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Table of Contents
Winfred P. Lehmann and Jonathan Slocum
Lessons
0. Introduction to Classical Greek
1. from Thucydides' History of the war between the Peloponnesians and the Athenians,
Book 1
2. from Homer's Iliad
3. from Homer's Odyssey
4. from Herodotus' History, Book 1
5. from Herodotus' History, Book 4
6. from Xenophon's Anabasis
7. from Hesiod's Works and Days, Part 1
8. from Plato's Republic, Book 6, Section 13
9. from Aristotle's The Poetics, Book 4: 22-26
10. from Pausanias' Description of Greece, Attica 22: 4-5
Grammar Points
1. The alphabet and sound system.
1.1. The alphabet.
1.2. The sound system.
2. Greek, a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) language.
3. Modifications of the basic sentence pattern.
4. Nominal inflection.
5. Verb inflection.
6. Conjunctions and Particles.
7. Participles.
8. Nouns in consonantal declension.
9. Personal pronouns.
10. The Present System of verbs.
11. Nouns: ι-stems.
12. Adjectives of the -ο- and -ᾱ- Declensions.
13. The Intensive Pronoun αὐτός and ἄλλος 'other'.
14. The Dual.
15. The Aorist System.
16. Nouns ending in -ηρ.
17. Irregular nouns.
18. Demonstrative pronouns.
19. The uses of infinitives.
20. The Present system of the Middle and the Passive.
21. Consonant stems ending in dentals.
22. Comparison of adjectives.
23. Interrogative and indefinite pronouns.
24. The middle and passive voices.
25. The subjunctive, optative, and imperative middle and passive forms, the infinitive and
participle.
26. Survey of noun declensions.
27. Suffixes applied to stems to indicate location.
28. Use of the augment.
29. Deponents.
30. The middle forms of the aorist.
31. Inflection of adjectives and participles.
32. Two frequently occurring adjectives.
33. Less frequent patterns of adjectival comparison.
34. Aorist of the passive.
35. Infinitives and participles of the aorist middle and passive.
36. Tense formation.
37. Tense formation of obstruent stems.
38. Tense formation of resonant stems.
39. The tense formations of some frequent but irregular verbs.
40. The Middle and Passive Perfect.
41. Verbs in -μι; the present and imperfect active system.
42. Forms of the aorist active.
43. Forms of the Present and Imperfect system of εἰμί 'am'.
44. Forms of οἶδα 'I know'.
45. Particles.
46. Texts.
47. Grammars.
48. Dictionaries.
49. Specialized handbooks.
50. The Legacy of the Greek World.
Thee parts of speech are inflected for four cases, besides a case of address called the
vocative. The cases are as follows:
·0 Nominative, the case of the subject;
·1 Genitive, the case to indicate possession -- possessive, in grammars of English
·2 Dative, the case of the indirect object
·3 Accusative, the case of the direct object -- objective, in grammars of English
Case forms may also be determined by prepositions.
In English, only the nominative, genitive/possessive and accusative/objective have been
maintained, and that only in pronouns: I is nominative, my is genitive, me is accusative.
Nouns simply have a nominative and a possessive, as in dog, dog's. Adjectives are not
inflected.
Greek nouns are also inflected for --
·4 number, that is, singular and plural; Classical Greek also maintained a dual.
·5 three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter.
·6 a large number of declensions.
Paradigms are given in the various lessons. For illustration here, forms of the article are
shown in all three genders, as well as the feminine noun for 'country' of the α-declension
and the masculine noun for 'word' and the neuter for 'gift' of the ο-declension:
Fem. Masc. Nt. Fem. Masc Nt
Sg. Nom. ἡ ὁ τό χώρα λόγος δῶρον
Sg. Gen. τῆς τοῦ τοῦ χώρας λόγου δώρου
Sg. Dat. τῇ τῷ τῷ χώρᾳ λόγῳ δώρῳ
Sg. Acc. τήν τόν τό χώραν λόγον δῶρον
Pl. Nom. αἱ οἱ τά χῶραι λόγοι δῶρα
Pl. Gen. τῶν τῶν τῶν χωρῶν λόγων δώρων
Pl. Dat. ταῖς τοῖς τοῖς χώραις λόγοις δώροις
Pl. Acc τάς τούς τά χώρας λόγους δῶρα
4.2 Verbs.
Like nouns, verbs have many inflections (though not all of the possible combinations
below are realized):
·7 Verbs are inflected for voice: active, middle, and passive. The middle indicates
action directed at the subject; this is often expressed in the lexical meaning itself.
Verbs with a basically middle voice are known as deponents; for example,
γίγνομαι means 'become, take place, be produced,' etc.
·8 Verbs are inflected for mood: indicative, subjunctive, and optative.
·9 Verbs are inflected for tense: present, past (or imperfect), and future. Of these,
there are three sets (again, not in all combinations): the basic (or simple), the
aorist, and the perfect. The past perfect is also called pluperfect.
In addition there are imperative forms, infinitives, participles, a gerund, and a supine. The
imperative forms are rare in written texts.
The present infinitive active may be illustrated by λέγειν 'to say, speak'; the aorist is
λέξαι. The present infinitive middle is λέγεσθαι; the aorist is λέξασθαι. The passive
infinitive is λέγεσθαι; the aorist is λεγθῆναι. The present participle active is λέγων,
λέγουσα, λέγον. The present participle middle and passive is λεγόμενος, λεγομένη,
λεγόμενον.
It should be obvious that the verb system of Greek is complex. The basic forms of
irregular verbs are generally listed in dictionaries.
4.3 The other parts of speech.
1. from Thucydides' History of the war between the Peloponnesians and the
Athenians, Book 1
2. from Homer's Iliad
3. from Homer's Odyssey
4. from Herodotus' History, Book 1
5. from Herodotus' History, Book 4
6. from Xenophon's Anabasis
7. from Hesiod's Works and Days, Part 1
8. from Plato's Republic, Book 6, Section 13
9. from Aristotle's The Poetics, Book 4: 22-26
10. from Pausanias' Description of Greece, Attica 22: 4-5
The Greek alphabet was taken over from the Phoenicians. It in turn was taken over by the
Romans, but from a version of the alphabet that differs somewhat from the standard. The
names are generally well known, such as the first two from our word alphabet, the third
from gamma rays, and so on.
The pronunciations are also straightforward. Those used in the classical period differ
somewhat from the pronunciations typically used in instruction today. When they differ,
the classical period pronunciations are indicated below using words in parentheses.
Alpha α, Α father
Beta β, Β bother
Gamma γ, Γ gather
Delta δ, Δ delta
Epsilon ε, Ε debt
Zeta ζ, Ζ zen
Eta η, Η rate (rat)
Theta θ, Θ thin (tin) i.e. with aspiration
Iota ι, Ι sin
Kappa κ, Κ cope (scope) i.e. no aspiration
Lamba λ, Λ lap
Mu μ, Μ map
Nu ν, Ν nap
Ksi ξ, Ξ tax
Omikron ο, Ο rope
Pi π, Π poke (spoke) i.e., no aspiration
Rho ρ, Ρ rope
Sigma σς, Σ soap (note: lower-case form has 2 variants)
Tau τ, Τ top (stop) i.e. no aspiration
Upsilon υ, Υ soon (German Suehne) i.e. front rounded
Phi φ, Φ four (pour) i.e. with aspiration
Chi χ, Χ core (German ich or ach) i.e. velar fricative
Psi ψ, Ψ tops
Omega ω, Ω boat (bought)
In addition, a word beginning with a vowel or diphthong may or may not have an initial
[h] sound. This is called a breathing. If the [h] sound is present, the breathing is called
rough, signalled by a rough breathing sign [with α added for illustration]: ἁ; and when
there is no initial [h] sound before a vowel, the smooth breathing sign is ἀ. The rough
breathing may also be used with initial rho: ῥ.
Moreover, vowels may have an iota subscript, that is, an [i] sound after the vowel, written
as a diacritic beneath the vowel (e.g., ᾳ); while indicated in texts, this is generally left
without pronunciation.
Vowels: ι υ
ε ο
α
ῑ ῡ
η ω
ᾱ
Diphthongs: ει αι οι υι ευ αυ ηυ ου
Classical Greek had a musical accent. There are three such accents. Vowels marked with
oxia (e.g., ά) had high pitch; those with varia (e.g., ὰ) had a low or falling pitch; those
marked with perispomeni (e.g., ᾶ) had rising and falling pitch.
The place of the accent is determined chiefly by the quality of the last syllable;
exceptions will be noted later. If the last syllable is short and the accent is an oxia, it can
fall on the third syllable from the end of a word. If it is short, and the second last vowel is
long, it may have perispomeni accent. If it is long, the second last syllable can only have
oxia accent. In monosyllables the final vowel has oxia accent if it is short, a perispomeni
if long. The varia accent replaces a final oxia accent before words beginning with a
consonant.
4. Nominal inflection.
Nouns, adjectives and the article are inflected for three genders, three numbers, and four
cases. Among the numbers that of the dual is infrequent, and will not be presented here.
The four cases are the nominative, genitive, dative and accusative. The uses of the
ablative, such as for the target in comparative constructions, are largely assumed by the
genitive. The principal uses of the cases are readily defined. The nominative is the case of
the subject and of nouns after the copula in the predicative nominative. The genitive is
the case of possession. The dative is the case of the indirect object. The accusative is the
case of the direct object.
Because of the common use of the article, its forms might well be memorized.
Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nom sg ὁ ἡ τό
Gen sg τοῦ τῆς τοῦ
Dat sg τῷ τῇ τῷ
Acc sg τόν τήν τό
Nom pl οἱ αἱ τά
Gen pl τῶν τῶν τῶν
Dat pl τοῖς ταῖς τοῖς
Acc pl τούς τάς τά
Examples of the ο-declension, masculine and neuter, and the α-declension, feminine, are
given here.
Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nom sg ὁ λόγος 'word' ἡ στρατιά 'army' τὸ δῶρον 'gift'
Gen sg τοῦ λόγου τῆς στρατιᾶς τοῦ δώρου
Dat sg τῷ λόγῳ τῇ στρατιᾷ τῷ δώρῳ
Acc sg τὸν λόγον τὴν στρατιάν τὸ δῶρον
5. Verb inflection.
Greek verbs are inflected for three voices, active, middle and passive, for four moods,
indicative, subjunctive, optative and imperative, three systems or tenses, present, aorist
and perfect, three numbers, singular, dual, plural. The augment 'ε' (epsilon) is used with
past tense forms, imperfect, aorist, and pluperfect, but only in the indicative. The perfect
stem is often reduplicated. In addition there are infinitives and participles.
In view of its regularity, the verb παιδεύω 'educate' may be used to illustrate the various
forms. Here the present and the imperfect indicative active are given. Before vowels, 'ν'
(nu) is added to some forms ending in a vowel.
Present Imperfect
1 sg παιδεύω ἐπαίδευον
2 sg παιδεύεις ἐπαίδευες
3 sg παιδεύει ἐπαίδευε(ν)
1 pl παιδεύομεν ἐπαιδεύομεν
2 pl παιδεύετε ἐπαιδεύετε
3 pl παιδεύουσι(ν) ἐπαίδευον
7. Participles.
Participles are often used to function as verbs of modifying clauses. These modifying
clauses may correspond to relative clauses, as does ἔχοντες in line 18 of the Iliad text.
The relationship to a principal clause may require a further interpretation, as does that of
the participle λυσόμενος in line 13 or that of ἀζόμενος in line 21. On the other hand, they
may be treated as participles in English, as for example φέρων in line 13. They may also
be adjectival; an example is οὐλομένην in line 2. The interpretations will generally be
clear from the contexts in which they are found.
9. Personal pronouns.
The first and second personal pronouns have enclitic forms in the oblique cases of the
singular, which are given here after the regular forms; they have no accent. The third
person forms, for 'he, she, it', are supplied by the intensive pronoun meaning 'self'; the
genitive singular forms would have the meanings 'of him, of her, of it', the dative singular
forms would have the meanings 'to him, to her, to it', and so on.
1st Person 2nd Person 3rd Person
Masc. Fem. Neut.
Nom sg ἐγώ σύ αὐτός αὐτή αὐτό
Gen sg ἐμοῦ, μου σοῦ, σου αὐτοῦ αὐτῆς αὐτοῦ
Dat sg ἐμοί, μοι σοί, σοι αὐτῷ αὐτῇ αὐτῷ
Acc sg ἐμέ, με σέ, σε αὐτόν αὐτήν αὐτό
·351 πλάγχθη -- verb; 3rd person singular aorist passive of <πλάζω> wander,
toss -- was tossed about
·352 ἐπεὶ -- conjunction; <ἐπεί> when, after -- after
·353 Τροίης -- noun, feminine; genitive singular of <Τροίη> Troy -- Troy
·354 ἱερὸν -- adjective; accusative singular neuter of <ἱερός> sacred -- sacred
·355 πτολίεθρον -- noun, neuter; accusative singular of <πτολίεθρον> city --
city
·356 ἔπερσεν -- verb; 3rd person singular aorist of <πέρθω> destroy, sack -- he
had sacked
πολλῶν δ' ἀνθρώπων ἴδεν ἄστεα καὶ νόον ἔγνω,
·357 πολλῶν -- adjective; genitive plural masculine of <πολύς> many -- of
many
·358 δ' -- particle; <δέ> and, on the other hand -- and
·359 ἀνθρώπων -- noun, masculine; genitive plural of <ἄνθρωπος> human
being -- men
·360 ἴδεν -- verb; 3rd person singular aorist of <εἴδω> see, know -- he saw
·361 ἄστεα -- noun, neuter; accusative plural of <ἄστυ> city -- the cities
·362 καὶ -- conjunction; <καί> and -- and
·363 νόον -- noun, masculine; accusative singular of <νόος> mind -- (their)
mind
·364 ἔγνω -- verb; 3rd person singular aorist of <γιγνώσκω> know, learn --
learned
πολλὰ δ' ὅ γ' ἐν πόντῳ πάθεν ἄλγεα ὃν κατὰ θυμόν,
·365 πολλὰ -- adjective; accusative plural neuter of <πολύς> many -- many
·366 δ' -- particle; <δέ> and, on the other hand -- and
·367 ὅ -- article; nominative singular masculine of <ὁ> the -- he
·368 γ' -- particle; <γε> indeed -- ...
·369 ἐν -- preposition; <ἐν> in -- on
·370 πόντῳ -- noun, masculine; dative singular of <πόντος> sea -- the sea
·371 πάθεν -- verb; 3rd person singular aorist of <πάσχω> suffer -- suffered
·372 ἄλγεα -- noun, neuter; accusative plural of <ἄλγος> woe -- woes
·373 ὃν -- possessive pronoun; accusative singular masculine of <ὅς> his -- his
·374 κατὰ -- preposition; <κατά> completely, down, under -- in
·375 θυμόν -- noun, masculine; accusative singular of <θυμός> soul, heart --
heart
ἀρνύμενος ἥν τε ψυχὴν καὶ νόστον ἑταίρων.
·376 ἀρνύμενος -- verb; nominative singular masculine of present participle
middle of <ἄρνυμαι> win -- seeking to save
·377 ἥν -- possessive pronoun; accusative singular feminine of <ὅς> his -- his
·378 τε -- conjunction; <τε> and -- ...
·379 ψυχὴν -- noun, feminine; accusative singular of <ψυχή> soul -- life
·380 καὶ -- conjunction; <καί> and -- and
·381 νόστον -- noun, masculine; accusative singular of <νόστος> return -- the
return
·382 ἑταίρων -- noun, masculine; genitive plural of <ἕταιρος> comrade -- of his
comrades
ἀλλ' οὐδ' ὣς ἑτάρους ἐρρύσατο, ἱέμενός περ·
·458 τῷ -- article used as pronoun; dative singular masculine of <ὁ> the -- for
him
·459 οἱ -- article; nominative plural masculine of <ὁ> the -- the
·460 ἐπεκλώσαντο -- verb; 3rd person plural aorist middle of <ἐπικλώθω> spin;
decide -- had decided
·461 θεοὶ -- noun, masculine; nominative plural of <θεός> god -- gods
·462 οἶκόνδε -- adverb; <οἶκόνδε> to his home -- home
·463 νέεσθαι -- verb; infinitive middle of <νέομαι> return -- (he should) return
εἰς Ἰθάκην, οὐδ' ἔνθα πεφυγμένος ἦεν ἀέθλων
Infinitive παιδεῦσαι
Participle παιδεύσας παιδεύσασα παιδεύε̃ύ̃ͅσαν 'one who
Gen sg παιδεύσαντος παιδεύσης παιδεύσαντος educated'
Indefinite
Masc Fem Neut
'who(ever)' 'who(ever)' 'what(ever)'
Nom. sg. ὄστις ἥτις ὅτι
Gen. sg. ὅτου ἧστινος ὅτου
Dat. sg. ᾧτινι ᾗτινι ᾧτινι
Acc. sg. ὅντινα ἥντινα ὅτι
1 pl παιδεύομεθα ἐπαιδευόμεθα
2 pl παιδεύεσθε ἐπαιδεύεσθε
3 pl παιδεύονται ἐπαιδεύονται
25. The subjunctive, optative, and imperative middle and passive forms, the infinitive and participle.
While these forms are not frequent, they are given here so that, if found, they may be
recognized. The participial forms, on the other hand, are relatively frequent, as in this
text, where a number of them occur, such as φυομένη, ἐπιβαλλόμενον, ἀγάμενοι.
Subjunctive Optative Imperative
1s παιδεύωμαι παιαδευοίμην
2s παιδεύῃ παιδεύοιο παιδευέσθω
3s παιδεύηται παιδεύοιτο παιδεύεσθω
1p παιδευοώμεθα παιδευοίμεθα
2p παιδεύησθε παιδεύοισθε παιδεύεσθε
3p παιδεύωνται παιδεύοιντο παιδευέσθων
Infinitive: παιδεύεσθαι
Participle: παιδευόμενος, παιδευομένη, παιδευόμενον
-λ, -ρ -ν -υ
Nom. sg. ὁ ἅλς ὁ Ἕλλην ὁ σῦς
Gen. sg. τοῦ ἁλός τοῦ Ἕλληνος τοῦ συός
Dat. sg. τῷ ἁλί τῷ Ἕλλενι τῷ συί
Acc. sg. τόν ἅλα τόν Ἕλληνα τόν σῦν
·1104 ἔργ' -- noun, neuter; nominative plural of <ἔργον> work, deed -- works
·1105 ἔμελε -- verb; 3rd person singular imperfect of <μέλω> to care, to be an
object of care -- were loved
·1106 στονόεντα -- adjective; nominative singular neuter of <στονόεις> sad,
wretched -- wretched
·1107 καὶ -- conjunction; <καί> and -- and
·1108 ὕβριες -- noun, neuter; nominative plural of <ὕβρις> violence -- violent
acts
·1109 οὐδέ -- particle; <οὐδέ> not -- not
·1110 τι -- indefinite pronoun; accusative singular neuter of <τις> someone,
something -- any
·1111 σῖτον -- noun, masculine; accusative singular of <σῖτος> corn, bread --
bread
ἤσθιον, ἀλλ' ἀδάμαντος ἔχον κρατερόφρονα θυμόν
·1112 ἤσθιον -- verb; 3rd person plural aorist of <ἐσθίω> eat -- they did ...eat
·1113 ἀλλ' -- conjunction; <ἀλλά> but -- but
·1114 ἀδάμαντος -- noun, masculine; genitive singular of <ἀδάμας> steel -- of
steel
·1115 ἔχον -- verb; 3rd person plural imperfect of <ἔχω> have -- they had
·1116 κρατερόφρονα -- adjective; accusative singular masculine of
<κρατερόφρων> stout-hearted, dauntless -- a dauntless
·1117 θυμόν -- noun, masculine; accusative singular of <θυμός> soul, heart --
heart
αὔτις ἔτ' ἄλλο τέταρτον ἐπὶ χθονὶ πουλυβοτείρῃ
# (line 158)
·1118 αὔτις -- adverb; <αὔτις> again -- again
·1119 ἔτ' -- adverb; <ἔτι> still -- yet
·1120 ἄλλο -- adjective; accusative singular neuter of <ἄλλος> other -- another
·1121 τέταρτον -- adjective; accusative singular neuter of <τέταρτος> fourth -- a
fourth
·1122 ἐπὶ -- preposition; <ἐπί> on, about -- on
·1123 χθονὶ -- noun, feminine; dative singular of <χθών> earth -- the earth
·1124 πουλυβοτείρῃ -- adjective; dative singular feminine of <πουλυβότειρα> all
nourishing, fruitful -- fruitful
Ζεὺς Κρονίδης ποίησε, δικαιότερον καὶ ἄρειον,
·1125 Ζεὺς -- noun, masculine; nominative singular of <Ζεύς> Zeus -- Zeus
·1126 Κρονίδης -- adjective; nominative singular masculine of <Κρονίδης> son
of Kronos -- the son of Kronos
·1127 ποίησε -- verb; 3rd person singular aorist of <ποιέω> make, do -- made
·1128 δικαιότερον -- adjective; accusative singular neuter of comparative of
<δίκαιος> just, righteous -- more righteous
·1129 καὶ -- conjunction; <καί> and -- and
·1130 ἄρειον -- adjective; accusative singular neuter of comparative of <ἄγαθος>
good -- better
ἀνδρῶν ἡρώων θεῖον γένος, οἵ καλέονται
·1152 παύονται -- verb; 3rd person plural present middle of <παύω> stop, cease
-- they do ...stop
·1153 καμάτου -- noun, masculine; genitive singular of <κάματος> toil, labor --
laboring
·1154 καὶ -- conjunction; <καί> and -- and
·1155 οἰζύος -- noun, feminine; genitive singular of <οἰζύς> misery, suffering --
suffering
·1156 οὐδέ -- particle; <οὐδέ> not -- and . . . not
·1157 τι -- adverb; <τι> in any way -- at all
·1158 νύκτωρ -- adverb; <νύκτωρ> by night -- by night
φθειρόμενοι χαλεπὰς δὲ θεοὶ δώσουσι μερίμνας
Translation
First of all the immortal gods, who live on Olympus, made a golden race of
mortal men who lived in the time of Cronos when he was king in heaven. And
they lived like gods having a life without sorrow, remote and without grief and
suffering. ... But somewhat later after the earth covered this generation, those
having Olympian homes made a second generation, silver, inferior, like the
golden neither in stature nor in understanding. ... Father Zeus made a third,
different race of humans endowed with speech, bronze out of the ash tree, in no
way like the silver race, terrible and strong. The wretched works and violent acts
of Ares were loved by them, and did not eat any bread, but they inflexibly
maintained a dauntless spirit. ... Yet again Zeus, the son of Cronos, made another,
the fourth, on the fruitful earth, that was more righteons and better, a godlike race
of men, heroes, who are called demigods, the race prior to ours, on the boundless
earth. ... And now indeed the race is of iron, and they do not stop laboring and
suffering by day, and not at all from perishing by night. Indeed the gods give them
difficult anxieties. But nevertheless, also for them, good will be mixed with evils.
Grammar
Middle Passive
παιδεύσασθαι παιδευθήσεσθαι
Infinitive
'to educate' 'to be educated'
παιδευσάμενος, -η, -ον παιδευθείς, -θεῖσα, -θέν
Participle
'one who educated' 'be educated'
1 pl τίθεμεν ἐτίθεμεν
2 pl τίθετε ἐτίθετε
3 pl τιθέασι(ν) ἐτίθεσαν
1 pl τιθῶμεν τιθεῖμεν
2 pl τιθῆτε τιθεῖτε τίθετε
3 pl τιθῶσι(ν) τιθεῖεν τιθέντων
Present Imperfect
1 sg εἰμί ἦν
2 sg εἶ ἦσθα
3 sg ἐστί(ν) ἦν
1 pl ἐσμέν ἦμεν
2 pl ἐστέ ἦτε
3 pl εἰσί(ν) ἦσαν
1 pl ὦμεν εἴημεν
2 pl ἤτε εἴητε ἔστε
3 pl ὦσι(ν) εἴησαν ἔστων
45. Particles.
As you have noted in the texts, particles are numerous in Greek texts. Moreover, they are
often left untranslated. They may modify meaning much as intonation does in English; if
then translated with their meaning given in dictionaries, such as 'indeed, to be sure' and so
on, the English sentence is turgid. In combinations, such as καὶ δέ, καὶ merely adds
emphasis. Particles then must be treated in relation to one another and to the entire
sentence.
There are two negative particles, also called adverbs, οὺ (οὔτε, οὐκ, etc.), and μή, which
is required in sentences expressing a desire and is used in conditions.
There are several interrogative particles, of which ἧ and ἆρα are the most frequent. Other
particles are listed here in alphabetical order.
ἀλλά 'on the other hand, but, on the contrary'
ἅμα 'at the same time, at once'
ἄρα 'therefore, then' (note the different accentuation from the interrogative particle)
γάρ 'for'
γέ 'indeed, certainly'
δέ 'but, however' (often used as a connective, and need not be translated)
δή 'already, now' (or used to add emphasis)
ἦ 'truly, really'
ἤ 'or' (often doubled with the meanings 'either ...or')
καί 'and' or, as used for emphasis, 'even'
μέν 'indeed' (may be used with δέ to indicate a correlation, and not translated)
οὐδέ 'and not'
οὖν 'indeed, certainly; therefore'
οὔτε ... οὔτε, μήτε ... μήτε 'neither ... nor'
πέρ 'even, indeed'
τέ 'and'; τέ ... τέ 'both ... and'; τέ ... καί 'not only ... but also'
46. Texts.
Editors have worked with Greek texts since the Alexandrian period, when the texts of
Homer were essentially fixed. Western scholars have continued the tradition as in the
Teubner publications, those published by the Clarendon Press, and so on. If one examines
an edited text with extensive introduction and commentary, such as Hesiod: Works and
Days, M. L. West, ed. xiii, 399 pp. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978), the information
provided is enormous. The author states that he "perused" over six hundred texts when
producing his book. As noted in the comments to the selection included here, the
differences between his text and others, however, are slight.
Unless a text with extensive commentary is desired, readers of the Greek texts will do
well to use the editions of the Loeb Classical Library, which have the added advantage of
including translations. They are readily available from the Harvard University Press
(Cambridge, MA 02138). The texts have been widely read in schools and universities,
such as those of Xenophon, Plato and Homer have been published with introductions and
commentaries, often also with glossaries. Or commentaries may be published separately,
such as A Commentary on Herodotus by W. W. How and J. Wells, 2 vols., 456 and 445
pp. (Oxford: Clarendon, 1912, often reprinted). References may be found in catalogues of
libraries and publishers, and increasingly on web sites.
47. Grammars.
Similarly, grammars of Greek are based on long attention. The fullest grammar is that of
Eduard Schwyzer, Griechische Grammatik, I-III. Munich: Beck, 1939-53. For ready
reference, most readers will find useful a shorter grammar, such as that of Herbert Weir
Smyth, Greek Grammar (1920), revised by Gordon M. Messing, Harvard University
Press (1956).
For a historical treatment, see the Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin by Carl
Darling Buck (Chicago: University Press, 1933). A successor is the New Comparative
Grammar of Greek and Latin, by Andrew L. Sihler (Oxford: University Press, 1995); it is
written like a novel -- no references, no bibliography.
48. Dictionaries.
Dictionaries of various extent are readily available. An Intermediate Greek-English
Lexicon, founded upon the seventh edition of Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon
(Oxford: Clarendon: 1989) provides good coverage for texts of every type.