Polybius was writing in the first half of the second century BC (mostly while living in Rome but mostly for a Greek audience back home). What are the main differences between his Greek and Attic?
Thanks in advance.
daler wrote:I am also interested in this topic. I am learning Koine and wonder if I will have difficulty with non-biblical texts. I am mostly interested in Hellenistic sources such as Polybius and Plutarch. Should I shift to Attic? I have to say that while the new testament would be interesting to read, it is not my main goal for learning Greek.
daler wrote:Haha, because I had the Koine book, mainly. It's a question I've had for awhile, though. I know Koine, is supposed to be the "Common" spoken after Alexander, but a LOT was written in Greek after Alexander. How come people only seem to mention the NT with Koine? Did Attic overlap with it? I'm interested in the Eastern Roman Empire after the fall of the Roman Republic. I've read that the lingua franca (I love using that term anachronistically) of the eastern empire was Koine. Is that true or would Attic still have been prevalent? I'm fascinated by the Ptolemies and Alexandria etc.
I guess this isn't a life or death decision for me, but it's just that almost ALL of the Koine instruction is geared to the NT and it's vocabulary. I imagine my secular interests might not be best served studying these books designed to teach the NT, but Attic intimidates me with it's reputation. Is Attic the best way to go to read late Greek authors?
so much confusion.
daler wrote:oh NOW you're being pedantic. : ) I have little interest in anything after Byzantine Greek.
like, I posted originally. Hellenistic period. So... you're saying that the ideal was to emulate Attic by most people writing in Greek during that time. Now, I know most people writing latin in the middle ages were thinking they were trying to emulate golden age latin, but not always succeeding, hence people studying church latin more for reading texts from that time period.
You are implying to me that Attic was still closer to what people were writing in at the time than Koine.
If I want to read Polybius and Plutarch and Lucian, I should study Attic because their writing is closer to that than Koine?
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