Stats for nerds
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4mentions
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2011–2023years
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Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- I highly recommend getting into classical literature. It is incredible and beyond conception — I had a light scattering in my education, but only later and recently have I discovered how incredible it can be.
Suggested Reading for beginners:
* Life of Pythagoras, by Iamblichus
* The Golden Ass, by Apuleius of Numenia (specifically, translation by Robert Graves)
* Life of Alexander by Plutarch
* Education of Cyrus by Xenophon
* Parmenides by Plato
Also, I have found SHWEP.net to be invaluable for a gentle yet rigorous guide through many classics, though it takes an esoteric bent (which I love)
- If you haven’t seen “Alexander,” staring Collin Ferrel and Angelina Jolie, you may really enjoy it. It was much better than I’d expected. Great historical alignment, excellent acting, exciting battle scenes and even some drops of esoteric wisdom here and there.
Beyond that, the best source I know is Life of Alexander by Plutarch. It reads beautifully (even if it could probably benefit from some modern editing). Highly recommended! https://lexundria.com/plut_alex/1-77/prr
I suppose the point of the OP is that—it’s quite hard to know exactly what happened back then! For instance, the Greeks would never admit that Alexander was the son of the King of Persia and grandson of Philip. Yes, it’s unlikely but it’s not implausible…
- Do NOT start with the Iliad. Boring AF and I love the classics.
Start with Xenophon, which is what they’d start school boys on for Greek translation. Either read his dialogues with Socrates, his “education of Cyrus” (hey, non-western!) or “Anabasis.” The last one is probably the most exciting.
Alternatively, Herodotus is fun, but you won’t read the whole thing. It is good to dip in and out of. Oh, Plutarch’s “Life of Alexander (the great)” is not too long and better than a history, because he focuses on his character and telling personal stories.
Once you get going, Plato is frikkin amazing. But you have to want it— or have a guide or group. I personally like “the Parmenides” because it is mind bending. Or the symposium to hear from a brilliant lady philosopher about the nature of love.
Oh, then if you want something fantastic, read Iamblicus’ “Life of Pythagoras.” It is very well written and will change your concept of the western world.
- Come again? First, Google and Wikipedia are better than no source at all, which is what we have so far. Second, my googling includes Google Book Search, which is far more efficient for this type of random query than anything I ever did in libraries. Third, it sounds like you're assuming the story about Alexander is true, where "true" here can be taken to mean "comes from the traditional stories about Alexander". I'm suggesting that it doesn't. For one thing, Plutarch's life of Alexander doesn't mention the story. Plutarch would be the last person to leave out a good one like that.
I'm happy to be wrong, but showing that requires a source. As far as I can tell, the story was originally about Tariq ibn Ziyad (see my other comment in this thread) and subsequently hopped to Caesar, Alexander, and Cortes, probably because they were better known.
