Beginning to Think in Greek
Beginning to Think in Greek
I'm not sure that Michael Gilleland's blog entitled "Laudator Temporis Acti" has been mentioned among blogs with frequent Greek (sometimes Biblical Greek) content: http://laudatortemporisacti.blogspot.com/ -- the title is from Horace's (Ars Poetica) phrase describing the typical aged man -- ("nostalgic for the good old days" I like to refer him as "The Old Curmudgeon." Today he has a snippet from C.S. Lewis' Surprised by Joy on his first introduction to Homer and his burgeoning facility to think in Greek. The feelings described in this snippet echo those that I had in my first year of grad school as I began plowing through the Iliad and Odyssey at the clip of 24 books of Homer in 30 days. The entry in question is at: http://laudatortemporisacti.blogspot.co ... greek.html
οὔτοι ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς πάντα θεοὶ θνητοῖς ὑπέδειξαν,
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
Re: Beginning to Think in Greek
I love it! I'm not sure I'm quite there yet - sometimes I think I am, and then catch my mind slowly pulling the text back down into English translation like a hidden current. I have the most difficulty with the New Testament. The English translations are already so present in my mind after reading and re-reading them countless times throughout my life. I have to actively shut out the ghosts of the NASB, NIV and ESB or they never fail to obscure the Greek. Maybe that's the key - just plow through the texts until it's been so long since you read a word of English that you can't help but think in Greek!