Introduction with some questions.

Textkit Community Open Board
1

Hello,

I’m Nabonidus. I like history, greek mythology, and the bible, and I’ve been wanting to learn Greek for a few years now, partially for the ancient classics and partially for the bible(new testament/Septuagint). Attic, Homeric, and Koine Greek all would be of interest to me at some point. It seems from browsing this forum that it’s generally recommended to start with Classical/Attic and branch out from there. Is that the case?

I know no Greek at all right now, not even the alphabet. I’m looking for a textbook. This one:

https://www.amazon.com/Greek-Intensive-Course-2nd-Revised/dp/0823216632/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1543393810&sr=1-1&keywords=greek+an+intensive+course

looks good and has a lot of good reviews, but I haven’t heard it mentioned much on this forum. It seems that a lot of people like Athenaze, but it seems that the first edition is out of print and there are problems with the second edition. If anyone has opinions about the textbook I linked to or suggestions for a different one, that would be welcome.

I’m also not sure what pronunciation I should use. It seems that there are a few different schemes for ancient pronunciation, and a lot of people use modern. Opinions about that would also be welcome.

2

Welcome, Nabonidus. I think there is a majority in favor of starting with Attic. In choosing a textbook as a self-learner, make sure you can find also the key for the exercises, although you are still encouraged to post your work here for correction.

3

The following are important resources for someone starting out on their own:

Morwood’s Oxford Grammar of Classical Greek
Morwood’s Pocket Oxford Classical Greek Dictionary

I don’t know the best textbook to recommend. I’d probably go with Crosby and Schaeffer An Introduction to Greek. JACT and Athenaze seem to have good reviews, but I know less about them.

If you’re interested in reading Greek poetry, you’ll want to use the pronunciation guide found in most of these books, which gives the standard British “scientific” pronunciation of Greek. Allen’s Vox Graeca is a wonderful resource.