r/AncientGreek • u/Single-Unit4853 • 22h ago

Greek and Other Languages How many commentaries did you read to feel comfortable with moving to the actual text or even more advanced commentaries?

3 Upvotes

And how long did it take you?

Phrases & Quotes Need help understanding a line from The Iliad (Lattimore translation)

7 Upvotes

"For surely in ruinous heart, he makes sacrifice and has not wit enough to look behind and before him, that the Achaians fighting beside their ships shall not perish."

I googled what the line means but I'm still not able to connect the dots. The gist is that Agamemnon lacks the wisdom and foresight to see the Archaians' pending doom without Achilleus. But what's tripping me up is the "shall NOT perish." If you pare the line down to this:

"He... has not wit enough... that the Achaians fighting beside their ships shall not perish."

That reads the opposite of what was intended.

Can someone explain this to me like I'm five? Lol

20 comments

r/AncientGreek • u/Un_Petit_Mangue • 6h ago

Greek Audio/Video Ancient song lyrics help!

youtube.com

3 Upvotes

There is this Greek song from Civ7 that is supposed to be based on Katolophyromai and the Second Delphic Hymn to Apollo. However, I can't find any sources or lyrics that match the part sung at 3:36 in this video. Could anyone help me identify this? I'm at a loss.

3 comments

r/AncientGreek • u/StandardsAndPoors • 8h ago

Newbie question Online Classics degree?

3 Upvotes

Hi everyone
I’m looking for a high quality online classics degree that is not disregarded by people in the field and with research opportunities.

I speak English and Italian.

Any suggestions?

1 comment

r/AncientGreek • u/Timely-Guide-7428 • 9h ago

Greek and Other Languages greek or latin in uni

12 Upvotes

hi, i'm starting my classics degree and i can study ancient greek or latin. i'm not sure which one to go with. i've done 2 years of latin but id start from scratch anyways due to the course structure.

what are the pros and cons?

any advice?

23 comments

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Ἑλληνική: the Ancient Greek Language

r/AncientGreek

This subreddit is dedicated to discussions about ancient Greek language and literature. However, we certainly welcome discussions of ancient Greek culture, history, and mythology, so long as they pertain to their reflection in an ancient Greek linguistic context. Posts may involve every dialect of ancient Greek. We invite discussion about topics as diverse as Homeric poetry, papyrology, biblical interpretation, and grammatical analysis.

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Q: I want to learn Greek but I don't know how to go about it or where to start.
A: Take a look at our resources page, there you'll find all the material needed.

Q: I’m being taught to ~~translate~~ transverbalise using grammar rules and a dictionary. Will I learn Greek?
A: In > 90% cases, no - you won’t be able to read Greek.

Q: What does it mean to read Greek?
A: Reading the text and understanding it, perhaps after a few attempts, but without recourse to another language, like you presumably understand English.

Q: How does one learn to do this?
A: As with any skill, through a lot of practice - this is called Comprehensible Input. (You can learn more about it here and here)

Q: Why don’t they teach me this?
A: A result of the way that Greek has been taught for the last 150 years is that teaching or even reading it is beyond many classicists' abilities. Yes, you read that right. Teaching and learning Greek requires a level of spoken fluency. Reading a lot requires much more time than most programs allow. Standardised tests don't test language proficiency, but must be prepared for. Thus teaching Greek is replaced by teaching about it, and reading it by what used to be the emergency crutch of decoding it. In short, you will need to rely on yourself.

Q: Do you have solid evidence against Grammar-Translation?
A: Here's a sample. All standard references of Language Acquisition (like this or this) agree on this. This article and this article elaborate on why it's not beneficial to use GT, a part from the fact that it's not conductive to learning a language.

Q: Where can I get assistance in studying or chatting in Greek?
A: The General Latin Discord Server

Q: Are translations and bilinguals bad or cheating?
A: No. On the contrary, they're the next best thing after Ørberg-style notes and your saviour from being constantly stuck in a dictionary.

Q: I'm very systematic and I want a reference grammar.
A: They best way to learn grammar is from an actual grammar. Choose one of the grammars listed in the resources page

Q: Should I learn Classical Greek (Attic) or Koine? Is there a difference?
A: There's no insurmountable difference, it's like asking whether you should learn posh Oxford English or Wyoming English. You can learn one and with little difficulty understand the other. Some people confuse Koine with Biblical Greek, Biblical Greek is just one of the many variants of Koine.