Platonic Psychology: Catullus II

Showing posts with label Catullus II. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Reasoning: Sanskrit-- A More Reasonable Approach

A Sanskrit grammar,: including both the classical language, and the older dialects, of Veda and Brahmana.

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Complete Sanskrit: A Teach Yourself Guide (Teach Yourself Language)

I tried to learn Sanskrit earlier this year, but I unwisely tried to learn from a reference grammar, William Dwight Whitney's Sanskrit Grammar. More recently, Catullus II and I have tried to begin working through Complete Sanskrit, which is providing a more systematic (although still difficult introduction to the topic). Does anyone have any hints for memorizing the Sanskrit script? I am finding it very difficult.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Appetitive: Learning Sanskrit

Sanskrit Grammar (Including Both the Classical Language, and the Older Dialects, of Veda and Brahmana)

I have talked a lot about learning Sanskrit in previous blogposts (#1, #2). I actually started training myself in the language Tuesday in preparation for my first meeting with my friend Catullus II Wednesday morning. It's really hard! We read and discussed the first chapter of William Dwight Whitney's Sanskrit Grammar (concerning the alphabet) and attempted to puzzle through pronunciation and how to approach a primarily syllabic alphabet. It should be a fun challenge. Our second meeting is this Wednesday and we will be looking at the second chapter (pronunciation).

Learning a new language is always difficult. Sanskrit is the fourth language I am currently actively studying (alongside French, Latin, and Greek) and I will hopefully be adding German to the list sometime in the next few weeks. Tips for learning Sanskrit or (especially) book recommendations would be very welcome.

Note: It's been a hectic week. Normal posting should resume soon.

Why Platonic Psychology?

Entry types into this blog are divided into three categories: appetitive, spirited, and reasoning to correspond with the three parts of the Platonic conception of the soul. The appetitive portion will most often be humorous content with a classical bent. However, Plato's understanding of appetitive is much broader than that, encompassing the general pleasures of spectacle-- such as theater, both comedy and tragedy-- as well as emotions and bodily pains and pleasures. Sometimes I will stray into one of the more Platonic uses of appetitive. If I can manage it, I will post a weekly translation of a joke or funny phrase into Latin or Greek. The spirited portion (literally timophillic i.e. honor loving) will be my own ideas about Greek and Roman ideas. This section attempts to put me on the map as a classicist with a point of view. The reasoning part will be commentary and reviews on classical texts. I will also try to post a passage for Latin or Greek prose composition, as well as translations of prose passages or poetry in Latin or Greek. I will offer my take on the passage, and if anyone would like to offer their own attempt at the passage, or corrections or criticisms of mine, they will be welcome to do so in a comment on the blogpost or email me at sulpicia3@hotmail.com.

Bread, Roman Poetry, and Other Frivolity

If you're interested in me as well as my commentary about classical texts, visit my personal blog Fragments of Sulpicia (III), in which I discuss my general day-to-day existence, alongside bread recipes, pedagogy, and Roman Love Elegy.

The Roman love elegists, writing at the end of the Roman Republic wrote beautiful poems about their experiences in love, creating the persona or changing the name of a real person on whom to center their poetry. The only extant female poet calls herself Sulpicia, daughter of Servius and constructs her poems around her lover, Cerninthus. In order to write freely, I have taken up her name, Sulpicia, and the names of her characters and the characters of her contemporary love elegists, to refer to people in my own life. A reference list of characters can be found on the righthand side of Fragments of Sulpicia (III).

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Reasoning: Sanskrit-- A More Reasonable Approach

Friday, February 18, 2011

Appetitive: Learning Sanskrit

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