Greek 101 and 102 will teach you all you need to know to learn to read Plato, Sappho, Sophocles, and Herodotus in their original language, with no previous knowledge required. While learning Greek, you will also learn another amazing language at the same time: English. Students who study Greek also learn English grammar and vocabulary with a level of detail and clarity that you must experience to believe. Students interested in math and the sciences will excel at Greek and benefit enormously from the vocabulary you learn, since 90% of scientific vocabulary comes from classical languages.  In Greek 101, you will learn how to pronounce ancient Greek, and we will cover more than half of Greek grammar, so by the end of the year, you will be reading Attic Greek.

Greek 102 builds on what you learned in Greek 101 in the fall (see the description of Greek 101 for details) and completes your introduction to the ancient Greek language.  In the last month or so, we’ll turn from the textbook to reading excerpts from actual Greek authors like Lysias, Euripides and Sappho. Steady review throughout the term will reinforce what you learned in the fall at the same time you’re learning new material.  A single year can take you from knowing no Greek at all to being able to read texts that shaped the western literary, philosophical, and political traditions.  Studying Greek will also strengthen your English vocabulary, improve your command of English grammar, and enhance your writing skills.

Study of a selected work from Classical Athenian literature, such as a dialogue of Plato or a tragedy of Euripides. Supplementary reading in English translation from other Greek works to illuminate the text in its literary and cultural context.

Study of selected books in Greek from Homer's Iliad or Odyssey with emphasis on the oral style of early epic; further reading in Homer in translation; the historical background of the period.

Close reading and discussion of a play (or plays) from the extant works of the Athenian playwright Euripides. Translation and discussion of the Greek text will be supplemented with additional reading of Greek dramas in translation as well as secondary readings on issues relating to the plays and their broader literary, social, political, and cultural contexts.

In this course students will read selections from Herodotus' Histories. We will consider the text in light of the historiographical and literary traditions, with a view toward understanding Herodotus' innovations and inheritance. This course may be taken as either 206 or, with additional assignments, 306.

Study of selected books in Greek from Homer's Iliad or Odyssey with emphasis on the oral style of early epic. Translation and discussion of the Greek text will be supplemented with additional reading of the Homeric poems in translation as well as secondary readings on issues relating to the epics and their broader literary, social, political, and cultural contexts.

Close reading and discussion of a play (or plays) from the extant works of the Athenian playwright Euripides. Translation and discussion of the Greek text will be supplemented with additional reading of Greek dramas in translation as well as secondary readings on issues relating to the plays and their broader literary, social, political, and cultural contexts.

Close reading and discussion of a play (or plays) from the extant works of the Athenian playwright, Sophocles. Translation and discussion of the Greek text will be supplemented with additional readings of Greek dramas in translation as well as secondary readings on issues relating to the plays and their broader literary, social, political, and cultural contexts.

With its emphasis on politics, ritual, and marriage, early Greek comedy revels in bodily humor and exults in taking down the political and social elite, thus giving us access to perspectives including those of women and enslaved people that are not usually depicted in other genres. Close readings of Aristophanes’ Greek plays combined with analysis of both primary and secondary sources. Texts will be considered in their broader social, political, and literary contexts.

In this course students will read selections from Herodotus' Histories. We will consider the text in light of the historiographical and literary traditions, with a view toward understanding Herodotus' innovations and inheritance.