Introduction to Ancient Greek (Greek 1)
Fall 2009, M 1-150 and TTh 1230-150 AB 343
Robin Mitchell-Boyask, Professor of Classics,
327 Anderson Hall,
1-3672, robin@temple.edu. Office hours: TThF 9-10 and before class
Course web site: http://www.temple.edu/classics/greek1/
Subject web site: http://www.temple.edu/classics/greek/
updated 3 November 2009
Text: Reading Greek. Two volumes: (1) Text and Vocabulary (2) Grammar and Exercises. 2nd edition. Cambridge University Press. (These are the only texts for the entire year and will be used into the third semester.) It is essential that you obtain the 2nd edition. These can be found at TUB under "Greek". If there are insufficient copies initially, clicking on the links above and then clicking on "Excerpt" will lead you to pdfs of the first week's materials.
Recommended: Speaking Greek: "Speaking Greek supports the second edition of ... Reading Greek, by providing on two CDs lively new recordings of some of the ancient texts presented in the Text volume. Made by experts and accompanied by special sound effects, the tracks include readings from Homer, Herodotus, Euripides, Aristophanes and Demosthenes. ... These new CDs will enlighten the experience of the student of ancient Greek, demonstrating that this was a living language, spoken as well as read."
Overview: This course aims to introduce you to the language of the ancient Greeks -- the language of Homer, Sophocles, Plato, Herodotus and St. Paul. By the end of the year, you will be reading actual ancient Greek texts!! That is, you will if you survive! This course will be hard, but it will also be extremely rewarding. No matter how clever you are, learning Greek will take a fair amount of time. You should not take this course unless you are willing and able to spend some time on Greek every day, for this time will be the single most important factor in your level of success. I will give you as much help as you want or need.
Approach: We will learn Greek by reading it in a text that starts simply and gradually increases in difficulty until we are reading authentic Plato late in the second semester. Along the way we will read some adaptations from ancient authors that often are barely changed from the original. You will learn both the Greek language and about 5th century Athens. It is very important that you not wander off or fall behind. If you are going to miss a class, you must call me or email, and I will return your message as soon as I can with your assignment. But it is imperative that you miss as few class meetings as possible.
The practice and philosophy of this course is inductive and reading-based. That means you will see new forms in the reading before you meet them in the grammar book. For each lesson I will first sketch out the new forms and syntax and then we will immediately plunge into the reading for that unit, and then turn to working thoroughly on the new grammar.
You will have a vocabulary quiz every Monday on the previous week's new words and a grammar and reading test two times during the semester, and a final. If you are going to miss a class, you must call or email me, and I will return your message as soon as I can with your assignment. I will expect you to read the appropriate section of the Text volume before each class. I assign weekly vocabulary quizzes because memorizing a word's meaning then allows you to concentrate on its form when you are reading. Understanding a word rests on a combination of absolute meaning and contextual form. Learn the meaning and half the battle is won! Make yourself flash cards, or use the drill link below. An extra bonus here is that understanding Greek roots will increase your English vocabulary tremendously. Daily work is crucial; for any course you should spend two hours studying for every hour in class, so for this course you should devote eight hours each week if you would like to receive a high grade and actually learn to read Greek.
SOS? If you at any point feel overwhelmed, dumber than everyone else in the class, or just plain confused, please talk to me. Don’t sneak away and then try to avoid running into me on campus. I am very willing to offer advice or extra help. Consider setting up study groups with your classmates. There will be students around the module who have completed this course already.
Grades: 12 Quizzes: 24%, 2 Tests: 26%, Final: 20%, Daily work: 30% (includes attendance, participation and homework). Test 1 is worth 12% and test 2 is worth 14%. If you miss a quiz or test without notifying me in advance with justification, you may not make up the assignment.
Note that I will weigh the second half of the course more heavily than the first if you show real improvement as the semester progresses.
Starting out: By Thursday, learn the Greek alphabet for a quiz (see page 1 in the Grammar); be able to write out the alphabet in order. I STRONGLY urge to you consult a new interactive web site (http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/greek/index.html) for learning the Greek alphabet and the basic principles of the Greek language. For now, learn the lower case letters, since these are the ones you will see the most. The single biggest obstacle most students face as they begin is the alphabet, so if you get used to it quickly, the rest will be much easier. The single biggest obstacle most students face as they begin is the alphabet, so if you get used to it quickly, the rest will be much easier. Also, for Thursday read pages 1-7 for an introduction to Greek (and English) grammar.
Web help: Drills can be found here: http://www.cambridgescp.com/page.php?p=ag^top^home. These include both drills for forms and vocabulary quizzes tied to Reading Greek. I also have a shareware Mac-based vocabulary drill program for this textbook.
Guide for writing Greek letters
MP3 files:This page has MP3 files (http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/languagectr/greek201.htm) of a Vanderbilt professor reading chapters from Reading Greek. You can listen to them online or download them to your iPod (which is the only time I would recommend studying while using your iPod).
How to Study:
Schedule: (Subject to modifications)
| Week | Section | Grammar | Reading |
| Aug 30- Sep 3 | I. 1 A-C | Definite article, Verbs | The insurance scam |
| Sept 8-10 | 1 D-G | ||
| Sept 14-17 | 1 G-J | 2nd decl. nouns; To be, I know | |
| Sept 21-24 | 2 A-C | Middle verbs, 1st decl. nouns | The glorious past |
| Sept 28-31 | No class Monday; 2 D-3B | 3rd decl. nouns | Athens and Sparta |
| Oct. 5-8 | 3 C-E | Various | |
| Oct 12-15 | II. 4 A-B | Present participles | Lawlessness in Athenian life |
| Oct 19-22 | 4 C-D | ||
| Oct 26-29 | Test Monday 5A-C | Imperfect tense | Aristophanes’ Clouds |
| Nov 2-5 | 5C-D | Future and 1st aorist tenses | |
| Nov 9-12 | 6A-C | 2nd aorist tense | |
| Nov 16-19 | 6D-7B | Infinitives, comparatives | Socrates corrupts (Plato's Defense) |
| Nov 23-24 | 7C-D | Aorist participles | |
| Nov 30-Dec 3 | 7E-G | ||
| Dec 7-8 | 7G-H | ||
| Dec 17 | Final exam 1030-1230 | review sessions can be scheduled |
Important dates:
Disability disclosure statement: Any student who has a need for accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact me privately to discuss the specific situation as soon as possible. Contact Disability Resources at 215-204-1280 in 100 Ritter Annex to coordinate reasonable accommodations for students with documented disabilities.
Statement on Academic Freedom: Freedom to teach and freedom to learn are inseparable facets of academic freedom. The University has adopted a policy on Student and Faculty Academic Rights and Responsibilities (Policy # 03.70.02) which can be accessed through the following link: http://policies.temple.edu/getdoc.asp?policy_no=03.70.02.