This course is to study Classical Greek. The great epic of Homer, the Greek Tragedy, the History of Herodotus, the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, and the mathematics of Euclid were all written in Classical Greek. We wil learn Attic Greek in our class, which was used in the 6th to 4th century BC in the Attic district in Greece. With the knowledge of the Attic Greek, one can also read Homer (8th century BC), and the New Testament (2nd century AD, written in Koine Greek), as there are not many differences between Attic and Koine Greek. Nowadays some of the new words are made from Greek and/or Latin words. For example, the word "television" was invented combining a Greek word "telos"(afar) and a Latin word "video"(to see). The ancient Greek civilization had a great influence on later European civilization. By learning Classical Greek, we aim to obtain knowledge not only of the language but also of the Greek ideology.
By studying Classical Greek, students will be able to read Greek original texts directly, rather than in translations. They will notice how many important and valuable messages are contained in these texts. Also they will be surprised at how vivid the messages are. They have not become obsolete, but keep on having fresh impact still now, even though they were written more than 2500 years ago.
Classical Greek
✔ Specialist skills | ✔ Intercultural skills | ✔ Communication skills | ✔ Critical thinking skills | Practical and/or problem-solving skills |
Grammatical explanations are given at the classes, and the exercises are required as homework assignments.
Course schedule | Required learning | |
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Class 1 | Greek alphabet and its pronunciation, Accents and breathing | Understand Greek alphabet and its pronunciation, accents and breathing |
Class 2 | Conjugation of verbs (present, indicative, active) | Memorize the conjugation of verbs (present, indicative, active) |
Class 3 | First declension of nouns (1) | Memorize the first declension of nouns(1) |
Class 4 | First declension of nouns (2) | Memorize the first declension of nouns(2) |
Class 5 | Conjugation of verbs (future, indicative, active) | Memorize the conjugation of verbs (future, indicative, active) |
Class 6 | The first declension of nouns (3) and (4) | Memorize the first declension of nouns (3),(4) |
Class 7 | Conjugation of verbs (imperfect, indicative,active) ,the second declention of nouns | Memorize the conjugation of verbs (imperfect, indicative,active) |
Class 8 | The second declension of nouns, adjectives, prepositions; Examination | Memorize the first declension of adjectives |
M. Tanaka and C. Matsudaira, Girisiago Nyumon, Revised, Iwanami, 2012
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Examination (70% ) , homework assignments(30%)
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