Philosophical Greek: An Introduction

by Francis Howard Fobes

Fobes, Francis Howard

332 pages, Paperback

Published July 21, 2012

Reviews

[Richard]

Great for philosophers who want to learn Greek, esp. in terms of vocab. I, the protagonist of the universe, assign the text a "four" for two reasons:

• The grammatical explanations are more aphoristic than the Presocratics they're to unlock. (I admittedly don't mind this, as I was trained in this style and I was using this text to tutor someone; that said, something like Hansen and Quinn or, better yet, Shelmerdine is better suited for those unfamiliar with Latin and/or needing lengthier/fuller grammatical exegesis.) Nonetheless, this text is a boon for listing dual and future perfect forms–you are a coward if you do not memorize these!

• I know it was a right of passage for 20th c classicists to die of cirrhosis and irony, but must we also go blind? The 6 pt font needn't turn me into Homer. (I've enough privations.)

It's an old standard, all in all; get a copy, even if you have to rob it from an old, weaker classicist whom you can defeat in hand to hand combat.