November ClassicsCAT: The Ancient World

Classics originally referred to the literature of Ancient Greece and Rome but the remit of eg Penguin Classics has expanded in time and space. When the ancient world became mediaeval is contentious enough in Western Europe (though the deposition of the last Western Roman emperor in 476 AD is most often used) but becomes even more so in other parts of the world, where it’s not even clear whether the tripartite division into ancient, medieval, and modern is all that useful. More or less arbitrarily I’m going to take the time between 476 and 622 AD as a border zone for the transition between ancient and medieval.

Having said that, anything produced from the beginnings of period up until the end of the ancient world, whenever you take it to be, will count for this challenge as will anything that falls within the definition of classics we’ve been using for these challenges, i.e., anything written more than 50 years ago, and that deals one way or another with the ancient world whether through fiction or non-fiction.

Obviously this covers a huge range of material and rather than reveal the gaps in my knowledge, I will pass you over to Wikipedia for ideas for books from the period:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_literature#Classical_Antiquity

LT has a list:

https://www.librarything.com/list/106/all/Best-historical-fiction-set-in-the-anc...

You could have a rummage round this site to find books that fit:

http://www.historicalnovels.info/

For myself, I am going to re-read the Penguin translation of Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, but I look forward to lots of BB.

Those who fill in the wiki can find this month's at: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/ClassicsCAT_2023#November:_The_Ancient_W...

Thanks for setting this up and for making it broad and inclusive! I was not sure what to read, but now I am sure I can find something on my shelves.

I've been looking for possibilities and making a list. It turns out that they're all on the LT list mentioned in >1 Robertgreaves:.

Augustus by John Williams
Memoirs of Hadrian by Margeurite Yourcenar
Fire from Heaven by Mary Renault Shortlisted for the Lost Man Booker Prize.
I, Claudius by Robert Graves

Another one on that list that could be entertaining, if it's anywhere near as good as She, is Wisdom's Daughter by H. Rider Haggard.

And there's an Agatha Christie! Death comes as the End.

>3 pamelad: If you like H. Rider Haggard, I would also recommend two of his lesser known works which would fit: Morning Star and Cleopatra

I'm trying to clear my shelves of "old" texts and supplementary materials collected when I worked on my Master's (2001-2004). I have lots of ancient materials, it's just a matter of selecting which one will be the least painful!;)

I think it is time for me to finally get to some of the early texts on the 1001 list, with The Golden Ass.

Planned to read HG Wells Outline of History this was given to me in HS and I enjoyed reading it. Wanted to see what its like with older eyes. Unfortunely so much is going on this month, so havent touched it. Hopefully I will soon

I'm taking a volume of plays by Aristophanes with me on vacation starting tomorrow. I will probably read The Clouds; I've already read Lysistrata.

After much debate, I think I will read The Amarna Letters, taken from about 400 cuneiform tablets discovered in 1887. The cover indicates it is mostly high-level writing of middle eastern kings; mostly negotiations and treaties.

>1 Robertgreaves: Ok, so I had to look up what happened in AD 622 that somebody would choose it as the end of the ancient world.....it was year 1 in the Muslim calendar, the year Muhammad trekked to Medina.

>10 Tess_W: Whoops, sorry I didn't mean to be obscure - I had a whole section discussing dates in different parts of the world I'd come up with using the timelines from The Times Atlas of World History and Wikipedia but which made the intro just too long so I cut it.

COMPLETED Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

I've had two false starts with H. Rider Haggard. Neither Wisdom's daughter nor Morning Star appealed. I liked the humorous Victorian pomposity of She, but the other two have quite a different tone, not surprisingly. I've now borrowed Augustus by John Williams. Fingers crossed.

Voting for the 2024 CATs is now happening at https://www.librarything.com/topic/354675#8274629! Voting will take place until Thursday, November 9, at 6:30 p.m. EST, at which time the votes will be counted and the 2024 CATs officially chosen. So stop by and vote for your favorites!

(Cross-posting to a bunch of threads to reach as many people as possible.)

I completed The Life of Alexander by Plutarch. Parts were interesting and parts were very dry!

I re-read The Imitation of Christ which needed to be read and absorbed in small segments. It is considered a Christian classic, and addresses the topic of Christ and how we might imitate Him in our lives. There is also a good section on monastic life.

December thread is up: https://www.librarything.com/topic/355237

gosh, this month i s going fast! need to come up with something fast!

I have finished Augustus by John Williams. It's in the form of diary entries and letters that hop around in time. I enjoyed it.

I read Metamorphoses by Ovid. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this. It was easier to get through than I was expecting. The audio edition that I found was also done quite well.

I have finished Xenophon's Anabasis, the tale of Greek mercenaries who signed on with Kyros to topple his brother from the Persian throne, lost the battle and then spent an inordonate amount of time tramping around Asia Minor to get back home. It's rather alien, to be honest.

I read a retelling of The Odyssey by Geraldine McCaughrean. A bit of a cheat, I know!

Thank you to all who took part. I hope you enjoyed your classical classics.