[B-Greek] Pithy citations from Denniston's Greek Prose Style
Carl Conrad
cwconrad2 at mac.com
Tue Oct 27 07:06:56 EDT 2009
Michael Gilleland, self-styled "Laudator Temporis Acti" whom I prefer
to call the "old curmudgeon," has assembled some gems from J. D.
Denniston's posthumously-published little book, "Greek Prose Style."
Some may know of Denniston as the creator of a classic work on "Greek
Particles" (for a copy of which I'm still grateful to another old
curmudgeon who once haunted this list, Clay Bartholomew). For my part,
I am particularly fond of the little commentary on Aeschylus'
Agamemnon that Denys Page completed; considering its scope, it goes
far to illuminate a very difficult but very rewarding play, perhaps
(as Gilbert Murray thought) the greatest of all Greek tragedies), and
does so in a compass of a volume one can hold in one hand. The blog is
at:
http://laudatortemporisacti.blogspot.com/2009/10/dennistons-greek-prose-style.html\
= http://turl.ca/wovc
One item that caught my eye reminded me of what I used to tell my
students about pronunciation of ancient Greek:
"We do not know with any accuracy what ancient Greek sounded like; but
even after allowing for this uncertainty, it is clear, I think, that
the Greek ear differed from our own."
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
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