6:30 am. I begin the morning by reading the notes at the end of The Oresteia. I then go to the front of the book and read the preface which contains a series of detailed modern notes about this play. I am in a coffee shop in Edmonton and am not making any notes, but I am yellow highlighting the book. I plan to provide more detailed notes (for my own benefit) when I return to Lethbirdge and the computer.

I then begin a quick skim of Ancient Greece by Thomas Martin. I create the following table to help me undestand the major periods in Greek history. This is all new to me, although I do recognize the names in the Comment column. But the dates and even the relative order is new.

Date Name Comment <1000 BC Minoa, Mycenea Crete, Mainland 1000 - 750 BC Greek Dark Ages   750 - 500 BC Archaic Age Homer, Persian wars 500 - 350 BC Classical Age Aeschylus, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle 350 - 300 BC Macedonia Alexander the Great 300 BC - 0 Hellenistic Age

It is a bit embarrassing to realize how little of this I already know. On the other hand, I am feeling pretty good about what I have learned in the last few days.