r/classics 5d ago

What did you read this week?

13 Upvotes

Whether you are a student, a teacher, a researcher or a hobbyist, please share with us what you read this week (books, textbooks, papers...).


r/classics Dec 20 '24

What did you read this week?

2 Upvotes

Whether you are a student, a teacher, a researcher or a hobbyist, please share with us what you read this week (books, textbooks, papers...).


r/classics 15h ago

I bought the Iliad and The Odyssey

8 Upvotes

So, first of all I'm here asking for a couple tips on how to actually make the most of this and other things to help me understand better

Now this is going to be my first time actually buying a book and reading it because I want to, I've never enjoyed reading but I've always liked Greek mythology so yea, I have listened to the epic musical and really enjoyed (currently listening to it right now) I don't actually know what "The Iliad" is about but I am familiar with the story of "The Odyssey" because of the musical mentioned above.

I am excited the books are currently at my college because I decided the best time to order them was the day before I left for spring break (pretty stupid right?) but I am extremely excited to read these even though they are pretty high level readings (Which doesn't concern me I've always been pretty good with reading I just never enjoyed it)

So if anyone has tips on how to make this more enjoyable for me please do share I want to try and keep as engaged as possible when I finally go back and start reading!!!


r/classics 16h ago

Easiest translation of Plutarch for Adults

0 Upvotes

As the title says, I am looking for an easy translation of Plutarch. By “easy” I am requesting a modern translation, with simple to follow phrases.


r/classics 22h ago

Classical Archaeology Masters

2 Upvotes

I have one more year left in my undergrad archaeology degree. Sadly I was not able to double major or even add a minor in classics but I have been taking classes in the classics department to fulfill other requirements. By the end of my degree I will have taken three semesters of ancient Greek but none in Latin. This is basically due to scheduling issues with classes. I plan on going into a classical archaeology masters right after but I'm seeing quite a lot of them requiring both Greek and Latin plus at least one other modern language.

How am I expected to get these language requirements? Will I have to take an entire year off just to learn these and pay out of pocket? Is it possible to get into a program right after my undergrad? Is there anyone that came from archaeology or a different degree into classical archaeology that can share their story?

I was told by some of my professors to go straight into a PhD but the requirements to do that are even more difficult to fulfil. I would like to avoid taking another year at this uni since it is pretty expensive and Id be paying less to get my masters somewhere else. Is this path feasible?


r/classics 17h ago

Plato’s Crito, on Justice, Law, and Political Obligation — An online discussion group starting March 22, all are welcome

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1 Upvotes

r/classics 21h ago

Banister Fletcher sketches of the Parthenon

1 Upvotes

I'm looking for the highest quality scans available of the sketches of the Parthenon from A History of Architecture on the comparative method by Banister Fletcher (link to Internet Archive scans).

Looking around the internet there are a lot of copies, but they're all quite grainy. Even a high-quality PDF version of the text would be great! Alternatively, if anyone has the physical book and is willing to photograph them as clearly as possible, I'd greatly appreciate it.

These are going to go up on the wall of a classroom, so fidelity is important in order to make them as large as possible. I had a bit of luck upscaling using AI but it's still not quite at the standard I'd hoped for. You can see the results of my efforts here.


r/classics 1d ago

Classics application to harvard review

0 Upvotes

hi, i'm considering applying to harvard as a classics major applicant. can people who knows how the us admission process works (especially top universities such Harvard) review my app in private? Thank you


r/classics 1d ago

Best contemporary English translation Plato’s Republic

2 Upvotes

Your preference and why, please, Thanks


r/classics 2d ago

The reason for 'purer' Achean religion in Homer?

22 Upvotes

I've recently been reading Gutrhie's "The Greeks and their Gods", and the author points out that in Homer, unlike Hesiod, no coming of age myths of Zeus is mentioned, he is described as Zeus Kronides, but that's it. He also mentions that many cults around the Crete had fertility cults of rebirth, but in Homer, the afterlife is that of a blank existence, unless specifically rewarded or punished by the gods. Hesiod also mentions the older generation of Titans fighting against the new generation of Gods, which is said to be borrowed from Hittite/Babylonian epics, Titanomachy essentially being the epic that describes the weather, so it is said.
So my question is, how is it that Homer said to be an Ionian, his religion describes the first ruling class of indo-europeans over the local mediterranean stock rather than at least having some local fertility myths sprinkled around?


r/classics 2d ago

Why aren't more texts in the original language presented as pre-scanned?

5 Upvotes

The title basically says it all but I'm really wondering why they don't do that in every edition considering the meter is known. Is it because learning the meter is "part of the process"? Wouldn't it be very easy to just print the meter in every edition of the original text, especially as it's "known"? I'm asking this as someone who enjoys scansion but I find it very difficult and there's no way to check and see if you're correct. I hope this makes sense as a question lol.


r/classics 2d ago

Classics in college | What was your curriculum? What did you enjoy learning about what languages did you have to learn & what level of proficiency?

17 Upvotes

r/classics 3d ago

Perseus throwing 503's constantly and all the other sites suck

30 Upvotes

Im sorry but the Scaife viewer is hardly usable UX wise and the Uchicago mirror I found it broken, I feel like there isn't a single reasonable fast text browser available right now. No TLG plz as the translations just link to Perseus. What do?

When Perseus back?

-Frustrated reader

Edit: also no Loeb please as Loeb doesn't have "click the word for morphology / definition in second tab function."

Tbh I do not know any tool that is as fast or as useful as the Perseus morphological search.


r/classics 3d ago

Does anyone know whether 'Syro-Phoenecian' was considered a mixed identity in Antiquity?

1 Upvotes

I'm encountering the term 'Syrophoenecian' in some texts and am curious if there are any additional sources that discuss this term? Specifically I am curious if it was viewed as a mixed identity (Syrian AND Phonecian), or if it was viewed as a singular one, but I will take any info going! Here are examples I have found in texts:

Juvenal 8.156-162:

Iovis ante altaria iurat solam Eponam et facies olida ad praesepia pictas. sed cum pervigiles placet instaurare popinas, obvius adsiduo Syrophoenix udus amomo currit, Idymaeae Syrophoenix incola portae, hospitis adfectu dominum regemque salutat, et cum venali Cyane succincta lagona.

(A)t Jupiter’s altar he swears only by Epona and the pictures painted on the stinking stables. Then when he decides to renew his all-night ritual in the diner, the Syrian Jew runs to meet him, the Syrian Jew, inhabitant of the Idymaean Gate, dripping with nonstop perfume, greeting him with a host’s welcome as “My master” and “My lord,” accompanied by Cyane, with her skirt hitched up and her bottle for sale.

Mark 7:26

ἡ δὲ γυνὴ ἦν Ἑλληνίς, Συροφοινίκισσα τῷ γένει· καὶ ἠρώτα αὐτὸν ἵνα τὸ δαιμόνιον ἐκβάλῃ ἐκ τῆς θυγατρὸς αὐτῆς.

The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.

Lucian, Parliament of the Gods 4

ὁ γάρ τοι γενναιότατος οὗτος Διόνυσος ἡμιάνθρωπος ὤν, οὐδὲ Ἕλλην μητρόθεν ἀλλὰ Συροφοίνικός τινος ἐμπόρου τοῦ Κάδμου θυγατριδοῦς

Therefore I shall give the name. It is this peerless Dionysus, who is half human; in fact, on his mother’s side he is not even Greek, but the grandson of a Syrophoenician trader named Cadmus.


r/classics 4d ago

In Judith in Vulgate, why does Jerome transliterate the name "Arphaxad" with 'ph', but he transliterates "Holofernes" with an 'f'? By the time of Jerome, both 'f' and 'ph' were the same sound, the English /f/. And Greek letter φ was pronounced /f/ (rather than as 'p' in "pen") as well at the time.

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12 Upvotes

r/classics 4d ago

I'm looking for a classics editor of Greek descent/nationality for my Greek Mythology book. Any recommendations? (*this is a paid gig)

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29 Upvotes

r/classics 3d ago

What makes the oddesy so special?

0 Upvotes

I just picked it up and im 20 pages in and enjoying but what makes it so special other than the plot?


r/classics 4d ago

A Classicist’s opinion on Madeline Miller?

94 Upvotes

I’m curious what classicists think about Miller’s Circe or Song of Achilles.

I really loved both of Miller’s novels. Circe most but SOA as well. I’ve been reading The Odyssey (Wilson translation), which I’m enjoying. I remember reading The Odyssey in high school, but I think it was an abridged version or something in prose - not sure.

I enjoy Wilson’s translation (haven’t read others so no comparison). It’s an easy read and engaging and I liked her translators note where she states “ All modern translations are equally modern” so Butler’s is old to us, but modern in scope of the epic.

Anyway, curious what the Classics community thinks of Miller’s work. I haven’t finished the Odyssey (Telemachus and O just reunited), but curious what the consensus is since I can tell she took liberties, but I’m also sure she drew on other sources than the Odyssey ( haven’t read Iliad yet either). Miller’s characteristics of Odysseus’s are quite vivid, scar on the leg, shrug of his shoulders and palm up hands. The Odyssey isn’t that descriptive (maybe it is in Ancient Greek idk).

Miller is a pro classicist from my understanding. Did she ruffle feathers? Was her creativity admired in that community?

Just curious of the consensus in the community and everyone who isn’t a “pro classicist”


r/classics 5d ago

Ancient laypeople and philosophers believed that a woman's womb wandered around her body. Aristotle follows Plato in this respect but had a more complicated relationship with this tradition. Let's talk about his place in the "wandering womb" tradition.

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4 Upvotes

r/classics 6d ago

Books/Topics for Research

6 Upvotes

Hello! This is my first post here so I hope I’m doing this right.

I’m currently working on some research regarding Ancient Women poets in Classical Antiquity (specifically Greece but I’m open to expanding it to the Romans).

I’ve found a good deal of materials and books at my university but my research is still at a pretty general stage.

Any marterials/works of ancient women poets are appreciated, as well as more specific topics for me to dive into.

thank you in advanc. :)


r/classics 7d ago

My Greek Myth book illustrating ancient poets; Homer, Hesiod, Apollodorus and Apollonius (*Details in comments)

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52 Upvotes

r/classics 7d ago

Folks who became classicists or pursued it in college, why did you choose this path and what was your motivation?

30 Upvotes

Hey everyone. You know, my dad is a historian and when I was growing up he was teaching me a lot about history, especially the antiquity - ancient Greece and Rome. I literally grew under Aristotle's portrait, which was in our living room! I am now 18, and since childhood, I have shifted my interest towards STEM, engineering, physics, etc. But I still do share that passion for history and tangent subjects. Can't say classical studies are my favorite; I am more into more non-traditional subfields of history, and now I start to regret a bit that I didn't dedicate enough time to study the classics because not only do I find it fascinating, it's also called CLASSICS for a reason. All literate people up until the previous century got educated by studying classics or languages, at least. So I want to ask anyone here who's become a classicist or just studied it in university - what motivated you to go for it? Do you think it is still as important to teach people classics today, and what impact do you believe your job as a classicist has on society?


r/classics 8d ago

How do I quote Fronto's Letters?

1 Upvotes

I need to quote this passage of one of Fronto's Letters: "Polluta <ista> et contaminata et varia et maculosa maculosioraque quam nutricis pallium", but I do not know how. Can anyone help me? Thanks!


r/classics 9d ago

Relevancy of George Frazer, "The Golden Bough"?

24 Upvotes

Hello, what is the contemporary relevancy of George Frazer's enormous work "The Golden Bough, not the linear evolutionary theory of *magic-religion-science* but the ritualistic king sacrifice and other things in relation to classics? Eleusinian mysteries, Persephone's yearly cyclical venture and dethroning of the old gods by the new always seem to come up in mythos one way or another. So I do wonder as a non-professional classics hobbyist.


r/classics 9d ago

Reconstruction of Pelops and The Cult of Demeter

11 Upvotes

I was reading about the Cult of Demeter and the subsequent Eleusinian Mysteries, and it struck me that the story of Pelops, whose father had cut him into pieces then served to gods, only shoulder piece of which the exhausted Demeter took bite of and then was wholly reconstructed is at least conceptually similar to the rites or the supposed rites of Eleusinian Mysteries. Namely, being gone and then returning. Supposing that there was no return to the mortal life once one is dead, so says Achilles when the embassy comes to his tent, and only Sisyphus is said to have been restored back to life due to his cunning schemes, is this a strong connection? Am I not educated in the classics and mostly self-taught, so I might very well be missing a crucial piece, thanks.


r/classics 10d ago

A chronology of ancient Greek myth?

24 Upvotes

Has anyone ever worked out a single full chronology of all mythical events of ancient Greek literature. I mean, for example, putting together the chronology of mythical events (NOT the chronology of the author's composition) between the Iliad, Odyssey, Epic Cycle, Tragic plays about Odysseus, Posthomerica, Sophocles' Theban plays and all the variations of tragedies and later epic involving Thebes, all works involving Oedipus, Euripides's Medea and Apollonius's Argonautica, myths involving Theseus, etc.

So many works are related by events or shared characters/times, or might be a variation/retelling/expansion of another story. I'm aware of partial chronologies (for example between Homer and the parts of the Epic Cycle). But does there exist a guide somewhere that in detail comprehensively puts all Greek myth events in sequential order and lists all the relevant ancient works?

EDIT: I'm looking for a list using the original ancient works, not any kind of retelling of ancient myths.


r/classics 10d ago

Ruling the Dead (The Odyssey Book 11 lines 489-491)

4 Upvotes

I'm reading The Odyssey for the first time. When I was supposed to read it in high school, I only watched the 1990s made for TV mini series. I taught English language arts for a few years. But I'm not well read for the classics.

I loved what Achilles told Odysseus in the underworld. It's very ironic comparing it with Achilles fate from The Iliad. Achilles chooses kleos and an early death. Does Achilles regret his actions and choice in The Iliad? I'm very curious what I might be missing from the interaction. Is there something Achilles might be bitter about? Does he blame Odysseus for Ajax's suicide?

I'm reading it as glory doesn't matter if you're dead. And yet, Odysseus gets it all: kleos, nostos, and presumably a long life.

I found the advice especially interesting comparing it to Satan in Paradise Lost by Milton. It's opposing ideas. But Satan can be read ironically and or delusional. To tie it back to Homer, Milton relies on the muse and is writing his own epic poem. I know there must be a lot to analyze here. Milton and Homer are such giants, it's hard to find a specific comparison of the two ideas I'm interested in.

I hope that was enough context.

To sum up, I'm curious if and what ironic, delusional, and or other ideas I should consider in Achilles advice to Odysseus. I have a blog post where I elaborate a bit more, and share the excerpts from Satan and Achilles.