#Greek studies

[gemsofgreece]

hello! it has been quite a while and you may not remember me. i was the anon who asked for your advice because i was applying to read modern greek alongside another language at university. i am very happy to report that i made it! the professor interviewing me told me that he was very impressed with my research. i was so amazed by his reaction, he seemed so excited to see me and discuss what i had written, specifically my thoughts on Byzantine poetry and Cavafy (what a brilliant poet) and i recieved the offer! i am over the moon. thank you so much for all your patience and kind advice, i will never forget it. i wont say where i am going exactly but it is certainly quite a prestigious institution which is why i was so amazed to have gotten in, and the opportunities for research there are endless. thank you so much! i am forever grateful xx

4. Success

OMG!!! I remember you! I knew you would make it!!! Honestly your report back made me very happy!

I actually did a dive into the asks in my archive to find the details of our discussion. I think these three were our mail exchange:

Modern Greek culture recs for study before uni

How to pronounce words / speak in interview with Greek professor

More context provided by you - interest in Medieval / Modern Greek - and me psyching you up lol

Fun fact: All this time I had not realised the first one and the two next were the same person because the first one was sent months apart, but just now I noticed that you finish the mail / sign in the same way in all these hehe so I just realised it was you :D

Dunno I felt like rereading the saga of success hahaha

Congratulations. I told you you would do it. By the way, wait to read Cavafy after learning Greek now. It will hit different, truly.

It's april fool's day on tumblr now and we are all cat booping each other for some reason, so have a virtual boop from me 🐾

[your-future-ex-wife]

Currently reading: The Secret History by Donna Tartt

559 pages

Genre: psychological fiction

[emiliefitch]

I sent this to my friend who's a Greek major as a cute little funny thing but they responded and said in ancient Greece celery was used as garlands for the dead and also as the wreath/crown for winners of the nemean games. it was a symbol of death and victory.

So in a way the continuity of celery is due to the endurance of human passions.

Pinax with Persephone and Hades Enthroned, 500-450 BC, Greek, Locri Epizephirii, Mannella district, Sanctuary of Persephone, terracotta - Cleveland Museum of Art

this sentence makes me hopping mad. WHAT R U TRYING TO TELL ME

[local-queer-classicist]

WAKE UP BITCHES THEY FOUND NEW EURIPIDES FRAGMENTS

98 LINES, 80% COMPLETELY NEW MATERIAL

[blvvdk3ep]

I love you people going into "useless" fields I love you classics majors I love you cultural studies majors I love you comparative literature majors I love you film studies majors I love you near eastern religions majors I love you Greek, Latin, and Hebrew majors I love you ethnic studies I love you people going into any and all small field that isn't considered lucrative in our rotting capitalist society please never stop keeping the sacred flame of knowledge for the sake of knowledge and understanding humanity and not merely for the sake of money alive

[onceandfutureclotpoll]

Title: Wafels and Destiny

Author: asilentherald

Rating: Explicit

Summary: In which Merlin works a waffle truck in Manhattan and accidentally seduces Arthur by eating whipped cream straight out of the spray can.

Or, stupid, awkward boys are graduate students at NYU and take a little time, several instances of poor communication, and a blind date to get their heads out of their asses.

[constanzarte]

Death of Sappho, by Miguel Carbonell Selva

[lime-bucket]

Im saying this not as an opinion but as a matter of fact that hades should have never been the default villain in modern greek myths retellings,becuz dionysus had been always a better fit by leagues & i feel like writers/artists both overlook & underestimate him.Like the fucker wasnt just a silly drunk god,his whole domain tethered on the thin line between ecstasy and madness,embodying both chaos & pleasure. All of these qualities historically had made him simultaneously adored & feared within & outside of his fanatical cult,& circling back to the madness part,idk if yk this but dionysus have this lil tale in wich he caused his followers to go drunk w/ frenzy at a party they literally ripped apart the son of hypnos, i repeat hes so powerful he made a buncha humans kill A GOD! & he didnt face any repercussions fr that!!!

Now ik im skipping on other infos but all of this sounds to me that dionysus is perfect fr the charming & sinister mastermind trope

[spoonsbutbetter]

please laugh, it’s 4:17am here and i’m GIGGLING

[lionofchaeronea]

Title: Crouching Figure of Atlas Artist: Baldassare Peruzzi (Italian, 1481-1536) Date: unknown Genre: figure study; mythological art Period: High Renaissance (Cinquecento) Medium: Pen and brown ink, over leadpoint or black chalk Dimensions: 20.6 cm (8.2 in) high x 13.4 cm (5.3 in) wide Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art

[andromedainruins]

Thursday, August 24th || Homeric Greek

We actually got a lot of greek done today! We made it well past what I had prepared and did some sight reading towards the end of the class period

Here's the Greek:

τίς τ᾽ ἄρ σφωε θεῶν ἔριδι ξυνέηκε μάχεσθαι; Λητοῦς καὶ Διὸς υἱός: ὃ γὰρ βασιλῆϊ χολωθεὶς νοῦσον ἀνὰ στρατὸν ὄρσε κακήν, ὀλέκοντο δὲ λαοί, οὕνεκα τὸν Χρύσην ἠτίμασεν ἀρητῆρα Ἀτρεΐδης: ὃ γὰρ ἦλθε θοὰς ἐπὶ νῆας Ἀχαιῶν λυσόμενός τε θύγατρα φέρων τ᾽ ἀπερείσι᾽ ἄποινα, στέμματ᾽ ἔχων ἐν χερσὶν ἑκηβόλου Ἀπόλλωνος χρυσέῳ ἀνὰ σκήπτρῳ, καὶ λίσσετο πάντας Ἀχαιούς, Ἀτρεΐδα δὲ μάλιστα δύω, κοσμήτορε λαῶν: Ἀτρεΐδαι τε καὶ ἄλλοι ἐϋκνήμιδες Ἀχαιοί, ὑμῖν μὲν θεοὶ δοῖεν Ὀλύμπια δώματ᾽ ἔχοντες ἐκπέρσαι Πριάμοιο πόλιν, εὖ δ᾽ ο��καδ᾽ ἱκέσθαι: παῖδα δ᾽ ἐμοὶ λύσαιτε φίλην, τὰ δ᾽ ἄποινα δέχεσθαι, ἁζόμενοι Διὸς υἱὸν ἑκηβόλον Ἀπόλλωνα.

ἔνθ᾽ ἄλλοι μὲν πάντες ἐπευφήμησαν Ἀχαιοὶ αἰδεῖσθαί θ᾽ ἱερῆα καὶ ἀγλαὰ δέχθαι ἄποινα: ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ Ἀτρεΐδῃ Ἀγαμέμνονι ἥνδανε θυμῷ, ἀλλὰ κακῶς ἀφίει, κρατερὸν δ᾽ ἐπὶ μῦθον ἔτελλε: μή σε γέρον κοίλῃσιν ἐγὼ παρὰ νηυσὶ κιχείω ἢ νῦν δηθύνοντ᾽ ἢ ὕστερον αὖτις ἰόντα, μή νύ τοι οὐ χραίσμῃ σκῆπτρον καὶ στέμμα θεοῖο: τὴν δ᾽ ἐγὼ οὐ λύσω: πρίν μιν καὶ γῆρας ἔπεισιν ἡμετέρῳ ἐνὶ οἴκῳ ἐν Ἄργεϊ τηλόθι πάτρης

Here's my at home translation (minus the part that was sight read):

Which of the gods brought them to fight? The son of Leto and Zeus. For the king was angering him and he set a plague of death upon the army, he killed the men, because the son of Atreus held the priest, Chryses, in ho honor. For he quickly came upon the Achaean ships to free the daughter, carrying boundless ransom, holding a wreath of far-shooting Apollon in hand and a staff laden with gold, he begged all the Achaeans, especially the two sons of Atreus, commanders of the men; "Sons of Atreus and all well-greaved Achaeans, on one hand may the gods of Olympus give you guidance to utterly destroy the palace and city of Priam, and then come home well; on the other hand free my beloved child and take the ransom and stand in awe at far-shooting Apollon, the son of Zeus."

Here's the corrected translation from class:

Which of the gods brought them to strife to fight? The son of Leto and Zeus. For having been angered at the king He set a deadly plague upon the army, and the men were being destroyed, Because he dishonored Chryses the priest The son of Atreus. For he came to the swift ships of the Achaeans In order to free his daughter, carrying a boundless ransom, He was holding a wreath of far-shooting Apollon in his hands Upon a golden staff, and begged the many Achaeans, In particular the sons of Atreus, the two commanders of the men; “Sons of Atreus and all the well-greaved Achaeans, May the gods with homes on Olympus grant you To destroy the city of Priam, and then come home well; Release the child that is dear to me and accept the ransom Reverencing of far-shooting Apollon, the son of Zeus.” Then all the other Achaeans shouted their approval to Respect the priest and to accept the shiny ransom; But it was not pleasing to Agamemnon the son of Atreus or his heart, But he rudely sent him away, and placed a strong word upon him; “Don’t let me catch you, old man, near the hollow ships Loitering now or coming back again later, Lest the staff and wreath of the God not be of any help to you. I will not free her; old age will come upon her first In our house in Argos far from her native land,

[gemsofgreece]

any pronunciation tips when pronouncing greek names? any common errors i should avoid? trying to impress a very important greek teacher in an interview and hoping to convince them that im competent enough to start studying the language! any other general tips would be super appreciated hahah x

You didn’t tell me what kind of studies it is (classical studies, modern studies, just linguistics, generally Greek culture and history studies) to be more precise but I believe I can give some tips anyway!

Use modern Greek pronunciation for any instance of speaking Greek to them, including addressing them. Even if you go for classical studies, outside the classroom you should use modern pronunciation to earn their attention.

If you are going to speak any basic Greek with them, you should definitely apply plural of politeness. Greet them with a “Ya sas” or a “Hérete” or a “Kaliméra sas” if it’s morning or “Kalispéra sas” if it’s afternoon. Always with plural of politeness. In the language that you are going to do most of the talk, use please and thank you and all forms of polite talk when it’s necessary within the context. These things are valued in Greek academic communication.

Address them with the word κύριος / κυρία + their surname. Kírie + Surname, if it’s a man, Kiría + Surname, if it’s a woman. You don’t have to address them after every answer or anything, just in the beginning and whenever it feels like it makes sense to do it. And plural of politeness. Please note that they may not apply plural of politeness to you, they may not call you mr or mrs and they might call you with your first name. All this is totally normal in Greek dialogue etiquette, you are the student, the younger person, and they can address you informally. THIS DOES NOT MEAN you can drop the plural of politeness. No matter how they talk to you (I mean unless they would insult you or something LOL) you have to use the plural. You can drop it ONLY if they explicitly tell you to do so which I doubt they will but anyway. And even if you drop the plural, you will still address them Kírie / Kiría + Surname unless they also tell you to call them by their first name which I also doubt and then you will STILL have to address them as Kírie / Kiría + First Name. Don’t drop the Kírie / Kiría under any circumstances. Unless they also tell you specifically to do that but the chances are very very slim.

Go in there with a pleasant but serious demeanour, you know, like in a typical interview. Depending on how they are, you can follow along their demeanour but always be one step more reserved. So if they are serious, you stay serious. If they are relaxed and humorous, you can loosen up as well but do remain a little more serious than them.

If they take note of you speaking Greek (regardless of how well or bad you do), you can smile reservedly and be like “Yes I am trying, I am really hoping / looking forward to learn more / improve”. But don’t make light of it, like “hehehe I am speaking Greek… opaaaa!” . Show you are interested in it seriously, academically.

I am pretty sure the professor will value much more your genuine interest to study the Greek language or culture, rather than any technical mistakes you might make. Show a contained mix of fascination and focus to them and you will win them over, I am sure! But don’t go in there like “idk the alphabet looked cool” XD

You can of course add how it might be very aesthetically appealing to you or having some practical significance for you to learn the language. But keep this supplemental and focus on scientific fascination and Greek’s academic / cultural impact.

I think I got the ultimate trick to impress them. Whatever they ask you about why you want to take these studies, push modern Greek culture in your answer or, even better, talk about how it fascinates you to explore the continuation or evolution of Greek culture / language / history through ancient, medieval and modern times. Talk about the special case of Greek being so well attested, giving us a window to explore cultural evolution in big spans of time with more precision. If these are modern Greek studies, definitely do not talk about how you love Greek mythology or ancient philosophy. I mean, it’s not bad to say that, it just won’t make the difference you hope for to the professor. Show that you value all eras of Greek history / linguistics and if it’s modern studies, then do emphasise on the modern era and maybe talk about exploring the impact of Byzantine / medieval in modern history and literature and culture. Maybe talk about how perhaps you were exposed to Modern Greek history and culture and realised how overlooked / under appreciated it is and how, I don’t know, it could prove to be impactful in certain ways. I mean, use the one of these that applies best to you and work around your answer, I am just giving you some ideas! But the point is, don’t focus on classical Greece or Greek mythology. Express an interest for the civilisation / linguistics throughout time, talk about exploring continuation, evolution and impact and I believe you got them :)

To summarise, be serious, focused and pleasant. Show respect and interest in all Greek linguistics / culture / history without discrimination. Talk about continuation. If they ask you if you have some niche interest about it, definitely choose something less known, more overlooked like something from medieval or modern times. Don’t stress over potential mistakes you might make. Use polite language.

And success is imminent 😁

Καλή επιτυχία!

[exhausted-undead]

just some peaceful lesbians :)

[wolfythewitch]

My thoughts on the champion!Patroclus au are so disorganized I have not slept, but know that the main reason for its existence is that fictional men are infinitely more attractive when sweaty and covered in blood

[jamsandsuch]

this quote from ovid’s telling of orpheus turning back to look at eurydice makes me crumble

[the-evil-clergyman]

Study for Nymphs Finding the Head of Orpheus by John William Waterhouse (1900)