LITERARY GIFT GUIDE: CLASSICS
So my birthday is coming up on Monday, and this is in no way prompting for anyone to buy me anything, but if you have a literary person in your life and you want to be sure to get them something in that literary genre they'll appreciate, I'M HERE TO HELP!
There are two important things you need to pay attention to: first, what kind of books they are or aren't interested in; second, what kind of other things they're interested in. If you have the ability to get specific (like if they CAN'T STAND Taming of the Shrew but love Midsummer Night's Dream) all the better. Seriously, not every English major likes Shakespeare. Some might enjoy Samuel Beckett. (These people may be crazy.)
I might do this as a series; this first post is for the person who studies classics, as in "from Greece or Rome 2,000-4,000 years ago." (I'll get into that in a little more in a bit).
Again, these are all suggestions and starting points, not necessarily a guarantee that your gift recipient will appreciate this specific thing. None of these are affiliate links, so rest assured that I'm not getting any kickback from suggesting these.
I'm doing it in a few different posts throughout the year; comment below what you want to see next!
There are two subsections of Classics that I'll be going with: Greek Classics (think Plato, Sappho, Homer, The Odyssey, an alphabet that doesn't look like ours), and Latin Classics (Caesar, Virgil, Ovid, an alphabet that looks closer to what we use today).
There are two important things you need to pay attention to: first, what kind of books they are or aren't interested in; second, what kind of other things they're interested in. If you have the ability to get specific (like if they CAN'T STAND Taming of the Shrew but love Midsummer Night's Dream) all the better. Seriously, not every English major likes Shakespeare. Some might enjoy Samuel Beckett. (These people may be crazy.)
I might do this as a series; this first post is for the person who studies classics, as in "from Greece or Rome 2,000-4,000 years ago." (I'll get into that in a little more in a bit).
Again, these are all suggestions and starting points, not necessarily a guarantee that your gift recipient will appreciate this specific thing. None of these are affiliate links, so rest assured that I'm not getting any kickback from suggesting these.
I'm doing it in a few different posts throughout the year; comment below what you want to see next!
WHO IS THE GRECO-ROMAN CLASSICS PERSON?
You'll know your person is really interested in this kind of Classics if, at some point in their life, they swore at you in a dead language, gotten enraged at ancient vocabulary, stressed out about verb endings, or had very strong feelings about Odysseus, Athena, or Ovid (or, in my case, done all of the above and also started repeating verb endings in my sleep). Yes, Odysseus and Athena and "Carpe Diem" are all part of Classics in a sense, but make sure to be specific about what this person likes.There are two subsections of Classics that I'll be going with: Greek Classics (think Plato, Sappho, Homer, The Odyssey, an alphabet that doesn't look like ours), and Latin Classics (Caesar, Virgil, Ovid, an alphabet that looks closer to what we use today).
JEWELRY
Latin fans:
this necklace with an Ovid quote ($13.04, ships from Germany). This Carpe Librum pendant ($13.20, ships from Australia) is kind of fun as well. If you have a little more to spend, then this bracelet from JezebelCharms ($38, ships from the UK) might work. Etsy is your friend, and, if you're looking for jewelry, CafePress really isn't. (As you'll see later, it's your friend for other things).
Greek fans:
This is a little easier because there's a lot more Greek things on the record. If they like the Iliad, there's this bracelet from JezebelCharms ($35, ships from UK) that's imprinted with text from the actual Greek. If they like Sappho (one of the earliest female poets), then get the person these earrings with Sappho's face on them ($20, ships from the US).
HOME DECOR (SPECIFICALLY POSTERS)
LATIN:
If your person likes rash decisions and often-quoted phrases, consider this poster ("audentes fortuna iuvat" means "fortune favors the bold") from BurntTree on Etsy ($34-$44, ships from the United States). BurntTree also has "per aspera ad astra" ("through the thorns to the stars") for the same price (link here). There's also a great poster from NicolesHandPrints on Etsy of a Cicero quote ("while I breathe, I hope") on a Latin dictionary page. Available here, $16.69, ships from the United Kingdom.
GREEK:
An Etsy shop called AnaGenessis that has some framed posters of Greek philosopher quotes. (This one here is "nothing in excess," and this one is "know thyself," both ship worldwide from Greece and start at $8.95). if you haven't said this to the Greek student enough (or if you really want to irritate them all the time), you could also this poster from AnaGenessis ($24.90) that has "it's all Greek to me" on it. (Please, nobody get me this. ESPECIALLY NOT YOU, BOYFRIEND.)
BOOKS THAT AREN'T IN A DEAD LANGUAGE:
LATIN:
This is a book I'm not through with yet, but Women in Ancient Rome by Paul Chrystal (available here, $8.30 in paperback from Amazon). If the person hasn't read it yet, they might be interested in SPQR by Mary Beard (available here from Amazon, $7.50). There are plenty of books about ancient Rome, so if you know any intersections the person likes (women's history, modern politics, Caesars, food, etc), you should be able to find something that meets the category with Ancient Rome, too.
This is a book I'm not through with yet, but Women in Ancient Rome by Paul Chrystal (available here, $8.30 in paperback from Amazon). If the person hasn't read it yet, they might be interested in SPQR by Mary Beard (available here from Amazon, $7.50). There are plenty of books about ancient Rome, so if you know any intersections the person likes (women's history, modern politics, Caesars, food, etc), you should be able to find something that meets the category with Ancient Rome, too.
GREEK:
I'm currently working on this book as I type this post (a week or so before this post goes live), but Searching for Sappho by Philip Freeman has been a really interesting biography of Sappho (link here, $16, ships from Amazon). If the person is interested in modern history too, there are two books by Jonathan Shay that have been recommended by my Greek professor before: Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the undoing of character (link here, $6.95, ships from amazon), and Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials in Homecoming (link here, $7.38, ships from Amazon).
CRAFTY HOBBY THINGS:
LATIN:
I could only find beads for "crafty hobby Latin fans" when looking on Etsy (that wasn't my search term, if you were wondering). If you have people who like this (or want to make something for someone) get them these coliseum charms (available here, $2.75/ 10-pack, ships from Canada), or buy these beads that are replicas of ones found in archaeological sites (available from $12.90, ships from the United States). This shop has other beads in a similar vein if you poke around a little.
GREEK:
As a yarn addict, I might just buy this one for myself: an Etsy shop called TheFirstDraft has a deep blue yarn called Sappho (link here, $35, ships from Iowa in the United States; and if you search around the shop, you might find other things a literary yarn-lover might enjoy too, but they're not necessarily relevant here). If your person is into sewing, you could get this fabric from Scizzors (available here at $3/ yard from the United States).
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