Question by melissa v: Why is Plato so easy to read?
The question applies to other many ancient texts that were originally in another language as well but it occurred to me when reading Plato as he is more readable than most modern philosophers! The middle English used in Chaucer is like another language so how can much older works translate into something so similar to modern English? How much interpretation has gone on regarding meaning? Was the structure of languages such as ancient Greek, Aramaic, Hebrew etc. closer to that of modern English than was middle English?

Best answer:

Answer by Dave
It is all in the translating process. The translator typically makes it simpler because the complex nature of Latin or Ancient Greek language texts. They may appear simple in English, that is to your benefit, but not in their original form. Yes English derives some of its words from Latin (or perhaps Greek) but no they are not similar, not more so than Middle English.

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……and just being content with who you are and what you have and realizing that life is just the way it is and it is pointless to try to figure it all out.