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Perhaps I should open this blog with an invocation to the Muses (which muse do you think is over blogging? Clio... Mnēmē...?), but I won't, since this is unlikely to prove very poetic in nature. I will, however, explain the title a little. The astute reader will notice that it comprises a Greek word (transliterated) followed by a Latin word (in the genitive form). It roughly translates to 'the Lyceum of the king' or perhaps better, 'a royal gymnasium' - a place for me to exercise my mind on the loftiest of thoughts and ideas. More mundanely described, this is where I plan to engage, react to, or analyze any of the significant literature that I encounter. Maybe I'll treat some of the films I watch as literature, as well (I have a Netflix subscription that keeps me supplied with interesting movies). Perhaps this blog might be compared to the old commonplace books of the early modern world (Thomas Jefferson 's commonplace books still survive).
Besides discussing the various books I read for work (I teach ancient and medieval history), or for enjoyment (in my line of 'work', these two categories often overlap), I have launched myself on an educational odyssey, which I will particularly chronicle in his blog: I am starting at the beginning of literature and plan to work through all the great literary works worth studying, in as systematic an approach as I can muster. I have not yet decided how much I will dip into works beyond the western world, but I suspect that I will at least tackle the major works of India, China, and Islam.
Besides discussing the various books I read for work (I teach ancient and medieval history), or for enjoyment (in my line of 'work', these two categories often overlap), I have launched myself on an educational odyssey, which I will particularly chronicle in his blog: I am starting at the beginning of literature and plan to work through all the great literary works worth studying, in as systematic an approach as I can muster. I have not yet decided how much I will dip into works beyond the western world, but I suspect that I will at least tackle the major works of India, China, and Islam.
The Odyssey
First up: Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others (Oxford World's Classics)
On deck: Gilgamesh: A New English Version
Current Bookshelf [I am often in the middle of several books at once, for a variety of reasons - this is the list of what I'm currently in the middle of reading]:
- Joseph Cummins, Turn Around and Run Like Hell
- Graham Priest, Logic: A Very Short Introduction
- Maurice Keen, The Penguin History of Medieval Europe
- C. Edward Good, Who's (...Oops) Whose Grammar Book Is This Anyway?
- Klaus Bringmann, A History of the Roman Republic
- Anthony Everitt, Cicero
- Hugh Nibley, Apostles and Bishops in Early Christianity
