05-26-2004, 04:18 PM
Deb,<br>
<br>
Yeah, actually, keep in mind that this business of Greek being the language that "civilized people spoke" is from a much later time period. After Alexander and the dramatic outward expansion of hellenism, a dialect of Greek began to emerge that sort of blended the various dialects (with, as I understand it, an overall heavier emphasis on Attic influence because of the importance of Attic lit) called "koine" which did, in fact, become the language of "civilized people." (I'm assuming that truly "learned" people would have gone on to master the greater complexities of Attic and Homeric Greek, as well, btw. I'm no Greek scholar and have only just begun to work on mastering koine, much less the other dialects.) But yes, the bottom line is that Greek DOES become the "language" of the civilized, well into the Roman empire... So much so, in fact, that Marcus Aurelius wrote his <em>Meditations</em>, which was essentially his "journal" or book of very personal thoughts, in Greek! So, you're right... just a little early.<br>
<br>
Aaron <p></p><i></i>
<br>
Yeah, actually, keep in mind that this business of Greek being the language that "civilized people spoke" is from a much later time period. After Alexander and the dramatic outward expansion of hellenism, a dialect of Greek began to emerge that sort of blended the various dialects (with, as I understand it, an overall heavier emphasis on Attic influence because of the importance of Attic lit) called "koine" which did, in fact, become the language of "civilized people." (I'm assuming that truly "learned" people would have gone on to master the greater complexities of Attic and Homeric Greek, as well, btw. I'm no Greek scholar and have only just begun to work on mastering koine, much less the other dialects.) But yes, the bottom line is that Greek DOES become the "language" of the civilized, well into the Roman empire... So much so, in fact, that Marcus Aurelius wrote his <em>Meditations</em>, which was essentially his "journal" or book of very personal thoughts, in Greek! So, you're right... just a little early.<br>
<br>
Aaron <p></p><i></i>
