This reader is designed to supplement the Alston H. Chase and Henry Phillips, Jr., A New Introduction to Greek (Third Edition Revised and Enlarged; Cambridge, Massachusetts/London, England: Harvard University Press, 1961) by keying short passages from ancient Greek to specific points of grammar presented in the book.
Many modern methods of teaching Greek, and even Latin, almost presuppose by their presentation of grammar that the student learns most effectively not by rote memorization of case endings and rigorous drilling of verb forms, but rather, by translating many lines of “easy” Greek with points of grammar furtively “slipped in.”1 In contrast, throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, classicists knew the value of routine and regular review. “Frequent reference to the grammar is the only sure means of fixing in the mind the important principles of syntax.”2 I believe it is only through this exercise of translating “real Greek” that the student will come not only to find a deeper understanding of the differing moods of the verbs, but also the more difficult task of acquiring a feeling for “the finer distinctions of the Greek tenses.”3 Thus, the text unites pedagogical methods at work in some modern textbooks4 with the wisdom expressed by those classicists who have gone before us.
Modernity requires that we neither merely parrot methods of the past, nor discard them in favor of crossword puzzles and word finds,5 but rather, incorporate proven methods into our present system of education. So, although I agree with Goodwin and White that “it is highly desirable to use as small a portion as possible of the classic literature as a corpus vile for the more minute dissection, and to enable pupils at the earliest possible moment to read Greek and Latin with an appreciative mind,”6 I do think that we must broaden the corpus vile beyond the first four books of Xenophon’s Anabasis. “Beginners today must early meet Democritus, Plato, Thucydides, and Herodotus if they are ever to be encouraged to go farther.”7 Thus the reader incorporates passages from various authors in order to attract and capture the imagination of the student who may then early on develop a relationship with those giants of Greek antiquity by translating their very words, with minimal help from a side gloss.
Reviewing a grammatical construction in a translation exercise reinforces the rules of grammar covered in the textbook. In my own experience teaching at both the college and high school level, I find that students are often encouraged by reading such passages of extended length with limited, if any, emendations. The translation of sentences in grammar books is often accompanied by the sighs of students grappling with monolinear phrases, struggling in the midst of a nebulous cloud of forms, genders, tenses, constructions, authors, and syntax to make sense of the language. The task of putting together a supplemental Greek text is therefore deemed appropriate, indeed necessary, for the modern student of Greek to have at his or her disposal an important if not essential tool for learning and comprehending the language of ancient Greece in a context of historical and anecdotal pericopes germane to the grammar presented in a particular lesson.
The readings are drawn from Diogenes Laertius, Xenophon, Plato, Plutarch and the Septuagint. These have been chosen for many reasons, not only to reinforce grammar but even moreso to inculcate a love of Greek and the stories from that language. To that end, there are several about Socrates, one story about Caesar and his early encounter with pirates, something about Plato from a biographer centuries later, and as a nod to those who learn Greek to translate biblical material, two more famous readings from the Septuagint. The fundamental parameters for selection include: the use of Attic Greek (with the exceptions of the Septuagint and Diogenes); the contribution of the particular text to a knowledge of Greek history, especially with regard to specific persons and vignettes about them; a fairly simple Greek style subject to minimal modifications; and a good, relevant, interesting story. With the exception of a rather straightforward Psalm (which itself is a translation of Hebrew), poetry has not been used for many reasons. Students beginning to understand grammar do not need to be confronted with meter, variant forms, or other peculiarities that are often found in the poets. Rather, all but one selection are from prose.
Although limited primarily to prose, the readings include the genres of biography, oratory, philosophy, history, and scripture, over a course of 800 years (from the fifth century BCE to the third century CE). The reader is not meant to complement a comprehensive course in Greek grammar; however, it does establish a foundation for such a course in covering a broad range of topics and time periods. All readings have been chosen with care as well as with an eye to retaining the words of the author as much as possible. Alterations have been kept to a minimum.
Although an effort has been made to limit adaptations, some have certainly been made. Although the overriding goal in this reader was to preserve the “real Greek,” there were cases where a particular word or phrase presented unnecessary difficulties for the beginning student. In these cases the challenging word was glossed and the text left uncorrupted. The three unedited texts (Lessons 24, 31 and 40) are signaled with an asterisk before the author or title. There is no textual critical work in this reader. The Greek text follows closely the Perseus Digital Library (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu) with the exception of the Septuagint, which is not in the Perseus Digital Library. For the Septuagint, the text follows closely the printed Rahlfs edition (Stuttgart: Biblia-Druck, 1935, 1979).
With respect to glosses, meanings given have been limited to those called for by the passages. In Lesson 24, the verb ἐμβάλλω has been glossed as “to feed” rather than the more common definition ‘to throw in, or put in,” because the syntax demands the former translation: “He ordered (his) friends to feed this forage to the horses . . . ” Principal parts have been keyed to those covered by the grammar, so that the fourth principal part is not glossed until the reading for Lesson 31, and the remaining principal parts are given at Lesson 36 when Chase and Phillips does a complete summary of verbs. If a verb is regular, or a compound of a regular verb, or a compound of a verb that has already been introduced by Chase and Phillips, only the first principal part has been glossed (e.g., Lesson 25 περιπαθέω). Further, the English translation of the Greek verb is given in the infinitive. Nouns are given as gender/number/case in an abbreviated form, so masculine nominative singular would appear as m/nom/sing. Abbreviations are similarly given for tense, mood, and voice of verbal forms. Idioms have been glossed, and words not in the grammar but appearing in more than one reading have been glossed in each reading so each reading may stand alone.
In this reader, when a Greek term appears that is covered in the vocabulary of a later lesson in Chase and Phillips, that lesson is so indicated in the left column alongside the Greek term. At times a vocabulary term that was mentioned only in a note in an earlier lesson is glossed in a later lesson. For example, in Lesson 40 the reader comes across the Greek term, πειράω, which was not in any prior vocabulary list, but was mentioned in note five of Lesson 15 in Chase and Phillips. The term is glossed in the reading of Lesson 40. Α point of grammar that appears in the reading and is introduced in a later lesson will be noted in the right hand column next to the English as there are times when Chase and Phillips merely mentions a point of grammar in a note, rather than addressing it more fully in the lesson. For example, the reading for Lesson 27 has the articular infinitive. Chase and Phillips mentions the articular infinitive (but hardly covers it) in a note on the reading in Lesson 15. So in the reading for Lesson 27 the articular infinitive is noted with a reference to Lesson 15.
Thus, it is my hope that this reader will aid students of ancient Greek in their demanding task of translating and understanding the language, and that they will be rewarded early in their career by meeting Diogenes Laertius, Xenophon, Plato, Plutarch and the Septuagint.
The Authors
The following is meant to give the student a mere sketch of the authors, characters, and works found in this reader. Some biographical information is given such as the authors’ birth and death dates, or the time in which they flourished if the former is not known. Following this brief précis is a description of the work that has been chosen. For example, only selected dialogues of Plato have been used—namely the Apology, the Phaedo, and the Republic. Therefore, only these dialogues are discussed in the introductory section on Plato.
Xenophon
Xenophon the Athenian, son of Gryllus, was born about 430 BCE.8 His early life was contemporaneous with the Peloponnesian War, and he knew Socrates. At the invitation of Xenophon’s friend Proxenus, one of the Greek generals in the Persian Prince Cyrus’ service, he joined in the campaign of Cyrus, who was attempting to depose his brother and gain the throne.
The Anabasis is Xenophon’s recollection of these events. During the campaign, Cyrus was killed and Xenophon became one of the leaders of the ten thousand Greek mercenaries left in the heart of Persia. He describes a vivid tale of heroism, valor, courage, and sacrifice in the arduous journey home.
Plato
Aristocles, nicknamed Plato on account of his broad shoulders (platos)9, lived from 427/8 to 347/8 BCE.10 His family was well established in Athens and had political connections. At the age of twenty, he met Socrates after whose death in 399 he travelled abroad. When he returned to Athens he began to teach philosophy.11 The school, actually a garden and gymnasium, was named the Academy because it was situated next to the sacred precinct of the hero Academos.12 Thus, Plato was about forty years old when he formally founded the Academy, and he taught there until his death. The Academy then had an uninterrupted life of 900 years, longer than any other institution of education in the West.13
Plato’s writings have been “praised as the substance of Western thought.”14 It is with this respect that they have been included in this reader. The selections contained herein are certainly not meant to provide a comprehensive or even fairly representative selection of Plato’s dialogues. Rather, these have been chosen for their wit, style, and substance.
The Apology is Plato’s account of Socrates’ defense before the Athenian jurymen. Socrates had been charged with corrupting the minds of the young and of believing in deities of his own invention instead of the gods recognized by the state. As a defense, Socrates gives an account of his life, showing that he has been merely following the command of god, and it has been by following this command that he has angered so many people who have now sought to condemn him on the charges above.
The Phaedo is named after a devoted pupil of Socrates who was with him when he died. In this dialogue Phaedo, the mouthpiece of Plato, relates to his friends the circumstances and events leading up to and including the last moments of Socrates’ life, during which he discussed the nature of the soul and life after death.
The subject matter of the Republic is justice and the virtues in being just. Socrates broadens the discussion to include not only individuals but states, and what the best possible state might be. A standard for human life is laid down. The soul “must be raised to behold the universal light . . . There is truth beyond this shifting, changing world and men can seek and find it.”15 To demonstrate this, Plato uses the allegory of the cave. Instead of going above the realms of ordinary experience, Plato goes below and “inverts a fire and shadows cast from it on the walls of a cave to correspond to the sun and the ‘real’ objects of sense,” thus making our ‘real’ world the symbol of Plato’s ideal world16 and our ‘shadows’ the symbol of his earthly realm.
The Septuagint
The term Septuagint is Latin for seventy. It refers to a Greek translation of the Hebrew (Old) Testament, commonly referred to as LXX, the Roman numeral for seventy. The Septuagint takes its name from a legend whereby seventy scholars secluded on an island at the request of Ptolemy Philadelphus (284-247 BCE) forged a translation of the Hebrew in seventy days. It is now taken to be the work of Egyptian Jews working independently of one another and throughout different time periods, including and up to the first century CE.17 Interestingly, the numbering of the Psalms in the Septuagint is not the same as the Hebrew it is translating. For example, in this reader the student sees Septuagint Psalm 22, which one might recognize as Psalm 23.
Plutarch
Plutarch, like Diogenes, was a Greek biographer. He was born about 46 CE and died in 120. He was a member of the college of priests at Delphi. His extensive travels took him to Alexandria, parts of Italy and Greece, and Rome, where he lectured on ethics. It is surmised that his works derive from his lecture notes.18 He wrote many volumes, including The Parallel Lives and The Moralia. In the former work he compares such characters as Julius Caesar with Alexander, and Cicero with Demosthenes. Twenty-one other sets of lives are brought together to form the entirety of the work, in which he discusses the moral character of his subjects,19 giving attention to anecdotes which provide the reader with a window to the soul of the subject. It is believed that his composition is a reaction to the decadence of Rome and her disregard of the old gods and philosophies. The Lives offer examples of moral guidance to pilot one through the audacious and impudent culture of the day.20
Diogenes Laertius
Diogenes of Laerte in Cilicia is a character of antiquity about whom we know very little, not even his place or date of birth.21 It is known however that he wrote Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, a ten book account of eighty-two Greek thinkers from Thales (ca. 624 BCE) to Epicurus (ca. 341-270 BCE)22 Internal evidence from the work indicates that Diogenes lived roughly from 200 to 250 CE.23 Yet, it is difficult to ascertain very much about Diogenes because so much of his material is a reproduction of what he received.24 According to modern standards, his work was as uncritical as the age in which he wrote.25 Although during the period of Diogenes’ flourishing there existed many other books written on the subject, his work alone survives.26 His Lives tells us much more about the philosophers than their philosophies and it is for that reason that the Lives is classified as biography.
1. E.g. Ullman, et al., Latin for Americans; Balme and Morwood, Oxford Latin Course; and Balme and Lawall, Athenaze.
2. Goodwin and White, The First Four Books of Xenophon’s Anabasis, iii.
3. Adams, Lysias, 5.
4. E.g., Wheelock, Wheelock’s Latin Grammar.
5. Balme and Morwood, Oxford Latin Course, 11 and 61.
6. Goodwin and White, The First Four Books of Xenophon’s Anabasis, iv.
7. Chase and Phillips, A New Introduction to Greek, v.
8. The date is disputed; other scholars argue for a date of 418 BCE.
9. Freeman and Lowe, A Greek Reader for Schools, 73.
10. Authors who disagree as to the dates of his birth and death include: Hamilton and Cairns, The Collected Dialogues of Plato, xiii; Harvey, The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature, 331; and Freeman and Lowe, A Greek Reader for Schools, 73.
11. Harvey, The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature, 331.
12. Freeman and Lowe, A Greek Reader for Schools, 73.
13. Hamilton and Cairns, The Collected Dialogues of Plato, xiii.
14. Ibid., xiii.
15. Ibid., 576.
16. Shorey, Plato: The Republic, 118.
17. Harvey, The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature, 390.
18. Ibid., 336.
19. Ibid., 336.
20. Ibid., 336–37.
21. Hicks, Diogenes Laertius, ix.
22. Harvey, The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature, 146.
23. Ibid., 146.
24. Hicks, Diogenes Laertius, xvii.
25. Ibid., xv.
26. Ibid., ix.