Homeric Greek here I come. I was so excited to hear the long-awaited Greek course would soon begin on May 23rd (Shavuos, as it turns out - I started early). There are about a dozen of us at the moment, but it's early yet (I hope enough people stick it out to keep the group going).
We're using A Reading Course in Homeric Greek (book 1), and I've heard such good things about it. It contains 120 chapters, which sounds intimidating, but the chapters are very short (meant to be covered in a 50-minute class at a university). The first 60 chapters cover basic grammar and vocabulary while the final 60 have passages from The Odyssey, introducing more grammar and vocabulary as they come up. Although there is a second book, this one is self-contained,
"providing a solid foundation for further reading in Homer or in other Greek authors. Nevertheless, the student who cannot go on in Greek beyond the present course will find satisfaction in having repeatedly seen and used within the course itself every principle that he has learned. The book, then, forms a unit in itself, offering material of intrinsic worth and interest; it is not merely a preparation for something else."
Lesson 4 was due today, and I just completed lesson 5 (due Saturday). Although all lessons are relatively short (compared to the monsters in Wheelock's Latin especially), the first five go especially quickly. (Once we get to lesson 6, when the grammar instruction starts, it goes to two lessons per week.) What? No grammar yet?
Here's what we've covered so far:
- alphabet
- sounds
- pitch & syllable length
- marks (pitch, breathing, & punctuation)
* As for Latin, I'm still behind Themis. I'm matching their pace but not catching up. Although I can do it on my own, it's nice to be able to compare answers and the accountability of due dates.
