Thursday, May 23, 2013
Value of Greek to a Military Man
Nigel Wilson, "Peter Hugh Jefferd Lloyd-Jones, 1922-2009," Biographical Memoirs of Fellows 10 = Proceedings of the British Academy 172 (2011) 215-229 (at 217-218):
Hat tip: Ian Jackson.
Newer› ‹Older
At Westminster Hugh was much influenced by the headmaster J.T. Christie, with whose family he enjoyed a lifelong frienship. One day Christie introduced the class to Sophocles' Philoctetes by telling them that a war was likely to break out soon, in which they would be officers and would have to face the kind of dilemma illustrated in the play. Hugh learned as much Greek as he could and his memory was so good that if he read a page twice he remembered the text; Christie had never come across anyone like him. He learned the texts by heart so as to be able to recite them to himself if he were unfortunate enough to be taken prisoner of war, as had happened to an uncle.Related post: Ach So!
Hat tip: Ian Jackson.
