european

One word of warning: the Greeks and Romans, like us, tended to rationalize ideas that no longer made sense to them, like birth from the knee. As the Greeks have it, Semele (or Gaia) gives birth to Dionysius, who is then sewn into the knee of Zeus. This reverses the process. The father was conceived as the source of the child, not the mother-an idea still shared by James Boswell as late as the 18th century. The best source for this complex of ideas is Carl Schuster (Patterns That Connect and other works).

Many of the beliefs touched on here are widely distributed and very ancient. The sutratman (thread-spirit) doctrine for example, which lies behind the manifold symbolism of knotting, weaving, and spinning, can be found worldwide. Onians' work is unique and has been in print in various editions since its publication some half-century ago.

Originally, however, it was a prize-winning "Contribution to Classical studies." As a result of the competition rules, Greek and Latin passages are quoted without translation, unlike citations from Old Norse, Hebrew, Chinese, etc. Access to a good library containing translations of Homer, Hesiod, the Greek tragedians, Plato, and Aristotle, would be extremely helpful for almost anyone using the book. Fortunately, most of important passages now are available on-line.

Onians' book had an impact on several important British classical scholars while still in draft or galley-proof form in the late 1930s and 1940s, and was cited under earlier working titles. It was finally published in 1951, after many delays, some due to the author, some, including a World War, out of his hands. During this time the original book accumulated massive appendices as supplements to the already type-set main text.

As a fairly expensive hardcover, the book seems to have been cited and consulted more often than absorbed, and it is a pity that it took until 1988 for it to appear as a more reasonably priced paperback. Having had to compete for a reserve copy, I snatched it up as soon as I saw it was in paperback, and I could monopolize it with a clean conscience.

It is still too long and too complicated to imagine being assigned as an undergraduate textbook, or suggested as light reading. However, anyone with a serious interest in how modern European-based cultures came to think as they do about the very nature of ourselves and the world we experience should try to take a long look at it. If you are using a library that doesn't have it, suggest it. If you can find a copy, check it over. You may, like me, find that you want it for yourself.

Note: Since this review was originally submitted, the thumbnail of the cover displayed on Amazon has changed from the original blue paperback cover, with a somewhat, and appropriately, enigmatic figurine, to an equally appropriate, and much more "classical," image, which happens to be quite beautiful. Anyone ordering a used copy therefore may find that it looks disappointingly different.

Having said that, McCormick's book is the most brilliant work on medieval history in years. He sets out to examine the patterns of Mediterranean commerce during the early middle ages, focusing on different aspects of the Pirenne thesis. This, of course, has been done repeatedly over the eight decades since Pirenne's famous publications, but McCormick's approach is startlingly new. Rather than simply argue over the same tired scraps of evidence, McCormick works hard to incorporate old, non-economic, data into his argument, and also brings in entirely new evidence. To begin with, McCormick focuses on the accounts of non-commercial travellers -- pilgrims, envoys, missionaries, etc. -- to see how they travelled, when they travelled, and whom they travelled with. By looking at these accounts McCormick puts together a picture of frequent Mediterranean travel, demonstrates the frequency of specific routes, and, the interaction of travelling merchants and other travellers. McCormick uses these accounts as evidence of a vibrant shipping network in the Mediterranean in the eight and ninth centuries. He then backs this inferrence up with "hard" data from recent undersea archaeology, numismatics, and the study of relic hordes.

In the end, McCormick discusses the export of Europeans as slaves to the Caliphate, and, to a limited extenct, Byzantium. McCormick's final argument is that this slave trade was massive, and provided the fuel for the growth of European commerce, growth that was sustained even after the decline of the slave trade.

When all is said and done, McCormick's book is amazing. His arguments and evidence are controversial, and it is easy to predict that this book will be the focal point for scholarly debate for the next generation. Well written, engrossing, and thought provoking, this book is a must for anyone interested in medieval studies or good scholarly debate. The beuatiful maps, charts, and graphs, and the detailed accounts of travellers in the appendices simply add to the value of this book.

The features of the dictionary:

- it covers indeed very large vocabullary and gives almost-complete coverage of the language
- makes extensive use of grammar, stylistic etc. notes
- there is plenty idioms, examples of use, colloquial and slang expressions
- for many words it lists not only the dictionary form, but derived forms as well if they cannot be easily figured from the dictionary form(which occurs in Albanian quite frequently)
- there is a sketch of Albanian grammar in the beginning of the dictionary
- it contains also a "back dictionary" which lists all possible two(sometimes three) letter combinations that can occur at the end of Albanian words and gives for them grammatical values that these letters can represent(eg. masculine definite accusative-nominative or 2nd person of present tense etc.)
- there is a list which lists orthographical and phonetical pecularities of non-Standard Albanian and their equivalents in the Standard Albanian. Many words deemed "non-Standard" are included into the dictionary.

Although I am a real beginner in Albanian and some days ago I litteraly didn't know a single word of this language, yet with the help of this dictionary I was able to find out the sense of several short poems in Albanian!

The story is set back in the days when animals could talk. Papa Gatto, a recently widowed high-ranking feline official in the prince's court, has need of a helper to care for his kittens. He places an ad with the town crier, "you choose your payment, no amount too great."

This lucrative offer draws the attention of a widow with a daughter--lazy, cold-hearted but beautiful Sophia--and a stepdaughter--kind and hardworking Beatrice. The stepmother, sensing easy money, pushes Sophia to accept the position, though she is ill-suited for the work... The whole story is set in a sun-drenched Tuscan village. Papa Gatto is a wonderful combination of story and illustration.

While full appreciation takes effort, just being in the presence of such beauty is itself a form of grace. By the time one gets to "the love that moves the sun and the other stars," one is oneself totally moved.