lewelma Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 My older boy is a mathematician and spends all his time doing math. I am interested in developing an ancient-history course that will be easy yet interesting to him. He still enjoys his father reading to him and discussing issues. I'm specifically looking for nonfiction books that would be interesting read alouds, and also a few historical novels set in the era. DS already plans to read some of the original works on his own (Homer, Virgil, and perhaps Herodotus, Plato, Plutarch (which ever is easiest)). We will be studying Pre-History, Mesopotamia, Indus Civilization, Egypt, Greece, Rome, China and the Mayans. These books should be at the teen (rather than adult) level as my younger boy who has a great interest in history will be along for the ride. I understand that TTC has a course on Homer which I will get, and I am open to other documentaries that would be interesting. I'm terrible at searching these boards, so I'm happy if someone can link me to other good threads. Thanks, Ruth in NZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 I highly recommend the TC lectures by Elizabeth Vandiver! I loved them, and both my kids have enjoyed them as well. Her Iliad and Odyssey lecture series (12 lectures each) are invaluable for developing a deep understanding of the culture and background of the Homeric epics. Her series on Herodotus makes a good companion for the book; we listened to all lectures, but only DD read the entire book. She also has a 24 lecture series on Classical Mythology which is good if a student is not yet very familiar with classical mythology; I would recommend this first. For a student with a thorough mythology grounding it is not as necessary. If you are interested in adding some study about Greek tragedy, she has 24 lectures on that as well. We used selections, since we did not read that many tragedies. My least favorite of her series is the Aeneid series, probably because I really do not like the Aeneid itself. (I'd be happy to omit the Aeneid entirely, if it were not somewhat necessary to have familiarity with Virgil before studying the Divine Comedy.) There are several other interesting TC series which I can recommend. DS enjoyed Great Battles of the Ancient World. A good documentary series is the PBS Empires series. DS watched Egypt's Golden Empire and The Roman Empire of the 1st Century. I consider them light for high school, but that's what you are looking for, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted December 30, 2014 Author Share Posted December 30, 2014 Awesome! Yes, this is exactly what I am looking for. Which Greek tragedies were your favourites? Did you read any history books? Or just the original works? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Some "living" books my DD read: Famous men of Greece/ Famous men of Rome by Haaren - easy for your older, great for your younger son A Day in Ancient Athens and A day in Ancient Rome by William Davis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted December 30, 2014 Author Share Posted December 30, 2014 I'm looking at novels and nonfiction on goodreads, but it is really hard to tell what would be appropriate. Any suggestions as to how to go about this? Not sure I want to stick 20 books from each culture into amazon to get reviews, but that is definitely a possibility. Best Egyptian Historical Fiction Ancient Egyptian Nonfiction This list looks wonderful, but alas, no ancient history. Amazon best history books of 2014 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Awesome! Yes, this is exactly what I am looking for. Which Greek tragedies were your favourites? Did you read any history books? Or just the original works? We read Antigone, Oedipus, and Elektra I selected them because they are frequently referenced in literature and art, and because they raise pertinent questions, esp. Antigone. We used a history textbook as a spine, used large amounts of TC lectures ( 72 for DD, 120 for DS) and just the original works as literature component of our course (we do an integrated English and History course worth one credit for each) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted December 30, 2014 Author Share Posted December 30, 2014 Anyone have an opinion on Mary Renault. Can't tell if her novels are appropriate for a teen. And if they are, which one would you recommend for ds to read to self. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 I really enjoyed The King Must Die and The Bull from the Sea as a teen. I was always obsessed with mythology and especially Greek mythology, and Theseus was one of my favorites. I do not remember anything unsuitable but of course different people have different levels of suitability. Some characters are clearly depicted as homosexual. This is common in Renault's work. BBC radio also adapted and combined them but I haven't listened to that. I like Colleen McCullough's books about Rome. but ... there is quite a bit of sex in them. I don't really consider it gratuitous, but rather it illuminates the character's motivations. I think it would be very easy for someone who wasn't interested to skim over the sex parts to get to the other parts. However, I would highly recommend pre-reading. I really liked her The First Man in Rome because it was about a lesser-known figure (to modern day people) while helping to explain the tensions at the end of Republican Rome. Harold Lamb did a really good book about Hannibal if you can find it. I really love this book. I think it's entirely suitable although some consider it a little dry. Here's another page you may find interesting: http://www.historicalnovels.info/Ancient.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted December 30, 2014 Author Share Posted December 30, 2014 Any opinions on Tom Holland's Persian Fire or Rubicon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 I really liked Pompeii by Harris. I read it just after we'd visited Pompeii and I thought it did a nice job of capturing the sense of the city. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loesje22000 Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Just want to mention a Vandiver set is available for 60 dollar now: mythology, Ilias and Odyssey in one buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 I read a lot of Mary Renault as a teenager. There is reference to sex but in non-explicit terms (rumpled beds, tumbled into her arms, that kind of thing). Some of the characters are homosexual, but the sex in those cases is even more lightly described. The only passage that I found difficult was the description of the castration of a eunuch in the trilogy about Alexander. Of the books, my favourite was The Mask of Apollo, which gives a really good feel for Ancient Greek theatre. She did her research, and although there is some guesswork involved, she did a fairly good job. I corresponded briefly with her when I was at university studying Drama, and she gave me a reading list. Rubicon is very good - very readable. Persian Fire is also good, but a harder read, I thought. Pompeii (Harris) is very good; there's some violence - ask me if you want more detail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 9th grade Ancient History. Non-academic class. The purpose of this course is for a liberal-arts education. He does not need it for university entrance here. However, just in case he decides to apply to an American university, I want to make sure it is acceptable as American humanities credit. The Plan: My DH will read to and discuss with boys the spine, nonfiction, and religion (3hr per week). DS will read Illiad, Odyssey, and Aeneid and watch the TTC lectures on his own. Movies we will watch and discuss Friday nights with pizza and popcorn! We are not planning any output except discussion. I believe this will come to a full Carnegie unit. I'm open to suggestions. Thanks! Ruth in NZ Spine History: The Definitive Visual Guide. Ed by Hart-Davis. 2007. DK Nonfiction Milestones of Civilization. Blandford and Davidson. 2009. Oxford Children's Ancient History. Burrell. 1997. Civilizations: Ten thousand years of ancient history. McIntosh and Twist. 2001. DK 30,000 Years of Art. 2007 Persian Fire. Holland. 2005. Rubicon. Holland. 2003 Religion (library books) Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism Original Literature The Iliad, The Odyssey, and The Aeneid: Box Set. Translated by Fangles. TTC lectures. Iliad and Odyssey. Vandiver. Historical Fiction (free reading - he may choose not to read any of these) I, Claudius. Graves. 1934 A King must Die 1958, Bull from the Sea. (sequel) Renault Pompeii. Harris. 2003 Augustus. Williams. 2004 Film Egypt Cleopatra 1963 Greece Black Orpheus 1959 (camus) Electra 1962 (greek tragedy) Iphigenia (greek tragedy) Jason and the Argonauts 1963 My fair lady 1964 (pygmalion) Oedipus the King 1968 Ulysses 1967 (james joyce) The Trojan Women 1971 (euripedes) Hercules 1997 Clash of the Titans 1981 O Brother Where art Thou 2000 (odyssey, reinterpretation) Troy 2004 Rome Ben Hur 1959 Spartacus 1960 A funny thing happened on the way to the forum 1966 I Claudius 1976 (mini-series) Masada 1981 (mini-series) China Red Ciff.2008 (china 200ad) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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