Hello! First post.

[Whitefort]

Hi, my name is John, I live in Northern Ireland, and I'm a Greekoholic.

At first I could handle it: A college course on Koine. Then I pretty much quit for a while except for an occasional shot of NT.

But last year I tried a drop of the hard stuff. A shot of Attic Grammar. Ever since, I've been gulping it down with my breakfast and with my morning coffee. Sometimes even before I fall asleep at night.

But now I'm on the REALLY hard stuff. Iliad, book one. I'm ready to admit that I need help!

But seriously, I've been working hard at this stuff, and I'd rate my current ability as somewhere on the fringe between 'beginner' and 'intermediate.'

I'll be in the forum primarily as a learner, but I hope (eventually) as a helper too.

First I need to learn the mysteries of how to post Greek text (I'm not overly tech-savvy)

Anyway, Hello!

[Jeff Tirey]

Hi John and welcome!

We have some good resources here for Homeric Greek. NT, Attic, and Homeric can all be starting points and I think it's good to dabble. In the U.S. at a college level, a Greek student will cover all three within 2 years of course work. No matter what you read, I think the secret to success is to find something you want to read, so that you stay motivated and so that there's personal importance to all the time you are investing into this difficult task. It sounds like you are hooked.

Kindly,
Jeff

[Whitefort]

Many thanks for the reply, Jeff.

I've recently worked though some Lucian (using the intermediate readers of True Story, The Onos, and The Syrian Goddess), but I want to have a serious stab at Homer, so to try to do this in a reasonably structured way I've just bought a copy of Pharr's Homeric Greek (the one revised by Wright and Debnar).

I still just don't 'get' how Greek poetry works, despite reading a few basic explanations, so I have a lot of work to do there.

I'm also reading some New Testament and/or Septuagint most days (for the good of my soul!)

The odd thing about Homer... I never really liked Iliad much in English (I'm a Philistine, I know!), but I'm loving it in Greek. Perhaps it's because I'm having to slow down and pay attention to every word, rather than just speed-reading it for the 'story'.

I expect I'll be a bit of a lurker in the forum, gathering hints and tips wherever I can, but if I think I can provide an answer for anyone looking for help, I'll jump in.

Thanks again!

[Osterdeich]

I still just don't 'get' how Greek poetry works, despite reading a few basic explanations, so I have a lot of work to do there.

Welcome, John. There's a fella named Annis here who knows a lot about that. Seek him out—I'll bet he'd help if you had questions.