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2. Course Overview
Abstract: This capstone level solidifies students’ command of complex Greek prose. Navigating from the ill-fated campaigns of Croesus to the stirring rise of Athens' maritime dominance, the curriculum focuses heavily on periodic sentences and perfective constructions, ultimately preparing students to read unadapted Attic comedy.
Comprehensive Description: Building on the grammatical foundations of Level 5, this course deepens your reading fluency through emotionally compelling and historically rich chapters. You will follow Croesus from the loss of his son to his miraculous salvation by Apollo, culminating in the expansive account of the Athenian fleet in Chapter XXIX. The reading load increases in complexity, demanding a sustained focus on the perfect and pluperfect tenses in all voices and moods. Furthermore, the course will utilize Chapter XXX as a deliberate bridge into classical literature, utilizing Attic prose paraphrases and scholia to prepare you for reading the comedies of Aristophanes. Students will continue to compose ekphrasis, write paraphrases, and memorize extended passages from original authors.
3. Methodology & General Description
This course utilizes the second or third English editions of Athenaze; as the variations between these editions are negligible, both are suitable for the curriculum. Each twelve-week term consists of bi-weekly sessions comprising two academic hours (90 minutes total).
As a unique pedagogical complement to the Athenaze series, our approach integrates modern communicative language learning with century-old practices inherited from late antiquity and the Byzantine era. Students are expected to prepare for each session by reading 10–15 lines of the assigned text. During class, these lines become the basis for active practice:
Active Dialogue: Students formulate and answer questions entirely in Ancient Greek.
Visual Elicitation: Describing imagery related to the narrative to bypass translation.
Linguistic Reformulation: Rewriting passages through personal paraphrases and grammar drills.
Internalization: Gradually memorizing key narrative elements and original fragments.
Through these exercises, participants acquire not only the book’s lexicon but also the target-language terminology necessary to discuss advanced grammatical structures and express nuanced opinions in Ancient Greek.
4. Proficiency & Requirements
Language Level:
Framework Reference: Upper-Intermediate — Level 6 (Athenaze Vol. II, Chapters XXVI–XXX).
General Description: Designed for students who have successfully completed Level 5 or equivalent. Participants must possess a firm command of complex subordinate constructions and familiarity with the middle and passive voices across all previously studied tenses.
Estimated Self-Study Time:
Time Commitment: Approximately 3–4 hours per week (including 20 minutes of daily review).
Preparation: Preliminary reading of 10–15 lines from the assigned passage is required before each session.
5. Materials & Bibliography
Required Textbooks:
Primary Text: Maurice Balme & Gilbert Lawall, Athenaze: An Introduction to Ancient Greek, Vol. II (2nd or 3rd English Edition).
Disclaimer: Acquisition of the physical or digital edition is mandatory for course attendance. Please ensure you have your copy before the first session.
Grammatical Syllabus:
Morphology & Syntax: The complete system of the perfect and pluperfect tenses (indicative, subjunctive, optative, imperative, infinitive, and middle/passive participles); conditional sentences; the accusative absolute; and the verbal adjective in -τέος. (Note: Specific grammatical content will be dynamically adapted and confirmed by the instructor prior to enrollment).
Classroom Metalanguage: Continued active application of rhetorical and grammatical terminology in Ancient Greek.
6. Chapter Coverage & Readings
This module covers approximately 331 verses of narrative text (~13 verses per session):
XXVI. ὁ Κροῖσος τὸν παῖδα ἀπόλλυσιν (α-β): 63 verses.
XXVII. ὁ Κροῖσος ἐπὶ τὸν Κῦρον στρατεύεται (α-β): 76 verses.
XXVIII. ὁ Ἀπόλλων τὸν Κροῖσον σώζει (α-β): 64 verses.
XXIX. μέγα τὸ τῆς θαλάσσης κράτος (α-ε): 128 verses.
Epilogue: Chapter XXX & Aristophanes: The final sessions will introduce Chapter XXX as a stylistic bridge, utilizing Attic prose paraphrases and ancient scholia to transition seamlessly into the unadapted comedies of Aristophanes.
