What is your opinion of Thrasymachus: Greek Through Reading and Athenaze? From the little I’ve read about these texts, it seems like they are similar in format, i.e., teaching Greek by means of a story. I had never considered using a text like this, but after I read so many good things about Lingva Latina on the Latin Forum, and thinking that Thrasymachus or Athenaze might be similar in approach to it, I thought it might be worth my time to take a look at them.
Χαί?ε, διακονε·
[Please let me know if that isn’t legible]
I’m using Ἀθήνᾱζε, and I think it’s absolutely wonderful. The method for teaching Greek in my Florentine class has been abominable (though the terrible quality of classics instruction in the penninsula is quite infamous), and Ὰθήνᾱζε may be the only thing that saves me. I’m only on the fourth chapter, and there are some fifteen in the first volume; I’m hoping to complete the majority of those in the coming weeks (in order to take my final exam with some good chance of succeeding). In any case, since I’m going to be mega-cramming, as it were, and since I’ll hopefully finish most of the book by early January, feel free to e-mail me and ask how I’ve liked it.
Λουκᾶς Ἱππεύς
I’ll hopefully finish most of the book by early January, feel free to e-mail me and ask how I’ve liked it.
I will 
Thanks, Lucus, for the input. Studying Greek through a story used to seem so . . . oh, for the wimps, but now that I’ve studied Greek for a while and have a lot of grammar dancing about my head but without the ability to read Greek with any kind of ease (excepting the New Testament, which is pretty easy, but I chalk that up to the fact that I am very familiar with the NT in English), I thought that Athenze or_Thrasymachus_ might help me develop better reading skills. (BTW, your posts on the Latin forum persuaded me to order Lingva Latina). I took an intensive course in Latin, in which we went through Wheelock’s in one semester, but I didn’t keep up with it, so hopefully Lingua Latina will be a good refresher.)
I’m pleased to hear about Lingua Latina! Yes, I highly recommend it. Good luck!
Ed Elessar, certo.
Mmmm, I have only browsed through Athenaze, so I cannot give a solid opinion. However, I have heard criticisms in the past which put it on par with Wheelock for making Greek too easy (in other words, claims that say that it won’t prepare you adequately for reading real Greek authors). I do not know how true these claims are. However, I feel obliged to inform you that Athenaze may not be the best book out there. On the other hand, it might be the best book for you.
I myself used Pharr’s Homeric Greek (availible for free here), which I consider an excellent introduction since it gets you reading unmodified Ancient Greek text swiftly. It is like what you request, since it does have the story of the Illiad as the main narrative (though it’s the real Iliad, which makes it more satisfying than a mere textbook narrative). However, it has its own drawbacks, like every textbook, though since you already have a some Greek grammar under you belt I think you would overcome some of them.
You could also try White’s First Greek Book, also availible here. I went through about 20 lessons before switching to Pharr. It prepares you for reading Xenophon’s Anabasis, and also has a narrative which is to be read after each lesson to practice reading skills. I imagine after going through it you could handle Xenophon quite well, though Xenophon may not be your goal.
Another textbook I have heard of is “Ancient Greek Alive”. Again, I have only browsed through it, but one of the positive comments I hear most often is how entertaining and readable the stories in Ancient Greek which it contains are (though they are stories taken from outside Greek culture).