Book Nook - Since You’re Mortal: Life Lessons from the Lost Greek Plays

Since You’re Mortal: Life Lessons from the Lost Greek Plays by James Romm is a book of short passages from ancient Greek plays that no longer exist. These passages were preserved by a fifth-century writer known as Stobaeus who collected them as advice for his son.  These lines offer timeless advice and memorable insights into love, luck, power, suffering, and the limits of human life. Translated and curated for modern readers, the book provides a glimpse into how the ancient Greeks grappled with the same moral questions we face today and delivers wisdom that is direct, unsentimental, and surprisingly contemporary.

Most of these plays disappeared over time as ancient texts were selectively copied and others were left behind. What remains are concise observations on…How do you deal with bad luck? What matters more, success or character? How should you think about love, ambition, money, or aging?

Romm organized these passages by theme, presenting them as reflections that can be returned to at different moments in life - observations about growing up, making choices, and understanding what matters.

It is a book a father might give a son or daughter at a turning point, or a graduate might carry forward as they begin what comes next.  At a moment when many graduates are looking for direction, and many parents are thinking about what guidance to pass on, this book offers a perspective shaped not by modern trends but by some of the earliest writers to confront these questions.

About James Romm:  https://www.jamesromm.com/
James Romm is the James H. Ottaway Jr. Professor of Classics at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. He specializes in ancient Greek and Roman culture and civilization and is the author of numerous acclaimed books, including Plato and the Tyrant, Ghost on the Throne, and Dying Every Day. In addition to writing narrative history, he has edited and translated major works of classical literature for modern readers, helping bring the ancient world into contemporary conversation.

Romm’s reviews and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, The London Review of Books, The Daily Beast, and other publications. His honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Birkelund Fellowship at the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Writers and Scholars at the New York Public Library, and a Biography Fellowship at the Leon Levy Center for  Biography at the City University of New York.