, until I start to understand the audio perfectly too.
How do I do the rereading? In various ways:
At the sentence level. Right now I’m reading the Gospel of Luke, for example. When I occasionally don’t understand a difficult sentence, I read it maybe five times until I start to understand it directly in Greek.
Rereading paragraphs, chapters, or pages. When I manage to work through an entire page or chapter, I read it again — immediately, and then perhaps the next day, before reading the next chapter, etc. Right now, for example, I’m reading chapter 29 of Italian Athenaze. There are some texts from Thucydides in there. I slowly work through one paragraph at a time and then read it again. Once I’ve done that for a whole page, I read the whole page again. Finally, I read the entire chapter once more. And then the next day I read the whole chapter again — as many times as it takes until I understand it perfectly and quickly, directly in Greek.
Rereading entire books. A few weeks ago I was on holiday and I brought along something very easy for me to read — the Gospel of John. I’ve already read it several times, so I understand it perfectly. I read through it very easily and quickly in just a few days.
Listening to audio. I try to read books that also have audio recordings. Whatever I read, I then listen to — often when I’m driving somewhere or when I’m shopping, etc.
If you want audio of the Euthyphro, it’s here:
Thanks for the answer.
I will follow your way ti deepen my Greek knowledge and to reach a higher level in reading.
You convinced me that it is not unnecessery to re-read texts.
A little testimonial of myself to encourage you: I found that if I keep rereading a chapter from a book (I am currently reading Father Lhomond’s Epitomē Historiae Sacrae in Latin, and Günther Zuntz’s Greek Course and Ἀθὴναζε in Greek), each day going as far as I can, after some days (the more difficult the text, the more days I need) I can read the whole thing easily (or at least without great pains). I also noted that at the end I read the entire chapter almost in the same time I took at the beginning to read just part of it. As Justin (the author of the article @paveln sent) recommends, after I can read all of the text without marginalia and such aids, I still read again at least once (normally more times, specially if I enjoy the text).
Enjoy your reading! I hope it is enriching for you (and it will!).
The answer was truly enriching for me. Now I see re-reading more benefit than earlier.