Re: Still seeking answers to four questions regarding my relationship with CLassics

Brava M Brandl! My history is basically the same as yours...nuns first. 
I would recommend all you did...particularly the Greek Tragedies, my 
life work. I suppose I would single out Sophocles's /Antigone/ and her 
heroic stance defending what she saw was right.


On 7/2/19 1:35 PM, M Brandl wrote:
> Miguel Abrantes:
>
> You asked:
>
> "1- What led you to study Classics?
> 2- What is the most unexpected thing you learned through your study in
> Classics?
> 3- What impact did studying Classics have in your life?
> 4- If you could recommend a single book or article to other readers, what
> would it be, and why?”
> Here is my reply.
>
> "1- What led you to study Classics?
> At age 11 I entered a religious girls’ high school in 1948 and was taught Latin by the nuns.  Greek was no longer then taught by the nuns - but was still taught in some public high schools I believe. I did well and went on to matriculate and then study Latin at University. By then I deeply regretted not having been taught Greek - which was the the constant referent in Latin studies (and Roman history). In Ancient Civilisations I came across Greek history and Greek tragedies and  HOMER! I loved Vergil and Horace and Catullus. I did something about the lacunae in my Greek language  60 years later thanks to the advent of online classes. What a shock! It still is - all those verb endings :-)
>
> 2- What is the most unexpected thing you learned through your study in
> Classics?
> That human and life and aesthetic themes and issues dealt with in the Classics are ever-constant and the outcomes always relevant. Quite extraordinary. Always surprising.
>
> 3- What impact did studying Classics have in your life?
> A profound impact. And still does - as basic as knowing the meanings of words… Everyday - and everywhere. Even in my work as an anthropologist  in third world and pre-literate cultures and societies.
>
> 4- If you could recommend a single book or article to other readers, what
> would it be, and why?”
>
> The ancient Greek tragedies. Plato’s “Republic”. Horace’s odes. Catullus’s love poems.
>
> Please add these replies to your other 25 answers and more from all over the world. And please share your compilation with us.
>
> I have lived a long life and wouldn’t have missed the Classics for anything!
>
> Sincerely,
> M. Brandl
> Australia