|
GREEK
Our Greek sequence is a
continuing course of study
from beginning Greek,
through all facets of
grammar,
and on to selected
authors.
Opening lines to Plato’s Apology
of Socrates.
See discussion of pace and course sequences.
Which Ancient Greek?
Classical Greek was an important language for a long
time and there are excellent secondary school
textbooks introducing
1. Homeric Greek – the language of The Iliad and The
Odyssey (from around the seventh century B.C.)
2. Attic Greek – spoken by Plato, Aristotle, Sophocles (fifth
to fourth century B.C.)
3. Koine – or New Testament Greek (several centuries B.C. to
several centuries A.D.)
Compare how much English changed in the 400 years
since the King James Bible was translated.
Bright students interested in New Testament should learn
the historical context by first studying Attic Greek
and then making the easy move to Koine. Bright
kids would do themselves a disservice by learning
only the simpler Koine and bypassing the wider and
richer Greek world. It’s more difficult to move
from Koine to Attic.
Homeric Greek, on the other hand, has more differences and
is limited to the two great epics. Nevertheless, my
personal most joyful moments reading Greek came from
The Iliad.
Textbook
Greek is introduced using a textbook well suited to the
quick-minded. Students move on to reading actual
Greek authors as soon as possible.
Benchmarking Your Accomplishment
Student and tutor may decide to prepare for a standardized
test, which reports student progress compared to
other young scholars and gives hard evidence of
academic accomplishment.
National Greek Exam
The National Greek Exam is an easy way to know where you
stand. It has six subject-related versions that
benchmark Greek learning through secondary school.
They’re offered every March for a modest fee (around
$10).
See
http://nge.aclclassics.org/ |
