Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing’s Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

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A reprint, with new introductory essay, of the D. Reidel edition of 1973.

This reissue of Charles Kahn’s classic work includes a substantial new introductory essay, which presents a reformulation of the theory of syntactic and semantic unity for the system of uses of the verb "be" in Greek (conceived primarily as a verb of predication), and hence a defense of the conceptual unity for the notion of Being in Greek philosophy.

The book offers a systematic description of the use and grammar of the verb "to be" in Ancient Greek, before the philosophers took it over to express the central concepts in Greek logic and metaphysics.Evidence is taken primarily from Homer but supplemented by specimens from classical Attic prose.Topics discussed include the original status of the verb in Indo-European, as well as the logical and syntactic relations among copula, existential, and veridical uses. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Absolutely fundamental work for any scholar or serious student of Greek philosophy
Kahn's book is one of the most expansive, detailed, and fundamental works on the verb ''be'' in classical Greek. Its insights are indispensable to anyone who wants to be freed from an anachronistic understanding of this all important Greek verb and see it in the light in which the ancients saw it themselves.

An Arrogant and Uninspired Book
As pompous and unimportant a book as you will ever come across. Kahn tortues his readers with his awkward and inelegant prose as well as his inane and frankly quite obvious analysis. He counts on the esoteric nature of his subject to befundle the reader in to buying his self made image of faux intelligence. ... Read more

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Based on the same principles that lay behind the book "Learn Latin", this book provides the chance to read real ancient Greek. It teaches the reader enough Greek in 20 chapters to be able to read selected passages from the New Testament and from Classical Greek literature such as Plato, Aristophanes and Euripides. Each chapter also comes with sections on ancient Greek history and culture and on the influence of the ancient language on ours. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Keeps it lively and fun
Peter Jones makes a potentially dry subject a great deal of fun.He weaves his dry sense of humor into the lessons, with the occasional anachronistic pun thrown in there for good effect.I really love his teaching style.

I have just finished the work and can now read Greek at the elementary level (Jan 29 2010)

Off to a great start
I have quit learning Ancient Greek about as many times as I have quit smoking and although I did finally quit the tobacco habit, my addiction to Ancient Greek was revived on the discovery of this outstanding little book. The author, well known for his enthusiasm for popular linquistic education, does not make the task of learning simpler. Instead, he accomplishes something of far greater value: he has managed to clear away the confusion that nearly always defeats the student of this incredibly complex language. Every student of Ancient Greek is eventually made aware that the mastery of this language, so full of nuance as to overwhelm the brain's organizational capabilities, depends entirely on the mastery of its six principle parts. Sounds easy but___NOT! This is true, of course is one wishes to become a grammarian of the language but not entirely necessary for the purpose of reading skills. Instead, the author emphasizes recognition of a number of ques that allow the reader to make quick interpretation of the material. In the end, reading comprehension dramatically increases. This text dosn't cover everything but provides more than enough to get the student off to a really great start and puts the reader way ahead of the student who continues to sstruggle with the endless variations of inflection. It serves both the grammarian want-to-be as well as those just-interested-in-reading. Having mastered this book, one can then move on to either the wonderful _Ancient Greek: An Intensive Course_, which is probably the best and most comprehensive treatment of Grammar in existence or to move to more advanced reading by way of increasing vocabulary. For this purpose, may I advise the following: Begin with _Thrasymachus_ (there is also a website associated with this wonderful little book that provides in depth material for practice). Proceed to _Teach Yourself Ancient Greek_ (Penquin) which is vocabulary intensive and provides quick progression through advanced Ancient Greek. Then you can move on to the _Greek Anthology_. Keep in mind that Homeric Greek was not actually a spoken language but rather an amalgam of dialects for the purpose of oral tradition carried over several centuries. A tiny pocket book may be purchased that lists the Homeric vocabulary for such use. Otherwise, Attic and Koine Greek is the way to go.

so so
Some reviews about this handbook sound quite enthusiastic, a few do not.

First of all, I should like to make clear that I am not new to studying ancient and modern languages, both by myself or with a teacher.

I have decided to take up Greek seriously (a long standing wish) on my own to give my passion for historical lingustics a sounder basis and I bought several British and American textbooks as there is no self study material in Italian.

There is no doubt about Dr Jones being competent, that is wholly out of question. I like his humour too, his light hearted way of illustrating grammar as if it were real fun: I may be a linguist in the core but I find learning declensions by heart just a little more easy than a common high school pupil would therefore heartily welcoming any device that can make things more palatable.

Up to chapter five (included) things are just fine. I do not like (well, I abhor) the leaving the accents aside, but this is very common way in Anglo-american textbooks: I see no reason why it should be so but so it is and one cannot blame Dr Jones too much for doing just the same.
Accents aside, learning is easy and entertaining and you really get the impression of making the most of your time.

From chapter six things get sticky. Grammar is still nicely illustrated but the examples and excercises are no longer up to the task of making you learn what has been so entertainingly explained. Reasoning leads one near to nowhere: one must begin learning by heart and doing the (few) excercises again and again in the attempt of memorizing vocabulary and constructions.

An even stickier problem is the choice of readings. Probably in the attempt of confronting his reader with real texts to awaken his/her interest, Dr Jones is just too eager in introducing nearly unadulterated Greek passages.
Such passages must be preceded by discouragingly long vocabulary lists not to mention the fact that this vocabulary is seldom useful later on; this is why I took no pleasure in reading Thucidides or Socrates as boasted on the book cover.

A minor but irritating fault is the lack of answer key translation for those readings taken from the New Testament. "Use your Bible" is not satisfactory for someone who wishes a self contained handbook, not to mention that there are several translations of the Bible and that, for the purpose of learning, a literal if unattractive translation could be of more use than the usual ones.

In my opinion one could use the first chapters of this book to break the ice but should go on with a different text or be prepared for a lot of self imposed supplementary work.

A good introduction for those who already have language experience
_Learn Ancient Greek_ is a solid primer to Attic Greek.However, I offer one caveat: the book is considerably easier for those who have some prior experience with language.(More on that later.)

Jones does a remarkable job in getting readers comfortable and confident with Greek, translating simple passages by the end of Chapter Two.His humor is a bit dry, but the lessons are solid and build off each other very well.A CD is offered for those who are concerned with pronunciation (I am only interested in reading Greek, but its nice to have it offered).

With that said, I would not recommend this book to those who have no experience with language - Greek gets complicated (as Jones points out relatively early on; to his credit, the exceptions to the rules and the grammar itself are very well explained).While Jones provides some clarification of what grammar is (with humor, thankfully) and how it works, I can't imagine getting further than the first few chapters without prior language experience to draw upon.Hence the four stars.

For autodidacts, Hellenophiles, or those seeking to fill gaps in their education, I highly recommend this book.By the end of the book you will be translating excerpts from Homer and the Bible, and have an excellent foundation for further formal study.

Really gets you started.
I was at first reluctant to dive into Ancient Greek. The different alphabet and reputation of supposed complexity, made me steer clear of it. I had seen and dabbled a little with Jones' Latin series and was impressed enough to give this a whirl. I can actually say i seem to be progressing faster with Greek than i did with Latin. This book is VERY good.
This book is perfect for getting you up and running. The pacing and repetition and reinforcement is really very well done. You have confidence to move on to each new section. He's quite wily at making you figure things out by context. I would seriously recommend anybody to start with this book first in their self education to learning classical or koine(new testament) Greek. Homeric Greek is apparently a different dialect, but the author expresses tremendous passion for it, and gives a little taste of it at the end of the book.
The text is witty and draws in just enough historical information to whet your appetite and remind you why you're learning this in the first place. His excitement and passion are contagious and are perfect for someone's first venture into learning an ancient language. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

JONES HAS CREATED A WINNER.
In his Learn Ancient Greek, P.V. Jones has succeeded in offering both an enjoyable read and an effective self-teaching tool. Those looking for a 1930s discussion of adverbial phrases should save their money as this book actually does what it purports to do--it allows the dedicated reader to learn ancient Greek in an enjoyable, interesting and relaxed manner while, most importantly, promoting understanding and retention. I have a dozen Greek grammars and none is better than this. Rather than providing long lists to memorize, Jones promotes the only truly effective manner of learning any language--written exercise and repetition. Buy this book. You will not regret the choice. ... Read more

Product Description
The original aim of this book was to provide an updated reprint of J.P. Postgate’s "Short Guide to the Accentuation of Ancient Greek" (1924). It has developed considerably during the preparation, still including what was most useful in Postgate but now incorporating much additional material and information based on the very latest scholarship. It is intended for those who have already learned some Greek but who wish to acquaint themselves with the workings of the accent system, either for the first time or by way of revision. An introductory part outlines clearly the evidence for our knowledge of Greek accentuation and quotes some of our ancient sources for the sound of the accent. The remainder of the book is designed to facilitate the learning of the accents themselves. Exercises are included throughout. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Indispensable
The introduction for this books states that it's not for beginners learning Greek but for those who already know Greek but have no mastery of the accentuation. This statement by the author does this title a great disservice. I am a first year undergraduate using the JACT Reading Greek program and this book has been of more assistance than any of the various books including the JACT text and support guide with regards to explanations of accentuation.

The explanations are simple and straight forward with extensive cross referencing within the title and for other titles and journals on the topic. I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to understand greek accentuation.

Proparoxytone
It possible to read ancient Greek with a minimal knowledge of accents, but I like Probert's list of reasons for knowing them properly which he introduces with, "...but for those who are embarking on the learning of the Greek accents and need to explain to their friends what has got into them, here are some excuses."The book is designed for those who have a fair knowledge of Greek but do not know the accents well. It is very clearly printed (unlike some recently published texts with Greek script) and is a very useful book. It is a workbook rather than a reference work, but for ordinary students like me it also a valuable reference as well (in spite of Probert's comment to the contary). ... Read more

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Spanning forty years, this collection of essays represents the work of a renowned teacher and scholar of the ancient Greek world. Martin Ostwald's contribution is both philological and historical: the thread that runs through all of the essays is his precise explanation, for a modern audience, of some crucial terms by which the ancient Greeks saw and lived their lives—and influenced ours. Chosen and sequenced by Ostwald, the essays demonstrate his methodology and elucidate essential aspects of ancient Greek society.

The first section plumbs the social and political terms in which the Greeks understood their lives. It examines their notion of the relation of the citizen to his community; how they conceived different kinds of political structure; what role ideology played in public life; and how differently their most powerful thinkers viewed issues of war and peace. The second section is devoted to the problem, first articulated by the Greeks, of the extent to which human life is dominated by nature (physis) and human convention (nomos), a question that remains a central concern in modern societies, even if in different guises. The third section focuses on democracy in Athens. It confronts questions of the nature of democratic rule, of financing public enterprises, of the accountability of public officials, of the conflict raised by imperial control and democratic rule, of the coexistence of "conservative" and "liberal" trends in a democratic regime, and of the relation between rhetoric and power in a democracy. The final section is a sketch of the principles on which the two greatest Greek historians, Herodotus and Thucydides, constructed their outlooks on human affairs.

Ultimately, the collection intends to make selected key concepts in ancient Greek social and political culture accessible to a lay audience. It also shows how the differences—rather than the similarities—between the ancient Greeks and us can contribute to a deeper understanding of our own time.

Product Description
This question preoccupied the thoughts of many early Greek philosophers, not least Plato, who discussed it at length in the "Cratylus", the "Euthydemus", the "Theaetus" and the "Sophist". Nicholas Denyer's book places the problem of language, thought, and falsehood in the historical context of Plato and his contemporaries, and expounds the solution which Plato finally reached in the "Sophist". Its freedom from untranslated Greek, style, and its approach in bringing together all ancient material on falsehood in this way aim to make "Language, Thought and Falsehood in Ancient Greek Philosophy" accessible to all those studying Ancient Greek philosophy, as well as to philosophers generally. ... Read more

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The essays in this volume were written to celebrate the sixtieth birthday of G. E. L. Owen, who by his essays and seminars on ancient Greek philosophy has made a contribution to its study that is second to none. The authors, from both sides of the Atlantic, include not only scholars whose main research interests lie in Greek philosophy, but others best known for their work in general philosophy. All are pupils or younger colleagues of Professor Owen who are indebted to his practice of philosophical scholarship as a first-order philosophical activity. At the heart of G. E. L. Owen's work has been a preoccupation with the role of philosophical reflection on language in the metaphysics and epistemology of Plato, Aristotle and other ancient Greek thinkers. This is accordingly the general topic of the present volume, which includes five papers on Plato's critical dialogues and seven on Aristotle, prefaced by two on Heraclitus and followed by a study of the debate in Hellenistic philosophy on the sorites. This is a book for specialists in Greek philosophy and philosophers of language which will also be of interest to some linguists. ... Read more

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The source and nature of earliest speech and civilization are puzzles that have intrigued people for many centuries. This book surveys ancient Greek views on these questions. It discusses the harmonious language of the golden age, the means by which language was first invented, and some ancient "linguists" described by Homer and Herodotus. ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Ionic Greek, Doric Greek, Aeolic Greek, Old Persian Language, Thracian Language, Pamphylian Greek, Phrygian Language, Hattic Language, Proto-Armenian Language, Paphlagonian Language. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 78. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Dates (beginning with Ancient Greek) from D.B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament (Grand Rapids 1997), 12. For the modern Doric dialect of Scotland, see Doric dialect (Scotland)Doric or Dorian was a dialect of ancient Greek. Its variants were spoken in the southern and eastern Peloponnese, Crete, Rhodes, some islands in the southern Aegean Sea, some cities on the coasts of Asia Minor, Southern Italy, Sicily, Epirus and Macedon. Together with Northwest Greek, it forms the "Western group" of classical Greek dialects. By Hellenistic times, under the Achaean League, the Achaean Doric Koine appeared exhibiting many peculiarities common to all Doric dialects and which delayed the spread of the Attic-based Koine to the Peloponnese until the 2nd century BC. It is widely accepted that Doric originated in the mountains of Epirus, northwestern Greece, the original seat of the Dorians. It was expanded to all other regions during the Dorian invasion (circa 1150 BC) and the colonisations that followed. The presence of a Doric state (Doris) in central Greece, north of the Gulf of Corinth, led to the theory that Doric had originated in northwest Greece or maybe beyond in the Balkans.The dialect's distribution towards the north extends to the Megarian colony of Byzantium and the Corinthian colonies of Potidaea, Epidamnos, Apollonia and Ambracia. Local epigraphical evidence is restricted to the decrees of the Epirote League and the Pella curse tablet (both in early 4th century BC), as well to t...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=85437 ... Read more

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Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Doric Greek, Mycenaean Greek Language, Eteocretan Language, Pelasgian Language. Excerpt:Distribution of Greek dialects in the classical period . Western group: Doric proper Northwest Doric Greek : Central group: Aeolic Arcado-Cypriot : Eastern group: Attic Ionic History of the Greek language (see also: Greek alphabet ) For the modern Doric dialect of Scotland, see Doric dialect (Scotland) Doric or Dorian was a dialect of ancient Greek . Its variants were spoken in the southern and eastern Peloponnese , Crete , Rhodes , some islands in the southern Aegean Sea , some cities on the coasts of Asia Minor , Southern Italy , Sicily , Epirus and Macedon . Together with Northwest Greek , it forms the "Western group" of classical Greek dialects. By Hellenistic times, under the Achaean League , the Achaean Doric Koine appeared exhibiting many peculiarities common to all Doric dialects and which delayed the spread of the Attic -based Koine to the Peloponnese until the 2nd century BC. It is widely accepted that Doric originated in the mountains of Epirus , northwestern Greece , the original seat of the Dorians . It was expanded to all other regions during the Dorian invasion (circa 1150 BC) and the colonisations that followed. The presence of a Doric state (Doris ) in central Greece, north of the Gulf of Corinth , led to the theory that Doric had originated in northwest Greece or maybe beyond in the Balkans .The dialect's distribution towards the north extends to the Megarian colony of Byzantium and the Corinthian colonies of Potidaea , Epidamnos , Apollonia and Ambracia . Local epigraphical evidence is restricted to the decrees of the Epirote League and the Pella curse tablet (both in early 4th century BC), as well to the Doric eponym Machatas first attested in Macedonia (early 5th centur... ... Read more

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Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Dates (beginning with Ancient Greek) from D.B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament (Grand Rapids 1997), 12. Aeolic (pronounced ) or Aeolian () Greek (also known as Lesbian Greek) is a linguistic term used to describe a set of rather archaic Greek sub-dialects, spoken mainly in Boeotia (a region in Central Greece), in Lesbos (an island close to Asia Minor) and in other Greek colonies. The Aeolic dialect shows many archaisms, in comparison to the other Greek dialects (i.e. Ionian-Attic, Doric, Northwestern and Arcado-Cypriot), as well as many innovations. Aeolic Greek is most widely known for being the language of the writings of Sappho and Alcaeus of Mytilene. Aeolic poetry, the most famous example of which being the works of Sappho, mostly uses four classical meters known as the Aeolics, which are: Glyconic (the most basic form of Aeolic line), Hendecasyllabic verse, Sapphic stanza and Alcaic stanza (the latter two so named after Sappho and Alcaeus respectively). In Protagoras (dialogue) 341c of Plato, Prodicus labelled the Aeolic dialect as barbarian, while referring to Pittacus of Mytilene: The Aeolic dialect might, in the time of Socrates and Plato, sound so strange to the Athenians, as to be termed, from an exclusive pride in the Attic literary style, barbaros. Proto-Greek long remains. ~ Attic-Ionic in at least some positions. Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Greek * p everywhere. ~ Attic-Ionic, Arcadocypriot, Doric t before e and i. This treatment of the labiovelar finds its exact counterpart in the P-Celtic languages and in the Sabellic languages. Indo-European s and a sonorant (r, l, n, m, w, y) double sonorant (assimilation). ~ Attic-Ionic, Doric compensatory lengthening of previous vowel ... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=429475 ... Read more

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Chapters: Ionic Greek, Doric Greek, Messapian Language, Phoenician Language, Ligurian Language, Venetic Language, Lepontic Language, Raetic Language, Camunic Language, Elymian Language, North Picene Language, Sicel Language, Sicanian Language. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 71. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Dates (beginning with Ancient Greek) from D.B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament (Grand Rapids 1997), 12. For the modern Doric dialect of Scotland, see Doric dialect (Scotland)Doric or Dorian was a dialect of ancient Greek. Its variants were spoken in the southern and eastern Peloponnese, Crete, Rhodes, some islands in the southern Aegean Sea, some cities on the coasts of Asia Minor, Southern Italy, Sicily, Epirus and Macedon. Together with Northwest Greek, it forms the "Western group" of classical Greek dialects. By Hellenistic times, under the Achaean League, the Achaean Doric Koine appeared exhibiting many peculiarities common to all Doric dialects and which delayed the spread of the Attic-based Koine to the Peloponnese until the 2nd century BC. It is widely accepted that Doric originated in the mountains of Epirus, northwestern Greece, the original seat of the Dorians. It was expanded to all other regions during the Dorian invasion (circa 1150 BC) and the colonisations that followed. The presence of a Doric state (Doris) in central Greece, north of the Gulf of Corinth, led to the theory that Doric had originated in northwest Greece or maybe beyond in the Balkans.The dialect's distribution towards the north extends to the Megarian colony of Byzantium and the Corinthian colonies of Potidaea, Epidamnos, Apollonia and Ambracia. Local epigraphical evidence is restricted to the decrees of the Epirote League and the Pella curse ...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=85437 ... Read more

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Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Not illustrated. Excerpt: Ionic Greek was a sub-dialect of the Attic-Ionic dialectal group of Ancient Greek (see Greek dialects). Ionic dialect appears to have spread originally from the Greek mainland across the Aegean at the time of the Dorian invasions, around the 11th Century B.C. By the end of the Greek Dark Ages in the 5th Century B.C, the central west coast of Asia Minor, along with the islands of Chios and Samos, formed the heartland of Ionia proper. The Ionic dialect was also spoken on islands across the central Aegean and on the large island of Euboea north of Athens. The dialect was soon spread by Ionian colonization to areas in the northern Aegean, the Black Sea, and the western Mediterranean. Ionic dialect is generally divided into two major time periods, Old Ionic (or Old Ionian) and New Ionic (or New Ionian). The exact transition between the two is not clearly defined, but 600 B.C. is a good approximation. The Homeric works (the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Homeric Hymns), and the works of Hesiod, were written in a literary dialect called Homeric Greek or Epic Greek, which consists largely of Old Ionic, with some borrowings from the neighboring Aeolic dialect to the north. The poet Archilochus wrote in late Old Ionic. The most famous New Ionic authors are Anacreon, Theognis, Herodotus, Hippocrates and in Roman times Aretaeus, Arrian, and Lucian. Ionic acquired prestige among Greek speakers because of its association with the language used by Homer, the writings of Herodotus, and the close linguistic relationship with the Attic dialect spoken in Athens. This was further enhanced by the writing reform implemented in Athens in 403 BC, whereby the old Attic alphabet was replaced by the Ionic one, as used by the city of Miletus. This alphabet... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=145134 ... Read more