Classical Reading List?

[Saille]

Is anyone delving deeply into ancient Greek and Roman authors? How do you sort through them all and decide who to read? I would like to compile a survey list of ancient authors, then delve more deeply as dictated by my interests. Any suggestions of books, links, etc. would be much appreciated!

[Tohru]

I have The Well-Educated Mind and Invitation to the Classics.

[Saille]

*bump*

 

Specifically looking for Greek/Roman authors...a broader base of them than is included in Western Civ. "great books" lists. Some authors who fall into the category I'm talking about include:

 

 

Aeschylus

Aristophanes

Aristotle

Demosthenes

Euripides

Herodotus

Hesiod

Hippocrates

Plutarch

Sappho

Thucydides Cato

Catullus

Cicero

Horace

Livy

Martial

Ovid

Petronius

Pliny the Elder

Pliny the Younger

Quintilian

Seneca

Tacitus

[Ester Maria]

Is anyone delving deeply into ancient Greek and Roman authors? How do you sort through them all and decide who to read?

I based a lot of my later readings on my own on what I went through in school. Back then I formed an opinion of what's more and what's less important, what are the "must"s, what are the "recommended"s and what are more obscure works and authors which you read only if you're interested in them. I'm not saying that my approach is "good" or representative, but here's how I feel on your choices so far:

Aeschylus

Prometheus Bound is a must.

Seven Against Thebes and Oresteia (trilogy) are highly recommended (as in: it would be too much if treated as a "must", but technically you should read those too).

Everything else, if you wish.

Aristophanes

The Clouds or The Birds is a must, in order to be familiar with an exemplary comedy by Aristophanes.

Everything else is in the "if you wish" category.

Aristotle

Technically everything is "highly recommended". Poetics would maybe be more fundamental than the rest and thus more "obligatory", but follow your interests here. In any case, you can hardly have too much Aristotle.

Demosthenes

Philippics are the must (at least the third); you can skip the rest without feeling guilty, unless his opus is of a special interest to you.

Euripides

A tough one, lots of important stuff here.

Medea and Electra are in the "must" group.

Iphigenia in Tauris, Alcestis and maybe Bacchae are "highly recommended", though you can't go wrong with the rest of the opus either.

Herodotus

Read through The Histories, but don't sweat them too much. Familiarity is enough here.

Hesiod

Theogony is the must, Works and Days highly recommended.

Hippocrates

You can freely skip. Unless it's of special interest to you.

Plutarch

Parallel Lives are recommended.

Sappho

Read the poems.

Thucydides Cato

I'm not crazy about him and he went on my nerves at school, but History of the Peloponnesian war is kinda basic, so yes, I do say you read it.

Catullus

Don't miss this one. :D And hide from kids as long as you can, there are some very rude and explicit stuff there.

Cicero

The more the better. Technically, I would consider "basic" In Catilinam I-IV, Pro Archia Poeta and maybe De Oratore, but really, the more the better.

Horace

Carmina (Odes) would be a must, everything else highly recommended.

Livy

Read through Ab Urbe Condita, but no need to sweat it.

Martial

A few epigrams are enough. I have a whole collection, but it's not something to sweat.

Ovid

My personal favorite, so I might be more subjective here, but I consider "basic" Metamorphoses, Ars amatoria and Tristia, while everything else is highly recommended. The more the better. In Latin, he's beautiful. :)

Petronius

Don't miss. Satyricon is very funny.

Pliny the Elder

Not my exerptise, I know him through excerpts only.

Pliny the Younger

Find the part in Epistulae where he describes the eruption of Vesuvius, and you can peacefully skip the rest of the opus. At least I don't find him very important.

Quintilian

Not essential, but it's good to go through Institutio Oratoria at least in parts.

Seneca

Pick one tragedy, one dialogue and Apocolocyntosis. Should be more than enough.

Tacitus

Technically, the Annals and the Histories would be the must reads here.

 

What your choices MISS (or maybe you didn't include them since you thought them basic, but I'll still list my recommendations):

 

1. Plato - the more the better, you can hardly go wrong here; the "basics" would be Apologia, Symposium maybe Phaedo and certainly The Republic, but I extremely enjoyed some other works too (Cratylus and Eutyphro)

2. Sophocles - the more the better; at least Oedipus the King, Antigone, Odiepus at Colonus and I also highly recommended Ajax, and the rest of the opus too

3. Homeric epics

4. A Greek love novel (any, but it's important for the history of the genre)

5. Archaic-period lyric (Anacreont)

6. Sallust (Bellum Iughurtinum; De Coniuratione Catilinae is also recommended)

7. Caesar (De Bello Gallico and De Bello Civili)

8. Augustus: Res Gestae Divi Augusti

9. Virgil (Aeneid, try out Bucolica and Georgica too)

10. Plautus (commedies)

11. Tranquillus: De Vita Caesarum

 

I think most of the other stuff (Menander, etc) would fall under the "obscure" category, so I'll limit myself to this. With this, you should have a really good basis, this is approximately the basis I graduated with from a classical high school (and keep in mind that some of those, especially histories, I've read in excerpts only; but in my defense, I read most of it in the originals :D) and I think it's a really decent one. Anything broader/deeper than this would be basically high-level, university classical philology.

 

Good luck. :)

[Tress]

Thank you for this list, Esther Maria!

 

Sigh, I wish you could homeschool me :D.

[Spy Car]

:lurk5:

[Saille]

You are my she-ro, Ester Maria! THANK YOU!

 

I did leave some off on purpose...

 

1. Plato - the more the better, you can hardly go wrong here; the "basics" would be Apologia, Symposium maybe Phaedo and certainly The Republic, but I extremely enjoyed some other works too (Cratylus and Eutyphro)

 

I'm working on the Republic off and on right now...

 

2. Sophocles - the more the better; at least Oedipus the King, Antigone, Odiepus at Colonus and I also highly recommended Ajax, and the rest of the opus too

 

I've certainly got more to read, but I did read Oedipus the King and Antigone in high school, so he's lower on my priority list.

 

3. Homeric epics

 

Done it.

 

I've also read Lysistrata by Aristophanes and Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. The other things you listed I still need to do.

 

This is a fantastic list. I was surfing free Kindle books for my iPod last night, but our wireless router is on the fritz, so I have to get to a wi-fi location to get them to load :glare:

 

I realized belatedly that this should have gone on the self-ed board. Sorry, y'all.

[dsmith]

I never would have found that great list on the self ed board!

 

I realized belatedly that this should have gone on the self-ed board. Sorry, y'all.

[Saille]

I've been reading Satyricon this afternoon...OMM! Bawdy and very funny! I keep having flashbacks to that scene in The Birdcage where Gene Hackman's family is looking at the bowls and Nathan Lane is trying to convince them the Greek boys are playing leapfrog...

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Is anyone delving deeply into ancient Greek and Roman authors? How do you sort through them all and decide who to read? I would like to compile a survey list of ancient authors, then delve more deeply as dictated by my interests. Any suggestions of books, links, etc. would be much appreciated!

 

Who Killed Homer? by Hanson & Heath has a couple nice lists in the back. One of them is titled, When All You Can Do Is Read. I think it has a list of 10 of what the authors consider pivotal works for understanding the soul of the classical world. That would be a great start.

 

FWIW, I've always thought that this book also had one of the best reviews of The Illiad, The Oddyssey and Antigone. In discussing what makes the classics worth study, it give you a lot to look for in these works.

 

Unfortunately, my copy seems to be in storage, so you'll have to look for one in a library or hope someone can add the list here.

[Guest mrs. logic]

You might want to take a look at Christine Miller's book "All Through the Ages" at www.rainbowresource.com

This is what Dh and I use as our history resource for Dd.

It is the best buy for $27.95!

[Ester Maria]

You are my she-ro, Ester Maria! THANK YOU!

You're welcome, sorryI'm bringing this thread up, but I cannot believe I missed Xenophon in the suggestions (my daughter's Greek reminded me of it quite suddenly), so: Anabasis and Cyropaedia.

I've certainly got more to read, but I did read Oedipus the King and Antigone in high school, so he's lower on my priority list.

Actually - even though I completely understand where you come from - I think the familiarity with the two is exactly why you should read Oedipus at Colonus. The three are very closely related, this work kind of "finishes" the theme.

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.

Another one I didn't think of, funny.

 

While we're at Marcus Aurelius, M. Yourcenar has an excellent work called Hadrian's memoirs. I know, historical fiction, not what you asked for, but it's probably the only really good one I have read of the kind.

Sorry for the extra suggestions, couldn't resist. :D

[Saille]

Who Killed Homer? by Hanson & Heath has a couple nice lists in the back.

 

Unfortunately, my copy seems to be in storage, so you'll have to look for one in a library or hope someone can add the list here.

 

My library does have it! It came up on a search I did this weekend. I'll request it today.

 

Ester Maria, the more suggestions, the merrier. I know I saw Xenophon in the Kindle store this weekend. And mrs. logic, I'll check out that book you mentioned.

[helena]

I based a lot of my later readings on my own on what I went through in school. Back then I formed an opinion of what's more and what's less important, what are the "must"s, what are the "recommended"s and what are more obscure works and authors which you read only if you're interested in them. I'm not saying that my approach is "good" or representative, but here's how I feel on your choices so far:

 

Prometheus Bound is a must.

Seven Against Thebes and Oresteia (trilogy) are highly recommended (as in: it would be too much if treated as a "must", but technically you should read those too).

Everything else, if you wish.

 

The Clouds or The Birds is a must, in order to be familiar with an exemplary comedy by Aristophanes.

Everything else is in the "if you wish" category.

 

Technically everything is "highly recommended". Poetics would maybe be more fundamental than the rest and thus more "obligatory", but follow your interests here. In any case, you can hardly have too much Aristotle.

 

Philippics are the must (at least the third); you can skip the rest without feeling guilty, unless his opus is of a special interest to you.

 

A tough one, lots of important stuff here.

Medea and Electra are in the "must" group.

Iphigenia in Tauris, Alcestis and maybe Bacchae are "highly recommended", though you can't go wrong with the rest of the opus either.

 

Read through The Histories, but don't sweat them too much. Familiarity is enough here.

 

Theogony is the must, Works and Days highly recommended.

 

You can freely skip. Unless it's of special interest to you.

 

Parallel Lives are recommended.

 

Read the poems.

 

I'm not crazy about him and he went on my nerves at school, but History of the Peloponnesian war is kinda basic, so yes, I do say you read it.

 

Don't miss this one. :D And hide from kids as long as you can, there are some very rude and explicit stuff there.

 

The more the better. Technically, I would consider "basic" In Catilinam I-IV, Pro Archia Poeta and maybe De Oratore, but really, the more the better.

 

Carmina (Odes) would be a must, everything else highly recommended.

 

Read through Ab Urbe Condita, but no need to sweat it.

 

A few epigrams are enough. I have a whole collection, but it's not something to sweat.

 

My personal favorite, so I might be more subjective here, but I consider "basic" Metamorphoses, Ars amatoria and Tristia, while everything else is highly recommended. The more the better. In Latin, he's beautiful. :)

 

Don't miss. Satyricon is very funny.

 

Not my exerptise, I know him through excerpts only.

 

Find the part in Epistulae where he describes the eruption of Vesuvius, and you can peacefully skip the rest of the opus. At least I don't find him very important.

 

Not essential, but it's good to go through Institutio Oratoria at least in parts.

 

Pick one tragedy, one dialogue and Apocolocyntosis. Should be more than enough.

 

Technically, the Annals and the Histories would be the must reads here.

 

What your choices MISS (or maybe you didn't include them since you thought them basic, but I'll still list my recommendations):

 

1. Plato - the more the better, you can hardly go wrong here; the "basics" would be Apologia, Symposium maybe Phaedo and certainly The Republic, but I extremely enjoyed some other works too (Cratylus and Eutyphro)

2. Sophocles - the more the better; at least Oedipus the King, Antigone, Odiepus at Colonus and I also highly recommended Ajax, and the rest of the opus too

3. Homeric epics

4. A Greek love novel (any, but it's important for the history of the genre)

5. Archaic-period lyric (Anacreont)

6. Sallust (Bellum Iughurtinum; De Coniuratione Catilinae is also recommended)

7. Caesar (De Bello Gallico and De Bello Civili)

8. Augustus: Res Gestae Divi Augusti

9. Virgil (Aeneid, try out Bucolica and Georgica too)

10. Plautus (commedies)

11. Tranquillus: De Vita Caesarum

 

I think most of the other stuff (Menander, etc) would fall under the "obscure" category, so I'll limit myself to this. With this, you should have a really good basis, this is approximately the basis I graduated with from a classical high school (and keep in mind that some of those, especially histories, I've read in excerpts only; but in my defense, I read most of it in the originals :D) and I think it's a really decent one. Anything broader/deeper than this would be basically high-level, university classical philology.

 

Good luck. :)

 

Wow! Thank you for taking the time to write this. I've printed this list to use in high school, which is still a few years off. I know I'm going to be glad I saved it..

[Teachaheart]

I based a lot of my later readings on my own on what I went through in school. Back then I formed an opinion of what's more and what's less important, what are the "must"s, what are the "recommended"s and what are more obscure works and authors which you read only if you're interested in them. I'm not saying that my approach is "good" or representative, but here's how I feel on your choices so far:

 

Prometheus Bound is a must.

Seven Against Thebes and Oresteia (trilogy) are highly recommended (as in: it would be too much if treated as a "must", but technically you should read those too).

Everything else, if you wish.

 

The Clouds or The Birds is a must, in order to be familiar with an exemplary comedy by Aristophanes.

Everything else is in the "if you wish" category.

 

Technically everything is "highly recommended". Poetics would maybe be more fundamental than the rest and thus more "obligatory", but follow your interests here. In any case, you can hardly have too much Aristotle.

 

Philippics are the must (at least the third); you can skip the rest without feeling guilty, unless his opus is of a special interest to you.

 

A tough one, lots of important stuff here.

Medea and Electra are in the "must" group.

Iphigenia in Tauris, Alcestis and maybe Bacchae are "highly recommended", though you can't go wrong with the rest of the opus either.

 

Read through The Histories, but don't sweat them too much. Familiarity is enough here.

 

Theogony is the must, Works and Days highly recommended.

 

You can freely skip. Unless it's of special interest to you.

 

Parallel Lives are recommended.

 

Read the poems.

 

I'm not crazy about him and he went on my nerves at school, but History of the Peloponnesian war is kinda basic, so yes, I do say you read it.

 

Don't miss this one. :D And hide from kids as long as you can, there are some very rude and explicit stuff there.

 

The more the better. Technically, I would consider "basic" In Catilinam I-IV, Pro Archia Poeta and maybe De Oratore, but really, the more the better.

 

Carmina (Odes) would be a must, everything else highly recommended.

 

Read through Ab Urbe Condita, but no need to sweat it.

 

A few epigrams are enough. I have a whole collection, but it's not something to sweat.

 

My personal favorite, so I might be more subjective here, but I consider "basic" Metamorphoses, Ars amatoria and Tristia, while everything else is highly recommended. The more the better. In Latin, he's beautiful. :)

 

Don't miss. Satyricon is very funny.

 

Not my exerptise, I know him through excerpts only.

 

Find the part in Epistulae where he describes the eruption of Vesuvius, and you can peacefully skip the rest of the opus. At least I don't find him very important.

 

Not essential, but it's good to go through Institutio Oratoria at least in parts.

 

Pick one tragedy, one dialogue and Apocolocyntosis. Should be more than enough.

 

Technically, the Annals and the Histories would be the must reads here.

 

What your choices MISS (or maybe you didn't include them since you thought them basic, but I'll still list my recommendations):

 

1. Plato - the more the better, you can hardly go wrong here; the "basics" would be Apologia, Symposium maybe Phaedo and certainly The Republic, but I extremely enjoyed some other works too (Cratylus and Eutyphro)

2. Sophocles - the more the better; at least Oedipus the King, Antigone, Odiepus at Colonus and I also highly recommended Ajax, and the rest of the opus too

3. Homeric epics

4. A Greek love novel (any, but it's important for the history of the genre)

5. Archaic-period lyric (Anacreont)

6. Sallust (Bellum Iughurtinum; De Coniuratione Catilinae is also recommended)

7. Caesar (De Bello Gallico and De Bello Civili)

8. Augustus: Res Gestae Divi Augusti

9. Virgil (Aeneid, try out Bucolica and Georgica too)

10. Plautus (commedies)

11. Tranquillus: De Vita Caesarum

 

I think most of the other stuff (Menander, etc) would fall under the "obscure" category, so I'll limit myself to this. With this, you should have a really good basis, this is approximately the basis I graduated with from a classical high school (and keep in mind that some of those, especially histories, I've read in excerpts only; but in my defense, I read most of it in the originals :D) and I think it's a really decent one. Anything broader/deeper than this would be basically high-level, university classical philology.

 

Good luck. :)

 

Wow! This is a fantastic list, and I am so glad it did not end up on the self-education board. Many of these I read for my master's program, and I fully agree with Ester Maria's assessments. As for the ones I have not read, they will make a wonderful spring and summer reading list. Ester Maria, thank you so much for taking the time to reply to Saille's question!