Greek III: The Saga Continues in Ancient Greek (2009 Spring UCSC)
Notes on a 2009 course taught by Dr. Thomas Walsh

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LYSIAS: Lysias: Selected Speeches by Lysias (Author), Christopher Carey (Editor). ΥΠΕΡ ΤΟΥ ΕΡΑΤΟΣΘΕΝΟΥΣ ΦΟΝΟΥ ΑΠΟΛΟΓΙΑ A Defense concerning the Murder of Eratosthenes Best translation practices (after Dr. Thomas Walsh).

An Introduction to Ancient Greek: A Literary Approach by C. A. E. Luschnig. Book blurb: C.A.E. Luschnig's An Introduction to Ancient Greek: A Literary Approach prepares students to read Greek in less than a year: presents basic traditional grammar; ntroduces real Greek written by ancient Greeks, from the first day of study. Worthy dictionary: Buy An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon: Founded upon the 7th ed. of Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon by H. G. Liddell and Robert Scott Pilgrims and Pilgrimage in Ancient Greece Matthew Dillon. Greek I: Introduction to Ancient Greek (2008 Autumn UCSC). Greek II: The Saga Continues in Ancient Greek (2009 Winter UCSC). From Alpha to Omega, An Introduction to Classical Greek by Anne H. Groton.

Highlight of third 10-week Ancient Greek class, Greek III: The Saga Continues in Ancient Greek:

Day III.1; Day III.2; Day III.3; Day III.4; Day III.5.	Day III.6; Day III.7; Day III.8; Day III.9; Day III.10.
Vocabulary growth	Midterm ; Final

Best translation practices

• Know or look up (or estimate in an exam!) the vocabulary of the sentence.
• Work sentence-by-sentence at first.
• Scan a sentence, looking for and resolving unknown vocabulary.
• Scan to identify verb and participles and subjects of verbs.
• Make a literal translation.
• Scan backwards for parts of speech, to avoid being 'mesmerised by vocabulary'.
• Convert into correct and natural English.

Day III.1

• Orientation to and assignment of sections 47-50 of Lysias:

  ΥΠΕΡ ΤΟΥ ΕΡΑΤΟΣΘΕΝΟΥΣ ΦΟΝΟΥ ΑΠΟΛΟΓΙΑ A Defense concerning the Murder of Eratosthenes

  [Uppercase was normal writing in 4th and 5th centuries B.C. Cursive writing came later.]

• Opportunistic review of some grammar:
  • Accents on two-syllable prepositions are on the ultima (except at end of a sentence).
  • Clauses (relative, conditional, temporal (including πρíν), potential.
  
  Preview of the "in order to" [íνα].

• Learn orthographic and other changes for various consonant-ending bases and vowel bases. Recite them aloud, slowly, learning the rhythm, then gradually speed up.

Day III.2.

• Identified verbs and participles in last four sentences/sections [47 - 50] of Lysias.
• Translation of first half of sentence 47 of Lysias.

Day III.3

• Small-group work on translating of rest of sentence 47 and sentences 48 - 50 of Lysias.

Day III.4

• Demonstrative adjectives for:
  • such quality (such a thing; this kind of thing).
  • such quantity (so great a thing; this much of a thing).
• Further work on translating 47 - 50 of Lysias.

Day III.5

• Translating sentences 1 - 2 of Lysias.
• Morphology: comparative and superlative adjectives. See Smythe (§ 313 to 324).

Day III.6

Writing sentences in Greek on board; group correction. Sentences from Section 1 of : Greek Prose Composition by M. A. North and A. E. Hillard (Editors).

Day III.7

• Translating sentence 1 of Lysias.
• Syntax: indefinite relative. See Smythe (§ 2496).

Day III.8

• Translating sentence 1 of Lysias.

• Comparative adjectives:

  Positive (basic form)

  Comparative (more X; X-er)

  Superlative (most X; X-est)

  • When Positive adjective has a Penult that is long (contains a double vowel or diphthong or contains a short vowel followed by a double consonant (Ζ or Χ or Ψ) or two or more consonanants, example:

    δíκαιοσ (just)

    
    then the comparative adds endings (M/F/N):

    -τεροσ

    -τερα

    -τερον

  • When Positive adjective has a Penult that is short, example:

    φοβερóσ (fearful)

    
    then the vowel preceding the endings is lengthened:

    Comparative: φοβερωτεροσ

    Superlative: φοβερωτατοσ

  • Some adjectives compared with:

    Comparative: -íων

    Superlative: -ιστοσ

  • Some adjectives have irregular comparatives and superlatives.

Day III.9

Writing sentences in Greek on board; group correction. Sentences from Sections 3 and 4 of : Greek Prose Composition by M. A. North and A. E. Hillard (Editors). Completed translating sentence 1 of Lysias.

Day III.10

• Quiz on comparative adjectives.
• Translating sentence 2 of Lysias.