Introductory Ancient Greek Language

Zeus

Welcome to the course Introductory Ancient Greek Language.

Greek was the lingua franca of the Mediterranean world from the rise of the Hellenic states after the Persian War until the rise of Rome. Its basis as the uniting factor of the Greek city-states makes knowledge of the language and its history vital to an understanding of the rise of Greek culture in the Western World.

This course will prepare students to read Classical Greek texts by building a solid foundation in rudimentary grammar and vocabulary, as well as give a broad overview of its history. It will begin on a very basic level, so if you have some experience you may choose to move on to a more advanced course, or assist in lesson plans with this one. However, even a seasoned reader of Greek may benefit from a basic review.

If you're coming here with no experience of the Ancient Greek Language then congratulations on your choice to begin learning it! You are in for an exciting adventure that will not only give you knowledge of a new language, but a new way of thinking.

The course will be divided into several important divisions each one hopefully no longer than four lessons followed by a review. The goal is to prepare the student with a foundation in Classical Greek, on which he or she can later build a higher fluency.

Student Questions

If you happen to become stumped or just have a general question out of curiosity, then feel free to message any active member involved in creating this course. I plan to create "sandbox" areas at the bottom of each lesson plan, so if someone wants they can edit the question directly into the appropriate place and an answer may be given there for all to see for future reference.

Alphabet, Breathings, Accents

After having completed these first four lessons hopefully the student will be able to read and write with Greek characters. Some vocabulary will be introduced but the goal will be to familiarize yourself with understanding the alphabet in order to begin learning the language.

Lesson 1 - Alphabet

Lesson 2 - Breathings and Accents

Lesson 3 - Definite Articles

Lesson 4 - Basic Sentences

Review

Introduction to Verbs and Nouns

Lesson 5 - Present, Active, Indicative

Lesson 6 - First Noun Declinsion

Lesson 7 - Basic Prepositions, Negation

Lesson 8 - Present Indicative of "To Be"

Review

Verb Forms of the Present Active Indicative

Lesson 9 - Future, Active, Indicative

Lesson 10 - Aorist, Active, Indicative

Lesson 11 - Perfect, Active, Indicative

Lesson 12 - Pluperfect, Active, Indicative

Review

This is about the middle point of this course. After this there are two more noun declensions, and various other syntax related concepts such as relative pronouns and compound verbs and such.

The remainder of the course will be written after these first three lesson plans have been completed.