Athenaze: An Introduction to Ancient Greek: Book I

Combining the best features of traditional and modern methods, Athenaze: An Introduction to Ancient Greek provides a unique course of instruction that allows students to read connected Greek narrative right from the beginning and guides them to the point where they can begin reading complete classical texts. Ingeniously constructed to hold students' interest, the course begins with a fictional narrative about an Attic farmer's family placed in precise historical context (432 B.C.) that students can understand prior to formal grammatical explanation. The narrative is interwoven with tales from mythology and the Persian Wars, and gradually gives way to extracts from Herodotus, Plato, and Thucydides. In the last two chapters the head of the peasant family reappears in his original incarnation as Dicaeopolis in scenes from Aristophanes' Acharnians. Each chapter includes a full explanation of new vocabulary and grammar, and an essay on relevant aspects of ancient Greek culture and history. Exercises in translation from English to Greek are integrated throughout, including particularly useful sets on word-building, that help students to recognize new words when they encounter them, and in word study, which show the relationship between Greek words and their English derivatives, making the importance of Greek language to Western culture clear to the student.

With its unique combination of features and lucid presentation of material, Athenaze: An Introduction to Ancient Greek helps students learn to read Greek fluently, with an intelligent understanding based on a firm grasp of its cultural and historical context, while at the same time demanding high standards of linguistic precision.

Maurice Balme, Harrow School (retired). Gilbert Lawall, Professor of Classics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.