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Friends: DavidGaughran, dscarson, JanetinLondon, joririchardson, KCahalane, Keeler, ktleyed, MarysGirl, meleada, rtkaelin, Storeetllr, SusieBookworm, thebooky

Interesting library: ginnyday, KCahalane, lindabarr, thorold

Greek: ginnyday

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Member: Judith_Starkston

Collectionscurrently reading (2), Your library (99), To read (1), Read but unowned (1), All collections (101)

Reviews36 reviews

Tagshistorical mystery (20), mystery (18), historical fiction (18), ancient history (14), contemporary fiction (13), Hittites (6), Homer (3), poetry (3), World War I (2), mythology (2) — see all tags

Cloudstag cloud, author cloud, tag mirror

GroupsAncient History, Archaeology, Historical Fiction, Historical Mysteries, History Fans, History: On learning from and writing history, Hobnob with Authors, Mythology, Writer-readers

Favorite authorsIsabel Allende, Geraldine Brooks, Trevor Bryce, Valerie Anand, Anita Diamant, Harry A. Hoffner, Homer, P. D. James, Alice McDermott, Stacy Schiff, Emily Vermeule, Jacqueline Winspear (Shared favorites)

About meI’m a classicist by training (Greek and Latin literature and history), a Hellenist more specifically, which means I focused more on Greeks than Romans. This is somewhat ironic since I spent twenty-plus years teaching Latin and English, and not a single one teaching Greek.

I completed a Bachelor’s in classics at the University of California, Santa Cruz and a Master’s at Cornell University.

Along the way I fell in love with Homer’s Iliad. The ancient epic and I have had a lasting relationship, starting with an undergraduate thesis and continuing through many years of teaching. It was a perennial favorite among my students.

Six years ago I was struck by a question that arose from a startling aspect of the Iliad. When the greatest warrior, Achilles, takes a young woman named Briseis captive, destroys her city and kills her husband and brothers, she falls in love with him, and he with her. Not quite the reaction most of us would have. Yet the Homeric tradition, while tantalizingly brief on the subject, is pretty insistent that she loves him. What kind of woman would fall in love with her captor? It’s epic poetry, a male dominated world, so her tale is never told; she appears in only a few scattered lines. So who is Briseis? So I decided to write a book and find out.

I’ve been learning more about her world—lots of research and travel—and getting to know her as she appears on the page and re-adjusts my ideas. My book is almost done—editing rather than growing now.

As a break from writing I love to read historical and contemporary fiction, and I enjoy conversing with others who do also.

About my libraryI have included many of my favorite authors, as well as a number of books about Hittites, Mycenaean Greeks, mythology and Homer that I find very useful in my research. My favorite authors write a mix of historical fiction and contemporary fiction.

Homepagehttp://www.judithstarkston.com

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Membership LibraryThing Early Reviewers/Member Giveaway

Real nameJudith Starkston

LocationUnited States

Emailjudithstarkstongmail.com

Account typepublic, free

URLs http://www.librarything.com/profile/Judith_Starkston (profile)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/Judith_Starkston (library)

Member sinceFeb 18, 2011

Most recent activity

Judith_Starkston reviewed, rated, added:
The Book of Lost Fragrances: A Novel of Suspense by M. J. Rose

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Judith_Starkston reviewed, rated, added:
Empress of the Seven Hills by Kate Quinn

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Judith_Starkston reviewed, rated, added:
Elegy for Eddie: A Maisie Dobbs Novel by Jacqueline Winspear

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Judith_Starkston reviewed, rated, added:
Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James

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Judith_Starkston reviewed, rated, added:
The Scottish Prisoner: A Novel (Lord John) by Diana Gabaldon

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Judith_Starkston rated, reviewed, added:
You Might As Well Die: An Algonquin Round Table Mystery by J.J. Murphy

(read review)

Hi, Judith,

Thanks for the friend request! I see from your profile we do have some things in common - an interest in mysteries and in books to do with the ancient world, and a family trip with adult children to Turkey to see the sites! We didn't go to the same area you did, though, but rather to Ephesus and other sites near that. I myself am not a classicist by any stretch of the imagination, but my husband is - he works at the British Museum in their Education department. In fact, he is off to Athens tomorrow for a few days to meet with his counterpart at the Parthenon museum!

Do you have any threads here I could check out?

Janet

posted by JanetinLondon at 1:20 pm (EST) on Oct 8, 2011

Hi Judith,

Thanks for the invitation!

I have to admit, I only knew Emily towards the end of her life. She had had a hip replacement which didn't go well. She was basically confined to the first floor and the garden.. She was in pain, and our conversations were mostly limited to day-to-day things.

Cornelius was also becoming less mobile, but I was able to get him out for occasional invasions of the museum of fine arts or to coin shows, accompanied by David Mitten. Every weekend morning we'd spend 3 or 4 hours talking about museums,art, ancient coins, and scandals! I miss him terribly.
Thanks so much for writing!
Kevin

posted by KCahalane at 8:04 pm (EST) on Jul 26, 2011

Thank you so much for your encouraging remarks. I am looking foward to translating the magnificent Book 9. Book 8 certainly has some dubious passages, though also some lovely ones (like Gorguthion's death: "He bowed his head to one side, like a poppy in a garden,
heavy with seeds and spring showers -
so his head drooped to one side, weighed down by his helmet." and, of course, the last few lines with the simile comparing the Trojan watch fires to the stars and leaving us with a picture of the horses standing beside their chariots, munching white barley and spelt.

And much is still to come. I love this quote: "in the life of Schiller...it is recorded that 'Schiller once said in a melancholy mood: 'If one had only lived in order to read the twenty-third book of the Iliad, then one could not complain about one's existence"' and, while not discounting my lovely husband and children, I do understand what Schiller meant.

posted by ginnyday at 9:30 am (EST) on Jul 26, 2011

Sorry I did not respond more promptly, but I've been away walking the South Downs Way, which is a 'long distance' footpath in Southern England. Thanks for contacting me. Your novel sounds really interesting and I hope it will soon be published and I shall be able to read it. I've just finished translating Book 8 of the Iliad, though I keep tinkering as I go along. I'm strictly an amateur, as my university stuff was Anglo-Saxon, but I've loved the Iliad since I read E V Rieu's translation when I was about eleven. It became my ambition to be able to read Homer in the original and my Latin master at school kindly taught me Greek and I've dabbled on and off ever since. I'm sure I'm making lots of howlers. Do stay in contact and let me know how things go with your novel.

posted by ginnyday at 2:00 pm (EST) on Jul 21, 2011

Judith,

Good luck with Queen Puduhepa! For some reason there was a bit of a cult of Cold Comfort Farm in our research group at university - I think it originated with one of my colleagues who'd been to a girls' boarding school. It made a change from Monty Python and Hitch-hiker's Guide, anyway.

Do read it, if you get the chance!

Mark

posted by thorold at 3:45 am (EST) on Jul 20, 2011

Hey there! Yeah, like the comment you made just now, the only way I'll know about it is by checking back regularly. Since I run the group, I have to do that anyway, but it's kind of a pain I know. If you do find out that there is a way, please let me know. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful!

posted by asukamaxwell at 8:22 pm (EST) on Jul 19, 2011

Thank you for the invite, Judith! Always a pleasure to meet another fan of Homer and the Greek classics.

Michele

posted by meleada at 9:18 pm (EST) on Jul 17, 2011

Hi Judith

Great to meet you, even if only virtually!

Scott

posted by dscarson at 6:30 pm (EST) on Jul 14, 2011

Judith -

It is a pleasure to make your virtual acquaintance. I, too, am a big Tolkien fan (show me a fantasy author who say he/she is not, and I'll show you a liar).

Glad you stumbled upon my random rantings.

Good days ahead...

-R.T.

posted by rtkaelin at 8:12 pm (EST) on Jul 13, 2011

I am glad to have stumbled upon your page and read your profile. The book you are in the process of writing sounds like a great idea - I would love to read it someday! I am assuming that it is fiction?
"The Iliad" is one of my favorite books of all time, and I can definitely understanding you saying that you have a "relationship" with it. I started learning Classical Greek years ago, specifically so that I could read the original text. Not that I ever got that far, but, I'm still hopeful. :)

posted by joririchardson at 5:05 pm (EST) on Jul 1, 2011

The history of the Greeks in Anatolia is fascinating, from the time you mention right up to the aftermath of World War I and the "population exchanges".

I studied a lot of Ancient Greek history, as well as philosophy, in college, so I have a soft spot for all things Greek. Spent a lot of time there too. Beautiful country. Great people.

posted by DavidGaughran at 1:10 pm (EST) on Jul 1, 2011

Hi Judith! Nice to see you here.

MarysGirl aka Faith Justice

posted by MarysGirl at 12:03 pm (EST) on Jul 1, 2011

I hope you get that agent/publisher lined up soon! I'll be keeping track of your progress. :)

posted by Storeetllr at 8:34 pm (EST) on Jun 30, 2011

Thanks for the link. I'll subscribe today. But I was mostly interested in YOUR novel and when IT will be coming out. :) (I'm sure I can find that info on your blog too.)

posted by Storeetllr at 7:34 pm (EST) on Jun 27, 2011

Just read your profile more carefully and see you are writing a novel about Briseis. Good question and idea for a novel. Can't wait until it comes out so I can read it too! Keep me posted?

posted by Storeetllr at 1:20 am (EST) on Jun 27, 2011

Thank you for the friends request, Judith; I have accepted with pleasure! Yes, I love Roman historical fiction and mysteries set in ancient Rome ~ well, pretty much all fiction set in (and also nonfiction about) ancient cultures, though I think from reading your profile that you are a lot better read in that area than I. I'm so glad to know McBain's got another coming out soon (I hope soon). I'll be looking for it.

posted by Storeetllr at 1:18 am (EST) on Jun 27, 2011

Judith, I just visited your website and wanted to let you know I really enjoyed it. I am sure I will revisit it soon for book recommendations. I especially liked your review of Stacy Schiff's Cleopatra. Just wanted to let you know. Oh, when you get a chance do add what you are currently reading to your librarything profile. (Just a suggestion-I am always interested in that.)

posted by thebooky at 3:04 pm (EST) on Jun 20, 2011

I am afraid that at times librarything can be a bit addicting. Welcome. You asked about Geraldine Brooks. I loved The Year of Wonder. I was, however, somewhat disenchanted with the last chapter. I have March but haven't read it. I did enjoy People of the Book and feel as though I should reread it since I feel I didn't absorb everything the first time. We'll see. So many other books sitting on my unread shelf that rereading is a luxury. Glad to make your acquaintance. My actual name is Christine, by the way.

posted by thebooky at 2:33 pm (EST) on Jun 16, 2011

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