Homeric, Attic, Koine, what?

Here you can discuss all things Ancient Greek. Use this board to ask questions about grammar, discuss learning strategies, get help with a difficult passage of Greek, and more.
Post Reply
psilord
Textkit Member
Posts: 184
Joined: Fri Dec 24, 2004 9:38 pm
Location: Madison, WI

Homeric, Attic, Koine, what?

Post by psilord »

I poked all around Textkit, but I couldn't find a document explaining the difference (at least at a high level) between the Homeric, Attic, Koine greek dialects (chronology, representative bodies of work/authors in each, language features, etc.). For example, it was suggested to me that I should learn Homeric first since then Attic would be much easier, and it would be harder the other way around. I'm quite happy to do this, since Homer is what I'm wanting to read. But why? It implies that Homeric greek has a lot of strange aspects about it that Attic greek got rid of and so it is simpler to learn a small set of changes from Homeric to Attic then what would appear to be crazy modifications from Attic to Homeric.

Basically, if you asked me what dialect Plato was, I couldn't tell you. How does one find out?

Thanks.

GlottalGreekGeek
Textkit Zealot
Posts: 903
Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2004 3:37 am
Location: Mountain View

Post by GlottalGreekGeek »

Plato happens to be Attic.

I believe this website will answer your questions :

http://www.co-prosperity.org/~annis/tex ... lects.html

psilord
Textkit Member
Posts: 184
Joined: Fri Dec 24, 2004 9:38 pm
Location: Madison, WI

Post by psilord »

I must say that exactly solves my problem.

Thank you!

mingshey
Textkit Zealot
Posts: 1338
Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2003 6:38 am
Location: Seoul
Contact:

Post by mingshey »

I reckon this board needs an FAQ list. :!: :idea:

dialects, pronunciations, accents, time schedules, etc.

psilord
Textkit Member
Posts: 184
Joined: Fri Dec 24, 2004 9:38 pm
Location: Madison, WI

Post by psilord »

I concur. A FAQ would be a good thing. Most of the information is already around, it just needs collating. Maybe you could start a thread on what questions should be in the FAQ?
No answers at first, just questions to be answered. Then you can collate what is already solved into one nice big repository and work on the rest of the answers.

User avatar
benissimus
Global Moderator
Posts: 2733
Joined: Mon May 12, 2003 4:32 am
Location: Berkeley, California
Contact:

Post by benissimus »

I like this article :) (By our own Greek moderator)
Last edited by benissimus on Tue Dec 28, 2004 1:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
flebile nescio quid queritur lyra, flebile lingua murmurat exanimis, respondent flebile ripae

Licinius
Textkit Neophyte
Posts: 18
Joined: Fri Aug 20, 2004 10:50 am
Location: Portugal

Post by Licinius »

Nice article Benissimus!Oi Psilord por aqui também? Espero que esteja tudo bem consigo

psilord
Textkit Member
Posts: 184
Joined: Fri Dec 24, 2004 9:38 pm
Location: Madison, WI

Post by psilord »

Licinius wrote:Oi Psilord por aqui também? Espero que esteja tudo bem consigo
I'm sorry, but I don't understand Esperanto.

FiliusLunae
Textkit Member
Posts: 111
Joined: Sun Jun 20, 2004 11:22 pm
Location: California, USA

Post by FiliusLunae »

Wow, I happened to come in here because I was wondering about the same thing. Though I'm not planning to learn Greek, that article totally cleared my doubt. :-)
psilord wrote:I'm sorry, but I don't understand Esperanto.
It's Portuguese. :-)

Licinius wrote:Nice article Benissimus!Oi Psilord por aqui também? Espero que esteja tudo bem consigo
O pa, não sabia que havia portugueses aqui. Eu, porém, estou a aprender latim. De onde és? Bem, só queria-te saudar. Se quiseres falar comigo, talvez poderiamos fazê-lo no fórum aberto?? Até logo, pois.

Licinius
Textkit Neophyte
Posts: 18
Joined: Fri Aug 20, 2004 10:50 am
Location: Portugal

Post by Licinius »

Quid est forum aberto?
Eu também venho cá pelo latim mas adorei este artigo. Saudações para ti também

GlottalGreekGeek
Textkit Zealot
Posts: 903
Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2004 3:37 am
Location: Mountain View

Post by GlottalGreekGeek »

I have never studied Portuguese in my life, yet I understand 75% of what you're saying. :D Vivu la lingvoj romanaj ! (tio vere esti en Esperanto).

Edit : This is getting very off-topic ... um ... :(

Which dialect of Ancient Greek is your faviorite?

Dingbats
Textkit Member
Posts: 166
Joined: Thu Sep 09, 2004 2:50 pm
Location: Sweden

Post by Dingbats »

Sorry if I sound like a n00b, but which is the dialect that people usually learn, like what's spoken here at Textkit? Or are there many different dialects that I read here in the threads? And if you know only one dialect, would you still understand the others?
I don't know any Greek at all, but I've been thinking of learning some day.

FiliusLunae
Textkit Member
Posts: 111
Joined: Sun Jun 20, 2004 11:22 pm
Location: California, USA

Post by FiliusLunae »

Licinius wrote:Quid est forum aberto?
Eu também venho cá pelo latim mas adorei este artigo. Saudações para ti também
Ooops... desculpa-me. Quis fazer uma tradução directo do inglês, só que nesse momento pensei que se chamava «Open Forum». E pois, chama-se «Open Board». Hehe... é o que quis dizer, para nos falarmos. E é verdade o que disse o GlottalGreekGeek, esta conversa está a ficar fora de tópico! Hehe... De qualquer maneira, seria bom que falássemos... só que não sei como.
Fica bem, e espero que falemos logo.

Sorry, guys! :)

ThomasGR
Textkit Enthusiast
Posts: 444
Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2004 8:49 pm

Post by ThomasGR »

I wonder why people find it difficult to learn first Koine, and then learn the few difference of Epic Greek. My case is that I prefer the first one, since most literature is written in either Koine or Attic Greek. For the few poems in Epic or Homeric Greek, I often "transform" them into Attic and find it easily to understand, though will never write anything in it (using Homeric Greek). The real question is now, imho, which form of Greek one intends to write down on paper, and not only be restricted into understanding it.

Post Reply