the ancient greeks

[odysseus]

the ancient greeks. plutarchus. the gateway and the window opening to the ancient greek names and figures. great book to read is "power and greed" by phillip gigantes. would i steer you wrong?

I have never been able to crack the odyssey or the illiad. why would I want to read a translation in the english language.So i have to learn french (to read les mis), i have to learn greek to read homer and aeschylus.

what is athens? What is sparta? What was ancient war? What is the world today?

Plutarchus. What is civilization? Where is it headed. it is all based on marketing and the meme. Science and psychology. the supernatural is the symbol for the psychological. the great psych book that is "tender is the night" by f scott fitzgerald.

the greek at university. Why do we have this, and who are the muslims? Because we got the university from them, according to "think and grow rich"

what did nietzsche know about the greeks? Why are they not taught in school and university anymore as much, and were they? what is truth? What is falsehood. what is first cause and why did it happen? Why should we care about knowing these ancient names? What are "reality tunnels"?

who was solon? who was socrates? Who was wiser? who was alexander? Who is alexander today?

From where did the greeks come? How will the futurists reflect back on our times, modern man? Professional man? Information age man? What were the unique cliche's in ancient grecian ways? They were probably bound as much by cliches as we are today, and that is probably the easiest way to get into their "reality tunnel" and thought patterns.

history through the ages.. how do you use it? How do you connect it to the present, and ride it, and tame it? lastly, and most importantly, how can I use greek to succeed at suprising and seducing the women of dreams?

life without meaning is like the most usless existence around. what is meaning? Having a role in the future? transmuting sorrow into joy, lead into gold?

did the greeks have more freedom than we have today? If so, if the answer is yes, then what can we learn from them? For that is how they can best teach- if that is the case

[starrwriter]

the ancient greeks.
Ancient Greek society was very different than modern countries. For every free citizen there were two slaves to do the dirty work (so much for the invention of democracy). Pederasty between men and boys was not only tolerated, it was encouraged as a form of "education." Warfare was continual and merciless. The ancient Greeks would be totally out of place in modern society, like aliens from another planet.

[simon]

They may have had more slaves, but they also had a very mobile social structure, at least in Roman times. A slave could become a freedman, infact in some ways the freedmen became wealthier than the freedborns becuase they were the ones who would deal with business and literary matters for thier masters. Then when they became free they had a background that would allow for them to become "new money". You can think of it as old money and new money, they were still looked down upon becuase the freedmen didn't have the divine ancestry that all the freedborns claimed. For instance Julius Caesar claimed to have decended from Aeneas and Aeneas from Venus. Many Romans calimed this.

Relationships though, starrwriter, between men and boys wasn't exactly "encouraged" I would say. You didn't want to be the penetrated you wanted to be the penetrator, because to be penetrated would be feminine. They certianly didn't encourage marriage between males either. The relationship I would say was accepted as happening, but only talked about or advertised if you were on the "giving" end.

I think your right thought they would be totally out of place in modern society, they dealt with life so differently and led such different lives that I don't think they would be able to understand such concepts as homosexuality.

How can you use greek to suprise women of dreams??? Heehe I don't of the anceint Greeks as being seductive, they were more like take it when you can and make a pretty picture about it afterwards, while the Romans just took it and then described the girtty details afterwards.

[mousemouse]

Did you ever read the "symposion" by Plato??? The way love is described, especially by Aristophanes I would say is pretty encouraging to homosexuality, or maybe that's just me...
If you haven't read it, the point is something like this: Humans used to have 4 arms and legs. Because of their rebellion against the gods they were cut in halves, so we are only half humans now. Love is the desire to go back to being a whole human again. The best love exists between two men because this is closer to the original whole human, who wasn't a hermaphrodite.
Oh yeah... the proof that we've been cut in halves is that the gods pulled the skin together on the front, whivh is why we all have navels :-)