h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

1. Out of curiosity, what translation of Aristotle's Poetics is the author using? Just curious, I thought I'd look it up sometime.

2. Though revenge tragedy did develop before and during the English Renaissance, I believe it was actually a continuation of a tradition that was created by the Roman playwright Seneca. Am I right or wrong? Comments?


Patrick, "BicycleSkald"

hi

I used the "Loeb Classical Library" edition of the Poetics which was horribly expensive but has the Greek set alongside the English. Ancient greek is complicated and annoyingly subjective to translate and so at least with both the original and a translation together and a smattering of ancient Greek you can check what the translator is doing...

I am not sure where the tradition of revenge tragedy picks up from... Euripides was writing what can be considered to be revenge tragedies (such as the Medea - 431 BC) well before Seneca but it is possible that the tradition was picked up from Seneca as his works may have been more available/ accesable not sure about that though!

Fascinating. I'd be interested in finding out more about that, especially since what's being taught in the particular American university I go to is that Seneca was the prime inspiration for revenge tragedy in the English Renaissance. Maybe I'll go drill my advisor about this and see what she says...

Any idea where I can find the Loeb Classical?


Patrick, "BicycleSkald"

it would be good to know what she says! What are you studying?

I would have thought that you could get the Loeb from amazon... I get mine form my trusty, if slightly shady, second hand book shop though so..

Purple

Well, I'm a writing student, but I'm scrambling to finish up all my literature credits so I can (finally) graduate next year. Right now it's Greek Mythology, English Drama up to the Renaissance, and Playwriting.

Yeah, Amazon doesn't surprise me, but I'm one of those funky types that prefers not to go to big booksellers if I can anymore. I had a gentleman here in Portland (who happens to be a small press publisher) open my eyes to the sorts of things they like to do to independent booksellers. Of course, if I have to go there to find a book, well... I guess I'll burn in hell then.


Patrick, "BicycleSkald"

I tend to be a little rough with my books (in and out of baths, spilt tea, used as projectiles etc ) so prefer hardbacked as they last a little longer - hence the fact that a vast majority of my books are second hand I'm not overly fond of Amazon and places like Waterstones either - independent book sellers tend to have far more interesting and eclectic selections anyway...

Greek Mythology? How is that studied? what texts do you use considering the number of versions that there are for each myth?

Sorry it took me so long to reply. E-mail's been a little funky recently.

We started Greek Mythology off with the Richmond Lattimore translation of Homer's Iliad. We're going to study The Odyssey later on in the term, translated by Robert Fitzgerald. And we have a textbook we're following that, frankly, is a little biased - it follows the assumption that mythology of other cultures can be looked at through the lens of of Christian story-modes for one (ack!); it also seems to assume that one can study Greek, Sumerian, and Christian myth using the same sets of tools, regardless of the fact that each of these myths were created in the context of a unique culture. But it also has fair translations of Hesiod and the Homeric Hymns, and also represents diferent versions of the same myth fairly equally. We also have a teacher who has made mythology her literary field, and hence knows a lot. I mean, a whole lot.

I'm pretty hard on my books too. I have a habit of carrying a backpack with me everywhere, though, full of notebooks and pencils and reading material and so forth, so it's pretty rough going. I guess it just means I love them a lot.


Patrick, "BicycleSkald"

I can't imagine trying to study Greek mythology from a Christian perspective or even from the perspective of any other culture... it must bake things extraordinarily complicated The basis of Greek culture and thinking was so fundametally different from that of a Judeo-Christian understanding that finding a common point for the two must be almost impossible. I had a great literature teacher when I was younger who taught me that for every great book that one reads there must be a suspension of self and that to properly understand a book, culture or ideology as it is meant to be understood one must approach it on it's own terms and do so whole heartedly

Yep, munched books are undoubtably the evidence of great love!

Ah... Munched books.

Actually I'm surprised how seamlessly this textbook filters greek myth (or a theory of it anyways) through Christian thought. Ideas like, "The Hero as Redeemer of Mankind," and comparing Eve to Pandora, are not only misleading, they are absolutely wrong. The Greek stories are their own thing, not some prototype of the bible! They weren't even written at the same time! I mean, sure there are similarities, but Pandora is its own tale with its own correlations and meanings.

So basically, in a long-winded roundabout way, I just agreed with you. That was a pretty smart literature teacher you had. How long ago was this?


Patrick, BicycleSkald

Eve and Pandora?!? oh dear....!

The literature teacher? A very long time ago! I think I was about 7 at the time so.... 13 years. I learnt to read very young and then spent most of my time reading but because I am dyslexic I had to have extra english lessons. I hated it at first but the woman who taught me was amazing She gave up on all the exercises that dyslexic children are forced to do and instead realised that it I spent enough time reading the writing would probably follow so basically just taught me an advanced literature course. It worked and she counts as one of the best teachers I have had. That said I have been blessed with a lot of fantastic literature teachers

Yay! When literature teachers are good, they're really good. And when they're bad, it just doesn't bear talking about.

So, what about you? Are you in school at the moment?


Patrick, "BicycleSkald"

Yep... *still* in school. I was ill for what was meant to be my last year of school so I had to wait till I got better to redo it

Finally off to uni in September though...

Nice! I just got done with finals here. Found out I have one more year, and I finally get my Baccalaureate. Basically, I originally went to college for two years, dropped out for four years, switched majors and went back again three years ago. So I should be graduated and out of there in time for my Ten Year High School Reunion.

Do you know what you're going to study at university? Or do I even need to ask?


Patrick, "BicycleSkald"