I have a book on Attic greek, but I really would like to read homer. How different are both dialects? It’s better to learn one after the other, or would be nice to learn both together? or just one?
thanks
Fairly different, but not radically. Apart from some dialect differences which show up as minor spelling changes, say ἀγορή ‐ ἀγορά, probably the difference that makes Homeric the easiest is that it contracts less, which makes learning many paradigms easier. In fact, many Attic textbooks give the Homeric forms in parentheses for contracted noun declensions to show the uncontracted forms.
There are also some syntax and word meaning differences (the article in Attic means “this, that” in Homeric).
It’s better to learn one after the other, or would be nice to learn both together? or just one?
Not together. Start with one or the other. If your goal is to read Homer, you might as well start with Homer.
Ok, thank you!
I think I will start with Pharr’s Homeric Greek.It seems to be a good choice.
One of the things you’ll have to do is learn new homeric vocab, and of course there are these different froms, but I do find it easier, as the sentences aren’t as long and complicated 