How Does One "Start With the Greeks?"

Prepare with the Sumerians

Commence with the primitives

launch with the archaeological records of neolithic settlements

>>9685935
it's not hard

in ancient greece there were a number of writers who were extremely influential to future generations of lit, and are some of the core basis that found literature.

You start with Homer, who wrote two epic poems that are fully extant. The Iliad and the Odyssey. Alternately you might start with a book of greek myths, if you don't have the background on who the gods are etc.

Then you read the playwrits. First was Aeschylus, who is commonly thought to have developed the form of the play from religious chants. Then Sophocles, who added the third actor, and Euripides whom aristotle praises for psychological realism. Finally you can read Aristophanes, who is the only comic playwrit surviving. There aren't many of their plays surviving, but they're good.

Then for history you read Herodotus' Histories, Thucydides' History of the Peloponnessian war, and some works from Xenophon, like the Anabasis.

Finally you read Plato, then Aristotle. This is the end of your path here.

>>9685935

Begin with Aristotle's personal childhood doodle's

>>9685935
H E S I O D

>>9685983
>This is the end of your path here
you left out all of the fun stuff like pliny, aesop, etc

>>9686000
shut the FUCK up

it's /lit/'s version of git gud

>>9685935
>he hasn't traveled the world viewing cave paintings of ancients before starting his literary journey
>he hasn't excavated never before seen Akkadian tablets

wew

>>9685935
Unironically you don't start by reading the Greeks. Start with basic Greek history and mythology. Then you can either start working chronologically through the philosophers or the epics. Ideally you'll do both. The primers on history and mythology are 'A Brief History of Ancient Greece - Politics, Society and Culture' by Pomeroy and Edith Hamilton's 'Mythology' respectively.

The Stoics

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Does no one read the fucking sticky

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>>9685983
>no hesiod

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>>9686125

>>9686190
muh minor poet with two poems, one a guide to farming and one a literal family tree

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>>9685935
Start with the Egyptians.

WE

>>9686192
I much prefer this list for the inclusion of history books as a precursor to the actual Greek books. It helps to have a full picture of the civilization in mind when reading through the various Greeks.

>>9686192
>>9686125
What do the colors mean?

>>9688668
hint: they correspond to history, lit, hist/lit hybrid, and phil

If your only interest is literature go
Iliad -> Odysee -> Aeneis -> Metamorphoses -> Bible -> Commedia

maybe sprinkle in some Aischylos/Sophokles/Euripides and If you're done with that congrats your are a well versed and should be able to takle any book you like