Frederick the Great discussion post 9

[cahn]

...I leave you guys alone for one weekend and it's time for a new Fritz post, lol!

I'm gonna reply to the previous post comments but I guess new letter-reading, etc. should go in this one :)

Frederick the Great links

Comments

Re: Toppings of all types, continued

[mildred_of_midgard]

if he had little Latin, then, to paraphrase Johnson about Shakespeare, I take it he had no Greek?

Correct. What I was doing was assuming that the terms erastes and eromenos were as common in the vernaculars of the 18th century as they are in modern English when talking about the Greeks (i.e. you do not need to know a word of Greek to encounter these words), but upon reflection, that's likely to be a recent scholarly development of the last hundred years. So you're quite right, he might have been familiar with the concept and not the terminology.

I guess the explanation is that Fritz felt he owed her father for having been nice to teenage Crown Prince Fritz about his budding sexuality?

Wow. Could be!

I'm curious whether it's based on an assumption or definite quotes?

Totally untrustworthy moderns giving no primary sources. Could be completely wrong.

I still think Keyserlingk must have been pretty lenient with Fritz in the bedroom, though.