Sunday, August 29, 2021

Doh! Boris Johnson garbles Homer

A letter from Gregory Klyve in the 17 June issue of the London Review of Books discusses Boris Johnson’s claim to know the beginning of the Iliad off by heart:

There’s a clip online of him attempting a demonstration at the Melbourne Writers Festival. He recites the first 42 lines in just two and a half minutes. 

He achieves this by omitting lines 8, 15-16, 18-19, 21-22, 32 and 39-41. He misquotes lines 14, 17, 20, 23, 24, 35, 36, 37 and 38. The remaining lines are present and correct.

Boris Johnson is a barbarian's idea of a speaker of Ancient Greek.

1 comment:

nigel hunter said...

It was his party trick to impress people that he was more intelligent than he is.It fools people into liking him,what he really wants.A false image that people are now recognising although he has had plenty of practise in honing his skills.