<p>..someone posted this question earlier on the facebook board.. but I'm eager to find out SO here it goes:</p>
<p>"this is more of a question for current students: how would you recommend going about reading the first half of the iliad over the summer? should we try to take notes, or highlight, or scribble some marginalia, or should we just read leisurely, savoring the book at our own pace?"</p>
<p>this: “read leisurely, savoring the book at our own pace”</p>
<p>it really isn’t a big deal…there is the lecture during orientation which is inconsequential to your actual lit hum class and that’s all. it’s not like, in a lecture hall of 1000 kids the lecturer is going to single you out and ask you for a minute detail from the book. In my lit hum class (i took it sophomore year because i was SEAS) our reading assignment after the first class was to reread the first 6 books of the iliad…so if you hadn’t read it over the summer it didn’t matter. as it happens i did read it over the summer and had NO clue what was going on…that lecture during freshman orientation also went clear over my head and i got absolutely nothing out of it. Your experience may vary since i am not very bookish, as is the case with most engineers. </p>
<p>(you may repost this in the facebook group if you find it helpful)</p>
<p>I haven’t taken any courses at Columbia yet, but I can offer some general advice based on my experience with these “classical” texts. Take it easy on the first read; just savor the book like you said and try to make as many connections as you can in your mind. If you feel it’s important to reread, then do annotations (though I find they never help me).</p>
<p>I just discovered the Classics app on the iphone that has the Illiad’s full text. That’s how I will be reading it… :)</p>
<p>one L, not two in the Iliad</p>
<p>sorry for being such a d-bag ;)</p>
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<p>I was debating between posting this and “left to right.”</p>
<p>Thanks Shraf.
Sorry bout the typo Eppaminondas!</p>
<p>btw… anyone have an estimate for when we receive the books? I got a copy from the library to start now. The translation is by Robert Fagles.</p>
<p>^I’m not sure, but I’ve heard it’s around August.</p>
<p>
If you like reading the Iliad twice, then go ahead. But if you’re lazy, get the Lattimore translation. According to the Lit Hum syllabus, that’s the one Columbia’s using.</p>
<p>Yeah if you’re reading it now I’d advise against taking notes. If you’re not used to classical Greek texts/style the easiest thing to do is read the sparknotes on a chapter before reading the chapter, so you’ll have some idea what’s going on.</p>
<p>Thanks Epa. I was wondering which translation LitHum uses.</p>
<p>If you go the the pre-orientation sessions, they will hand out a copy of the Iliad to you. The translation is by Richmond Lattimore. Could anyone please double check for me? I forgot, but I remember the speakers saying we had to read books 1-8 before class… which I thought was weird because I remember on previous College confidential posts from last year it was books 1-12 xO</p>
<p>In the letter that came with the copy I got at a summer advising session it says read 1-12.</p>
<p>For the love of Homer, please read the Fagles translation.</p>
<p>^Haha.</p>
<p>For the love of masochism, please read the Chapman translation.</p>
<p>The ipod version i mentioned above was not translated by any of the people noted so far, but when compared to Fagles the translation was very simplistic and lacking the same intensity. Just a note…</p>
<p>Because I’m putting way too much thought into this whole thing… the boring version was by Butler. </p>
<p>for those interested (no one) [The</a> Greatest Literature of All Time - Translations: Iliad](<a href=“http://www.editoreric.com/greatlit/translations/Iliad.html]The”>http://www.editoreric.com/greatlit/translations/Iliad.html)</p>
<p>I’d second reading summaries of sparknotes, the wikipedia articles, etc. I’d imagine the basic story and the characters involved would likely be well known by anyone who read it in the original language, and having a bit of background can help when Homer starts namedropping. These characters will show up later, in the Oresteia, which is part of the enduring LitHum curric. If you do read an old translation, don’t skip over old/middle english words that you don’t understand, take the time to learn all those wots and weals and fains.</p>
<p>Book two has two enormous lists of people and where they are from - tons of info. Are detail from that passage likely to be on some sort of test? Or will be more responsible for the grander ideas and themes present?</p>
<p>Ahh the Catalogue of Ships. I highly doubted that any instructor will make you remember every personage and every country from which that character originate.
(But there might be some analysis as to how Homer got his hands on this remarkably detailed catalog, whereas the Catalogue of Trojans is so truncated. just my 2 cents)</p>