See here (Planning and Recruitment)
and here (the first Reading and Support thread)
and here (the first Discussion thread)
Well, this is a tomorrow…
Welcome to the first installment of the Straight Dope Seminar™!
We will be working our way through the reading list of St. John’s College, won’t you join us? Each text will get two threads: A “Reading and Support” thread opened when we start reading, and an in-depth “Discussion” thread opened on the ‘due date’ for that reading, in which we will dazzle and edify one another (or muddle through to some murky insights, as the case may be).
The first selection was the Iliad, you can check out the links above if you’re new. The discussion is still chugging along over in the last-linked thread, but since it’s been 2 1/2 weeks since we finished the Iliad, it’s time to start in on the next text, the fabulous and exciting Odyssey. I’m certainly excited and I hope you are, too.
To everyone who has been involved so far, I want to give a big thanks. I’ve learned a lot, and while I think I’ll need to read the Iliad another few (dozen) times to get a handle on it, the Reading and Discussion threads were/are a huge help to me. If you skipped the Iliad altogether, or if you were active in the Reading thread and not in the Discussion thread, never fear, we’re not exclusive! The threads will most likely include topics already discussed in the Iliad threads, but you needn’t have participated in them to jump in now.
As before, let’s keep this thread light- page counts and LOLGreekz and word translations and such, and save the “bigger” questions for the Discussion thread. This is also the place for supplemental reading/ viewing suggestions.
The last Reading thread lasted 5 weeks from when it started to when the Discussion thread opened, so let’s keep that timetable for the Odyssey and see how it pans out. That gives us a due date of May 12 or thereabouts. If we all finish reading sooner than that, we can move it up, or back if we’re slowpokes.
I’d like it if somebody else would start up the Discussion thread this time- come up with a starting question and maybe tweak the discussion parameters a bit. I enjoyed doing it last time, but I’d like this to be a collaborative project, not just the Margo show. So, whoever calls it first in this thread can do it!
Last of all, let’s all introduce ourselves again- tell a little bit about your familiarity with the material and which translation you’ll be using.