A typical Greek class will demand that you memorize hundreds and hundreds of vocabulary words and paradigms of inflected forms, but the reality is that much of that vocabulary and most of those forms will rarely occur. A typical class will concentrate on reproducing forms and accents perfectly, when there is no context outside of a beginning Greek class in which you will need to write ancient Greek. A typical class will emphasize sight reading unprepared passages, when there is no context outside of a beginning Greek class in which you will need to render any text without the use of the tools that that lay one mouse-click away.
In short, the typical Greek class is designed to stand as a kind of antiquated intellectual hazing exercise constructed in order to weed out the masses who are not obsessively dedicated enough to spend years jumping through a lot of useless and insane hoops.
This class will be different. I have adopted an unconventional approach to learning Greek. I want to make the ancient Greek language accessible to anyone. I am not abiding by a textbook. I am not requiring that you to memorize anything, if you choose not to. However, the things that I do recommend memorizing are elements that WILL OCCUR THE MOST FREQUENTLY in the texts we will be addressing. Thus learning them will be most time- and labor-efficient.
You will learn how to analyze language as language. Grammar and syntax. You will be able to articulate what each word is doing in a particular context and how you are able to determine that function. This skill will transfer back to the craft of writing correct English prose, as well as giving you a substantial advantage when it comes to learning to read any other foreign languages.
I will teach you to use the most helpful and flexible digital tools, freely available on-line, principally Alpheios (a browser extension) and Dependency Trees using Arethusa on the Perseids website. I will also refer to the standard reference work, Smyth’s Greek Grammar, available on-line for free and in hard copy for very little money, so that you always have a reference point for further, very detailed explanations, should you want them.
The ultimate aim of this class is to break down the academic barriers that stand in the way, so that you can experience the satisfaction, understanding, and thrill of reading Homer, Demosthenes, Thucydides, or Paul in his own words.
