someone will remember us, I say, even in another time | reading literature from ancient greece

Summary

The video follows a week of reading literature from ancient Greece. The reader plans to explore poetry, drama, and writing about translation, while also visiting a museum exhibition of objects excavated from ancient Greece.

Reading plans and choices

• Sappho, If Not Winter, translated by Anne Carson: The reader compares Carson’s version with a translation she had read before. Carson’s edition places the ancient Greek alongside the English and uses brackets and open space to show where the surviving fragments are damaged or missing.
• Sophocles’ Theban plays: She plans to read Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone, having already read Oedipus the King. She does not get to these plays during the week.
• Emily Wilson, Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea: Journeys Through Ancient Literature: She intends to read selected sections about translation, using the book as a companion to the ancient texts.
• Homer’s Odyssey, translated by Emily Wilson: At a bookshop, she chooses Wilson’s translation. She enjoys reading it at a café and decides to take it slowly, though it is not the work she finishes during the video.

Reflections on Sappho

Sappho’s poetry survives mostly in fragments, with only a small number of poems preserved intact. The gaps leave readers room to imagine what has been lost, while making the fragmentary state of the poems part of the reading experience.

Carson’s layout—ancient Greek beside English, with brackets marking losses—feels especially effective to the reader. Several fragments resonate with her, including “You burn me” and a poem referring to a woman with violets in her lap. She connects the latter to the violet jewelry and clothing she happens to be wearing.

The reader finishes If Not Winter late at night by candlelight and describes the experience as intimate and moving. Sappho’s work feels both ancient and strikingly immediate to her, and she expects to revisit it.

Museum visit and personal context

The reader visits a museum exhibition featuring objects excavated from ancient Greece and takes her journal to make notes. She is especially drawn to depictions of gods, including Dionysus and Athena. One object she particularly likes is a ceramic wine vessel showing Athena transformed into an owl, alongside a scene involving a sacrifice.

She also shares that she recently moved to a new city, left her job, and withdrew from a master’s program after realizing it was not the right time. She is trying to get out of the apartment each day and find a rhythm in her new circumstances.

The week becomes less about finishing every planned book and more about reading at a thoughtful pace. Of the works featured, If Not Winter is the one she completes.

Approach to the reading week

The reader’s approach includes choosing works from several genres—poetry, plays, and nonfiction about literature and translation—and comparing translations when possible. She uses a translation-focused book as a companion to the primary texts, reading the sections that seem most relevant.

Rather than trying to complete everything, she reads slowly and focuses on engaging closely with the texts. She also supplements her reading with related experiences, such as visiting a museum and taking notes on ancient artifacts.

Speakers and sources featured

• The video’s narrator/reader: The vlog’s creator; no name is given in the subtitles.
• Sappho: Ancient Greek poet, represented through excerpts from her surviving fragments.
• Anne Carson: Translator of If Not Winter.
• Sophocles: Author of the Theban plays discussed.
• Emily Wilson: Translator of the Odyssey and author of Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea.
• Homer: Author traditionally associated with the Odyssey.
• Robert Fagles: Mentioned as the translator of the narrator’s copy of the Iliad.
• The Narrow Road to the Deep North: A television series the narrator mentions in connection with a Sappho fragment.
• Unidentified music and audio: Music and sung lyrics appear in the montage, but the subtitles do not identify the artist or songs.