[B-Greek] Today at the Old Curmudgeon: "Portrait of a Greek Teacher"

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Mon Jun 4 05:45:29 EDT 2007


Michzel Gilleland, self-styled "Laudator Temporis Acti," today cites  
from Edmund Wilson a description of an impressive teacher of Greek  
(http://tinyurl.com/2d79gj). It may well be that any of us who has  
achieved any significant success in learning this language owes a  
great deal to an outstanding teacher; I fondly recollect after more  
than fifty years Joe Billy McMinn, who shepherded me through the  
gospel of Mark my first year and Homer's Iliad in my second.  
Ultimately, I think, learning Greek depends fundamentally upon the  
student's persistent and methodical application, but an extraordinary  
teacher can be a catalyst stirring the passion to learn to read and  
understand this alien tongue and think the thoughts of those who used  
it in ancient times.

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad2 at mac.com
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/





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