Ritchie's Fabulae Faciles

by Geoffrey Steadman

This book is a graded Latin reader of four Greek myths (Perseus, Heracles, Jason and the Argonauts, and Ulysses) originally composed by Francis Ritchie. Facing each page of the Latin text is a single page of corresponding vocabulary and grammatical commentary. Once readers have memorized the core vocabulary list, they will be able to read the Latin text and consult all relevant vocabulary and grammatical notes without turning a page.

Genres: Mythology, Classics, Language, Fiction

218 pages, Paperback

First published October 11, 2012

Reviews

[Duarte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as great as Fabulae Ab Urbe Conditia. Way too repetitive, which could be good for vocabulary acquisition. Once a specific construction is introduced it is repeated a lot and it just gets old fast. Specifically "specie horribili".

[Cole Whetstone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unity: Optimum est discere Latine fabulis antiquaris utendo.

3 Prompts:
1. Quomodo lingua Latina facillime et Iucundissime doceri potest? Is autctor Orberg convenire videtur mihi: Utendunm multis fabulis non longis optimum est.
2. Quibus de fabulis narrare decet? Antiquae fabulae, nonne? Optimum est animos legatores excitare, quia animo legemus!
3. Quibus de viribus aut factis narrare decet? De notissimis viribus factisque eorum! Hae fabulae optimas factas optimorum virorum Graecorum continet. De Hercule, Theseo, Iasone, et Perseo narrant.

2 Implications:
1. Modo hoc de his fabulis praefero quam LLPSI: Non tam longae sunt hae fabulae. Hac de causa, facilior multa legere est, his fabulis usis, quam LLPSI.
2. Cur hoc liber alios viros Romanos non continet? Re vera, hoc libellum modo fábulas Graecas continet, nec Romani fabulis fabulosis vel viris fortíssimis qui magnas res gesserunt desunt. Qua de causa quidem nullae fabulale Romanae in his fabulis insunt?

Rating: 4/5
* Optimum est hoc liber discendi! Valde mihi placet fabulae Graecae quae insunt, sed mirabilis mihi videtur ut nullas fabulas Romanas hoc liber haberet. Qua de causa, modo quattuor stellas do.

[Lewis Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun read! The stories were action-packed and entertaining. (Also surprisingly grisly in places! I had no idea Jason and the Argonauts was such a gnarly tale.) A few typos and un-glossed words were minor annoyances, but overall I enjoyed how this book built my Latin fluency, especially with indirect discourse and various idioms. Not quite sure where to head next to keep building my Latin, but the prospect excites me.

[Einar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting read! But I docked a star, because the difficulty gradient was too steep towards the end. I'd prefer intermediate books (or all books after the beginner stage for that matter) to be written at a consistent difficulty.

Steadman's notes are good, especially when it comes to idiomatic phrases. Though I must admit I read much of the second half of the book in Legentibus due to even easier look-ups and the translation to help understand funky structures.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very challenging for me, not just because the Latin (or at least the vocabulary) is less familiar to me, but also because I'm not familiar with most of the myths. The flip side of that, however, is knowing that when I've figured out what a sentence means, it's not because I already know the story. :)

[Artzmeister · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good for comprehensible latin input, excellent with vocabulary notes and meanings. The only thing I find suboptimal is the fact that this book only contains stories from the Greek mythology, even though the Romans had plenty of their own stories and heroes and, you know, they spoke latin. Still worth a read 100%

[Trinity · Rating 5 out of 5]

Constant repetition makes comprehension easy. Some may say that makes the stories boring, but I found that the continual use of similar phrases freeing so I could focus on the stories and not scrutinize over grammar. Great text for rereading as well.

[Zuri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very helpful for keeping one’s intermediate reading skills fresh

[Kristian Wong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Am I reading latin textbooks for fun? Lazy me loved the layout but all the given vocab AND notes made it too easy. I prefer the struggle

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another very helpful intermediate Latin reader from Steadman.

[Sammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really just very good. Each story (usually one paragraph or two) continues the development of a learner who has completed a first-year course in Latin (I recommend the Cambridge, but Wheelock's is also great if you have a solid teacher). The notes are extensive and helpful, as they drill you in the actual grammatical information rather than just presenting simple translation. I feel like this was a really great transitional aspect for learning Latin. The next step would be to read some of the more complicated "guided" texts, e.g. "Reading Ovid" or perhaps some of the Cambridge handbooks. Ritchie's helps you get a sense of how Roman authors wrote, but its main focus is on drilling the various points of Latin grammar. Those other texts will take you to the next level on your journey.

[Janice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second time through. A few more times before it becomes easy.