hey guys and girls,
i’ve just finished up my elementary greek course at my university. we used the chase & phillips text–how do you guys feel about this book? any opinions? it was my first textbook of an ancient language, so i don’t have much to compare it to, but i feel like it taught me what i needed to know in a clear and systematic way.
for those of you who have used it (and also those who haven’t), what would you recommend to go on to next? towards the end of the year, we did some of Xenophon’s Anabasis, but i’d like to try something new.
it’d be great to hear what you guys think. thanks!
I’ve come across a lot of Greek textbooks and I unfortunately have to rank it as one of the lowest ones. The grammatical explanations are sparse. There is no answer key. If people think Hansen and Quinn is bad, they haven’t looked at this book. I suppose this is for a classroom setting and not for self-study. I think a better book for classroom setting is Ancient Greek Alive, but they don’t use very much authentic Greek material. The author wrote the material herself. I’ve just orderd Thrasymachus. From what I gather, this is akin to Pharr’s Homeric Greek. I love books that use an entire text to teach language. It’s more satisfying than translating random quotes all day long. I think you have enough Greek to go through a Cambridge Yellow and Green. Just choose an author that interests you the most and start reading:
http://www.cambridge.org/uk/browse/browse_all.asp?subjectid=1013261
Happy browsing. 
I would totally agree with 1% about “Ancient Greek Alive”-when I first got my copy, I was a little put off, because some of the stories were written by the author instead of being “authentic” Greek. But, on second thought, it doesn’t matter-this is the book for first year students-maybe beyond that. I do a little tutoring (just the basics) in Greek, and AGA is THE book to use. It is the most “user-friendly” Greek text book available-you can’t help but be charmed by the author’s approach. I’m convinced that this is the best book to help new students become comfortable with Greek. I am a couple of years beyond the level of AGA, & I still carry my copy around with me-I love it. Excuse me for gushing-I have gone from skeptic to fanatic about this book-it works, it’s a beautiful book, it’s fun (!), & the author really communicates her love of Greek. No other Greek text fits that description. Best wishes. Paige.