Favorites of classical lit?

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

Homer, definately my favourite.

I have an extrem dislike for that Roman barbarian plagarist, Virgil. ENTIRE scenes are lifted from Homer. The most shameless is probably the part with the dove and the archery contest.

[Subedei]

Iliad and Odyssey
Sun Tzu "Art of War"
unknown "The Secret History of the Mongols"
Ibn Battuta "The Adventures of I.B."
Rumi - Poetry
Lao Tzu "Tao Te King"
Chuang-tzu "??? I don´t know the translation????"
Herodot - Historien
Ovid - Ars amatoria [Tells you how to get chicks...well, 2000 Years ago...but remember you guys: always postion yourself in the corners of the racing arenas...b/c the ladies seem to collapse there more often and you can help them and win their heart in that way....And most of all: Don´t use pin curlers!!!!!". I recommend this book it is veryvery interesting & fun to read....

That´s about it....

[Red Peasant]

Homer, definately my favourite.

I have an extrem dislike for that Roman barbarian plagarist, Virgil. ENTIRE scenes are lifted from Homer. The most shameless is probably the part with the dove and the archery contest.

Tut, tut. Homer might be your favourite, and it is a work of genius (or probably a whole tradition of geniuses going back some 500 years, therefore they copied and adapted each other - plagiarists? I think not), but there's no need for you to misrepresent Vergil. He may have used structures and themes from 'Homer', but much was his own, and the beautiful, moving poetry was all his own. Plagiarist he certainly was not, and I don't think that there is a single reputable scholar that would agree with you. As the work of a single mind, the Aeneid is a monument to epic poetry.

A Horatian quote that certainly applies to Vergil:

exegi monumentum, aere perennius

[Franconicus]

Why are the German authors missing? Do not forget that Germany used to be the nation of the poets and philosophers.

So here are some:

Goethe (of course)
Schiller (maybe even better)
Heine (great writer)

For the Americans I prefer Poe.

[Kraxis]

While not really a work of litterature as say Homer, Ovid, Seneca ect ect. it is still highly entertaining.

Xenophon's Anabasis.
It is a work of art in my mind. The constant references to himself, but in a detached way (unlike Ceasar who likes to present hiomself as a good sarmaritan and nice person, to the point that he becomes naive). Xenophon in the Anabasis has weaknesses that can't be attributed to coming from other strengths (such as Ceasar's trust in subject who then betray him). That makes him a very believeable figure.

Also, the entire story has some legendary and almost mythological situations. Meeting strange people and walking in odd lands. Eating new food and experiencing weather unlike anything before. These guys really do go about like Jasons, but with the added spice of their trek actually being a work of truth rather than mythological fiction (Jason didn't exist, but the way he travelled did exist as did the golden fleece in general).

[Adrian II]

Why are the German authors missing? Do not forget that Germany used to be the nation of the poets and philosophers.

So here are some:

Goethe (of course)
Schiller (maybe even better)
Heine (great writer)

For the Americans I prefer Poe.

Let me venture an explanation.

The reason could be that German classical literature is more poetry-laden than that of most other countries. The three most famous German literary authors (whom you mentioned) are all poets, and for a reason. Poetry loses much of its appeal over time, and even more so in translation. And so, I think, did these authors. Mind you, no English poets are mentioned above either: no Wordsworth, Byron, etcetera. On the other hand, when you mention Poe as your favourite American author, I daresay it is because of his stories, not his poems. As for the French authors, I've seen one mention of Verlaine, but none of Lamartine or Baudelaire (my own favourite French poet).

I am one of the few non-Germans here who reads German with great pleasure, but I must admit that of Goethe's oeuvre I only read Die Leiden (which is hysterically bad) and Faust (which is a sublime piece of theatre). The authors I prefer are modern prose writers, from Doeblin to Feuchtwanger to Grass to Boell to Kempinski to -- well, the list goes on. I just finished two older books by Johannes Mario Simmel, to name one (who is an Austrian, but made his name in Germany).

I think you will find that Hesse or Mann are well represented in such lists, and are bging read (in translation) by as many British and Americans as, for instance, French Victor Hugo.

[Motep]

Definitely the Oddyssey!

[CountArach]

I'm gonna go with Plutarch's Lives. I love Classical Biographies, and this is no exception. I am reading through pompey's one now.

That said, I also love Polybius for the time period that he is writing about. middle Roman Republic is just fascinating.

[The Wizard]

Homer -- and Ovidius. Few writers have achieved such a level of beauty in words as Ovidius.

I have an extrem dislike for that Roman barbarian plagarist, Virgil. ENTIRE scenes are lifted from Homer. The most shameless is probably the part with the dove and the archery contest.

I don't like Vergilius, either, but for an entirely different reason. True, it's plagiarism, and that sucks -- but I also had to translate that crap in eleventh grade. God, Dido, why didn't you just ******* die? Die, *****, die, just ******* die, come on, you keep on saying you want to, so DO IT!

Argh. She just wouldn't die.

[Sjakihata]

Best classic work is Dostojevskij Raskolnikov (also known as Crime and Punishment).

Best poetry work Goethes Faust

Best classical work is the Illiad

[Red Peasant]

I don't like Vergilius, either, but for an entirely different reason. True, it's plagiarism, and that sucks -- but I also had to translate that crap in eleventh grade. God, Dido, why didn't you just ******* die? Die, *****, die, just ******* die, come on, you keep on saying you want to, so DO IT!

Argh. She just wouldn't die.

Barbarian!