This intense short course is aimed at postgraduate students and researchers and assumes no knowledge of ancient Greek. The course will show complete beginners how they can use even a small knowledge of Greek to help them become less reliant on English translations for key points. It outlines the main elements of Attic Greek by looking at some of the key features of this inflected language (so different from English, more overlap with Latin). It lays out some basic morphology (article, nouns, verbs, and adjectives) and lays the foundations for further learning. By the end of the week, students will be able to identify some grammar forms and structures and use grammar books and a lexicon to determine their own understanding of the meaning of a sentence.

The ability to read the Greek alphabet is required before the first session: some initial materials will be circulated a week before the course starts, including audio files. As this is an intensive course, a substantial amount of independent study and practice of what will be taught in class will be expected: ideally at least four half-hour sessions each day. Tasks will be given to be completed in your own time before the following session. Every session will consist of grammar material and exercises.

The course will run for five days, Monday 4th - Friday 8th November 2024, 16:30-18:00 (UK time). All classes will be taught virtually on Teams. To apply, please fill in a short form here. Deadline for applications, 31 October 2024. If you have any questions, please contact the course tutor: Clive Letchford on Clive.Letchford@warwick.ac.uk

Muse reading a scroll.

Attic red-figure lekythos, ca. 435-425 BC.

Course Schedule

1. Session 1 (4th November 2024)

• Preparation: the ability to read the Greek alphabet is essential.

• Introduction to key books and resources
• Practice in reading
• Challenges of an inflected language
• Building blocks in grammar and vocabulary
• Overview of the ancient Greek accidence (cases/gender/number, article, declensions, verb moods/tenses/voices, adjectives, pronouns, prepositions)
• The article - ὁ ἡ τό

2. Session 2 (5th November 2024)

• Using an on-line lexicon
• Basic case use
• First and second declension nouns (τιμή, λόγος, δῶρον)
• Exercise: 'Who did what to who?'
• Verb 'to be' present tense.

3. Session 3 (6th November 2024)

• More case use and word order (sandwich construction, attributive/predicative position)
• The verb system: overview

4. Session 4 (7th November)

• Most common vocabulary (top 10, 50, 100 words)
• Third declension nouns (m/f, n, contracted)
• Taking it further: course books

5. Session 5 (8th November 2024)

• Greek dialects (or why you can't read Homer - yet)
• Verb problems: aorist tense, mi-verbs
• Longer sentences: participles and words indicating subordinate clauses
• Continuing your journey

Initial bibliography (subject to update):

• J. Morwood, Oxford Grammar of Classical Greek, 2001
• E. van Emde Boas et al., The Cambridge Grammar of Classical Greek, 2019

Materials to help learning the alphabet will be sent out a week before the course starts.

Material and Assignments

Grammar Exercises

Online Resources

(subject to updates)

Participants will pay £200 for the course. Those whose institution belongs to the Newberry Library Consortium may be eligible to receive CRS Consortium Grants to cover the cost of the course. (Contact your local consortium representative for details.) Warwick PhD Students will not have to pay the course fees.

Participants accepted onto the course, should familiarise themselves with the applicable Terms & Conditions, here.