THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

r

Hooper's Greek, Roman Histories Published

By ALLEN A. WARSEN

Finley Hooper, professor
of history at Wayne State
University, has authored
two new volumes of history:
"Greek Realities" and "Ro-
man Realities" (Wayne
State Univeristy Press).
Both volumes record
competently the evolution
of the two ancient civiliza-
tions. The narratives are
enhanced by illustrations,
maps, bibliographies and
indices.
In the introduction to
`Greek Realities," the
uthor points out that con-
trary to the accepted view
that "the Greeks sought ra-
tional solutions and were
imaginative and intellectu-
ally curious as a people,"
they • actually were
superstitious and found
comfort in "magic charms."
He stresses, "If the
Greeks invented intellec-
tualism, they were also
the first to suppress it."
Prof. Hooper commences
the story of Greece with
Heinrich Schliemann's
(1822-1890)- pioneering ar-
cheological discoveries of
the Homeric City of Troy;
the royal graves; and the
impressive palace
at
Mycenae.
The royal graves, among
the many precious items,
contained skeletons and
golden masks. One of the
masks, Schliemann
thought, represented the
legendary, hero Agamem-
non..
Schliemann's discoveries
and those of other ar-
cheologists revealed that a
thriving civilization existed
at and near Mycenae.
Curiously, Homer's
epics that served as

(11

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_i,

IF

Schliemann's blueprints,
certain critics maintain,
were written by different
people, at different times
and living in different
parts of Greece:
Hesiod was another early
Greek poet, who unlike
Homer, described the com-
mon people and their daily
activities. Instead of heroes,
his characters are "swal-
lowers of bribes." His poem
"Works and Days" includes
maxims, such as, "a ladle__
should never be crossed over
a wine bowl; nor should a
man bathe in water a
woman has used."
The second book. "Roman
Realities," as the title indi-
cates, records the history of
Rome, whose beginnings
are still unknown. Known,
however, is the legend of
Romulus and Remus.
Placed in a basket and put
"in the river where they
were expected to drown,"
they were rescued and
mothered by a wolf. When
they grew up, they killed
their uncle Amulius and
_founded a new city. Soon,
however, they started to
argue, as each wanted the
city be named after himself.
Excited by anger, Romulus
murdered his brother and
named the city Rome after
himself.
Historians, however,
are of the opinion "that
the legend followed the
event and that Romulus
was named after Rome."
Interesting is Prof.
Hooper's account of the
Roman humorous versifiers
whose literary creations
were either borrowed or im-
itated from Greek authors.
The best known are Plautus
(254-184 B.C.E.), Terrence

(190-159 B.C.E.) and Catul-
lus (84-54 B.C.E).

The following poem is by
Catullus:

Hi there, sweetheart!
that nose of yours is not too
small
your feet — well, hardly pre-
tty
your eyes — well, hardly
snappy
your fingers — not too long
your lips — you wiped your
mouth yet?
your tongue — well, shall we
say not the most elegant
aren't you Dickie-boy's girl
— that chiseler from For-
miae?,
you mean to say that out in
the sticks they call you pre-
tty?
you mean to say they've been
comparing you -
to Lesbia — my Lesbia?
0 what a tasteless witless
age!

We Make Our Own Glasses ,
-(01■ti

Zeitlin in his classic work
"The Rise and Fall of the
Jewish State, Vol. Two" de-
scribes Pontius Pilate, as
follows: "The new pro-
curator was portrayed by
his contemporary Philo, and
later by Josephus, as a man
of greed, venality and
cruelty, utterly lacking in
human compassion. He re-
sorted to robbery and op-
pression. Hence there were
frequent clashes between
the Judeans and Pilate."

I

Friday, February 9, 1919 25

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(Lesbia was the author's
sweetheart.)
Interspersed throughout
both volumes are references
to ancient Jewish history.
Some ' are controversial.
"Roman Realities," for
example, contains this pas-
sage: "In a disturbance in
Judea caused by a con-
troversy over the claims of a
messiah among the Jews,
Pontius Pilate, the Roman
procurator was determined
to keep the peace. He found
no fault with Jesus but it
was expedient to keep the
peace."
Was Pontius Pilate really
interested in maintaining
the peace? Was he really
concerned about the
people's feelings and be-
liefs?
The late Prof. Solomon

We Service What We Sell
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Joe Slatkin's

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Adjoining the city of Southfield

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COLLEGE OF JEWISH STUDIES
METROPOLITAN DETROIT FEDERATION OF REFORM SYNAGOGUES

MEETING AT TEMPLE BETH EL, TELEGRAPH AT 14 MILE ROAD, BIRMINGHAM
TUITION: $10.00 per course..
SPRING, 1979

Room 201 .

Comparative
Judaism:
Reform, Con-
servative,
Orthodox - 101
(Rabbi Ballon)

7:30 p.m.
to .
8:20 p.m.

Roots of
Anti-Semitism
101
(Rabbi Schwartz)

8:25 p.m.
to
9:15 p.m.

The Jew in
American
Literature - 101
(Rabbi Ballon)

Room 202

Introduction
to
Judaism-101*

(Rabbi Loss)

Room 205

Room 206

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Room 209

ROOM 211

Beginners'
Hebrew - 101

Rabbinic
Responses to
Modern Jewish
Problems-102

(Cantor Asher)

(Cantor Rose)

(Ms. Syme)

The Kremlin's
War Against
the Jews - 1.01

Encounters with
God and Man:
Character
Studies of Bible
Personalities
(Rabbi Conrad)

(Cantor Asher)

Introduction
to
Judaism 101*

Introduction
to
Judaism - 101*

(Rabbi Schwartz)

(Rabbi Steinger)

(Rabbi Ballon)

(Cantor Asher)

Elementary
Hebrew - 201

Rabbinic
Responses to
Modern Jewish
Problems-202**

(Ms. Kramer)

(Ms. Syme)

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Rabbinic Responses to Modern Jewish Problems -
201** will be taught by Ms. Syme at Temple Beth El on
THURSDAY AFTERNOONS from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00
p.m. beginning February 15, 1979.

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*Required for Conversion, but open to anyone.
•
**Second semester (or year) course, but open to anyone; enrollment in previous course NOT required.
##Elementary Hebrew or Yiddish - for those who can read the language or have completed one semester, or permission of instructor.
+AdvanCed Hebrew or Yiddish - for those who have completed two years of language or permission of instructor.

CLASSES MEET: Wednesday, February 21, 28, March 7, 14, 21, 28; April 4, 25; May 2, 9, 16, 23, 30; June 6.
REGISTRATION — WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14TH AT 7:30 P.M., WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21ST AT 6:30 P.M.

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Room 212

Ancient Jewish
History-102 ,

Advanced
Yiddish-302+

9:20 p.m.
to
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