Josquin's Classical Log - Graeca non leguntur

[Josquin]

In order to kick things off in the new log, here's a special treat: the first lines of the Odyssey in reconstructed Homeric Greek pronunciation. I absolutely love it!

[basica]

Very cool. It's got this weird sorta Scandinavian, with a touch of Celtic sound to it

[Theodisce]

While it is certainly true that the knowledge of Greek was limited, there were exceptions. There is an excellent, both learned and extremely interesting book that deals with the limited knowledge that there was: Griechisch-lateinisches Mittelalter: Von Hieronymus zu Nikolaus von Kues by Walter Berschin. Pierre Courcelle, Les Lettres grecques en Occident. De Macrobe à Cassiodore is somehow similar, but older and limited to the late antiquity.

Latin Aristotle was a translation of translation with all its possible consequences. Those translations have been made redundant with the "rediscovery" of Greek in the Renaissance, at least as a source of knowledge about the Greek philosophy as opposed to the knowledge about its perception and transmission. And while some in the West would go so far as to dismiss all the classical authors as heathens, there were always enough copyists to copy at least the Latin authors, philosophers (represented mostly by Cicero and Seneca though...) included. So I would say it was the question of the language more than this negative attitude, but there were extremists, too.

The Byzantines were not particularly interested in Latin texts either (in the late antiquity the knowledge of Latin was required for lawyers, but it changed later on). Things began to change in the last centuries of Byzantium and the Catholic-Orthodox debates worked as an incentive to translate Latin theology.

I can follow what you say about Apology being used as a teaching device. It serves this purpose probably better than what I was excepted to read at an early stage (Anabasis of Xenophon- one of the driest books ever written, at least in my recollection. If we had to start with Xenophon, Memorabilia would have been much more interesting). In dialogues you would have questions and answers and if one element seems obscure it can be easily elucidated from what precedes or follows it. But that's only my feeling.

Homer has relatively simple syntax but a lot of peculiar vocabulary, which gets repeated over and over again though, so that's not such a great problem at the end of the day.

Good luck!

[Josquin]

Very cool. It's got this weird sorta Scandinavian, with a touch of Celtic sound to it

Well, it's all Greek to me...

[jeff_lindqvist]

I thought it was Gandalf speaking Noldorin.

[MorkTheFiddle]

In order to kick things off in the new log, here's a special treat: the first lines of the Odyssey in reconstructed Homeric Greek pronunciation. I absolutely love it!

Several Ancient Greek readings of Ioannis Stratakis are enjoyable.
Here is what he calls the "3-syllaby rule"

for people who want to practice ancient Greek pronunciation, for education, pleasure or art

.

Another reader renders The Prayer of Achilles (Iliad XVI, 225-250) in Ancient Greek,

Achilles recites a prayer for Patroclus's safe return from war.

, with subtitles in English.
Enjoy!

[Josquin]

Several Ancient Greek readings of Ioannis Stratakis are enjoyable.
Here is what he calls the "3-syllaby rule".

Hmm, the link doesn't seem to work. Could you post it again?

Another reader renders The Prayer of Achilles (Iliad XVI, 225-250) in Ancient Greek.

Thanks, but she clearly has a heavy Modern Greek accent. Especially the pronounciation of θ, φ, and χ as fricatives rather than aspirated stops betrays her. So it seems this is normal Greek school pronunciation rather than reconstructed pronunciation. Quite pleasant to listen to, but not what I'm looking for. The other recordings by Stratakis seem to be more promising.

[MorkTheFiddle]

Several Ancient Greek readings of Ioannis Stratakis are enjoyable.
Here is what he calls the "3-syllaby rule".

Hmm, the link doesn't seem to work. Could you post it again?
Let's try this:

[Josquin]

THURSDAY, 21 DECEMBER 2017

Thank you, MorkTheFiddle and Theodisce for your contributions to the log! Very interesting and inspiring, indeed!

I won't give a detailed account of what I have achieved this year, because when I was studying I was mainly wanderlusting. Also, I won't set fixed goals for 2018 either, because God knows what the next year will bring and I don't believe in New Year's resolutions at all. Instead, let me put my goals for the next year this way:

I want to

• stay healthy and fully recover from my last episode of illness
• make progress on my dissertation while at the same time maintaining my part-time job
• keep studying classical languages like Latin, Ancient Greek, Hebrew, and Sanskrit
• go wanderlusting into other languages according to my liking
• learn more about Indo-European linguistics in general

For each of my languages this means:

English

Go on using English in everyday life. Watch English movies and series and read English newspapers and books.

Français

Use as much as possible. Maybe read a book in French or watch a movie, if time allows.

Italiano

Keep using Italian for my dissertation. Read historic sources for music theory in Italian.

Svenska

Use as much as possible. Same as French.

Русский

Use as much as possible. Read a classic novel by Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, or Turgenyev in Russian (probably Игрок).

Gaeilge

Maintain level. Keep reading novels and short stories in Irish. Finish Dúil by Ó Flaithearta. Maybe visit Gaeltacht, if opportunity arises.

日本語

Go back to Japanese, if time allows. Repeat Genki and continue with Tobira, if possible.

Português

Don't forget it. Read something in Portuguese from time to time. Maybe repeat grammar using Portugiesisch mit System.

Latina

Read and translate native materials, if time allows, e.g. Vergil and Ovid.

Ἑλληνική

Focus language for 2018! Finish Kairós 1 and 2. Finish Reading Greek. Go into native materials, such as Aristophanes, Plato, and Homer.

עברית

Finish Lehrbuch Bibel-Hebräisch. Maybe try reading and translating some original passages from the Tanakh.

संस्कृतम्

Work through The Cambridge Introduction to Sanskrit. Maybe try reading and translating original literature in Sanskrit.

Wanderlust

Old English (Beowulf), Middle English (Canterbury Tales), Old High German, Middle High German (Parzival, Nibelungenlied), Hungarian, Old Irish (Táin Bó Cuailnge), Lithuanian, Persian (Hafis: Poems, Shahnameh), Polish

I wish all the readers of my log a happy holiday season, if you celebrate Christmas a merry Christmas, and to all of you a happy new year 2018! See you in the new year!

[zatris]

You probably know this already, but there are a few very good articles on Ancient Greek pronunciation and poetry recitation on this site.