How to Learn Ancient Greek

Greek is a very old language, with several distinct historical periods. Ancient Greek refers to the Greek language between the 14th century BC and the 4th century AD. This lengthy time frame covers the Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods in Greek history, and encompasses considerable political change and cultural development. During this period, much of the literature and philosophy that was to underlie the development of Western culture was written, including the Homeric poems.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Pick a medium in which you want to learn. You may want to find a class to attend, or you might prefer to work on your own. For self-directed study you might choose an online resource, or perhaps you'd rather purchase or borrow some books to get you started. Think about how you best learn, and what would fit in with the rest of your daily life.

2. Find a class. If you have chosen the formal classroom language option, look around for a class. If you live near a college or university, they will probably offer classes in Ancient Greek. You may be able to audit the class rather than sign up for credit, assuming that you are not in an educational program for which you require extra class credits.

3. Pick a distance learning language option. If there are no Ancient Greek classes nearby, you may benefit from a distance learning option. These are available through many colleges and universities and also through other online tutorial services. Look at as many options as you can find and pick one that appears to meet your needs and interests and looks to be of good quality. Beware of paying large sums of money for CD-ROMs and other high-tech materials that are probably unnecessary.

4. Choose a self-teaching approach. If neither classes nor distance learning is a good option, you might try learning on your own. People have been studying Ancient Greek for a very long time, and printed resources on the language, history, culture and arts of the period abound. Text books and grammars for Ancient Greek are available in a wide range of prices, and many books can also be purchased used.

5. Practice the orthography of Ancient Greek. Unless you are already familiar with Greek, you will have an entire alphabet to learn in addition to a new language. Learning to read and write the Ancient Greek alphabet should make up a substantial subsection of your learning program unto itself.

Resources

• Online tutorials in Ancient Greek
• User-Friendly online guide for reading Ancient Greek
• Online tutorial on Ancient Greek
• Many resources for the study of Ancient Greek