I finished reading the Iliad today in the original Greek. It's taken about year to do with a year of prep work beforehand. What advantage was there in reading a book that I've already read in several English translations? First, there's the sound of the Greek and it's original meter. Second, the slow pace forces you to consider each section and even each sentence with greater care. Third, you begin to notice repeated words and phrases that don't carry over well in translation. Fourth, you begin to understand more fully what scholars and other readers of the language are talking about when they discuss the Iliad or Ancient Greek writings more generally. Finally, I just scratched one thing off my bucket list. Hip, Hip, Huzzah!
Thoughts after reading the "Iliad" to prepare a Greece unit for my students: -Hector is a jerk until he's dead. He even advocates the exposure of Achaean corpses and then has the cheek to turn around and ask Achilles to spare his. He rudely ignores Polydamas' prophecies and fights outside the gate to save his pride knowing full well what it will cost his family and city. After he's dead, he becomes a martyr for the cause. -Agamemnon has several moments of true leadership to balance out his pettiness. In this way, he's a haunting foil to Achilles: the two men are more alike than they want to acknowledge. -We see that Achilles is the better man at the funeral games of Patroclos. His lordliness, tact, and generosity there give us a window into Achilles before his fight with Agamemnon and the death of Patroclos consumed him. -Nestor is a boring, rambling, old man who's better days are far behind him, and yet every Achaean treats him with the upmo...
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