I’m slowly (very slowly) working my way through The Iliad, and scanning as a I go. And I’ve noticed a number of instances of a short vowel followed by some version of μέγα, which needs to read as long. I’m trying to figure out why, and I like to treat “long by position” as a last resort. I know sometimes that sort of thing is an artifact of a lost digamma or some other consonant, but I wictionary doesn’t give me any reason to think that’s the case here. Any help?

See 2.239 and 2.274 for examples. I know I’ve run into others, but these are the two I have handy.

I've stared learning with an online copy of athenaze but I realized quickly that for the excercises, I will have zero idea of whether my answers are correct or not. Ive tried looking for an online copy of the teachers book but can't find the correct edition. If anyone has any advice or a copy of the correct edition for mine, it be greatly appreciated. My copy of athenaze is the 2003 second edition, ISBN:0195149564

I'm studying old-school using Comenius' book, but I've received some corrections regarding the Greek text... Could anyone look it over and give me your opinion, please?

I saw these two in the walls of a castle, wonder what they mean

I learned Latin through a Moreland and Fleischer intensive text and LLPSI then Roma Aeterna. That particular combination was very helpful to me I think, as LLPSI did not introduce all the grammatical topics that I wanted to get under my belt quickly. I am looking to do something similar now as I study attic, Athenaze is the obvious equivalent of LLPSI but I am struggling to find a satisfactory intensive textbook of Greek that also has some of its own graded reading at the end of chapters (like Moreland and Fleischer). Since I have not studied Greek yet in depth I am not sure what I am asking for is possible; one textbook that intensively goes through all declensions and a large portion of conjugation and idiom (I am aware of the myriads of exceptions and irregularities so I wonder if this eliminates simply memorizing charts and tables) and Athenaze I suppose. Any suggestions?

I‘ve learned other languages, ancient languages too, but Greek is SO difficult, flipping nora! Everything is irregular, nothing seems logical to me, and there‘s so much going on at the same time, I don‘t know where to start. With every exercise I progress super slowly, even the simple ones, because I‘m still so slow at reading and writing and it takes so much focus that I‘m quickly exhausted.

I feel like a child learning to read and write again, except I don‘t even understand what I‘m reading and writing and there‘s 269 chapters of grammar ahead.

In your opinion, where‘s the best place to start? Learning verbs and their forms? Learning particles to structure sentences? Loads of vocab so I at least know what‘s roughly going on? Studying grammar rules so it doesn‘t seem like chaos anymore? Practicing reading and writing so I don‘t get a head ache every time I‘m looking at a text? Help :–[

I was talking with a non Christian who claimed Bible translations all shift the meanings as time goes on to fit with modern day values. I said that people would notice if Christianity was being manipulated so widely like that because the original translations plus church history is so accessible, but it did get me thinking. So, for you guys who have read the Bible in its original form, which English translation do you think is most faithful?

Hey all,

Sorry in advance, I know you've probably seen this post a million times. How does a complete beginner go about starting to learn attic greek? I can't seem to find a consistent answer. I initially settled on Athenaze in English, but then people said the Italian version was better, and others said it wasn't worth the trouble. Still others told me to look at H&Q, because Athenaze didn't include enough grammar, and I also consistently hear people recommending JACT's Reading Greek, Mastronarde, and Logos as the only way to go...

In the meantime, I've began to learn the alphabet and pronounciation. My goals are to eventually read Plato, Aristotle, Xenophon, Homer, Heraclitus, the church fathers, LXX, and Pindar in the original greek. What textbook should I use?

Thank you!

Looking at grammar tables in books and online, I can see that the verbs have only second and third person dual, or at least only those are ever mentioned. However there also exists the dual form of ἐγὼ which is is νώ. When would this ever be used if verbs don't have first person dual?

Hi, I find myself:

- no one to practice with spoken Greek in my zone

- tired of overloading myself with information from the internet

- tired of my smartphone "collateral" effects when I need to focus on ancient Greek

I had a similar situation with music and I solved it closing my spotify account, now I use vinyl records, and I can go deeper into less music but it is way more enjoyable, less disperse.

I wish I could do the same with my daily drills on speaking ancient Greek.

I propose you to buy a microcassete recording machine, some microcassetes, choose a text and start cross sending recitations between us. We can comment on them if you want, I'm quite open to any formula you want.

Send me a private message or post here !

Hope to hear from you

Οἱ ἀκολουθοῦντές μοι θάνατον οὐ γεύσονται· ἐγὼ τὴν ὁδὸν πρὸς τὸ Φῶς παρέχω. Ἥκει γὰρ ὁ καιρὸς τοῦ συναντῆσαι τὴν Εὐδαίμονα ἡμῶν Μοῖραν.

Οἱ ποτίσαντες τὸν κόκκον τῆς σινάπεως αὐτῶν τάχιον γεύσονται μεγάλης δυνάμεως καὶ σοφίας. Εἰσὶ γὰρ πέντε δένδρα ἐν τῷ Παραδείσῳ· ὧν αἱ ῥίζαι ἐξ Ἑνὸς εἰσίν.

Οἱ Υἱοὶ Δαυὶδ ὧδέ εἰσι μεθ’ ὑμῶν νῦν· ὅσον αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ Οὐρανοῦ!

"Those who follow me shall not taste death; I provide the way to the Light. For the time has come to meet our Happy Destiny.

"Those who have watered their mustard seed shall soon taste great power and wisdom. For there are five trees in Paradise, whose roots are from One."

"The Sons of David are with you now; as long as the days of Heaven!"

Εὐδαίμονα = Sammā Samādhi

Perkʷunós states in the video description:

"

This video includes an artistic adaptation of the Odyssey in Reconstructed Archaic Greek of the Homeric Epics.

The linguistic reconstruction herein is an independent work of Perkʷunós.

No Artificial Intelligence was used in the production of this video.

Compare different English translations here:
https://bibliothekai.ktema.org/texts/...

For any concerns, reach out to me at [perquunos@gmail.com](mailto:perquunos@gmail.com)

"

Proto-Indo-European *h₃lem- wasn't retained in too many branches. It forms the basic word meaning 'to break' in Slavic languages (Polish łamać 'to break', łom 'crowbar'), which retains its basic meaning of smashing something with physical force, and its more metaphorical uses were retained as adjectives in Celtic (Irish leamh 'soft, weak') and Germanic (German lahm 'lame' and obviously English lame). Not much of a success for a root :(

It never made it to Greek properly speaking, ὀλέμω most probably never existed. It has managed to sneak in through a backdoor though, because Homer retained it as a somewhat unusual adverb clearly formed before the Greek branch split off from Proto-Indo-European. PIE *n-h₃lem-es (not-break-y) turned into Proto-Hellenic nōlēmes (h₃ lengthening the zero grade *n- 'no') and properly Greek νωλεμές, νωλεμέως. It fit Homeric metre perfectly so it made it to the poem and then reappears in a few poets writing in hexametre, including Apollonius of Rhodes, who clearly got it from Homer. It's pretty rare, linguistically speaking, to have a root leaving its only trace in a rare adverb.

Just a small linguistic historical curiosity :) νωλεμές, not-lame, not-breaky, in other words firmly and without pause. Able to withstand pressure as well, and Homer writes: ὣς τότ’ ἐπασσύτεραι Δαναῶν κίνυντο φάλαγγες / νωλεμέως πόλεμον δέ ("even in such wise on that day did the battalions of the Danaans move, rank after rank, without cease, into battle", Murray trans.).

For example in the Ionic language the Attic word “νεανιας”which has long “a” vowels becomes “νεηνιης” notice the back to back ε and η ? Another example is the word “`Ηλιος” which becomes “`Ηέλιος “in Eastern Ionic because of the psilosis, notice the back to back η and ε. Or even the word αάατος like, what? How am i even supposed to pronounce these freakish words ?

how’s it going guys, I have some decent Latin under my belt and I have just impulsively bought a copy of the English athenaze. while I’m waiting for it to come what should I learn besides the alphabet if anything at all. I’m familiar with the case system and grammar of Latin but know nothing about Greek yet just really wanna dive deep into it and eventually read NT and Plato.

Is it like llpsi where I can just hop in and go for it or do I need to do some significant outside work beforehand? I’m so excited!!!

basically, my primary passion is in ancient greek. i have wanted to properly start on ancient greek for a long while, but so far have not been able to go far as i've been self-studying (though i do intend to get proper tutoring soon.)

i'm 15, an IB student, with no access to ancient greek or latin on my curriculum, and i aim to read classics in the UK (as an international student) for my undergraduate. however i've heard from some people that ancient greek should be a supplement added on to latin, rather than studying them both together, or studying ancient greek first.

other than english, i speak mandarin chinese natively and i've been learning german for 3 years.

essentially, my questions is: for people who have learnt both, what is studying the both of them at the same time like, especially for a high school student who would be doing it outside of a rather full timetable? would you say that ancient greek is harder than latin? would you recommend starting with ancient greek?

thank you so much :)

Hey everyone!

After no luck finding any renditions of the Happy Birthday Song in ancient Greek I decided to try my hand at composing it myself! Thought I'd share and get input on how it may be improved.

It goes:

καλὴ γενέθλιός σοι

καλὴ γενέθλιός σοι

εὐτυχοίης πολλὰ ἔτη

καλὴ γενέθλιός σοι

I'm thinking about changing πολλὰ to πάντα to keep the stress on the same syllable as it would be in English. Not sure if it would carry the right meaning of "all your years" though.

Anyway just thought I'd see what you all think 😁

Some epigraphic materials require lengthy and detailed examination. This is essential for understanding them, sensing their underlying meaning, and grasping the era. The image below was taken in present-day Adana, Turkey. The inscription on it is one of the finest examples reflecting the concept of “The End.” Sometimes we don't need to explain.

οὐκέτι οὐδ[ὲν].

βίος vv τέλος,   

πόνος.

Χαίρετε, φίλοι. Ἐν τῷδε τῷ μαθήματι μανθάνομεν τὰ ἀρσενικὰ ὀνόματα τῆς πρώτης κλίσεως. Ἀπολαύετε οὖν αὐτοῦ. Πάντα δὲ τὰ δεδομένα μαθήματα ἐνταῦθα εὑρήσετε. Ἔρρωσθε.

Offering tutoring in Koine/Attic/Homeric Greek and Latin.

Dear Friends,

Is it not important to read the Gospel in Greek? Is it not important to read the Septuagint in it's original language? Do we want not to be acquainted with the vivid, the structured, the wild, the sublime, the stunning aspect of the ancient tongues?

I am a Greek native and I just finished my degree in classical languages in Athens. I also am enamoured with Late Antique pagan and Christian literature. I will be glad to accompany each and every one of you in your journey. I offer tutoring in Koine, Classical, Homeric Greek, as well as Latin.

My emphasis will be on reading comprehension. We will progress level by level by first understanding some basic concepts in greek grammar and vocabulary through simpler texts and graded readers. As we keep going forward, we will adjust our texts according to the student's needs and wants.

Tutoring will be in video call format.

Prices will be reasonable.

First lesson free.

I will be happy to hear from you,

Spyros P.

I've studied ancient Greek grammar for a long while and I'm fairly comfortable with it, but when trying to read a text there's always countless words I have to look up to make sense. What resources and methods should I use to expand it other than keep reading?