Learn Ancient Greek by Jones, Peter

by Peter V. Jones

Based on the same principles as Learn Latin, Peter Jones's bestselling book of the hugely popular Daily Telegraph series, this book teaches you enough Greek in 20 chapters to be able to read some real ancient Greek – one of the world's greatest languages, used by one of the world's greatest cultures. By the end of the course you will be able to read passages from the New Testament and from Classical Greek literature, including extracts from Socrates' speech on trial for his life recorded by Plato, Sophocles' Antigone, and the tragic end to the Athenian expedition to Sicily described by the historian Thucydides – and much else.Each chapter also comes with sections on ancient Greek history and culture, and on the influence of the ancient language on our own, enabling you to experience firsthand just why it is that the ancient Greeks have played such a central part in the culture, language, and history of western civilization.

Genres: Language, Nonfiction, Reference, History, Classics

Paperback

First published April 24, 1998

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Peter Jones (sometimes credited as Peter V. Jones) is a former lecturer in Classics at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, a writer and journalist. Jones has regularly written on Classics for major newspapers, and was awarded the MBE in 1983. He is a Cambridge graduate.

Jones' popular work has been focused on introducing new generations to Ancient Rome and Greece, from newspaper columns to crossword collections, popular non-fiction, and charitable organisations devoted to helping keep Classics subjects in schools.

Reviews

[Koen Crolla · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tedious. All of the things that were insufferable about Learn Latin return tenfold: the shitty banter, the regressive politics, the bizarre choice of target texts, &c.
The New Testament (which, you'll remember, was not written in Ancient Greek) features much more prominently in Learn Ancient Greek than the Vulgate (which was at least in Classical Latin) did in Learn Latin, so Jones now adds ``the relentless attempts to shove his religion down your throat'' to that list.

I did already know Latin, but I didn't/don't know Greek—I read this book as a kind of warm-up for a more substantial course (Mastronarde's Introduction to Attic Greek and the JACT's Reading Greek—I think I'm right in saying that Peter Jones is also associated with the JACT one, so I'll start with Mastronarde), and I wanted to take it seriously, so, like an idiot, I made the effort to do all of the exercises (I bought a notebook and everything). I don't know if there's anything in Learn Ancient Greek that will have to be unlearned, but I do know that the New Testament is a horrible source for language exercises, with lines being either extremely repetitive (God is love and the son of God is love and he who loves the son of God loves God and) or outright gibberish (he who speaks and announces the word has the life); naturally, it makes up about half of them. As a consequence, also, most of the vocabulary is concerned with praying, believing, commanding, and obeying, and the few Ancient Greek texts all have to come with ad-hoc vocabularies and pre-translated interjections longer than the actual texts.
(The longer passages from the NT also often come with an answer key that just says ``consult your Bible'', which...)

Like with Learn Latin, the length of Learn Ancient Greek was inviting, and it could have been a nice little introduction for people looking to get their feet wet. Again, though, it would have had to have been written by someone else.

[An Te · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little ancient Greek primer from Peter Jones. The content helpfully walks you through from beginning to outset with gradual exposure to tenses, verb types and vocab. Peter's approach is great for the absolutely newbie so dive right in if you're a complete uninitiate. He's also rather funny in his idioms and drawings (I think they are his?...) For those who are refreshing their Greek, as I was attempting to do, I feel someone would be better recommended Mastronarde's text on the subject. If your preference is to learn one rule at a time and apply it, this is the book for you. If, like me, you want all rules presented with their exceptions and contextualised occurrences, go for Mastronarde. The two are really at the same level (cough... cough! not really) but you'll have a much better grasp of the Greek language with the latter.

In Jones' book, you'll translate a range of Greek passages including Greek dramatists, historians, philosophers and the Greek New Testament with words from Jesus of Nazareth, the last of which I enjoyed translating the most.

All in all, newbies can rest assured that you'll have a taste of the language. But nothing more as it serves up Greek that is quite palatable.

[Kevin de Ataíde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very annoying little book, full of vulgarities and puns of the worst sort. It is the merest introduction, so nothing of real substance comes through. The author is knowledgeable indeed about ancient Greek history and language, but he tries to hard to keep the reader interested with bad humour. Two on five for managing to get me through to the back cover. I must return now to a more classical primer.

[Kjǫlsigʀ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This introduction freely mixes Ἀττικός with Κοινή and plenty else besides, but performs sufficiently in its duty of imparting familiarity with the grammar itself - after completing this course the student will still want a substantial lexicon handy and a lot more practice.

[Liam Malone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Figuring I bought this in 2003 or so, I think I got this when I worked at the National Park Service. I didn't know reviews were available for all to see. So I am going back over reviews I've posted to remove the arcane references that probably only I the author should understand. I am still working through this book, it will take 2 years. It addresses the New Testament a lot, gets you ready to read Koine Greek, and that's a good thing.

[Aiyana VelMartin]

I want to learn something new this year. I thinking of something that was different. So I thought why not learn ancient Greek. The book gives self-explanatory examples of learn the alphabet. At first i thought it was going to hard but it really wasn't. I enjoyed this book and the new found knowledge.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yeah, I am going to mark this read because it is pretty much a reference at this point. I didn't read every word, but I read enough.

Great book. For the minimal set of those interested in learning ancient greek.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only for the person who wants to learn Ancient Greek casually. Affords you quick enjoyment by enabling students to rapidly read a little Greek.

[ChristinaJL · Rating 1 out of 5]

Abandoning this book as I've used many language books and this has to be the worst. The author's puns/jokes are not funny and I don't like how he describes grammar. I need a better book.