First Greek reading

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Ahmedattia
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First Greek reading

Post by Ahmedattia »

Dear all,

I have just finished studying the textbook An Introduction to Ancient Greek: A Literary Approach, and I'm wondering which of the following books at my disposal should I begin studying:

Loeb:

Babrius Fables
Iliad
Odyssey
Plato: Apology, Euthyphro, Crito, Phaedrus, Phaedo
Anabasis

New Testament (Nestle Aland)
Septuagint (Hendrickson Publishers)

My first attempt was with LXX's Genesis, which I gave up after a few chapters because a) the book is too heavy to hold in a comfortable manner and b) the text is badly presented.

Note that the GNT edition doesn't come with an English translation opposite the Greek text.

Thank you.

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seneca2008
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Re: First Greek reading

Post by seneca2008 »

Xenophon's Anabasis is traditionally a beginner's text and if the subject matter interests you then make a start there. It would be a good idea to use a commentary (MAther and Hewitt?) and only turn to the loeb where you really cant figure something out.

What did you think of An Introduction to Ancient Greek: A Literary Approach?
Persuade tibi hoc sic esse, ut scribo: quaedam tempora eripiuntur nobis, quaedam subducuntur, quaedam effluunt. Turpissima tamen est iactura, quae per neglegentiam fit. Et si volueris attendere, maxima pars vitae elabitur male agentibus, magna nihil agentibus, tota vita aliud agentibus.

C. S. Bartholomew
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Re: First Greek reading

Post by C. S. Bartholomew »

You have LXX Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton (1807-1862), Right?

LXX Genesis is generally speaking translation greek, the words are Greek but the syntax is not. The physical text of the Brenton reprints is almost unreadable.

If you want to do some reading in the Greek NT, Gospel of John Ch 1:19-ff is simple narrative.

Some of the dialogues in Plato are very readable. I don't have them on hand, someone else might tell you where to start.
C. Stirling Bartholomew

Ahmedattia
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Re: First Greek reading

Post by Ahmedattia »

seneca2008 wrote:Xenophon's Anabasis is traditionally a beginner's text and if the subject matter interests you then make a start there. It would be a good idea to use a commentary (MAther and Hewitt?) and only turn to the loeb where you really cant figure something out.

What did you think of An Introduction to Ancient Greek: A Literary Approach?
I think the Gospels interest me more at the moment, and so I'll make Anabasis the first text to delve into after I'm at least done with John.

As for the textbook, it's the first language pedagogy textbook I've ever consciously studied, so I'm not sure how it compares with others on the market. But I found the material fairly presented and seldom encountered a problem. I'm now three chapters into the Gospel of John and believe Luschnig's textbook has so far given me the boost I've needed to begin reading.

Thank you.

Ahmedattia
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Re: First Greek reading

Post by Ahmedattia »

C. S. Bartholomew wrote:You have LXX Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton (1807-1862), Right?

LXX Genesis is generally speaking translation greek, the words are Greek but the syntax is not. The physical text of the Brenton reprints is almost unreadable.

If you want to do some reading in the Greek NT, Gospel of John Ch 1:19-ff is simple narrative.

Some of the dialogues in Plato are very readable. I don't have them on hand, someone else might tell you where to start.
Yes Brenton's book is an ergonomic atrocity.

I read the first four chapters of Genesis, and, though I was learning new vocab, I found the construction of sentences too inconsistent for me to discern patterns.

Which gospel would you recommend I attempt after John?

Thank you.

C. S. Bartholomew
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Re: First Greek reading

Post by C. S. Bartholomew »

Ahmedattia wrote:[
Which gospel would you recommend I attempt after John?
Ordering the Gospels by reading difficulty is relatively straight forward at the extremes. John's syntax is not marked by either complexity or irregularities. His vocabulary is relatively small. Luke is written in a higher-register (more complexity) with a large vocabulary. In the middle, Mark and Matthew are not so easy to rank. Matthew's discourse structure follows a pattern which becomes really obvious after a few pages. Mark's syntax occasionally presents the reader with something to ponder.

So I think it is a toss up between Matthew and Mark, assuming you want to read in ascending order of difficulty. Reading Matthew first puts you in harmony with the practice of the ancient Church.

This has been discussed on the other forum:
https://www.ibiblio.org/bgreek/forum/vi ... =14&t=1842

Luke may be the most difficult Gospel but:
Postby Barry Hofstetter » May 12th, 2013, 11:11 pm
Justin Cofer wrote:
2 Corinthians is really tough. Upon trying to read through it, I had such difficulties I had to stop and go through Luke which I found enormously easier. 2 Cor was bit over my head and I wasn't getting enough comprehensible input fast enough from Paul in 2 Cor.
2 Corinthians has always been difficult for me, as these things go. Partly it's because Paul uses a fair amount of odd vocabulary and idiomatic expressions throughout the text. To this day I slow down a bit when I read it. Give me Hebrews any day... :lol:
N.E. Barry Hofstetter
I agree. Having in the last year or so undertaken a study of 2 Corinthians, using all the best commentaries (from Libraries) including M.J. Harris and most recently G. Guthrie. I am not done with it. Set it aside to work on other projects.
C. Stirling Bartholomew

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Re: First Greek reading

Post by daivid »

C. S. Bartholomew wrote:
Ordering the Gospels by reading difficulty is relatively straight forward at the extremes. John's syntax is not marked by either complexity or irregularities. His vocabulary is relatively small. Luke is written in a higher-register (more complexity) with a large vocabulary. .
This has been my experience reading reading Acts and I assume your comments on Luke apply just as much to Acts. The syntax is a bit simpler than Xenophon but that is more than offset by the extensive vocabulary. This is made worse by the fact that often his words have a whole range of meanings so it is difficult for someone at my level to guess which one applies.

I might well try John.

For an alternative "First Greek reading" you might try Strabo. His syntax is simpler than Xenophon though he also has a rather extensive vocabulary. However, unlike the writer of Luke-Acts his vocabulary normally has only one meaning.
λονδον

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WidenWastea
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Re: First Greek reading

Post by WidenWastea »

Ahmedattia wrote:
I have just finished studying the textbook An Introduction to Ancient Greek: A Literary Approach, and I'm wondering which of the following books at my disposal should I begin studying:
It's crazy how few people on textkit used this book! Having just completed it myself, I had some of the same questions. I was cautioned by my professor from reading the Bible for being "too easy," which I actually agree with. While reading John may be a good confidence boost, as at least I found it to be, my professor urged me to go with Anabasis (Mather and Hewitt) and the Gynaikologia from the Oeconomicus. The latter he gave me as a photocopy so I do not know its provenance, but on any open page there is Greek on the right page and notes on the left with some glosses and grammatical explanations (though not too many as to go into hand-holding a-la Steadman). I find it much easier to handle than the Mather/Hewitt Anabasis which though self-contained is still cumbersome (with the incessant page-flipping involved).
φάγωμεν καὶ πίωμεν, αὔριον γὰρ ἀποθνήσκομεν
(But don't get it twisted, I'm not here for the Koine but the Homer)

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WidenWastea
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Re: First Greek reading

Post by WidenWastea »

seneca2008 wrote: What did you think of An Introduction to Ancient Greek: A Literary Approach?
If I may jump in, having just finished it myself, I very much enjoyed it. Having seen Athenaze and read through some of it while learning from Luschnig I can say I prefer Luschnig's approach. But as to that approach, I have worked through a fair amount of H&Q Intensive and it does what Luschnig does with far more depth and clarity in the explanations. The main weakness of Luschnig is that she waits so long to introduce the Subjunctive and Optative (penultimate chapter) and so it is only really seen in use at the end of the book as opposed to H&Q who introduce it early and use it frequently for the rest of the book. A sub-problem here is that Conditional Sentences are never treated as a whole. My other gripes are many, mostly with regard to the layout of charts and omissions from the appendix with regard to incidence. The main strengths of the book are the copious practice sentences, real Greek throughout, and logical progression of (certain) topics. In the end, however, I wish I had learned with H&Q, which would've been not only a better learning experience, but also a better reference to keep around.
φάγωμεν καὶ πίωμεν, αὔριον γὰρ ἀποθνήσκομεν
(But don't get it twisted, I'm not here for the Koine but the Homer)

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