What are you reading?

Greek Learning Greek
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I have been reading Greek for some time now. When I run into questions, I find that I’m generally able to find the answers myself – either in grammars or on-line. As a result my reading tends to be a solitary activity. I suspect that others may be doing the same thing. I thought it might be interesting to know what others are reading.

For myself, I’m reading Tzetzes’ Allegories of the Iliad. I picked it up quite by accident, and at first glance it seemed not at all promising: an explication in verse by a mediocre Byzantine scholar of allegory in the Iliad. In fact, none of my fears were realized. The work does not interpret the Iliad as an allegory, but only the actions of the gods. In the first half of the book (I skipped the prologemena), most of the text summarizes each book of the Iliad. The language is Byzantine Greek, but is remarkably close to Attic Greek. The verse is constrained by syllable-count only, so feels remarkably close to prose. There is a facing translation, which is very helpful. There are notes, but not plentiful and frequently just reference the lines of the Iliad which are summarized. Generally I’d prefer a student edition of an author with lots of notes, but in this case, the Greek is quite simple. I just finished Book 5, the aristeia of Diomedes, which mostly involves warriors killing or maiming others by piercing various parts of their bodies with their weapons. It’s a great review of the cases of nouns and adjectives in their most physical meaning.

The allegorical explanations go over my head, but that doesn’t bother me. I never had a interest in astrology, much less twelfth century astrology. Sometimes when I’m reading I get a feeling that a passage feels distinctly medieval, but yet I am at a loss to explain why it feels that way. In any case, I’m enjoying reading the book, contrary to my expectations.

I’d enjoy hearing about what others are reading.

Mark

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Hello Mark,

Funny you should mention the solitary aspect of reading ancient Greek – I was thinking much the same thing today, having recently finished the last Greek course in my MA program, and realizing how much I missed commiserating with others over it. Chess clubs, hiking groups and cooking classes are common enough, but it is surprisingly difficult to find others who want to meet up now and then for a relaxing evening of translating ancient Greek!

I just finished Euripides’ Medea, along with excerpts from Apollonius’ Argonautica III and Pindar’s Pythian IV (both of which involve Medea). I’m now reading excerpts from Xenophon’s Hellenica (entitled “The Fall of Athens” in the Bristol Classical Press series), just for fun. It is not the most difficult text, but it is a good way to stay in practice over the summer.

How did you come across Allegories of the Iliad? It sounds like a surprisingly interesting book, but not one I’ve ever seen on a reading list or course syllabus.

Best,

Chris.

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Hi Chris,

I’m impressed that you tackled Pindar. I’ve always thought that he would incredibly difficult to read – something to come to after years of study. How was reading Pindar?

That said, I recently read Aeschylus’ Seven Against Thebes which I picked up almost by accident, thinking it was far beyond my reading level. It was, and my progress was only a few lines a day, but I enjoyed it. The Allegories of the Iliad, on the other hand, I can read hundreds of lines a day. The facing translation helps a great deal, but the Greek is mostly easy and fun to read. I think it’s useful to read easy texts from time to time – for me I think it helps consolidate my knowledge of the language. It gives me confidence that I am actually learning, and I can focus on the relatively few things in the text that puzzle me or call my attention. Here’s an example from Book 7 of the Allegories:

Ἡ δὲ γλαυκῷπις Ἀθηνᾶ, φρόνησις τῶν Ἑλλήνων,
ιδοῦσα τούτους κτείνοντας στρατόν τὸν τῶν Ἑλλήνων,
ὁρῶσα καί τὸν Ἥλιον νίκην Τρωσὶ διδόντα
τῷ πέμπειν κατὰ πρόσωπον Ἑλλήνων τὰς ἀκτῖνας,
ᾔτησε μονομάχιον Ἑλλήνων καὶ Τρώων.

But flashing-eyed Athena, the prudence of the Greeks,
when she saw them killing the army of the Greeks,
and also saw the Sun giving victory to the Trojans
by sending his ray into the faces of the Greeks,
asked for single combat between Greeks and Trojans.

Calling Athena the “prudence of the Greeks” is an example of Tzetzes explaining the actions of the gods as allegorical. What struck me, though, is: τῷ πέμπειν κατὰ πρόσωπον Ἑλλήνων τὰς ἀκτῖνας. Easy enough, but for me, such a nice example of the article turning a whole phrase into an instrumental.

I ran across the book at a bookstore in Chicago. I was not aware of the Harvard-owned Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library (like the Loebs, but the series is less than 20 years old). I’m sure there are a lot of reasons why you haven’t run across mention of the book before. Tzetzes is medieval Greek, for me surprisingly close to Attic, but it’s not ancient. Prior to this 2015 edition, the last one was done in 1851. This is just one of the many books of his that survive. Tzetzes is frequently ridiculed for his vanity and errors. It’s a bilingual edition with English the the facing page – typically avoided for courses. It’s not great literature. Nevertheless, it’s great summer reading. (I do keep a lexicon handy though to see if a word was used in classical Greek and if the meaning was the same.)

Mark

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Pindar was indeed challenging. His style was difficult, and it took some time to get used to the Doric and Aeolic forms. I wouldn’t have chosen to work on Pindar, but it was assigned reading for the course, so we tackled it as best we could. There was a lot of frustration, but fortunately it did get somewhat easier to read with practice, and I did okay in the course, so all good in the end.

I had heard of the Dumbarton Oaks series before, but it’s not something I’ve had the chance to look at in any depth. Your description and excerpt makes me think I should give it another look, though. The Greek appears well within my grasp, and it seems entertaining, based on the excerpt you gave. I’d love to try to tacking it some time, but I keep running into the same problem: so many interesting books to read, and so little time!

Any thoughts on what you’ll work on once you’re done with the Allegories? For me, I’ll spend the coming year working on an MA thesis, but I’d like to revisit Homer and Herodotus in more depth once I’m done school.

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Ah, it makes sense now how you came to read some Pindar – having covered Medea and some Apollonius the professor wanted to finish up with a real challenge. I suspect that the Doric and Aeolic forms were only a part of the problem based on my experience reading Aeschylus’ choruses where the meaning is so allusive.

I’m not sure what I will read right after the Allegories. Over the years I have acquired a number of books which are intended for intermediate Greek courses. In the fall I intend to pick up Cynthia Claxton’s Attica. It’s intended to review grammar, focusing on areas where intermediate students are often fuzzy, while translating texts – selections from Hellenica, Antiphon’s Against the Stepmother, and a relatively short selection from Euripides’ Electra. Claxton really dives into the details and asks all sorts of probing questions so that you really understand what’s going on with the language of the texts. I started the book a while back, but decided I wasn’t quire ready for it yet. I’m holding off until the fall, because the exercises involve writing which would be hard to do sitting in a lounge chair under a tree. After the Allegories I will probably pick up Euripides Alcestis, in another edition for intermediate students by Luschnig and Roisman.

What’s the topic of your MA thesis?

Mark

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Thanks for mentioning Claxton’s Attica – again, another book I hadn’t heard of, but looking at it on Amazon, it seems like exactly the right book for me now. I’ll pick it up, but might have to wait till after I’m done school to really get into it.

My thesis is more of an extended essay than a proper thesis really, as I’m doing a course-based master’s degree, which involves more course work, and a shorter thesis of only 60-70 pages. My topic is Roman public libraries in the first and second centuries AD. Specifically, I’m looking at the social exchange involved in munificence on this scale: what benefit did wealthy Romans obtain by building and stocking them, which members of the public used them and for what purpose, and how they fit into a society that was largely unable to read the books contained in them. Of course, I’ve only just started my dive into this topic. As so often happens, I’m expecting things to change as I go along and dig deeper.

Best of luck with Alcestis – I’m sure it will be more challenging than the Allegories!

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I ran across a quote about Roman libraries (private not public) in a book I’m reading. It’s from Seneca’s “On Tranquility”.

“In houses most unstudious you can see the complete [works of the most famous] orators and historians in cases piled high as the ceiling; along with baths and steam rooms, a library has now become an essential appendage to a fine house…”

It suggests that for the rich, appearing to be an avid reader enhances one’s reputation.