Litsy

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My favorite part of the new office I moved into today— everyone should have a cozy blanket and a basket of books in their space.

Rereading Ovid because my friend is (of course) so we can talk about it. I have this v pretty edition right up front next to my Tristram Shandy ♥️✨

slategreyskies Now I want a book basket! How did it never occur to me that this was an option? 📚♥️ 4mo

StaceGhost @slategreyskies it makes the books in the back curve a little but I cycle through so quickly it doesn‘t give me any issues— boxy baskets are better lol 4mo

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batsy

Helen | Euripides

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Euripides is the king of screwball tragicomedy, & that's a compliment. He is the one tragedian that reads like proto-Shakespeare. I like the screwball element. The twist here is that the Helen that drove foolish men to wars is a mirage, while the real Helen bides her time & reveals a sharp mind by degrees. Helen & Menelaus get to work like a sweeter, nonviolent Bonnie & Clyde, & then Euripides sends in the demi-gods to give us a "happy" ending.

batsy I read the translation by Richmond Lattimore. Image is from Greek pottery c. 450-440 BC showing Helen, centre, with Menelaus on the left. 2y

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llwheeler

A Hellenistic Anthology | Neil Hopkinson

Ever since I finished Circe, I've been thinking about Theocritus' Idyll 11. All the references to pharmakon in Circe reminded me of pharmakon here - there ain't no cure for love - but it's been a while since I read it and the details are foggy.

So going for a re-read now. With my trusty middle Liddell at hand since my Greek is, to be generous, very rusty. If I stop after a few lines, let's chalk it up to this absolutely gorgeous day instead.

TimSpalding Secret rusty-Greek handshake! I no longer attempt Greek poetry myself, so kudos. Hellenistic poetry nearly broke me. Callimachus? Glorious and very hard! 6y

llwheeler @TimSpalding Haha, hello! Thanks! I still attempt poetry but I'm just reading for myself, so I don't force myself to parse every single word as long as I get the jist. So that helps. I think I did read a little of Callimachus in undergrad... I don't have a huge desire to try him again though, not for quite a while at least. 6y

TimSpalding @llwheeler My thing now is to read texts with Greek on one side and Latin on the other. I find one always solves the other, and that way I'm practicing either way. I find reading Greek without help a chore—I'm not in school anymore so it's harder to justify the pain. Also, I don't have the impulse control to read a Loeb without reading too much English :) 6y

llwheeler @TimSpalding That's a great idea! I haven't tried that. Completely agree with you that the pain isn't worth it to read without help. I love Perseus for that, the ability to just click on a word and be like oh, weird aorist, okay, and carry on. 6y

TimSpalding @llwheeler I mostly do it with the NT. But there are early-modern editions of practically every Greek author with facing Latin. People like Jefferson always read their Greek with Latin on the other side. Cheaters. 6y

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