Nakia Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 I know I've posted something similar to this before, but I can't get the "search" or "my content" features to load. Grrr! We are going to spend 6-8 weeks on Ancient Greece when we start back, and I'd like to know your top 6-8 reading selections for this time period. This is for my 7th grader. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Love, love love Black Ships Before Troy - the story of the Iliad as well as all the events leading up to it. I reviewed all of the versions of the story I could find and liked this one the best. Also like the rest of Rosemary Sutcliff's stuff - her Odyssey is great - The Wanderings of Odysseus I think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Love, love love Black Ships Before Troy - the story of the Iliad as well as all the events leading up to it. I reviewed all of the versions of the story I could find and liked this one the best. Also like the rest of Rosemary Sutcliff's stuff - her Odyssey is great - The Wanderings of Odysseus I think? Yes! Rosemary Sutcliff's books are well-written and very engaging. Olivia Coolidge's The Trojan War goes well with Sutcliff's books as it tells many of the legends that serve as a prelude to the Iliad and the Odyssey. Have your student read D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths first. If the OP's student is an avid reader, I have some other suggestions from a writer of the same caliber as Sutcliff, but whose work is less mainstream. Children's author, Jeanne Bendick has three books that are popular for this time period as well: Archimedes and the Door of Science Herodotus and the Road to History Galen and the Gateway to Medicine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Anna~ Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Yes! Rosemary Sutcliff's books are well-written and very engaging. Olivia Coolidge's The Trojan War goes well with Sutcliff's books as it tells many of the legends that serve as a prelude to the Iliad and the Odyssey. Have your student read D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths first. Sorry to hijack, but is this the order these should be read in? D'Aulaire's Greek Myths Trojan War by Coolidge Black Ships Before Troy by Sutcliff The Wanderings of Odysseus by Sutcliff I also have The Children's Homer, but would that just be overkill? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Sorry to hijack, but is this the order these should be read in? D'Aulaire's Greek Myths Trojan War by Coolidge Black Ships Before Troy by Sutcliff The Wanderings of Odysseus by Sutcliff I also have The Children's Homer, but would that just be overkill? Yes, that order would work well. That way, your student is familiar with the gods and goddesses. There will be overlap, but I know that both of my boys felt that Coolidge's book helped them put everything in order and gave them the background information that would have been already familiar to those who would have been listening to the telling of the Iliad and the Odyssey at the time they were written down. The Children's Homer would be overkill. You might also read Theras and His Town which contrasts the differences between Athens and Sparta. It is not much of a leap from there to have a seventh grader write a simple comparison and contrast essay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynful Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Sorry to hijack too, but if I wanted to use The Children's Homer instead (I have it), would that replace the 2 Sutcliff books? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFamily Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 My two are currently in the midst of ancient Greece. In addition to their ancient history spines, DS11 has read through Dorothy Mills' Book of the Ancient Greeks, and DS10 has read through D'Aulaire's Greek Myths. When we pick back up after the new year, they will swap the Mills' and D'Aulaire's books. Then, we will read through Coolidge's The Trojan War together. After that, we'll prepare to pick up ancient Rome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Sorry to hijack too, but if I wanted to use The Children's Homer instead (I have it), would that replace the 2 Sutcliff books? It has been several years since I have read Padriac Colum's book and if I remember right, you will get the same overall effect, but the book actually starts with the Odyssey and weaves parts from the Iliad through it to create a cohesive narrative. So you would start with Odysseus's son, Telemachus, searching for his father and I think the Judgement of Paris comes later. If you have the book already, then don't worry about it. Have you seen this study guide? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto2Cs Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 My ds11 and I are developing his anicent Greece and ancient Rome studies. For Greece, we're planning on: Main Texts: The Story of Greece (MacGregor) and Ancient Greek World (Oxford University Press) Supplemental: D'Aulaires Greek Myths Black Ships Before Troy, by Sutcliff The Wanderings of Odysseus, by Sutcliff Archimedes and the Door of Science Then for Rome, it'll be quite similar... Main Texts; The Story of Rome, and The Ancient Roman World Supplemental: In Search of a Homeland (Aenid), by Lively (nice transition from Odyssey to Roman times) Eagle of the Ninth, by Sutcliff The Silver Branch, by Sutcliff The Lantern Bearers, by Sutcliff Galen & the Gateway to Medicine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 ... If the OP's student is an avid reader, I have some other suggestions from a writer of the same caliber as Sutcliff, but whose work is less mainstream. ... I am not the OP :blushing: , but am following this thread ... if you have a chance, could you toss out some of your less-mainstream choices? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynful Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 It has been several years since I have read Padriac Colum's book and if I remember right, you will get the same overall effect, but the book actually starts with the Odyssey and weaves parts from the Iliad through it to create a cohesive narrative. So you would start with Odysseus's son, Telemachus, searching for his father and I think the Judgement of Paris comes later. If you have the book already, then don't worry about it. Have you seen this study guide? This is great. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annabel Lee Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 I hold this group responsible for what this thread prompted me to do. :tongue_smilie: I am rewriting my history/literature plans completely. Thank you, Lisa & Nakia, I had nothing else to keep myself busy. In all seriousness, I was making a mess of things every week even though I have a nice grid from BP. I'd still scrawl my intended substitutions, lists of ideas from a gazillion other sources, etc. on notebook paper and then wonder why we could never finish a "week" in a week (that is my own issue, not BP's). I've also long wanted to streamline my literature study. So, it needed to be done since I can't (won't?) just follow something that makes it easy. All I did was open up my BP Yr 1 to see what order those 4 books are in... and now I'm digging myself out from what looks like "finals week study session" according to my high schooler. I would have never known until after the fact that these books (or other similar things) follow a logical order. I think I might be a chronological history purist at heart, after all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nakia Posted December 31, 2012 Author Share Posted December 31, 2012 I hold this group responsible for what this thread prompted me to do. :tongue_smilie: I am rewriting my history/literature plans completely. Thank you, Lisa & Nakia, I had nothing else to keep myself busy. In all seriousness, I was making a mess of things every week even though I have a nice grid from BP. I'd still scrawl my intended substitutions, lists of ideas from a gazillion other sources, etc. on notebook paper and then wonder why we could never finish a "week" in a week (that is my own issue, not BP's). I've also long wanted to streamline my literature study. So, it needed to be done since I can't (won't?) just follow something that makes it easy. All I did was open up my BP Yr 1 to see what order those 4 books are in... and now I'm digging myself out from what looks like "finals week study session" according to my high schooler. I would have never known until after the fact that these books (or other similar things) follow a logical order. I think I might be a chronological history purist at heart, after all. :D Welcome to my world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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