How important is this to read before starting with the Greeks?

>What should I read to introduce myself to the history and social organization of the Greeks?
you shouldn't

If you want to read philosophy, I just gave you a link to all of Plato's works, no prior reading is neccesary. Otherwise you don't need to bother reading anything from the greeks, maybe Homer but that's it.

Don't know what a good french tranlation of Homer is, but if you read in English go with Pope

How come the Romans had jurists but Greeks didn't, how was justice served in that society?

(Yes, I know, my English is really broken, deal with it.)

What're some better books than Edith Hamilton's shit?

Literally the most boring book ever written.

If you have grown up in a Western society and didn't live in a barrel you should have gathered enough background knowledge about Greek mythology through osmosis to make do. You'll probably end up checking Wikipedia once in a while anyway, because it's not like you'll remember every obscure character of history or mythology. If you didn't grow up in a Western society, then a primer like that one might be good, but there could be a better one in your native language for all anyone of Yea Forums knows. Anyway, Pseudo-Apollodorus' Bibliotheca is an option if you want to read a collection of the myths by an actual Ancient Greek.

Just start with whatever you want to read most and if that doesn't seem to work out, you'll probably have at least gotten an idea of what you are lacking and can ask for help or recommendations based on that.

I know you're just baiting at this point, but seriously anything you need to know will be explained in footnotes

never read the greeks, they're a poison that weakens the mind

I fell for the meme and read it

It’s bad but I’m glad I read it to get an idea of the Greek myths. Remember to never read anything written by a woman

>reading books by women

>posting outside your containment board

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Robert Graves.

>shills matriarchies

Yeah no. Get the Library of Greek Mythology, written by an actual fucking Ancient Greek.

Back to plebbit please
Yea Forums is a misogynist board

This, but COMPLETELY unironically.

>go with Pope
Chapman*, flowery, overadorned 18th century poetry is NOT Homer

Only Homer is Homer. Translations can never be Homer.

I wouldn't say its important before starting off; you'd be fine with Disney's Hercules as your foundation for greek mythology. That being said, I dont regret having bought a copy.

homer was actually a collaboration of multiracial women

>That being said, I dont regret having bought a copy.
in order to gauge the value of this opinion i need further information. how do you feel about the jews in general?

On the internet, not a big fan. Bolshevism in general, not a big fan. But in reality I highly doubt I'd treat someone differently for being Jewish.

Lol I read this and it proved very helpful before reading the epics. I didn't think it was boring either. It's just a short introduction to those important characters that get thrown around a lot. You can read this in less than a week and jump into Homer without turning to Google every time an allusion appears (otherwise you'll miss little details)

its great for a beginner

This but replace greeks with 'europeans'

The library of Greek mythology by Apollodorus of Athens
The Complete World of Greek Mythology by Richard Buxton
Gods and Heroes of Ancient Greece by Gustav Schwab

That's completely true if you only want to read philosophy. If you want to read more from the greeks though, having some idea on their gods and their relations to each other will become necessary and so saying reading edith hamilton is for "people who are far more interested in "starting with the greeks" as fashion, than in reading philosophy or history and learning" is absolutely retarded. What kind of retard do you have to be, to actually believe it's for pseuds to gain a backround on their gods prior to learning more about their culture as if aquiring knowledge in that regard will either hinder you from learning more about them or simply waste time.

Why would anybody read a modern/contemporary era book on the Greek gods instead of reading Hesiod's Theogony/Ovid's Metamorphoses or just skimming through Wikipedia articles on them?

Seconded. Better yet, read D'aulaires if you know nothing at all, then Hamilton, then Graves, and then the originals. And then Frazer and Campbell, when you know enough to sort through their bullshit. Graves' theories should always be treated as likely bullshit, but his presentation and variorums of the myths are excellent.

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Its like wikipedia summaries before they existed written by an old hag (which probably write wiki summaries anyway)

Never read it, huh? Her writing is goddamn poetic. I still remember her fanciful descriptions of the different Olympian thrones. Hamilton's rendering of old proverbs and elucidating the relationship between god and mortal in Ancient Greece is helpful stuff, far from Wikipedia summaries.
"They were a beautiful, radiant company ... but when they were not positively harmful, they were capricious and undependable."

“...a chasm opened in the earth and out of it coal-black horses sprang, drawing a chariot and driven by one who had a look of dark splendor, majestic and beautiful and terrible. He caught her to him and held her close. The next moment she was being borne away from the radiance of earth in springtime to the world of the dead by the king who rules it.”