Dear Pounders, ---------- >From: Tim Bray <[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Re: In Praise of Achilles, was Re: how hermetic? >Date: Fri, Aug 3, 2001, 4:50 PM > > At 12:58 PM 03/08/01 -0700, Dirk Johnson wrote: >>If Tim expects the Greek heroes to be middle class Americans, he should >>probably just go back to reading the New York Times, if he can handle it. > > My, we're a bit tetchy aren't we? While I'm neither American nor > middle-class, many people who are just fine by me are both. Given > that the Times' canonical readers is hardly your basic M.C.American, > you should pay more attention to rhetorical consistency in future > polemics. My problem with most of Homer's characters is that > they're vicious, self-important, thin-skinned, and dishonest. > I acknowledge that many have loved these books and that probably > there's something there, just (unlike the Cantos) not for me. > > And let me reiterate my recommendation of T.E. Lawrence's > letters, and not just for their remarks on Homer (and one or > two on EP if I recall correctly) - really great stuff. > >>Or if he really wants to make decisions about Homer he should take the time >>and put out the effort to read the Iliad in Greek. > > That may well be it. -Tim And then there are not so many who can do that, i.e. read Homeric Greek. And I have seen this intimidation work many times before. I read some Classical Greek. Could Dirk please specifically tell us how the works of Homer appear so different when examined in their original language that it would constitute a more just decision in one's appreciation? Hahem, did Pound know a little Latin and less Greek himself? Not to unstuff any Popinjays. Charles Moyer