Which Teaching Supports are Better for Odyssey, Illiad, & Aeneid?

[historymatters]

The materials I am looking at to choose between are:

Memoria Press' DVDs and workbooks

or

The Great Courses: E. Vandiver lectures

My son has previous exposure to the stories, but no study.

Thanks, Rachel 

[madteaparty]

No experience with Memoria but Vandiver’s lectures are so good we used them while DS was taking another class (as a supplement/intro). DS said at the end of that semester that he ought to send her a thank you note :) :)

[RootAnn]

Not having seen those particular MP resources (just MP stuff in general), there is no competition. Vandiver is awesome, IMO.

[MamaSprout]

MPs Odyssey is the Butler translation, which is very hard to understand. I don't know about MPs DVDs, although their guides  are usually pretty good.

I'm using Vandiver for my dd next year. She likes audio over video and likes the Great Authors GC series, so I got Odyssey, too.

Roman Roads OWC units might be an option, too.

[regentrude]

Don't know MP, but the Vandiver lectures are fantastic. I can't imagine needing anything in addition. We used them on audio only and listened together in the car.

[historymatters]

Thank you everyone.

I found an inexpensive copy of TTC's version at Amazon. But, I am hoping it will be streaming by the time I need it. I also have Audible,  but I do better visually and we'd likely do it together. 

1 hour ago, MamaSprout said:

Roman Roads OWC units might be an option, too.

This was the other option I couldn't remember last night when I posted! 

So,  it may come down to my buying both Vandiver's lectures and RR Greek Epics in order to decide. 

[historymatters]

2 hours ago, MamaSprout said:

MPs Odyssey is the Butler translation, which is very hard to understand.

Which is the generally preferred translation? 

Thanks 

[elegantlion]

Vandiver's lectures. I prefer the translation she teaches from, plus the materials are wonderful. 

[regentrude]

57 minutes ago, historymatters said:

Which is the generally preferred translation?

It's a matter of preference. The problem is that Homer's verse meter does not easily transfer into English, so something has to give.

With DD, we used Fitzgerald, but for DS I chose Lattimore.

This has been extensively discussed on this board; you may want to look at the archives. Like here:

 

[EKS]

We used Vandiver's lectures and they were totally excellent!

We used the Mitchell books, which I like, but they are not frequently (or even ever) recommended here.

[regentrude]

1 hour ago, historymatters said:

 but I do better visually and we'd likely do it together.

Just a heads-up: there is not much to see in the TC lectures that are offered in audio and video. A professor lecturing at a lectern, the occasional visual.

the visually interesting lectures are only offered in video format.

[historymatters]

31 minutes ago, regentrude said:

It's a matter of preference. The problem is that Homer's verse meter does not easily transfer into English, so something has to give.

With DD, we used Fitzgerald, but for DS I chose Lattimore.

This has been extensively discussed on this board; you may want to look at the archives. Like here:

 

Thank you. I will peruse...

[historymatters]

8 minutes ago, regentrude said:

Just a heads-up: there is not much to see in the TC lectures that are offered in audio and video. A professor lecturing at a lectern, the occasional visual.

the visually interesting lectures are only offered in video format.

I understand. I have GCPlus, and there are many older lectures available. I'm fine with just a professor and a lecturn. Some of them walk around and/or are very animated in either body or face, which makes my comprehension and enjoyment of the material greater. Dr. Levine and Dr. Guelzo are two fine examples.

[Corraleno]

IMO the Vandiver lectures are hands-down THE best resources for the Greek & Roman epics, bar none. Her other courses, on Classical Mythology and Greek Tragedy, are also terrific. 

My personal favorite translation is Lombardo, which is also what Lukeion uses for the Iliad & Odyssey (although I think they might use Fagles for the Aeneid? Sorry I don't remember exactly).  Lombardo's translation is more immediate and "muscular" (as one critic called it) without losing any of the power of the poetry. In some of the older translations, the stiltedness of the syntax and forced meter can create a certain distance between the reader and the story: your eyes read the words but you never really enter into the story. For me, Lombardo's translation collapses that distance so that you feel like you are right there in the middle of everything. I also highly recommend the audio version, read by Lombardo himself; since he knows the original Greek and knows every character inside and out, he really makes them come alive. I once fell asleep on a bus in Greece while listening to Lombardo's Iliad, and I was so totally immersed in it that I was completely disoriented when I woke up and discovered I wasn't on the beach at Troy!

[MamaSprout]

8 hours ago, EKS said:

We used Vandiver's lectures and they were totally excellent!

We used the Mitchell books, which I like, but they are not frequently (or even ever) recommended here.

I like the Stephen Mitchell Odyssey. I never looked to see what else he translated. You are right, though. If it wasn't on the shelf at my library, I would not have picked it up. 

[historymatters]

Okay, thanks everyone so much! I checked out Audible to listen to differences in translations and various readers. We will be listening to,  as well as reading, the stories. 

I really liked Fitzgerald's translation of The Odyssey, with the perk of Dan Steven's narration. He also narrates Fitzgerald's The Illiad. 

I enjoyed listening to Fagles', with Ian McKellen, but the recording was not of a clear quality. 

I think I will also use a credit for Vandiver's lectures to listen to in advance. That will allow me to determine if purchasing the DVD is necessary. I do want to use Roman Roads, to balance out the secular approach of the GC lectures. 

So this has been very helpful!