Why is "start with the Greeks" a meme? Is there any

why'd they shrink wrap that whole pig?

imagine warming it up in the microwave and rubbing it on your dick lol

there is some merit to the 'start with the greeks' meme since they were basically the founding fathers of western thought. everything after the greeks is influenced by them, directly or indirectly.

>>9912003
I always thought I wanted to be stuffed after I died. I was wrong. I want to be shrinkwrapped.

>>9912003
I understand why it's a good idea, but I'm kind of curious where the quote "start with the Greeks" came from. I imagine there's a specific instance of someone saying that at some point either in literature or on TV or something that kicked off that quote as a meme thing to say.

I got to get a hip replacement next month. Wonder if they can shrink wrap all the stuff they take out.

>>9912003
Yes, because pretty much the entire European culture and thought stems from the Greeks.

Not knowing the Greeks is like trying to "get" Western culture without knowing anything substantial about Christianity. Just that the Romans/Greeks influenced that as well.

When I delved into Greek myth, it blew my mind once a day, because I suddenly understood something new about how and why something is the way it is today.

it's generally considered a solid foundation for introducing the major ideas and issues in western thought for the past ~3000 years. references to the greeks and antiquity are ubiquitous in many classics including shakespeare and much of 16/17th century literature. in addition, these books are considered masterpieces in their own right and can be enjoyed without any motive of a chronological study in literature/philosophy.

despite all this, however, i still contend that it's not the best advice to someone who's first starting out unless they have a hefty deal of willpower. reason being is they see the books as only a means to an end, an undertaking they must go through purely to reach the "real" classics. this is of course counter intuitive. they don't really retain any of the knowledge and beauty present in these books. therefore, i believe it's best to start somewhere you're interested in then branching out from there. you develop an organic interest this way. plus, reading a modern reader, going back to the greeks, then reading the former again is just as beneficial, if not more so.

ultimately it just comes down to preferences. if you're truly finding the greeks a slog then stop, pick out something you enjoy. they'll still be waiting for you.

>>9912028
No. It's that /lit/ was flooded with "where to begin" threads and the sticky didn't help.
So naturally, you'd want to start with the bedrock of our culture and kinda vaguely go chronologically from there, so you can really appreciate everything.

But you can pretty much skip the Romans and most people are already quite familiar with Christianity, unless they were raised in some backward Baptist barnyard school.

>>9912046
The "Mythology Translated" podcast gives a surprisingly good intellectual overview of Greek myth in all its variations, different sources, cultural contexts, authors and core themes. She also gives good advice on what is actually fun to read.