Three or four centuries after the siege of Troy, there lived a poor old blind poet, named Homer, who wandered from place to place playing his lyre and reciting wonderful verses recounting the adventures of the Greek heroes and their great deeds during the Trojan War.
About Homer we really know very little (or nothing).
It is said that he lived to a very old age and that, although he was poor most of his life, he was honored after his death.
Many years later, attempts were made to find out information about his life and where he was born. Many cities claimed to be his birthplace, but, although it was never certain where he was born, the most widely accepted version was that it was the island of Chios.
Gods forbid I should be compared to father Homer, but you can definitely know things about me.
Although my father calls me Javier, almost everyone calls me Paco. So, from now on I will write you as Paco: Paco Álvarez.
I don’t know if you already knew me before.
Maybe you just discovered me and you were already curious.
It doesn’t really matter. If you’ve signed up for this newsletter it’s because you want more of what I have.
I have no reliable data on this, but I’m pretty sure that many of the people who know me online (or, rather, know what I publish online) think of me as some sort of medieval monk cloistered in a library and sharing breadcrumbs with the mice so they don’t eat the manuscripts.
This is not really the case.
In fact, there are periods in my life when I can go weeks without reading a book, simply because I get hooked on some series or videogame.
That’s okay.
I don’t want you to think I’m one of those pure enlightened characters you can find elsewhere on the internet.
I eat meat and occasionally get drunk on beer, bourbon and/or flavored Polish vodka.
Also, when I write on WhatsApp I don’t use the opening question and exclamation marks.
I think it’s great if you practice veganism, are a teetotaler and/or are a cloistered nun.
I want you to know from the beginning that whatever you do is fine with me.
Alrighty.
Enough information for today.
In tomorrow’s email I will tell you about the important relationship of Aristides, “the best and most honorable man of Athens” according to Herodotus and Plato, with a link that is in all my emails.
Vale!
Paco
P. S. Hey, if you are reading this on LatinFromScratch.com, you will like to know you can get daily emails like this very post you’ve just read if you subscribe to my free newsletter.
