>started with the Greeks like /lit/ told me >struggling

>>9876495
forgot to ask, what are some good books on the presocratics so I know everything before I go to Plato? I'm reading Robin Waterfield's book

>>9876495
What's there to understand about them? lol

Of course not. If you understand something completely the first time you read it then there probably wasn't much to gain from reading it. The fact that you're struggling is the biggest sign you should keep going.

Give up. Start spending your time learning something useful like another language instead of reading the words of dead men. I asked /lit/ a while ago if they noticed any changes in their lives from reading ancient greek 'philosophy'... in short its really only useful for better understanding refrences. When in reality when someone makes a refrence you dont understand you can just jewoogle it and get a tldr.

>>9876495
brainlet af

>>9876506
This.

>>9876506
What is this thoughtful advice doing here? I don't even know you anymore, /lit/.

>>9876495
The presocratics have a pretty complex take on ontology, don't worry.

>>9876495
read whatever the flying fuck interests you and totally forget this board and all its retardation why do you feel so in the hands of stangers we are not powerful or important we are nothing, alone, anxious, like you, be yourself, abandon this charade, just enjoy what you enjoy, fuck it all, fuck this post, and all others within your thread.

>>9876503
Their thoughts and what they are thought to have believed so I can understand the work of later authors.

>>9876616
I'm trying to understand Heraclitus. I think I'm finding it difficult because there's only a few fragments instead of cohesive works.

>all these morons actually started with the greeks
You realize that started as a joke right? It's the /lit/ equivalent of /a/ telling anime recommendation threads to watch boku no pico. Because a stupid question deserves a stupid answer. And holy fuck some people actually took it seriously and now we have a board populated by pseuds who seriously believe to read anything you have to start with 2500 year old literature.

>>9876666
I want to read these guys though. I'm still reading other things too. I have an interest in history too.

>>9876671
Keep going, don't listen to this philistine. There's also the philosophy without gaps podcast. They have an extensive series on the presocrats.

>>9876691
Maybe what I saw some anon write was true.
>you understand the presocratics more retrospectively as you read more philosophy

Start and end with Lycurgus

>>9876666
Usually you want to start from the beginning and work your way towards the end, or more modern pieces in this case, as you might miss a reference that alludes to an earlier work

>>9876990
>>9876671
It's Satan. Ignore him.

>>9876666
t. brainlet buttmad newbies are getting the real deal instead of his derivative shit

>>9876495
No, just keep moving on. You don't have to understand and internalize everything the first time you read something. You can go back to it later years down the line.

>>9876666
Greeks were always an important part of classical education, and that underpins most of the history of Western literature.