An Introduction to Greek

by Henry LaMar Crosby, John Nevin Schaeffer

Generations of students have discovered the enduring pleasures of ancient Greek with this classic text. Supplemented by exercises, readings, and review lessons, it presents concise but thorough coverage of grammatical forms and syntax. Students advance from the simple fundamentals of the alphabet and declensions to the complexities of conditional sentences, and they acquire a Greek vocabulary of more than 600 basic words.
Each chapter begins with a Greek motto, offering insights into classical attitudes and values. Reading selections include the works of Plato, Herodotus, and Homer as well as excerpts from ancient playwrights and the New Testament. More than 120 illustrations depict images of Greek culture related to archaeology, history, and literature. This comprehensive introduction also features Greek-to-English and English-to-Greek glossaries, a complete grammatical appendix, and supplemental information on word formation and etymology.

Genres: Language, Reference, Textbooks, Linguistics

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1928

Reviews

[zoe nicol · Rating 3 out of 5]

The copy I have is actually a hardback printed in 1947. The authors write as though only male students of Greek exist and as though Greek society was without flaw. It's a hell of an amusing book. If you can get over that silliness you can even learn basic Attic.

[max · Rating 5 out of 5]

This traditional textbook is the one I used as an undergraduate many years ago. It contains 79 separate lessons. These are short and succinct for the most part, with small, manageable amounts of new vocabulary in each. Overall, the presentation is fairly clear.

Some of the book's drawbacks:
1. By about lesson 60, students would prefer to be waterboarded rather than translate some of the tortuously difficult Greek sentences;

2. Grammatical concepts that are the subject of many lessons are insufficiently presented and explained;

3. some lessons present new grammatical forms that are not referenced within the lesson itself but instead are placed in an appendix at the back of the book.

Still, these appendices are beautifully laid out in a compact and traditional style; for this matter alone the book remains a handy reference work that I consult frequently.

I have earnestly attempted to use this book with intermediate h.s. Greek students who were very smart, motivated and skillful in their abilities with language. They did not like this book at all, and I ultimately had to jettison it in favor of Reading Course in Homeric Greek: Book One. In beginning Greek classes over the past decade I have consistently used Athenaze: An Introduction to Ancient Greek: Book I with superb results. The connected nature of the readings in the Athenaze text make it a far more desirable textbook for beginning students.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greek makes me cry inside, but I still enjoy it.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Returned to this after using it years ago in undergrad. I recommend it (for an eager classicist or perhaps the wedding gift for an enemy) despite:
a. Too many moments of "just look at the appendices, I'm too busy watching Murder She Wrote to provide a good description"
b. Too much expectation of a background in Latin (fine for me, perhaps not for many modern readers), and
c. Font size that will make us all blind

More seriously: I think modern grammars like those of Shelmerdine or Luschnig do a better job for contemporary students (more explanation, larger font, etc.), but this'll do the job if you're locked in a panic room.

[Nicole Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book helped me understand the structure and format of the Greek language better, and it also was incredibly helpful in its relation to Greek history in and of itself. However, I found it difficult to fully follow along, as the book is very condensed in few pages, with a certain type font that made it difficult for me to follow along. Overall, though, I found it very fascinating and resourceful.

[Victor Whitman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learning or, in my case, relearning ancient Greek is really hard. For those interested, though, this is a really good textbook, originally published in 1928. It uses a traditional approach, lots of rote memorization of forms and grammar, but it is all there, along with healthy samplings of real Greek passages and sentences to translate. This book was designed so people could tackle Xenophon's Anabasis, the march up country.

[Mars · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's pretty decent, but it expects you to have an understanding of the English language and grammar appropriate for 1928, when they still taught it in school.

It was definitely a worthwhile acquisition for $1, at a used-book shop.


Cover image (mine's a bit worn, unfortunately)

[Elena Traduzioni Oceano Mare · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know it's just a manual, but I have such good memories of this class I took back in 1991 even if, for the life of me, I have the hardest time remembering the first thing about this language, which I love and I'm afraid I want to keep studying in vain!!!

[kate]

attic greek.

[Liam Malone · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the best straight forward grammars out there. I used it in college, a friend borrowed and never returned my copy, so this year I bought the paperback version.