Where It All Began: My Introduction to Ancient Greece

Having just completed my M.A. in English, I found myself, for the first time in a very long time, free to read whatever I wanted however leisurely I wanted. This unfettered state, though exhilarating, brought with it an interesting dilemma: what, then, should I read? Or, rather, what do I want to read? In my attempts to answer these questions, I discovered a few things about my personal literary preferences. First of all, I must admit that I am partial to Western Literature. This is by no means a denial of the value of non-Western literature in the Grand Scheme of Things, but simply an admission of personal taste. What can I say? I am western, I am a Christian, and along with these characteristics come certain predispositions (i.e. I have read J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Ringstrilogy through twice and recently watched all three extended-length moviesback-to-back over a period of three days). So, in my quest to pick a book to read, I opened up my copy of The Norton Anthology of World Masterpiecesand perused the table of contents for works that caught my interest. I discovered I had not yet read one of the greatest and earliest works of Western literature – Homer’s The Iliad. As I researched the Greeks, more gaps in my knowledge became apparent; for instance, I found I had read very little of Plato and the Greek tragedians. It seemed that there was enough literature produced between 800 B.C. and the first century A.D. to keep me occupied for years. So, I narrowed my “to read” list down a bit.

I am starting, of course, with Homer’s The Iliad. I have chosen the Robert Fagles translation because I really liked his version of The Oresteia,which I frequently consulted as a respite from the god-awful Ted Hughes translationI was assigned to read in graduate school. Paired with this will be Fagles’ translation of The Odyssey,which I am very much looking forward to. Following these will be The Oresteia by Aeschylus, Oedipus the King by Sophocles, Medea by Euripides, and Lysistrata by Aristophanes. Since I plan to read all this Greek literature chronologically, I will be simultaneously reading some of the great philosophical works, starting with the pre-Socratics and moving on to Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Epicurus. In addition to all this, I will include relevant recent publications, such as Bertrand Russell’s A History of Western Philosophy, Edith Hamilton’s Mythology,and C.S. Lewis’ retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche Till We Have Faces.It will prove, no doubt, to be an interesting and rather time-consuming venture. Fortunately for me, I have ample amounts of time to spare, given the complete non-existence of jobs for people who hold Master’s Degrees in English in my current location. Also, the wet, gray, dreary, dark European winter serves as a significant contributing factor to my current reclusive instinct. I eagerly trade this pale, central-European waste of ice and sludge for the warm, sun-kissed shores of the Mediterranean.

(Note: Some of you might be wondering what any of this has to do with Comedy. To this, I can only say that if a housewife obsessed with Greek literature isn’t comical enough for you, I don’t know what is.)