Aussie, eh? My daughter's there now doing a semester abroad in Brisbane -- she has done a bit of travelling while there, Cairns, Alice Springs, Uluru, Sidney -- and she has nothing but wonderful things to say about your country. It sounds like a great place to live1

I didn't mean to imply admiration for Alexander in my comment, although he's a fascinating historical personage. All in all, world conquerers don't impress me much. But I do find it compelling to imagine myself back in the fourth century reading the classics in the classic language ...

When I get to the Roman period, I will definitely seek out your recommendations further. The closest I've come to that so far is Robin Lane Fox [The Classical World: From Homer to Hadrian] which after Greece & the Hellenistic period delivered a brushstroke of Rome that was unfortunately a rather boring treatment.

posted by Garp83 at 7:46 am (EST) on May 9, 2008

Hi Stevie --

13 Hour Days -- I admire your committment! I have an undergrad degree in History but have been pursuing my studies on my own since then, reading and taking Teaching Company Courses such as:
[http://www.teach12.com/ttcx/coursedesclong2.aspx?cid=3317&pc=Professor]
I've taken more than a dozen of these and they are wonderful, especially if you discipline yourself to do a lot of exploratory reading. I read all of Herodotus & Thucydides plus a fair bit of Xenophon in tandem with these courses.

Naturally, I do envy your actual classroom work. If I didn't run my own company which eats up so much of my time I would go back for grad work, just for fun. I am considering taking ancient Greek classes locally, though, because I can't seem to make any headway just out of a book so far. I want to read the Iliad in Greek, like Alexander!

I am guessing from your slang that you are in the UK? Am I right? Are you in London or out in the country?

I look forward to hearing more about your university work. I am fascinated by the classics. I am working my way through Greece & hope to make it to Rome (figuratively!) one day. Stay in touch!

posted by Garp83 at 8:04 am (EST) on May 7, 2008

So Stevie -- have you read the Greek tragedies yet? For my birthday, I received the Teaching Company Course [Masterpieces of Greek Literature] taught by Prof. Schenker [http://www.teach12.com/ttcx/coursedesclong2.aspx?cid=2390] and I decided early on that I would actually read the works discussed. (This is part of my ongoing attempt to get the classical education I never got in school!) I had already read Iliad & Odyssey, plus a reasonable selection of Hesiod. For the course, I read some Homeric lyric poems, plus some Sappho, Archilochus and Alcaeus poetry. When I got to drama, I decided the read the complete tragedies discussed as we went along. The only Greek tragedy I had read previously was [Agamememnon], by Aeschylus, so I read the rest of the [Oresteia], plus [Ajax] and [Philoctetes]. Then when we got to Sophocles I read [Oedipus] and I am just starting on [Oedipus at Colonus]. My comment is: this stuff requires a lot of focus to move your way thru it without leaping off a ledge somewhere. As a classics major, what's your take?

posted by Garp83 at 1:37 pm (EST) on May 4, 2008

Hi Stevie -- love your profile pic!

posted by Garp83 at 11:37 am (EST) on Mar 30, 2008

Stevia - Good luck with the Classics major - I approve, of course :) I hope you're enjoying Seneca; I'm a big fan both of the plays and the letters, even though I'm usually not a philosophy fan. Where are you hoping to go abroad? Rome? To the Centro? At any rate, good luck with that too!

posted by scaifea at 7:52 am (EST) on Mar 27, 2008