Quite a Lot About Greek
Oct. 9th, 2006 04:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
timerippleWednesday, October 4
First 3-hour Greek seminar on Plato, Phaedrus. I was terrified. Apparently there was an assigment to read some Greek, the whole thing in English, plus the Symposium, about which the grad students received emails in August. Sometimes the bottom of the food chain really does feel like filter-feeding. The grad students were being absolutely as snooty and show-off-y as possible, talking highfalutin’ about something I hadn’t read. I could just feel their stares: “You’re not one of us.” I was absolutely wretched. There are two other post-baccs in the class, one of whom has an MA in something else, and he was equally snooty. The other one and I exchanged terrified glances. This went on for two cold, interminable hours.
Then in the final hour we picked up the Greek. We’re using the Oxford Classical Text, and it is a beautiful book, hardcover, small, light blue textured dustcover, thick creamy pages. I quite literally picked up the book, and was suddenly calm. Still scared, but no longer out of my wits. Plato is fairly straightforward, and with a vocab list I can manage quite well, even at sight. Luckily other people were asked to read first, and we didn’t get very far. I could tell, when they read, who’d just looked at a translation, and it made me (unjustly, perhaps) smirk inside. “Too smooth and plausible, by half!” When I’ve actually read the text, I can reason and dissect as well as anyone, I hope. If I cannot use the same language as quidam, so much the better for my listeners.
Note to self: referencing stuff that not everybody’s done an MA thesis on will endear you to no-one.
Also, the professor has written a work on the Pre-Socratics, so I had a minor squee-fest, possibly involving the phrase “my one true love, at the moment”. I shall hunt down her book tomorrow.
Sunday, October 8
Ye Olde Movie Reviewe: “Titanic”. Yeah, I know. But, after ffwd-ing through all the parts involving water-filled passageways, I realized it’s actually not that bad. Except for the totally excessive and repetitive water-filled passageways, which are just excessive, repetitive, and boring. I really liked Mr. Andrews this time around, and not just because he’s played by OMG Jack Bristow. Maybe I’m biased, but I liked the Real Party. And I always start sobbing when the musicians play on the deck. My train of reason goes something like this: “OMG he’s still playing! Not trying to save himself! Which would be totally pointless anyway! WAH!” I like to think that, in the face of Imminent Doom, I too would choose to play my fiddle rather than run around panicking. *gets all teary, again*
Today, Or, in which I Am Interrogated by the Police. No, seriously. One of my classmates and I decided to go to Santa Monica to study at the beach, and were looking for chai, and finally found parking, and I slammed my thumb in the car door (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
edajaram, remember the time I fell off my bunk and landed on my chair arm? It was just like that, only a lot more force (less mass, but a hell of a lot more acceleration) on a MUCH smaller surface area). So we stumble (well, I stumble, she walked, probably) into this café which is oddly empty. By this time all I can see are pretty white and green moving lights, and have the bright idea that maybe I should sit down, having no desire to faint on a café floor. So we sit down. After a few minutes, when my vision clears, it becomes equally clear that there is No One in the café. No staff, nemo, nadie. This, we think, is Odd. But, as I still feel faint, we remain. A few minutes later a couple of policemen show up, looking wary. They question us. The following is a reconstruction, with some modifications purely for the effect of Making Me Look Good.
N: So we were looking for coffee, and parking, and we found this place, and walked in.
Me: Only I slammed my thumb in the car door, and wasn’t feeling so well, so I said ‘Let’s grab a table’, which we did, and then I couldn’t see anything except this green and white light.
N: So I got some ice from the place across the street, to put on her finger, because there was nobody here. We thought that was weird. But she wasn’t feeling well.
Police Dude #1: *looks skeptical*
Police Dude #2: So you were looking for coffee, and just walked in here? You didn’t notice that the sign said ‘Closed’?
Me: ... it did? ... er, no.
N: ...? Look, the way I usually find out someplace is closed? Is if the door doesn’t open.
Police Dude #1: *looks skeptical*
Police Dude #2: *looks skeptical*
Me: Have you ever fainted from pain and shock? It’s not pleasant. I had just slammed my thumb in the car door *holds up bruised thumb* and was about to faint. I wasn’t looking. In fact, I couldn’t see anything. *waggles damaged appendage for emphasis, then regrets it*
Police Dudes: ...
My Thumbnail: *obligingly turns impressive shade of purple, right before the Vigilant Eyes of the Law*
Police Dudes: ... Okay. We guess either you’re telling the truth, or you’re really dedicated small-time burglars.
Us: Hey, good idea.
I have come to the realization that I treat most toi, gar, ye, dee and ouns as colloquial content-less expressions equivalent to “like”. So, for example, Plato’s Phaedrus (228a1-5).
Phaedrus: “Whaddaya mean, Soc, buddy ol’buddy? Do you think that I, being, like, a total amateur, can recite off by heart those things which Lysias, being the most clever of those now writing, put together in a long time and at leisure, in a way worthy of that man? I’m, like, totally lacking. By a lot. Although I would SO love to be, like, able to. Even more than I want that, like, a whole lot of money should come to me.”
Socrates: "Yeesh. What a tool."
Don’t stone me for butchering Plato now. Stay tuned in the following weeks for more Valley Girl!Phaedrus. I'll be seeing a lot of him.
First 3-hour Greek seminar on Plato, Phaedrus. I was terrified. Apparently there was an assigment to read some Greek, the whole thing in English, plus the Symposium, about which the grad students received emails in August. Sometimes the bottom of the food chain really does feel like filter-feeding. The grad students were being absolutely as snooty and show-off-y as possible, talking highfalutin’ about something I hadn’t read. I could just feel their stares: “You’re not one of us.” I was absolutely wretched. There are two other post-baccs in the class, one of whom has an MA in something else, and he was equally snooty. The other one and I exchanged terrified glances. This went on for two cold, interminable hours.
Then in the final hour we picked up the Greek. We’re using the Oxford Classical Text, and it is a beautiful book, hardcover, small, light blue textured dustcover, thick creamy pages. I quite literally picked up the book, and was suddenly calm. Still scared, but no longer out of my wits. Plato is fairly straightforward, and with a vocab list I can manage quite well, even at sight. Luckily other people were asked to read first, and we didn’t get very far. I could tell, when they read, who’d just looked at a translation, and it made me (unjustly, perhaps) smirk inside. “Too smooth and plausible, by half!” When I’ve actually read the text, I can reason and dissect as well as anyone, I hope. If I cannot use the same language as quidam, so much the better for my listeners.
Note to self: referencing stuff that not everybody’s done an MA thesis on will endear you to no-one.
Also, the professor has written a work on the Pre-Socratics, so I had a minor squee-fest, possibly involving the phrase “my one true love, at the moment”. I shall hunt down her book tomorrow.
Sunday, October 8
Ye Olde Movie Reviewe: “Titanic”. Yeah, I know. But, after ffwd-ing through all the parts involving water-filled passageways, I realized it’s actually not that bad. Except for the totally excessive and repetitive water-filled passageways, which are just excessive, repetitive, and boring. I really liked Mr. Andrews this time around, and not just because he’s played by OMG Jack Bristow. Maybe I’m biased, but I liked the Real Party. And I always start sobbing when the musicians play on the deck. My train of reason goes something like this: “OMG he’s still playing! Not trying to save himself! Which would be totally pointless anyway! WAH!” I like to think that, in the face of Imminent Doom, I too would choose to play my fiddle rather than run around panicking. *gets all teary, again*
Today, Or, in which I Am Interrogated by the Police. No, seriously. One of my classmates and I decided to go to Santa Monica to study at the beach, and were looking for chai, and finally found parking, and I slammed my thumb in the car door (
edajaram, remember the time I fell off my bunk and landed on my chair arm? It was just like that, only a lot more force (less mass, but a hell of a lot more acceleration) on a MUCH smaller surface area). So we stumble (well, I stumble, she walked, probably) into this café which is oddly empty. By this time all I can see are pretty white and green moving lights, and have the bright idea that maybe I should sit down, having no desire to faint on a café floor. So we sit down. After a few minutes, when my vision clears, it becomes equally clear that there is No One in the café. No staff, nemo, nadie. This, we think, is Odd. But, as I still feel faint, we remain. A few minutes later a couple of policemen show up, looking wary. They question us. The following is a reconstruction, with some modifications purely for the effect of Making Me Look Good.N: So we were looking for coffee, and parking, and we found this place, and walked in.
Me: Only I slammed my thumb in the car door, and wasn’t feeling so well, so I said ‘Let’s grab a table’, which we did, and then I couldn’t see anything except this green and white light.
N: So I got some ice from the place across the street, to put on her finger, because there was nobody here. We thought that was weird. But she wasn’t feeling well.
Police Dude #1: *looks skeptical*
Police Dude #2: So you were looking for coffee, and just walked in here? You didn’t notice that the sign said ‘Closed’?
Me: ... it did? ... er, no.
N: ...? Look, the way I usually find out someplace is closed? Is if the door doesn’t open.
Police Dude #1: *looks skeptical*
Police Dude #2: *looks skeptical*
Me: Have you ever fainted from pain and shock? It’s not pleasant. I had just slammed my thumb in the car door *holds up bruised thumb* and was about to faint. I wasn’t looking. In fact, I couldn’t see anything. *waggles damaged appendage for emphasis, then regrets it*
Police Dudes: ...
My Thumbnail: *obligingly turns impressive shade of purple, right before the Vigilant Eyes of the Law*
Police Dudes: ... Okay. We guess either you’re telling the truth, or you’re really dedicated small-time burglars.
Us: Hey, good idea.
I have come to the realization that I treat most toi, gar, ye, dee and ouns as colloquial content-less expressions equivalent to “like”. So, for example, Plato’s Phaedrus (228a1-5).
Phaedrus: “Whaddaya mean, Soc, buddy ol’buddy? Do you think that I, being, like, a total amateur, can recite off by heart those things which Lysias, being the most clever of those now writing, put together in a long time and at leisure, in a way worthy of that man? I’m, like, totally lacking. By a lot. Although I would SO love to be, like, able to. Even more than I want that, like, a whole lot of money should come to me.”
Socrates: "Yeesh. What a tool."
Don’t stone me for butchering Plato now. Stay tuned in the following weeks for more Valley Girl!Phaedrus. I'll be seeing a lot of him.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-10-09 05:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-09 06:17 am (UTC)Did I manage not to mangle completely the car-door physics?
no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 04:55 am (UTC)I am sorry about your poor thumb. :( I do quite clearly remember you falling onto your chair, yes. Not cool at all. Fainting from pain is not something I have ever done, nor plan to do. Rather, I hope I never experience that kind of pain, not that I don't faint.
And this makes no sense.
AND I just realized that I'm logging in on the wrong name, but I'm too lazy to bother switching. *shrugs*
I look forward to your Valley Girl!Phaerus. ;)
no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 06:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 04:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-11 12:15 am (UTC)Emotional pain, that's a different story. I cry all the time. ;)
titanic
Date: 2006-10-17 01:36 pm (UTC)and i'm on your side about the door thing.
hope you're doing well :)
siena
Re: titanic
Date: 2006-10-20 11:21 pm (UTC)Translation: Yay!