Thrasymachus

by Anthony Munday, C.W.E. Peckett

This is one of the classic course books for those beginning ancient Greek. Designed to give students a working knowledge of the Greek languages in order to examine the ancient texts with confidence and enjoyment, the text includes some of the more familiar of the myths, some of the exciting parts of the Odyssey , and a number of extracts from other Greek authors from the earliest down to the New Testament.

Genres: Language, Reference

344 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1991

About the author

Anthony Munday (or Monday) (baptized 13 October 156 – 10 August 1633) was an English playwright and miscellaneous writer. The chief interest in Munday for the modern reader lies in his work as one of the chief predecessors of Shakespeare in English dramatic composition, as well as his writings on Robin Hood.

Reviews

[wyclif]

A good supplementary Greek reader for intermediate students. Assumes a strong foundation in Latin grammar, so it's not for beginners. Anyone who expects to work through this should be prepared for lots of vocabulary and morphology memorization. Readings are graded and begin with easier texts, graduating to more difficult ones. Not designed for self learners—this text was clearly intended as supplemental classroom material. Nevertheless it may be useful in a self-study context by supplementing further with the fuller grammar treatment by Hansen & Quinn (and if you have that text, you should really start there and come back to this later after you've mastered the grammar).

[Rob Marshall]

Despite its age, I still think this is the most concise intro book!

[Jamie]

It'd be very hard to learn beginning Greek from this, but a. Excellent and funny intermediate reader or thorough review.

[Eric Sauder]

This is an excellent reader. And if you are self-studying, it can be a great addition to other texts that you are going through. As a stand alone to learn ancient Greek, I don't think it would work. But the real benefit of this book is that all the readings give you great practice and are a connected narrative. It tells the story of an ancient Greek boy, Thrasymachus, who is awoken one night by the god Hermes, who takes him down into Hades for a tour. He gets a boat ride from Charon across the river Styx. Then he meets many of the great heroes (and villains) of myth and legend, who tell their stories. He meets the likes of Achilles, Hector, Paris, Hercules, Prometheus, Jason, Sisyphus, Atlas, and Tantalus, among others. Even Homer puts in an appearance in the last parts of the book, and he sings some of his epic, the Odyssey. Its very well done, interesting, with lots of humor thrown in. Also check out the novelization and expansion of the story done by Luke Ranieri, which he offers as a free download. Luke makes the stories even better by expanding on details that might not be familiar to modern readers. And he gives you a lot more help in understanding the excerpts from Homer. I've read this book through many times and it has definitely improved my Greek. ἔρρωσθε!

[Edragone]

4

Un bon reader, progressif, intéressant. La fin devient assez ardue, notamment à cause des vers d'Homère qui sont insérés dans le texte. Je le relirai parce que la fin est difficile, mais sinon, très bonne lecture.

[Winnie Thornton]

Read a few chapters.