Record Number: 32317

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'In Greek, I have started to read Homer's Iliad, of which, of course, you must have heard. Although you don't know Greek & don't care for poetry, I cannot resist the temptation of telling you how stirring it is. Those fine, simple, euphonious lines, as they roll on with a roar like that of the ocean, strike a chord in one's mind that no modern literature approaches. Better or worse it may be; but different it is for certain.'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 19 Sep 1914 and 3 Dec 1916

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

Great Bookham
Surrey
'Gastons'
schoolroom
probably other rooms also

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Clive Staples Lewis

Age:

Child (0-17)

Gender:

n/a

Date of Birth:

29 Nov 1898

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Student

Religion:

Church of England

Country of Origin:

Northern Ireland

Country of Experience:

England

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

He was studying with his tutor, William Kirkpatrick, who 'read aloud the first twenty lines or so in the "new" pronunciation, which I had never heard before... He then translated, with a few, a very few explanations, about a hundred lines.' (Footnote by H

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Homer

Title:

The Iliad

Genre:

Classics, Poetry, Mythology of ancient Greece

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

In Greek; not a translation

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

32317

Source:

Print

Author:

C. S. Lewis

Editor:

Walter Hooper

Title:

C. S. Lewis Collected Letters

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

2000

Vol:

1

Page:

71

Additional Comments:

From a letter to Arthur Greeves, [26] September 1914

Citation:

C. S. Lewis, Walter Hooper (ed.), C. S. Lewis Collected Letters, (London, 2000), 1, p. 71, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=32317, accessed: 13 March 2025

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Additional Comments:

This reading experience began in September 1914. I cannot determine when it ended, but it was certainly no later than 3rd December 1916. The next day, Lewis went to Oxford to sit for a scholarship examination.