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Learn ancient Greek with an innovative professor using two great masterworks: Homer's Iliad and the New Testament. Covering the topics in a typical year of introductory college-level ancient Greek, Greek 101 exposes you to authentic texts, leading you to read prose and poetry with confidence, precision, and pleasure.

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1. The Greek Alphabet & Pronunciation

30m

Learn the 24 letters of the Greek alphabet using the restored classical pronunciation, recognizing that there was some variation in pronunciation in the ancient world. Practice the pairings of vowels called diphthongs, and sound out a selection of words that you will soon be reading in sentences.

2. First-Declension Nouns

30m

Discover that Greek nouns have gender and their endings supply a host of information, such as whether the case is nominative, genitive, dative, or accusative-a function usually performed by word order or prepositions in English. Begin with the eight noun endings of the primarily feminine first declension.

3. Basic Rules of Greek Accentuation

30m

Invented over two thousand years ago by Aristophanes of Byzantium, head of the Library of Alexandria, accents are important clues to the pronunciation of Greek words, and they often provide other crucial information. Learn the rules for the three types of accents: acute, grave, and circumflex.

4. Additional Patterns of the First Declension

30m

Look at two variations in the pattern of the first declension-one used in Homeric Greek and the other in Koine, the Greek of the New Testament. Despite being separated by almost a thousand years, the two dialects have remarkable continuity.

5. Verbs in the Present Tense

30m

Greek verbs can be described in terms of person, number, tense, voice, and mood. In this lesson, focus on verbs that are present active indicative. Learn that voice, person, and number are indicated by endings on the verb base. For the present tense, these are called primary endings.

6. Adjective Forms & Second-Declension Nouns

30m

So far, you have studied first-declension nouns, which are mainly feminine. Now expand your range into masculine and neuter nouns, many of which use second-declension endings. Practice these endings together with their adjectival forms in words that you will encounter in Homer.

7. Building Basic Translation Skills

30m

Review what you have learned up until now. Then try your hand at translating from English to Greek-first into Homeric Greek and then into Koine, noticing the key differences between the two dialects. Close by reading the opening passage of the Gospel of John in its unadapted original Koine.

8. First- & Second-Declension Pronouns

30m

Delve deeper into the first and second declensions, discovering that the endings for demonstrative adjectives and pronouns differ in only minor ways from those for nouns. Practice using different types of pronouns, and learn that they underwent a fascinating evolution from Homeric Greek to Koine.

9. Verbs in the Imperfect Tense

30m

Greek has several ways of talking about the past. Focus on the imperfect tense, which describes an action that was ongoing in the past-for example, "The Achaeans were dishonoring the gods." The imperfect is built by adding a vowel prefix, called an augment, to the verb base, plus secondary endings.

10. Verbs in the Future & Aorist Tenses

30m

Learn two new tenses: the future and aorist. In the process, encounter the concept of principal parts, which are indispensable for recognizing different tenses. Concentrate on the first three principal parts for regular verbs (present and imperfect, future, and aorist). Also inspect some irregular verbs.

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Hans-Friedrich MuellerWriter

Hans-Friedrich MuellerActor

Greek 101: Learning an Ancient Language

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