Epic foreplay: the pleasures of preparing to read the Iliad in Greek.(Literature)

From: Quadrant | Date: July 1, 2006| Author: Murphy, Frank | Copyright information

LIKE THE PLEASURE of setting the dinner table to welcome friends recently returned after many years overseas, polishing the crystal glasses one by one, the pleasures of getting ready to read Homer in Greek are by definition minor ones, soon eclipsed by those that follow. But they have qualities of their own, these pleasures of anticipation and ritual, and deserve to be better known.

First pleasure: putting things into place.

To read the Iliad, the prerequisite...

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