I'll basically post what I've already answered
elsewhere.
1) I've already
reviewed Prof. Zuntz's
Griechischer Lehrgang, which I consider to be the best method for Greek available and pointed out its flaws in the mentioned review and in
other posts where I suggested many other materials. Although it is not
stricto sensu a graded reader it can be perfectly used as such, it has the advantage of containing almost only "real Greek" instead of the "home-grown" or "home-made" Greek that Professor Zuntz so despised. Its Grammatical companion and vocabulary are of exceptional help and its proposed exercises do provide the perfect opportunity and encouragement to engage in the reading and comprehension questions I mentioned, as well as composition and review. Its only flaw (in my humble opinion) is that it's still too attached to the old "grammatical-analysis" method or at least it can prove very tempting to fall into that nightmarish methodology or its evil twin the "translation method". That aside the lack of an answers sheet can prove disturbing to the self-taught learners.
2) I've also already praised the
Italian version of the Athenaze in the mentioned
review and
post (The original English version has been so thoroughly surpassed by the Italian version that I cannot conceive of any reason to consult it other than the inability to read Italian, the
English Workbooks however do offer some utility). It is by far the best (although still not perfect) implementation of the Nature Method for the teaching of Greek, it's comparable to Ørberg's
Lingua Latīna per sē illūstrāta in depth, quality and friendliness to the pupil. Along with its
exercise books, it forms a very good learner's package, it includes a summary of the grammar and each chapter has an Enchiridion (or explanation), exercises and a vocabulary. It does lack an answer's sheet, but the only real flaw that it may have is that a great deal of the first volume is not "original Greek", that must be admitted, but in defence of the books I call not only on Prof. Miraglia's thorough knowledge of Greek but on the expertise, experience and unrivalled competence of the people who revised and corrected Miraglia's Greek, among others:
Prof. Dr. Herwig Görgemanns and Prof. Enrico Renna. The second volume is practically an anthology of original Greek so Prof. Zuntz's criticisms of "home-grown" Greek do not apply.
3) Peckett & Munday's
Thrasymachus: A New Greek Course has already been reviewed by Prof. Zuntz in the articles quoted below, so I omit further comment other than the praise on its (at the time, unequalled) innovatory conception, it has been surpassed by the
Athenaze.
4) The celebrated
Reading Greek of the Joint Association of Classical Teachers. It was this book's popularity which ultimately defeated Prof. Zuntz's attempts to publish his method in England and forced him to seek better luck elsewhere. Its a very, very good reader and method. It has the unrivalled advantage of being a living and thriving project so its under constant revision and edition. It has a very holistic approach best represented by its
Independent Study Guide or its companion volume
The World of Athens. It is the only other reader that can compete with
Athenaze in its vividness and natural proclivity to be used according to the principles of the Nature Method. More thorough reviews of the method and its parts are available
here,
here,
here,
here, and
here.
If
Athenaze can claim that it passed Prof. Görgemanns' punctilious examination,
Reading Greek answers that the legendary Prof.
Kenneth J. Dover is responsible for a great deal of the Greek text. So like with
Athenaze I believe Prof. Zuntz's reticence of "home-grown" Greek would be uncalled for in this case.
_____________________
Other materials (although not precisely textbooks) I've already recommended
here, I copy again:
I recommend Menge's
Repetitorium der griechischen Syntax. The whole book is actually a series of German phrases to be translated into Greek, and questions regarding Grammar with an exhaustive and detailed answer's section (the one thing that both the
Lehrgang and the Italian
Athenaze lack). The one defect of this book is that is very demanding and (if you do not read Greek constantly) dull and oft-times boring. From the 10th edition onwards, the Repetitorium includes a supplement by Jürgen Wiesner on particles, it is very thorough and illustrative with an impresive variety of examples, it is not theoretic like
Denniston's Greek Patricles and is far more student friendly and straightforward, I have not found a better tool for the study of particles. Denniston (and Dover for that matter) may be unsurpassed in their knowledge and expertise of the Greek language but I simply cannot conceive a pupil (much less a beginner) actually consulting the
Greek Particles to his advantage if he does not have previously a very good command of the subject.
Another great tool for composition (far more beginners-friendly than the
Repetitorium) are the two volumes written by Herwig Görgemanns, Manuel Baumbach & Helga Köhler:
Griechische Stilübungen I. Übungsbuch zur Formenlehre und Kasussyntax
Griechische Stilübungen II. Übungsbuch zur Verbalsyntax und Satzlehre
Like Menge's book, these two have answers sections, reasonably short but explicative (they also register other possible correct solutions or variations of the correct answer) and actually explain why something is right or wrong. They refer always to two Greek Grammars in their explanations:
1) Hans Zinsmeister's
Griechische Grammatik I: Griechische Laut- und Formenlehre and Hans Lindemann & Hans Färber's
Griechische Grammatik II: Satzlehre, Dialektgrammatik und Metrik. It is a very good and practical grammar, made with the University student in mind, pays special attention to linguistic phenomena.
2) Eduard Bornemann & Ernst Risch's
Griechische Grammatik. Is the official grammar used everywhere in Germany to teach Greek. Very reliable and direct, is not exhaustive but still is detailed enough to make it the basic reference grammar for beginners.