Homeric Greek: A Book for Beginners

John Wright’s thorough, up-to-date revision of Clyde Pharr’s Homeric Greek is presented by the University of Oklahoma Press for use in first-year Greek courses in colleges and preparatory schools. This revised edition adds concise sections on grammar that will be of immense aid to the student who has not previously learned Latin grammar. With a judicious hand Wright has removed some extraneous commentary on the Iliad, but the essence of Pharr’s text–which has stood the test of time–has been left untouched.

Pharr explains in his eloquent introduction why the ideal approach to the language is with Homer rather than with the writers of Attic Greek. The Homeric method has, indeed, met with remarkable success; Wright’s newly revised text will undoubtedly spark fresh enthusiasm in both students and professors of Greek.

While this book contains more than the first-year student could easily master, it does not attempt to catalog “every stray Homeric form…. Its first object is to teach beginners to read Greek intelligently and with pleasure.”

Clyde Pharr (1885–1972) was head of the Classics Department at Vanderbilt University.

John Wright is Professor Emeritus of Classics at Northwestern University.