🚀 go-pugleaf

emenes@orion.it.luc.edu (Edwin P. Menes) wrote:

>The first reference is to the elder Cato, who claimed not to have learned 
>Greek until old age.  The report is in Plutarch's life of the man, and 
>there is enough internal evidence to eviscerate the claim.  Perhaps Cato 
>did not engage in a systematic study of Greek lit until he was in his 
>70's or 80's, but he knew more Greek than he advertised.  Probably a 
>matter of cultural imperialism, Roman variety, in the early second century.

I much appreciate the additional information (and correction). I
suspect many well-educated Romans of Cato's era learned some Greek as
a matter of course, the way, say, well-educated Americans of a century
ago learned Latin and possibly some Greek in school. But I can also
imagine that the Roman, like the later Americans, didn't learn very
much of it unless and until they undertook to study it seriously on
their own. Hence it might well be that Cato's claim not to have
learned Greek until old age is, if not taken too literally, accurate.

Incidentally, your reference to his being in his "70s or 80s" might
surprise those who have heard the popular myth that people didn't live
that long until recently, and that in earlier centuries "old age"
began in one's 40s. This stems from a misinterpretation of the notion
of "life expectancy." Life expectancy at birth is essentially
equivalent to average age of death, and prior to modern sanitation,
vaccination, and other public health measures, life expectancy was
brought down by the high rate of infant and childhood mortality. Once
one attained adulthood, however, one could look forward to a life
nearly as long as that enjoyed by people today. Even the Bible refers
to 70 as a typical life span and 80 as not uncommon.

>The second reference must be to I.F. Stone, a true marvel.  He knew no 
>Greek until an advanced age, learned it, then wrote a book about Socrates.

And thanks for reminding me about I.F. Stone. The late gadfly
journalist did indeed learn Attic Greek in old age. But the fellow who
learned Ancient Greek and memorized the Illiad and the Odyssey was
another person entirely, someone I heard interviewed on NPR's All
Things Considered, as I recall, and as far as I know he is still
living.


D Gary Grady
Durham NC USA
73513.2350@compuserve.com / dgary@mindspring.com