How to Teach Classics to Your Dog: A Quirky Introduction to the Ancient Greeks and Romans

by Philip Womack

‘Immensely informative, wrapped in an engagingly casual tone, complemented by more than a dash of the bizarre. You’d be barking to miss it.’ Professor Michael Scott Can you tell your Odysseus from your Oedipus? In this unique introduction, Philip Womack leads his beloved lurcher Una (and us) on a fleet-footed odyssey through the classical world. From Aeneas to Cerberus to Polydorus, you’ll learn about the world of the Ancient Greeks and Romans and, with a bit of luck, you’ll be able to pass it on to your dog. But maybe best leave out that story of the hounds who tore their very own master limb from limb…

Genres: History, Nonfiction

Kindle Edition

Published October 1, 2020

Reviews

[Sayantoni Das · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a rather unusual and fun way to read about classics and their origins. I'm a huge classics enthusiast, yet I did not have extensive knowledge about their origins. I hate reading history (school text books were boring 😴) so I never really tried. However, author Philip Womack changes that equation for us as he teaches us about 'em facts through his dog, Una. Now how cute is that? There's the photo of Una on the cover, and as you can already guess, I was immediately smitten.

Neither too hard, nor too light, this book will help you keep those eyelids open while you learn those interesting facts about ancient Greeks and Romans. I think I'm more into Classics now. This enthusiastic approach to Classics was more fun and easier to comprehend.
Yes, you can do it too! I mean if your dog can learn it, you can too right? Thanks Una! :)

[Sayantoni Das · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a rather unusual and fun way to read about classics and their origins. I'm a huge classics enthusiast, yet I did not have extensive knowledge about their origins. I hate reading history (school text books were boring 😴) so I never really tried. However, author Philip Womack changes that equation for us as he teaches us about 'em facts through his dog, Una. Now how cute is that? There's the photo of Una on the cover, and as you can already guess, I was immediately smitten.

Neither too hard, nor too light, this book will help you keep those eyelids open while you learn those interesting facts about ancient Greeks and Romans. I think I'm more into Classics now. This enthusiastic approach to Classics was more fun and easier to comprehend.
Yes, you can do it too! I mean if your dog can learn it, you can too right? Thanks Una! :)

[Daniel A. Penagos-Betancur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Todos los que compartimos la vida con algún individuo de la especie Canis familiaris alguna vez hemos “tenido conversaciones” con ellos sobre uno que otro tema cotidiano. Lo cierto es que más allá de eso, a mí en lo particular, no se me ocurriría tener una conversación más allá con mis perros. No me imagino hablando con ellos de biología celular, genética o evolución molecular y mucho menos sobre el mundo clásico y los textos que han llegado desde aquellos tiempos hasta nosotros. Entonces, ¿por qué leer este libro que con un nombre tan rimbombante promete hacer de tu perro el alma de las fiestas familiares?

Pues bien, Womack se vale de esta premisa para proponernos un curso básico sobre el mundo clásico en forma de diálogos con su perra Una, quizás rindiendo un homenaje a la forma en la que llegaron los pensamientos de Platón hasta nuestros días. Al principio es una narración que parece un poco forzada, pero que conforme se va adentrando en el tema, se entiende el juego y el papel que juegan ambos personajes.

Si bien el libro está escrito por uno de los catedráticos más importantes sobre el mundo clásico en la actualidad, está lejos de ser un texto académico lleno de tecnicismos y largos pasajes en griego o latín para traducir. Es más una guía para el ciudadano de a pie que quiere entender un poco más el mundo clásico y no sabe por dónde comenzar tenga las herramientas suficientes para entrar a este mundo. Con una introducción al mundo clásico, a las lenguas habladas, los principales personajes de la mitología, las obras más importantes de la época y un montón de datos que atrapan, seguro el siguiente paso será alguno de los textos tratados.

Me gustó much0 la forma en la que el autor habla de las obras clásicas. No solo da un resumen de su trama, sino que además la completa con algo sobre la vida de los autores (cada vez que sea posible), el contexto en el que aparecen y las influencias que tienen en obras posteriores. Un trabajo muy valioso en textos como estos y que invita a prestarles más atención a ellos.

Me pareció interesante descubrir cómo los griegos atribuían a Perséfone el crecimiento de las plantas por debajo de la tierra. Descubrir lo diferentes que son las epopeyas y las tragedias. Las primeras de temas míticos y heroicos; las tragedias escritas para interpretar en público y con un tono más cercano al pueblo, que tenía derecho a verlas siempre que se representaran.

Descubrir que la Ilíada no fue escrita en ese griego clásico que imaginamos, sino en un conjunto de dialectos locales que dan cuenta de su pasado oral y de que quizás no haya un solo Homero abre el espacio también para que el autor hable un poco sobre la verdadera naturaleza de aquello que nosotros llamamos “los griegos”, pues el término en realidad fue acuñado por los romanos a un conjunto de pueblos que compartían ciertas costumbres entre ellos, pero que estuvieron lejos de ser un pueblo uniforme como lo solemos pensar.

Junto a esto, me pareció bastante interesante encontrarme con un par de menciones a Harry Potter y a La brújula dorada en el libro. Entiendan que está escrito por un clasicista, que suelen tener la fama de mirar con desdén cualquier cosa escrita luego de la división del Imperio romano y que en este caso Womack es capaz de traer a colación como parte de la literatura, algo que seguro a más de uno le dará piquiña.

Pues bien, sin duda no es un libro para todos y seguro también habrá mejores textos introductorios sobre los clásicos, pero la idea de contar la historia del mundo clásico en una forma tan cotidiana tiene un plus y es un gancho bastante llamativo para el mundo actual. Porque yo, sin duda, me declaro culpable de haber comprado el libro queriendo enseñarle un par de versos de la Odisea a los canes que ladran afuera mientras termino esta entrada.

[bookclubforme]

"𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘖𝘥𝘺𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘖𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘱𝘶𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶..."

Through conversations with his dog Una, a fabulous sounding Lurcher, Womack teaches you all you need to know when it comes to the Ancient Greeks and Romans. His approach made for a more light and entertaining read, making each chapter and its topic less daunting. It was easy to dip in and out of, which I found helped, when it came to retaining what I was learning and I found myself reading a chapter a day along side my current fiction read. It was such a fun way to learn and I've got to say that Greek Mythology involves some crazy stories!

I would recommend giving it a go, if you fancy brushing up on your mythology knowledge.

Thanks to the publisher for sending me a gifted copy.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this from the Phoenix public library - a book about the Greek and Roman Classics, as told by the author to his dog, Una. The dogs imagined responses make for quite a fascinating dialogue. And yes, there are some appendices with some genuine Latin to teach your dog . . . This book was quirky, humorous, and enjoyable. Highly recommended for non-classicists who would like to know what kind of stuff I'm always on about . . .

[María Engracia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un profesor de clásicas explica las grandes obras literarias de griegos y romanos a su perrito, Una, con un divertido humor muy inglés.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

A useful introduction to the classics with a specific focus on dogs. Unfortunately, in the same vein as Harry Mount’s ‘Amo, Amas, Amat and all that”, it’s written by an Oxford old boy classicist with antiquated views of the subject and the world around him. There are far better introductory gateways into classics than this book.

[Sabeena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Indeed a quirky and humourous insight into the world of the Ancient Greek and Latin Classics and the work of classicists.
Womack has very valuable experience and thus the insider's knowledge that is engaging and could keep Classics novices and admirers engaged and interested in this witty account.
A clever spin is the relaying of stories and descriptions through conversation with his dog 'Una', whose voice is also 'heard' throughout, in a way to represent the less-informed folk that might find the whole subject confusing but also want to know! Womack carries this along really well and it works by allowing him to highlight, address and explain in more detail without it coming across as didactic or patronising.

I think this book would work best as an accompaniment to the Classics as you muddle through them- because chapters 5 to 8 are very specific to some of the most famously known works ie. Homer's Iliad, Odyssey, Virgil's Aeneid, Ovid's Metamorphosis- all of which I haven't read so felt that these chapters in particular would be best read in conjunction with, just before or after those works in question.

If you have read Stephen Fry's Mythos, you will already have had a pretty thoroughly detailed look at the stories and characters in Greek Mythology. Womack's accounts of these stories pale but are not insignificant in comparison to Fry's. I am not going to compare because Womack gives a pretty good overview of what we need to know to not be strangers to the fundamental writings of Greek Myths.

Towards the end of the book are wonderful Appendices, with information about classics authors, philosophers and Latin phrases that you could happily go off and look into further.

A good reference to dip in and out of but not a one-stop shop of the matter in question.

[Robert Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

In his introduction the author notes that 'the classics' is a field of study so huge that any introductory text must needs be selective. In making his own selections however he betrays his own interests - language and literature - and it is these that dominate the book. As an introduction to these specific topics it works fairly well, although as other reviewers have noted the conceit of presenting the text as a series of lecture-conversations with his dog is cute but ultimately just a gimmick. Art and architecture are barely mentioned in passing, and then largely in support of a discussion of literature. So on the whole a readable but somewhat contrived introduction to a selection of major Greek and Roman literature, but little more. As other reviewers have noted there are better introductions available, including recent topic-specific works by Natalie Haynes, Mary Beard and Bettany Hughes to name just a few.

[Kb · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, the conceit of this book is a man in conversation with his dog, Una (who is a Lurcher, which is more like a greyhound rather than the cocker spaniel pictured on the cover), about classic Greek and Roman myths and stories. It bills itself as an introduction, which it is.

If you are, like me, a person who does not connect with dogs, and who has already read some of the more traditional source material on which this book is based, there’s not much here for you. I gave it three stars because it’s well-written and approachable, although I did not finish it.

[rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5
I read this book as a way to get some historical context on classics as I am planning to read the illiad and the odyssey at some time in the near future and found it a helpful charming way to get some insight into the world of classics
Though it could sometimes seem an overwhelming amount of information to take in as someone who’s not super familiar with the complex history of classics, I still found this an enjoyable read and would recommend to anyone trying to get a quick overview of the important points of classics and their history

[LC · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute book if you love Classics and dogs, and often think about the former whilst walking the latter.

It does assume some prior knowledge of classics - not explicitly, but the speed at which myths and takes are summarised makes sense only to someone who's already familiar with the litany of names.

[Nick D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook.
Good content, although the gimmick of the "conversations" with the dog feels clunky, clumsy and unnecessary. Audio delivery (by the author) is painful.

[Fern Adams]

DNF. A really interesting subject and the writing was good but I really struggled with the audiobook narration so had to give up halfway through.

[Sahithi Chimalakonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read. Totally engaging. Witty and informative, at the same time.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Novel introduction to the subject.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

"How to Teach Classics to Your Dog" is an amusing book, but my dog wasn't impressed at all and I'm sure she would fail the Classic GCSE. Still, I got this book for me, not my dog, and I enjoyed it. I probably wouldn't pass the GCSE either, but I got a lot out of this book - including an urge to follow up several subjects and learn more. This is a book that leaves you feeling a little more educated - enough to realise how much you are missing.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.