Summary
A new edition of the bestselling Classical Greek textbook, that combines a traditionally rigorous introduction of ancient Greek with an encouraging, pleasant, and accessible presentation for today's modern students. From Alpha to Omegainspires students of Ancient Greek by structuring lessons around manageable selections of actual Ancient Greek writings, beginning with Aesop's most amusing and curious fables. By the second half of the book, students are able to take on instructive passages from The New Testament, Demosthenes, Xenophon, Thucydides, Lysias, Arrian, Aristotle, and Plato. Features: Readings from Ancient Greek authorsdemonstrate new vocabulary and syntax learned in the lesson, allowing students to develop the chapter's lesson through "real" Ancient Greek passages. Succinct, instructive vocabulary listsfor each lesson gives students a manageable list to learn and apply to the lesson's readings. Efficient translation exercisesso that students can effectively practice the chapter lessons through a reasonable amount of exercises and progress to the next lesson. Glossarycontaining all vocabulary words from lessons and readings, both Greek-to-English, and English-to-Greek, including page they appear in the book, for easy student reference. Appendix of paradigms, including the dual-forms for student reference. New to the Fourth Edition: Self-tutorial exercises with an answer keythat provide extra practice for students or individual learners. Streamlined and modernized layout, appealing to today's modern learners. Integrated online resources, including audio recordings of the vocabulary and readings, flashcards of the chapter vocabulary, and more!
Author Biography
Anne H. Groton is Professor of Classics at St. Olaf College, where she has chaired the Department of Classics and directed the programs in Ancient Studies and Medieval Studies. In 1995 she received the American Philological Association's Award for Excellence in the Teaching of the Classics.
Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface xi
Lesson 1 Introduction: The Greek Alphabet
Lesson 2 Introduction: The Greek Accents
Lesson 3 V-Verbs: Present Active Indicative, Present Active Infinitive,
Present Active Imperative
Lesson 4 First Declension: Feminine Nouns, Part 1
Lesson 5 First Declension: Feminine Nouns, Part 2
Lesson 6 V-Verbs: Future Active Indicative, Future Active Infinitive
Lesson 7 Second Declension: Masculine Nouns
Lesson 8 Second Declension: Neuter Nouns; Adjectives: First/Second
Declension
Lesson 9 First Declension: Masculine Nouns; Substantive
Lesson 10 V-Verbs: Imperfect Active Indicative; Correlatives
Lesson 11 V-Verbs: Middle/Passive Voice; Prepositions
Lesson 12 e\u00dem\u00db; Enclitics
Lesson 13 Demonstratives
Lesson 14 Personal Pronouns
Lesson 15 Contract Verbs (-.v, -\u00a1v, -\u00f1v); Contracted Futures
Lesson 16 Third Declension: Stop, Liquid, and Nasal Stems
Lesson 17 Third Declension: Sigma Stems; Adjectives: Third Declension
Lesson 18 V-Verbs: First Aorist Active and Middle Indicative, First Aorist Active
and Middle Infinitives, First Aorist Active and Middle Imperative
Lesson 19 V-Verbs: Second Aorist Active and Middle Indicative, Second
Aorist Active and Middle Infinitives, Second Aorist Active
and Middle Imperative; Reflexive Pronouns
Lesson 20 V-Verbs: Perfect Active Indicative, Perfect Active Infinitive;
Pluperfect Active Indicative
Lesson 21 Interrogative t\u00dbw and Indefinite tiw
Lesson 22 V-Verbs: Perfect Middle/Passive Indicative, Perfect
Middle/Passive Infinitive; Pluperfect Middle/Passive Indicative
Lesson 23 Relative Pronouns; pw; Expressions of Time
Lesson 24 V-Verbs: Present Active Participle, Future Active Participle, First
and Second Aorist Active Participles, Perfect Active Participle
Lesson 25 V-Verbs: Present Middle/Passive Participle, Future Middle
Participle, First and Second Aorist Middle Participles, Perfect
Middle/Passive Participle
Lesson 26 Direct and Indirect Questions; Alternative Questions
Lesson 27 V-Verbs: Aorist Passive Tense
Lesson 28 V-Verbs: Future Passive Tense; Future Perfect Active and
Middle/Passive Tenses; o\u00e4da
Lesson 29 Third Declension: Vowel Stems, Syncopated Stems
Lesson 30 Deponent Verbs; Genitive Absolute; e\u00e5w; o\u00e9de\u00dbw /mhde\u00dbw
Lesson 31 Adverbs: Positive Degree; Result Clauses
Lesson 32 Adjectives and Adverbs: Comparative and Superlative Degrees;
Genitive of Comparison; Partitive Genitive
Lesson 33 Adjectives and Adverbs: Irregular Comparative and Superlative
Degrees; -uw, -eia, -u Adjectives; Dative of Degree of Difference
Lesson 34 Numerals
Lesson 35 Subjunctive Mood: Present, Aorist, Perfect Tenses; Active, Middle,
Passive Voices; Independent Uses of the Subjunctive (Hortatory,
Prohibitive, Deliberative)
Lesson 36 Optative Mood: Present, Future, Aorist, Perfect Tenses; Active,
Middle, Passive Voices; Independent Uses of the Optative
(Wishes, Potentiality)
Lesson 37 Conditions
Lesson 38 Conditional Relative Clauses; Relative Adverbs
Lesson 39 Purpose Clauses
Lesson 40 e\u00e4mi; Indirect Discourse (\u00f7ti/\u00c9w)
Lesson 41 fhm\u00db; Indirect Discourse (with infinitive)
Lesson 42 Indirect Discourse (with participle); Crasis
Lesson 43 More Uses of the Infinitive; pr\u00dbn
Lesson 44 Verbal Adjectives in -t\u00a1ow and -t\u00f1w
Lesson 45 Clauses of Effort and Fear
Lesson 46 MI-Verbs (d\u00dbdvmi, \u00e1sthmi)
Lesson 47 MI-Verbs (t\u00dbyhmi, \u00e1hmi)
Lesson 48 MI-Verbs (de\u00dbknumi); Unattainable Wishes
Lesson 49 ba\u00dbnv, gignÅskv; Directional Suffixes; Accusative of Respect
Lesson 50 Redundant m\u00ae; Uses of m\u00af o\u00e9 and o\u00e9 m\u00ae; Attraction of
Relative Pronoun
Word Lists
Greek-to-English Glossary
English-to-Greek Glossary
Appendix—nouns, definite article, pronouns, adjectives,
numerals, adverbs, verbs
Index
Excerpts
LESSON 1 INTRODUCTION: The Greek Alphabet
?ρχ? δ? τοι ?µισυ παντ?ς (Well begun is half done)
—one of Pythagoras’ sayings, quoted by Iamblichus inPythagoras162
Greek belongs to a large and colorful family of Indo-European languages, all thought to be descended from a very old, now extinct language spoken by people who roamed over the Eurasian continent during prehistoric times. Other prominent members of the family are the Italic (including Latin and the Romance languages), Germanic (including English), Celtic, Baltic, Slavic (including Russian), Armenian, Iranian, and Indic languages.
The Greek language has been in continuous use for more than three thousand years; its vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation have been evolving gradually over the centuries. There is a great deal of difference between, say, Greek of the seventh century BCE and Greek of the first century CE, even though they are both “ancient” from our point of view. Moreover, each geographical region of Greece had its own dialect. Some authors wrote in their native dialect; others, working within an established literary genre, wrote in the dialect(s) that tradition demanded.
The ancient Greek taught in this book is Classical in date. It is the sort of Greek that would have been used by educated people during Greece’s Classical age, roughly the fifth and fourth centuries BCE. These were glory days for Athens, artistically and intellectually as well as militarily. Much of the literature surviving from the Classical period is written in Attic, the dialect of the Athenians. (Attica is the name of the district that includes Athens.) The philosopher Plato, the orators Lysias and Demosthenes, the historians Thucydides and Xenophon, the comic playwright Aristophanes—to name just a few of Athens’ most famous authors—all wrote in Attic.