Sunday, February 10, 2013

Researching Bronze Age Greece


Last Sunday I asked a favor of all of you who read this blog: I needed more reviews for A Cat’s Life: Dulcy’s Story and A Cat’s Legacy and asked if you’d help me get them.
         While asking for reviews, I also reflected on my lack of a platform—at least one dependent on page views of my two blogs.         
         The fourteen encouraging comments you left on last week’s posting have been so helpful. You complimented both books, which many of you have already read and reviewed. You stood behind reviews you’d written for them, offered to write a posting about how one of the books had helped you in a time of grief, and in general offered me your continued support as I try to get both books into the hands of readers.
         In addition, one of you ordered copies of both books, two of you have already left reviews on Amazon, and three of you offered suggestions for how to increase my page views. It’s now time to consider what direction to take. I’ll share my decision with you when I’ve made it, but for now I simply want to say to all of you a heartfelt “Thank you” for responding with such good will and creativity to my request for help.
         Today I’m posting about the new manuscript on which I’m now working: Three Roads Diverged. It explores questions about definition: Why do we let others define us? What happens when we cast aside those definitions? Does our integrity depend on resisting being defined by others? And finally how old does someone have to be to walk away from the definitions families impose?
         The novel, which takes place in Bronze Age Greece circa 1250 BCE, demands research on my part. I began this research back in the late 1980s with the study of classical Greek. 
          That was not the language spoken during Greece’s Bronze Age, but it would, I thought, introduce me to the language in which the great plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides had been written and to their cadence and syntax. I hoped both would lodge themselves in my unconsciousness and influence the way I wrote.


Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides

         Those renowned Greek dramatists used the ancient myths of their land as subject matter for their plays. I’d decided to use those myths also. So exploring the plays of these classical dramatists in the original language seemed appropriate to me.


The ancient theater of Delphi.

         To begin, I studied classical Greek for two quarters at the University of Minnesota and then continued my studies through correspondence courses from the University of Wisconsin.
         I never became proficient in speaking the language because of my auditory learning disability, but I did begin to understand syntax as I translated from Greek to English and English to Greek. Moreover I began to appreciate the way classical Greek writers approached their subject in both histories and plays. To write authentically, I needed to learn how those early Greeks thought.
         Beginning in the late 1980s, I have purchased many books on Greece’s Bronze Age and on the city/states of the time like Mycenae, Tiryns, Pylos, Athens, and Thebes; the flora and fauna of Greece; religion; typography; law; arts and crafts; the role of women and men; mythology, and any other subject matter that explored the world at the time. I now have a library of over a hundred scholarly works on Bronze Age Greece.


The Lion Gate at Mycenae.

         I’ll be working on this manuscript for at least two years. My postings on this blog will reflect my progress. Next week I’ll share with you how I began to write back in the early 1990s. Have a good week. Peace.
         

18 comments:

  1. I love Greek mythology. Many of my poems are based on myths. I hope to visit Greece . . . . some day.

    Love,
    Janie

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    1. Dear Janie, I, too, love Greek mythology. I so hope you do get to visit Greece. I went there in November of 1993. That trip will be part of my postings on this blog about research. Peace.

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  2. The new writing project sounds fascinating, Dee! Best of luck with it. I look forward to following your journey.

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    1. Dear Linda, thank you for the encouraging words. Peace.

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  3. When you research a subject, you REALLY research a subject! Good luck with ALL your books!!

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    1. Dear Fishducky, thank you. I probably over-research but I so love to learn. Peace.

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  4. You are such a hard, thorough worker as you research the background of your novels, Dee. You really do deserve to succeed. I lok forward to the progress of this next manuscript.

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    1. Dear Perpetua, I look forward to the progress also. And on Wednesday Amazon will post its list of those whose "pitch" made it into the second round of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel contest. I'm trying to be realistic: the pitch I wrote would need to capture the judge's attention; the judge would need to like historical novels; and also she/he would need to have some interest in reading an historical novel about first-century Palestine. Given that, the likelihood of my getting into Round #2 is really iffy. But I continue to hope. Peace.

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  5. I love this blog! It's so fun reading about your writing journey :)

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    1. Der Elisa, thank you for your words of encouragement. Peace.

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  6. It was many years ago when I visited Greece, but that's all it took for a life long love of all things Greek to take root in me. Someday, I think when I am retired, I want to learn Greek and for Joe and I to make another trip there.

    I applaud you for being so thorough in your research. Your new book will be I am going to look forward to with eagerness until it finally sits in my hands.

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    1. Dear Shelly, like you, I"ve had a lifelong love of Greece--ever since I studied ancient history in 6th grade at St. Mary's Grade School. Then in college a truly marvelous professor--Sister Juanita--taught Greek History and she made everything come to life for all of us sitting enthralled before her.

      I do so hope that you get to make another trip there.

      And thanks for the words of encouragement about working on this new novel. We'll see what we will see!!! Peace.

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  7. That's incredible diligence! I think learning another language is always a good thing, for whatever reason. It's good for your mind as well as looking at a new way of thinking about things. You're definitely on the right track, and I look forward to hearing more about your progress. :-)

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    1. Dear DJan, I so agree that learning another language is always a good thing. I've had the opportunities to learn Latin, classical Greek, French, and Old English and it's made me so appreciative of words and the way they reflect a culture. Peace.

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  8. I love the way you strive to be authentic, to fully understand whatever it may be that captures your interest. I still remember how you studied the way black people speak English in order to be a better teacher in a school with many African-American students. And then Greek too. What else do you have up your sleeve I wonder.

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    1. Dear Inger, Imagine you remembering that posting about Black English. That was a year ago! What a memory. I don't have much else up my sleeve. In fact, each week I think of closing down this writing blog and yet each Sunday some topic comes to mind. It sort of amazes me. Peace.

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  9. What a tremendous amount of work and research, Dee! I get very excited along with someone when the light gets turned on...and then you almost eat, drink and sleep a subject. It gets in and won't let go, doesn't it? I've had a few such times in my life, and they are both exhilarating and overwhelming at times. It will be delightful to hear how this process plays out and you are so reasonable to have set a goal of two years, and know that it will take that long. And I presume that's after several years of preparing for this project. Your library of relevant reading material sounds most impressive. I will admit that I don't know much about this period, but I am always eager to learn. You're right...we're a good cheering section! oxo

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    1. Dear Debra, I'm going to post about this manuscript on and off as the year passes and I learn more and do more on the manuscript. Like you, I love to learn. You have the whole state of California to study!!!!!! and I so like your postings when you share your discoveries.

      I tend to find one thing I'm interested in and explore it and explore it and explore it and then try to write something about it--like first-century Palestine for the manuscript "The Reluctant Spy" and Bronze-Age Greece for "Three Roads Diverged." I also have a first draft done for a novel about four ex-nuns. It takes place in the 1970s. So there's more research! Thanks for much for your support. Peace.

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