It's Greek to Me

by Michael Macrone, Tom Lulevitch

A treasure trove of information about words and phrases that originated in Greek and Roman texts.

Genres: Language, History, Nonfiction, Reference, Mythology, Ancient History, Classics

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 1993

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

"It's Greek to Me" was a fun read for me. I found a copy of it in a used bookstore and bought it on the assumption that its short entries would be a quick, shallow read. To my delight, I found that in addition to a brush-up of classical stories, the book is also a goldmine of etymological phrases from Greek and Latin.

Let me divide that statement in half. The main focus--something like 60%--of "It's Greek to Me" is upon telling or retelling familiar stories from the Greek and Roman worlds. For instance, the author recaps such famous figures as Plato, Aristotle, Pliny the Elder, and Horace. Each of these entries is roughly a page in length, allowing the reader to digest the information in bite-sized nuggets. The information is rewarding, and Macrone is careful to trace the influence of these stories into future (English-speaking) generations.

The rest of the book is, again, an etymological goldmine. If you enjoy reading about word history, this is where the book will shine for you. Phrases such as "Eat your heart out" are traced in brief, clear prose that indicates the adventure language took to make it from Greek to our current usage. Other phrases such "All roads lead to Rome" are also addressed, though Macrone is careful to show that they are not exactly from the source (he notes when they do appear in the forms that we know them--for example, "The face that launched a thousand ships" did not appear until Marlowe).

I would put this book on par with other popular accounts of word origins such as "I Love It When You Talk Retro" or "In the Land of Invented Languages". If you have read either of those (or others like them), you will enjoy this book as well.

*Note: I cannot get italics to work on this review...I have put quotation marks around the longer titles to distinguish them. I do recognize that this is not following prescriptive rules.

[Robert Day · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I bought the book the bookseller commented that I would be better off reading the classics themselves rather than this book of snippets. I don't agree - I simply don't have enough time, energy or interest to do that. Besides - this is an excellent introduction to the subject. If I find myself intrigued by any particular book, author or topic I can always look them up later by using the information and references in this volume.

As it turns out, this book supplies somewhat more than I need on the subject of classics and the parts of them that have survived into modern day English usage. Some of the quotes and sayings are familiar, but there are many that I've never come across before so it was nice to get some new material to add to what I already know.

The format is nice - you get a quote, an explanation of which original book it came from, information about that book and the author and a potted history of how the quote has changed in its use over the centuries.

It seems that the author's areas of expertise are ancient times and the middle ages, with no information given as to what happened in the intervening 1500 years, but as I said - what is given is more than I need to understand the progression of language.

I tend to think that what is happening now is the most important thing ever, and in one sense this is true - it's always better to live in the here and now. But on the other hand, it's illuminating to think that people were living, thinking and writing profound things long before our 'modern' times.

I wonder what Socrates, Aristotle or Plato would think of our society and if they would approve of us. And if time were to be somehow reversed and run backwards, would what we write now be worthy of surviving the 2,500 year journey back into the past! I think for the most part - no.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book!
The author explained, in great detail, the origins of common English phrases, such as, "Nero fiddled while Rome burned." He goes into detail about Greek and Roman politics and history.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very entertaining surface dive into Greek and Roman history with its emphasis on the grammatical impact of that history on the words and phrases we use today in western culture. Funny at times, brief sections, a large array of topics. Helps consolidate and organize a lot of information we learned over the years, especially as children. Don't know how much of this is still taught in the schools however. The book was written a few decades ago.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did it! An easy book to pick up and set down, obviously.
Happy I read it all, even the glossary, ok I might have skimmed just tad there. But after listening to a couple Audible ancient history books the names became more real. Good resource.
P.S. I had used this book as a resource when homeschooling but never read it in its entirety.

[Lynn Buschhoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it interesting , but it focused on well-know phrases and I was more interested in how the Greek language influenced our language ,

[Jim Becker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve had this on my shelf ever since we were homeschooling our children. Always wanted to read it. I finally took it down and read it quickly. It was a fun read.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read and informative.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

雖然談的東西有些過時，現代英文比較少用，不過看看這些單字和諺語的典故還是非常有趣。作者下筆詼諧，讀著就像本超短篇故事集，輕鬆沒有壓力。

[Lenny Husen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this before in the 1990's. It is terrific, a reference book about the Greek Classics, Authors and Phrases that is easy to read and makes me feel a little less ignorant. I am rereading it again just to brush up since my daughter is studying the classics at college. Has some cute illustrations also. The book has excerpts of the actual classics (English translation of course), which is what elevates it to 5 stars. One of the best book gifts I ever received, from my friend Paul Christiansen.
Book still at hand, 20 years later, after 6 moves. No longer in touch with Paul, who became a university music professor. Thank you, Paul, wherever you are!
Update: reread this in 2013. Still awesome, has a lot of great information. The author did an excellent job and did many of the translations himself from the original Greek and Latin. This book would make a wonderful gift for any student of the humanities.

[Richard Curry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Readable, bite sized vignettes about standardized catchphrases and their antique back stories: Trojan Horse, Gorian Knot, Marathon, Siren songs, Smell of the lamp, Eureka! and many others.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a fun, worthwhile read. It gives you insight into all those phrases you hear, but aren't 100% sure where they came from.