Tugodum wrote:διὰ τί οὖν ποτε ἀπέλιπον τὸ βασιλείδιον τὴν ἀνθεμίδα, καίτοι τὴν φιλίαν αὐτῷ ἁπλῶς ὁμολογήσασαν; τί ἂν λέγοιτε;
καλὸν ἐρώτημα τούτ ἐστιν.
νομίζω ἔγωγε ὅτι μωρὸς ἦν τὸ βασιλείδιον. τούτῳ γὰρ εἶπε ἡ ἀνθεμίς "ἀπελθέ!" ἀλλ' οὐκ ἔδει τοῦτον ἀκούειν τῆς ἀνθεμίδος. μόνον ἔδει βλέπειν αὐτὴν καὶ ὀσφραίνεσθαι αὐτῆς. νέος δ' ἦν ὁ παῖς.
daivid wrote:The point of reading modern ancient Greek is that it is more comprehensible and so easier to internalize what you are reading. Or to put it another way the language part of your brain doesn't give up and you don't have to fall back on the analytical part of your brain.
But is this really easier than say the Ephesian Tale of Anthia and Habrocomes
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/tex ... hapter%3D1
χαῖρε, φίλε Δαιυίδ.
Aside from the fact that some of us are super-familiar with the original, which makes the text singularly comprehensible, yes, τὸ βασιλείδιον is easier than the Ephesian Tale, IF YOU INCLUDE CODERCH's monolingual notes. As you yourself pointed out, while he does use rare vocab, about 75% of the time, his notes give you a very easy rendering of the meaning. While he does occasionally use complex syntax, 50% of the time he gives you a simple L2 paraphrase of that syntax which is very easy. In fact, his notes use what Buth calls an "inter-language." L 2 Inter-languages, by their definition designed to help teach languages, are by nature easier than real L2. One could re-write τὸ βασιλείδιον simply by incorporating Coderch's notes into the text, and supplementing the 25% of the time where he does not provide helps with more helps, using his own method as your model. This resultant text would, I think, be easier than anything written in Ancient Greek.
I concede your point that Coderch's text could have been easier if he used a more simple style, closer to Saint-Exupery's. But for intermediate students, τὸ βασιλείδιον is still very easy, artful as far as it goes, and difficult enough to improve one's Greek. I for one love it.
On the other hand, I have in on good authority that Christophe Rico is planning on writing his own Greek version. As you know, Rico writes (and speaks!) a simple, wonderfully clear Koine, and his version is likely to please you. Reading Rico's text, along with having grandchildren and seeing the President get reelected in 2020, are all that remain on Markos' bucket list.
daivid wrote:So if modern ancient Greek is not simpler than the easiest of the extant texts, what's the point?
1. Well, for me regardless of the text, I will read anything Coderch writes because I am such a fan of his Orberg-like monolingual method. Some of us have been waiting for a book like this for years.
2. As Tugodum says, if you love the underlying text, you will want to read it no matter how hard it is. I have never read Andrew Wilson's ΑΡΕΙΟΣ ΠΟΤΗΡ, not because it is hard (which it is) but because that particular Ur text does not interest me, as the Little Prince obviously does. I guess it's not one of your favorites?
Tugodum wrote:Reading it is, for me, much more than a mere linguistic exercise.
κἀμοι, φίλτατε.
οὐ μανθάνω γράφειν, ἀλλὰ γράφω τοῦ μαθεῖν.