Homeric Greek: A Book for Beginners
- Downloads：9988
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-04-19 14:53:57
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Clyde Pharr
- ISBN：0806141646
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
For many years， Homeric Greek has been a standard textbook for first-year Greek classes in college and preparatory schools。 This thoroughly revised edition amplifies the original text to address the needs of today's teachers and students， yet retains core elements of the original book。
Paula Debnar has added several new lessons with clarifying exercises， definitions of perplexing grammatical terms， easy-to-read charts of grammatical paradigms， a new reference map of the Aegean region during Homer's time， an index of the book's section on grammar， new format including more legible Greek characters。
Paula Debnar has added several new lessons with clarifying exercises， definitions of perplexing grammatical terms， easy-to-read charts of grammatical paradigms， a new reference map of the Aegean region during Homer's time， an index of the book's section on grammar， new format including more legible Greek characters。
Reviews
James Starr
，
An excellent book for someone with New Testament or Attic Greek to take the plunge on their own into epic poetry。 Pharr uses an inductive method so that after just a few preliminary chapters one is reading the Iliad， 5 lines a chapter at first but increasing to 10-20 lines at the end。 By then one has read all 611 lines of Book 1 of the Iliad。 The majestic beauty of Homeric poetry surpasses all translations and is worth the effort。 I like Pharr's idea that the study of Ancient Greek should begin An excellent book for someone with New Testament or Attic Greek to take the plunge on their own into epic poetry。 Pharr uses an inductive method so that after just a few preliminary chapters one is reading the Iliad， 5 lines a chapter at first but increasing to 10-20 lines at the end。 By then one has read all 611 lines of Book 1 of the Iliad。 The majestic beauty of Homeric poetry surpasses all translations and is worth the effort。 I like Pharr's idea that the study of Ancient Greek should begin with epic， to ensure that all students experience something of Homer in the original。 。。。more
Al
，
My relationship with this book is complicated by the fact that it was the first Greek textbook I ever used， at a time when I felt I needed a mallet to get it into my head。 As in any language， practice， practice， practice。。。
Carla
，
READ THIS 235 TIMES ICRAVE DEATH， RECOMMENDED
Genni
，
I am switching books。 I cannot stand the layout。 In each lesson， Pharr gives a brief summary of the objectives， then you must flip to the back of the book to read the material for the lesson。 And they are not in order。 For example， in one lesson， you may read sections 625-650， 950， and 1125。 In the next you may read 825-878 and 1203。 I tried using bookmarks and various other markers， but at this point am entirely frustrated with having them everywhere and with constantly flipping all around just I am switching books。 I cannot stand the layout。 In each lesson， Pharr gives a brief summary of the objectives， then you must flip to the back of the book to read the material for the lesson。 And they are not in order。 For example， in one lesson， you may read sections 625-650， 950， and 1125。 In the next you may read 825-878 and 1203。 I tried using bookmarks and various other markers， but at this point am entirely frustrated with having them everywhere and with constantly flipping all around just for one lesson。 I do not find this method user friendly， especially for a beginner engaging in self-study。 。。。more
max
，
I worked through an old copy of this book one summer while in college between my first year of introductory Attic Greek and a Homer course I planned to take the following fall。 In the fall semester of Greek 1 there were twenty students in the class。 In the spring semester that number had dropped to ten。 In the Homer class the following year there were perhaps five。Why learn Greek？ This is a fair question。 For me it seemed simple。 Even though the number of students who seriously study classics is I worked through an old copy of this book one summer while in college between my first year of introductory Attic Greek and a Homer course I planned to take the following fall。 In the fall semester of Greek 1 there were twenty students in the class。 In the spring semester that number had dropped to ten。 In the Homer class the following year there were perhaps five。Why learn Greek？ This is a fair question。 For me it seemed simple。 Even though the number of students who seriously study classics is infinitesimally small， the discipline of classics formed the foundation of university studies for many centuries。 Indeed， up until the late 1800's respectable colleges would not even accept you without a satisfactory grade on an entrance examination in Greek or Latin。 So Greek was a subject that had been around for a while -- since 1516， I later discovered， when Oxford University established for the first time a chair in Greek （to the consternation of Latinists）。 People attend college nowadays for reasons that are very different from those of yesteryear。 Today's students -- certainly the vast majority -- are basically interested in getting their ticket punched so they can have credentials for employment。 They want to get a job and make money。 Having a degree is the sine qua non for a life of material success。 Needless to say， many who follow a purely practical path in their higher education consider Greek studies to be utterly worthless。 In fact， more than a few are openly scornful of classical studies and think that those who pursue them are at best wasting their time and at worst completely insane。 I figured I would worry about a job later。 Learning Greek was a chance to participate in a journey of mental growth， an exciting challenge。 And I really wanted to read Homer and other authors in Greek！ Translations would not do -- they only obscured the true meaning of the original works and veiled their many beauties。 I had read Walden and was impressed by Thoreau's deep love of the classics， nowhere better expressed than in his chapter entitled "Reading。" My thinking was that if an author of Thoreau's brilliance was such a lover of Greek and Greek literature， it had to be good！It would be silly to assume that something is worth studying simply because it has been around for many centuries。 But I had a feeling （which eventually became a conviction） that Greek and Latin had maintained such a deep influence in educational circles because the works written in these languages were simply superior。 I took this on faith from my learned professors， and they were of course correct。 I owe to them an enormous debt since they were the ones who opened the door for me to the vast treasury of priceless riches that constitute the literature of classical antiquity。 Is there a more mind-blowing play than Oedipus？ An epic poem of greater humanity or more enduring artistic merit than the Odyssey？ A work of history that offers a greater degree of analytical insight than Thucydides？ These literary monuments and others composed by the Greeks constitute the Himalayan mountain ridge of Western literature。 To read them， or， to state it more honestly， to try to read them in Greek is to struggle， endure， and partake of the clear and radiant atmosphere at the summit。I had been an indifferent student in h。s。 I enjoyed books but rarely read the ones that were assigned to me。 It was only in college that I finally figured out how to study and learning Greek in particular gave me a purpose and a goal。 It challenged me as no other subject （excluding mathematics） and forced me to work very hard in mastering its seemingly endless intricacies。 The labor that it required was another motivating force for me。 Anything that required this much work simply had to be good， in keeping with an old Greek proverb， "difficult things are beautiful。" I am still learning it and will continue on the journey until I am on my death bed， where I hope to be still unravelling a difficult construction or learning a new word。I skipped the initial chapters and began at that part of the book that presents the first book of the Iliad （broken down into chapters with short blocks of text， vocabulary and notes）。 Looking back now nearly forty years ago to the summer weeks that I spent working slowly through this book， I can recall vividly the excitement and astonishment I felt at my first encounter with Homer in his own language。 The priest's plea for his daughter's return， Agamemnon's curt dismissal， Apollo hearing the priest's prayer before descending from Olympus， the destructive plague -- these events within just a few dozen lines formed the ominous prelude to the terrible quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles。 I was captivated by Homer's masterful narration and the remarkable clarity and economy of his verse。As I worked my way deeper into the beginning of the Iliad， I was riveted by the way Homer expressed his ideas and images with such power and beauty。 Perhaps more than anything it was the dramatic power of his verse that captivated me。 I confess that I was absolutely spellbound。 How could anything possibly be this good？ I kept asking myself this question， hungry to read further and learn more。 I was finally in the hands of an author who trumped everything that I had ever previously known。 For me， this initial encounter with Homer was a kind of literary Rubicon。 I had crossed it; there would be no turning back， and his two great poems would become a lifelong preoccupation。As for this excellent book， it is rivaled only by Schoder and Horrigan's A Reading Course in Homeric Greek， Book 1 （see my review。） It features a complete vocabulary， helpful notes on the Greek text of Iliad 1， and very thorough appendices with full morphological paradigms as well as an extensive treatment of Homeric grammar。 If you want to learn Homeric Greek， this book would be a good place to start。 。。。more
Amberjean
，
Good， comprehensive， but very fast-paced text。 Unfortunately， it was a library book， and there's no library in the world that lets you check out language books for long enough to really use them。 （um， I'll need this for the next year and a half？）The other thing with this is that it's really， as the title suggests， focused on Homer's dialect and vocab， which makes it un-useful to those who want a good basic classical greek education （they would likely want the more standard Attic dialect） or thos Good， comprehensive， but very fast-paced text。 Unfortunately， it was a library book， and there's no library in the world that lets you check out language books for long enough to really use them。 （um， I'll need this for the next year and a half？）The other thing with this is that it's really， as the title suggests， focused on Homer's dialect and vocab， which makes it un-useful to those who want a good basic classical greek education （they would likely want the more standard Attic dialect） or those who are headed for biblical scholarship。Perhaps the quick pacing is because the author assumes a certain amount of pre-education in one of these more common applications of Greek。 。。。more
Michael Andre
，
I've returned to this book often lately。 Aided by the Loeb bilingual Homer and Alexander Pope's Iliad in the glorious Easton Press edition， Pharr has helped me see why many people consider the Iliad the greatest work of all literature。 Greek will always be Greek to me， of course; from my vantage Shakespeare is better than Homer。 But Homer's dynamite。 I've returned to this book often lately。 Aided by the Loeb bilingual Homer and Alexander Pope's Iliad in the glorious Easton Press edition， Pharr has helped me see why many people consider the Iliad the greatest work of all literature。 Greek will always be Greek to me， of course; from my vantage Shakespeare is better than Homer。 But Homer's dynamite。 。。。more
Kevin
，
More evidence that I am good at many things but not great at any one thing。 Menin aeide indeed。
Alan
，