Learn Ancient Greek Paperback – 24 April 1998

I bought this book two years ago after struggling with Teach Yourself Ancient Greek. (I’m a big fan of the TY series and my failure to get beyond Chapter 9 of TYAG is more a reflection of my incompetence than of the book itself).When I bought this book I went through it at a slow pace, making notes and flash cards and found it helpful in getting me back on track with my learning. However, I then went off in a new direction. Instead of returning to TYAG, I moved on to Christophe Rico’s Polis. This is an excellent introduction to Koine, but really needs a teacher as the whole text is in Koine, as are the very useful audio/podcasts and YouTube videos (useful for pronunciation and for bringing the language to life). However, I found that lots of words in the Polis course are either not in my Ancient Greek dictionary, or the meanings given there don’t equate to the meanings they seem to have on the Polis course. Also Polis is designed for listening and speaking so it’s presented like a modern language course. In other words, you have conversations between the prof and his students rather than analysis of Plato and Aristotle. So, as I have no one with whom to speak Koine, I’ve put Polis back on the shelf for the time being and reached for Peter Jones’s book for a second run though.Let me get the irritations out of the way first:• The author’s jaunty style can be annoying, especially the schoolboy humour• He assumes his readers are practicing Christians (and have a copy of the New Testament to hand)• He doesn’t do accents, although he does – briefly – explain what they areIf you can handle those irritations, what you get in this book is an excellent introduction to a kind of hybrid Greek (5th Century BCE Attic, Koine, New Testament, prose and poetry) and that’s exactly what you need if you want to be able to read a range of Ancient Greek literature in the original.The author goes easy on the grammar, introducing just enough to enable you to make progress, and you soon realise you are moving at a fairly brisk pace. By the time you’re half way through the book you’ve covered the present indicative and imperative of regular, middle and contracted verbs; masculine, feminine and neuter nouns; present participles; present subjunctive of the above verbs and aorist (past).I’m halfway through the book now, in about a week, and I know what to expect in the second half. We’ll have more on the aorist, the imperfect, the passive; adjectives; and we’ll get some poetry, with useful notes on metre. As well as biblical passages, there are excerpts from Plato and the dramatists. These are either simplified or have the difficult bits glossed, but knowing you’re getting close to reading some “real” Ancient Greek is immensely satisfying. At the end of each chapter there’s a section on Ancient Greek language and culture. Throughout the author shows how many modern English words derive directly or indirectly from Ancient Greek.I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a gentle introduction to Ancient Greek. If you try this book first, and then move on to TYAG or Polis, you’ll have a great head start when you’re grappling with noun declensions and verb forms (which come at you with a rapid pace in TYAG) or with the demands of Polis (recognising the difference between indicative and imperative).

Similar to his previous Latin book, Peter Jones's 'Learn Ancient Greek' is very compelling, so long as you can stand grammar and vocab lists. Again, a very funny book with interesting info about the Greeks, and the way Greek has changed over the years and its influence on English. It also covers the Greek alphabet in a very good way, with lots of recognisable examples of use. Again, lots of Greek passages from both Classical writers and from the New Testament, although pedants will note that he makes little distinction between Biblical Koine and Classical Attic. Pedants should also be aware that there is no discussion on noun declension, as the case is apparent from the article; the focus is on reading more than writing. However, it is briefly mentioned in the grammar appendix. Also be aware there are no accent marks on words except for clarity where there might be confusion with others. Nevertheless, if you have an interest in Ancient Greek, you should definitely buy this book, and if you're also interested in Latin, check out Jones's previous book. As there is no preview, I have included some photos of the inside and the back cover.

An excellent little book: witty and amusing, and packed with information. It leads you (seemingly) effortlessly along the thorny path of language-learning. Even if you don't end up where it is your ambition to be (and it might be through your own fault) you would certainly enjoy the journey. (Not quite sure about the pictures though)

With this book you can tap directly into the linguistic thoughts of Peter V. Jones, arguably a colossus of the classical world in his own right.The pictures and jokes hide quite a heavy-duty introduction to the language, and lots of the thorny issues get addressed.The trouble is, it is still (and is increasingly) Ancient Greek, and there's a lot to learn, and the experts are STILL arguing the toss about how best to translate Plato's "Apology".If you are an absolute beginner, learning on your own, there are thinner, perhaps more approachable books to get you up to speed first.

This is a fun and light-hearted taster of the ancient Greek language. Written in a humorous manner it mixes the basics of the language with Greek myth and Biblical passages. Mr. Jones style is cool and self-assured with the chapters arranged into digestible study portions. Whilst it does lack the completeness of the excellent JACT series it will give a good grounding of the basics.

Not for children! Contains cartoons of naked people!

As other reviewers have already asked, 'Why can't all language books be written like this????' Greek isn't a particularly easy language, but by the time you get through this little book, you'll be hooked, and well equipped to face some of the more complex aspects - and you'll probably still have enough enthusiasm to see you through the hard times.This book makes it seem easy. It certainly makes it all a lot of fun. Very highly recommended.

This is a very entertaining introduction to learning ancient Greek. Don't expect to be an expert from reading this but you will gain sense of accomplishment and learn some interesting things along the way including some basic ancient Greek!Good good bargain.