Ithaka

The sea-road to Ithaka – Trials and Homecoming

Xaire!

I don’t have a lot to write about books 12 and 13 of the Odyssey other than to remark that it seems most apt as the last of the Legendum meets we shall be having for a time, bar the occasional special flying visit. This is the 100th Blog post and has rounded off the time nicely.

It is also my intention to keep Legendum alive one way or the other, predominantly by electronic means. We can discuss this in detail when we meet next week where I will elaborate on how we might go about effecting this.

I am planning to do some reading aloud, both in Greek and in translation as we make our usual insightful and inspiring observation and discussion. The descriptions of the sea journey and the perils of the sea road to Ithaka strike me as some of the most action packed and evocative passages in a work replete with stirring and inspiring epic language. I stumbled across a poem by C.P. Cavafy (1863-1933) ‘Ithaka’ and it struck me as very appropriate to the mood. I will bring it with me and would like to read that too.

It seems such a long time ago when the first meeting was convened at Kassa in St.Leonards – May 2013. That makes this blog 4 years and 3 months old – an amazing achievement! I have to thank all members (past and present all) for contributing to its foundation and setting up as well as keeping it all running along so well. We have covered quite a lot of the ancient world but we could easily go on forever – so many works to look at. A few gems that I had in mid and which we could look at this winter...Tacitus – Histories/Annals, Aulus Gellius – Attic Nights, Philostratus – the Life of Apollonius of Tyana, Lucan – Civil War, to name but a few. So Legendum must and shall continue one way or another. We shall remain united and steadfast in the pursuit of classical knowledge and enjoyment!

The blog and the reading group have really inspired my studies in Classics and led me down research paths I would never have thought of on my own. I couldn’t have had these enriching and memorable experiences without you all – I thank you from the bottom of my heart for that gift and hope to turn it to good use for further exploration and study of the Classics – a lifelong and enduring passion. One of the most rewarding and stimulating aspects has been the discussions and the often surprising turns that our observations can take – sharing ideas and interpretations by looking at the texts from many different angles and through the lenses of various translators through the ages of these ageless works.

I have been impressed by what is possible using Google hangouts, conference type calls where multiple users can engage in a real time discussion. I think this platform or something similar would probably suit our needs best. It is already being used very successfully by many academic research institutions, The Center for Hellenic Studies https://chs.harvard.edu/ (Harvard University)(Professor G. Nagy) being a very fine example of what can be done. There is also a YouTube channel. So the possibilities are very exciting!

See you on the 22nd

Euge!