Convince me why I should dedicate hours of my life to reading

You need to understand the greeks in order to fully comprehend Aquinas, that should be your endgame.

>>9622481
But why should I care about understanding Aquinas

>>9622475
Because the amount of insight they provided into being human still hasnt been matched

>>9622483

Share one with me.

If you can provide me with even one valuable insight into being human that the Greeks provided, I will read the Greeks,

>>9622482
because this board is infested with sub-intellectual pissants that spend an ungodly amount of effort convincing themselves that their delusions are not just that.

Convince me why I should dedicate minutes of my life to convince you?

>>9622493
You need to read them for the message to hold any weight, sunshine

>>962250 you won't and can't because you lack conviction.

>>9622496
just what?

True, just watch a season of some shit anime or play some mind numbing video game instead. If you can't see the benefit, just don't bother. Nobody here gives a shit if you see the point of the Greeks or not.

>>9622531

Reading comprehension of a 16 year old.

>>9622475
You're a close-minded pleb. I don't want you reading my Greeks. They don't need you; you need them. Why don't you read some nice Danielle Steele instead.

dude if you don't at least read Homer you deserve to be euthanized

>>9622511

So in other words, you got nothing. All I asked was ONE insight.

>>9622475
you only live once and you're robbing yourself if you don't at least give it a try. Not being able to understand them is one thing but being a lazy shit and just not giving a fuck is unforgivable.

>>9622612
Why though? If these Greeks really aren't just a meme you'd be able to articulate precisely why they are worth reading.

FUCK pseuds.

>>9622617
Yeah and there are literally trillions of other experiences I'm missing out on at this very moment.

>>9622618
>foundation of Western Canon
>fuck pseuds

really, just turn your computer off it's past your bedtime

>>9622618
I've never read the greeks but I'm going to, for no other reason than I want to learn. I know tha they're the forefathers of basically every school of philosophy, and thats enough for me to at least try them. put it down if it doesn't interest you but just dont be a giant faggot.

>>9622623
Literally not an argument.

>>9622629
>philosophy
>homer

>>9622618

The Greeks are the foundation of the entire Western canon. It's difficult to go on at length about their value because they're so fundamental that encapsulated statements are often enough to express it.

>>9622618
homer is good by any standard and hasn't aged a day. the characters are psychologically sophisticated, the aesthetic integrity of his style is incredibly impressive, and the story is FUN TO READ. the iliad and the odyssey are both works of genius and its an immense tragedy, perhaps the worst in all of literature, that we've lost the other books of the cycle

for gods sake, what's your problem? just read homer and stop wasting time making stupid threads like this

>>9622635
you are aware that Homer wasn't the only greek in existance right

there was, in fact, an entire civilization of Greeks, they even had their own culture and mythology and everything.

fun fact,
Some of them were evan philosophers

>>9622639
>the characters are psychologically sophisticated, the aesthetic integrity of his style is incredibly impressive, and the story is FUN TO READ.
wow we're you get these deep insights bro

>>9622634
I already said I don't want you reading my Greeks. I'm not trying to convince you to spend your time reading Aristotle and Homer and Epictetus. In fact I'd rather you didn't. Really just fuck off.

>>9622475
Why are you on /lit/ if you don't actually like reading literature? As >>9622639 says, Homer holds up.

>>9622647
OP here
I'm on /lit/ to spew my pseudo-intellectual nonsense and act pretentious all while memorizing the names of random authors I hear about on this board so I might regurgitate them in order to impress that qt in my algebra class.

>>9622645
ahh, you're one of those "regurgitate in my mouth like im a baby bird" types

stop being lazy, stop being a bitchy troll, go read homer

>>9622650
>OP here
Anytime someone says this you know they aren't the real OP.

>>9622482
If you don't care about philosophy don't bother with the Greeks. If you don't care about literature don't bother with the Greeks.

>>9622655
>>9622650
kek

>>9622482
because this is book board and Aquinas is book lol

>>9622496
I'm not so sure delusions can exist. It is, to put it bluntly, a different perspective of existence by existence.
What you consider a delusion, is it not another set of patterns in your map? I could see it as a spook to have people avoid pitfalls, like mirages in the desert. However, there we have the definition based on harmful outcomes perceived by all.
Feeling superior, experiencing superiority, seeing further... These are not illusions. They can be disagreements.

>>9622493
Read the Greeks and realize humanity hasn't changed one bit.

>>9622690
Pretty sure you're an inch and a half away from developing schizophrenia.

>>9622690
semantics. if you think youre a dinosaur youre deluded

>>9622690
hey when you go bicameral at least hypnotize yourself first so you can re-unify your consciousness and tell us what you found after

>>9622475
to meme bro, Start with the greeks.

>>9622482
Can you or someone send me that Start with the greeks chart?

>>9622531
delusions

>>9622769
It's on the /lit/ wiki. The /lit/ wiki is in the sticky.

>>9622779
thanks

>>9622722
Vikings took mushrooms to enter a 'beast' state. They acted accordingly. Snowniggers are subhumans, and there is no delusion there.
If "molecules" (the most blunt statement) claim to be something else, do they create something else or do they remain mere molecules? If they remain, there can be no error to be had there. Just another name for the same thing.

>>9622714
Thanks.

>>9622733
I love hypnosis. I'm probably a weird one, I start seeing fractals and anti-fractals in addition to completely separate patterns in the deeper levels.

>>9622475
Who is considered among the "Greeks"
Plato, Aristotle obviously but who else?

>>9622849

Zorba

>>9622690
Sure different perspective accord to existence, just some more so than others.

>>9622858
that counts?

>>9622616
That was your insight, champ. Can you not understand what you are being instructed in the simplest of terms?

>>9622475
If you're interested in literature, things relating to literature (theater, film), or philosophy, they had such a massive influence on the western schools of those things they're important to read, yet nothing is important to read before them. If you really want to take on western literature or philosophy as a hobby they're some place you should stop by and learn about.

Also, personally, I think a lot of the literature just reminds people of a time man was closer to nature and living in less splendor very authentically. Some of the stuff like Homer just still reads well.

>>9622493
The strong do what they will and the weak suffer what they must.

Greeks are a meme
Start with the Bible instead

>>9622690
This one clearly didn't start with the Greeks. Now do you see what happens OP?

>>9622475
lindy effect

>>9623613
you need to have a foundation in greek philosophy to fully appreciate the patricians gospel of st John

>>9622475

Ancient Capeshit

increase cultural capital so that you can bed high-class pussy

>>9622475
You shouldn't.

You should spend years learning Ancient Greek and then spend the rest of your life reading the Greeks.

>>9623658
this

The Greeks are not the foundation of Anglo thought any more than The Mabinogion or the Icelandic Sagas.
The English language isn't even remotely related to the Greek language. Anglophones should start with the Beowulf.

>>9623692
>The Greeks are not the foundation of Anglo thought
are you retarded? graeco roman legacy is common to all of europe

>>9623726
You really need to read Ulysses my man.

>>9622653
You're a retard. To call them 'psychologically sophisticated' is a bunch of bull. Greeks had a fundamental different live-world than ours, to psychologically analyze them would be an anachronism. In modern culture we have no notion of their agonal power structures, their sense of honor and glory. These things lie in the realm of philosophy, not psychology. Secondly there is no such thing as 'his style'. The Illiad came into existence over centuries by bards singing about heroic tales of a time long ago. Third, to call it a 'fun story' is extremely superficial for obvious reasons.

This is the problem with a lot of people 'reading the Greeks'. They just delve in without any knowledge about history, values, or culture of early Greek society. They read it with a modern mind, with a modern conceptual understanding of what is happening in the text. One needs to understand Greek culture and some basic Homeric Greek first to grasp the translation of the two epics. Your retarded positions prove you have no idea what you read. Just watch the Hollywood movie instead.

>>9622475
What wd those same hours otherwise be 'dedicated' to? Cleaning /your apartment?

>>9622475
Simply put. It will change the way you think entirely and without reading it you cannot understand the western philosophy that came after.

>>9622650
OP is the blond guy with a pony tail in the bar on the movie good will hunting basically. lit is will

>>9623692
I will amend this by saying that if you want to understand western philosophy you should start with the Greeks but if you want to understand English literature you should start with what I said. Also philosophy thread >>>/his/

So in an earlier thread someone posted about W. Jaegers Paideia. Has anyone here read it and knows weather its good?

it's hilarious how all these enlightened pseuds who have read the Greeks can still never provide anything insightful and do nothing but throw around insults. i see the Greeks has really enhanced you lol or more like you all wasted your time and learned nothing. still just scum of the fucking earth and not that smart either

>>9624122
I read it, it's interesting but if you have half a brain you are better off reading the entire loeb library of the Greeks and then considering what he has to say. It's okay. Nothing life changing, sort of pretentious though it is good for a discussion about the potential of classically minded education

>>9624282
Thanks, I'm a native German speaker so I figured I'd read it in German but it's quite expensive so I'll probably only pick it up if I'll find somewhere cheap.
Do you know any similar works about the Greeks?

>>9624122
>weather

>>9624195
Fucking this. If you really that smart you would be able to understand advanced mathematics like calculus and linear algebra.

File: louvre-gilgamesh-epic.jpg (371KB, 466x600px) Image search: [Google]

371KB, 466x600px

>>9622475
Just a quick reminder: if you didn't start with the Sumerians, you've already failed.

>>9624331
Sorry and thanks for correcting that. My english is a bit rusty.

>>9624334
>>9624282
the conflation of techne with episteme the pinnacle of the degeneration of what modern man considers "knowledge". you know what the greeks considered "techne"? fucking basket weaving that is fit only for a slave. does basket weaving engender any mastery of anything other than basket weaving? does it make you a better, smarter person? no. and yet we glorify things that are techne just because they are seemingly complex. the vilification of everything that is not "practical", that does not have a "use" is the modern worship of this slave mentality. "techne" then became "technology" which is considered as value neutral yet a good thing in spite of this, which is a contradiction unless we're speaking in a very specific sense of "good" which is not goodness at all. contrast this with the richness of episteme, phronesis, and arete where understanding itself is entangled with virtue.

here's another greek word for you: poiesis. it doesn't concern itself with production. it concerns itself with "making". if you don't get this and are like "lol but we have computers and stuff now" you're a pleb.

>>9624353
where should one start with the sumerians? aside from gilgamesh.

>>9622475
Because they are really fucking good. That's why you should read the whole western canon, actually. It's the stuff that is generally agreed upon to be the best of the best, the stuff that has survived time. It's all an acquired taste, though, because most of these texts are dense, historically contextual, and highly sophisticated. Don't read any of it if you don't want to. But if you like good books, I'd give it a shot and work through the steep learning curve it takes in the early stages.