Do You Need Latin Before Learning Greek?

By Regan Barr with The Lukeion Project

At a recent homeschool conference, we were approached by a mother whose daughter desperately wanted to take Classical Greek. Another exhibitor had told her that she shouldn’t take Greek until she’d had several years of Latin. The daughter was devastated! She wanted to read Greek literature, not Roman!

The cynical side of me believes that this poor advice came from someone trying to sell a Latin curriculum, but perhaps there are those who truly believe that all languages start with the study of Latin. It’s certainly true that the study of any romance language will profit from a healthy understanding of Latin grammar, syntax, vocabulary, and morphology, but Latin is in not a prerequisite for the study of Classical Greek. Here are some reasons why your student doesn’t need Latin to start Greek:

Chronologically, Greek is attested much earlier than Latin and is therefore not derived from it. The earliest written Greek, Mycenaean Linear B, dates to around 1450 BC. It used a combination of syllabic and pictorial characters rather than the Greek alphabet used from the Archaic period until the present. In 1952, Michael Ventris and John Chadwick deciphered this script and demonstrated conclusively that Linear B was truly Greek. In comparison, the earliest known Latin inscription, the Praeneste Fibula, is from about 650 BC, 800 years later. This inscription on a piece of jewelry simply records the name of the craftsman and the name of the owner. The Iliad and Odyssey were produced a century before this earliest known Latin inscription.

Greek uses a different alphabet than our own, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. If you or your student were the ones pouring over Tolkien appendices and learning to write in Dwarven runes, Greek could be right up your alley! Just as the strange alphabet can be intimidating to some, it can be intriguing to others. When Greece was plunged into its Dark Age at the end of the Mycenaean period, writing and the Linear B characters that went with it were forgotten, but the language continued to be spoken. Written Greek would reemerge in the Archaic period using phonetic characters borrowed from the Phoenician alphabet that are still used in Greek today. Homer and Hesiod wrote in this re-invented alphabet, and many students today enjoy the novelty of it.

Latin and Greek are both highly inflected languages: word forms change to reflect the role they play in a sentence. In this regard, however, Greek is no more confounding than Latin. In fact, Greek has fewer declensions and cases, and roughly the same number of tenses (discounting the rare future perfect in Greek). Studying either Classical language will connect new synapses in a student’s brain and force new logic into their thinking.

Never discount passion and motivation! A student who yearns to learn something should not be discouraged without good reason. Just as some students long to read Julius Caesar, Cicero, and Ovid in the original language, others yearn to read Euripides, Aristotle, and the New Testament. Passion and desire are half the battle in education; don’t throw that away! We’ve all been forced to sit in a classroom that held no interest to us; don’t force students out of a classroom they really want to be in.

Both Classical languages are equally respected on a high school transcript and each will help you in picking up the other. Once a student understands inflection, cases, morphology, etc., picking up the next language becomes a bit easier. We’re often asked if students should study both languages at the same time. Why not?? Our advice is for the student to begin with the one that intrigues them most, and after a year they can dive into the other one. Chances are good that they won’t need quite as much time to pick up the second one.

In short, if your student has a craving for ancient Greek, feed that craving! It will open a world of exciting and important literature to them, from history and drama to philosophy and faith.

Demokratia

Voting in Ancient Athens

By Dr. Sue Fisher, Luminous Classical Lit. Doyen at The LukeionProject

The first Tuesday after the first Monday of November is Election Day in the United States. Many people, if they have not already voted, will be heading to the polls to vote for important leaders and issues in our republic. In The United States, this right is afforded to all citizens age eighteen or older, which means that some of our Lukeion Project students will be voting for the first time. Given our current situation, this will be an election to tell the grandkids about someday. But have you ever thought about what voting might look like if you lived in ancient Athens? Let’s have a look.

It’s a beautiful morning. The sun is rising, a gentle breeze is rustling the silver-green leaves of the olive tree outside your window. A rooster is crowing to signal the start of the day. Today is the day of a big vote to finance the navy for the war with Sparta. The tax will be a burden felt by all Athenians, but Pericles has made it clear that the Oracle at Delphi confirmed that Athens’ hope is in its “wooden walls” (ships), and so a majority on this issue is clearly needed. Too bad for you though, Mirope! You’re female and will not get to vote. Neither will your household slaves, nor Sargon the Persian spice seller currently living in Athens as a metoikos (resident alien), nor any of your children under the age of eighteen. You sigh and go draw some water from the well and get ready to prod your husband into waking up.

It’s morning, apparently. You know this by the fact that Mirope is poking you in the stomach and telling you that it’s time to get up. You can’t blame her, honestly. The last time you were late you got red dye all over your best chiton from the ochre-dyed rope those Scythian slaves use to herd people from the Agora to the Pynx, where votes are held. It took her a long time of washing to get that stain out. Even if it weren’t mandatory for you, a citizen, to vote, you would still go. You enjoy the forty or more elections held every year on all matters from taxes, public buildings, laws, and military commanders to the annual exile (ostracisms) of persons deemed dangerous to the democracy. You give a mental shout-out to those who fought the Persians and kept you from being subject to a monarch and to Clesithenes too, whose reforms gave you, a non-wealthy citizen, a voice in the ekklesia (assembly).

Once dressed, you eat some bread and goat cheese and answer Mirope’s questions about the day. Will you vote today by hand as you usually do, or will you use the voting pebbles? It is not an ostracism so no potsherds for voting this time. How many votes will be taken? Ten, twenty? There are so many issues to decide each week. You know that Mirope is genuinely interested, but that she is also trying to figure out how much food to pack for you. She knows that with the debates, the session could be a few hours or more, and all of that on the unshaded hill of the Pnyx. You are hoping you can find your uncle Spyro in the throng of 6,000 or more citizens. He owes you 2 obols.

Climbing the hill of the Pnyx, you recognize your fellow citizens, and this fills you with pride. You love how you vote directly on every issue that faces your city, with no representatives, cumbersome bureaucracy, government departments, or civil service to distort your wishes. With war on the horizon, you know that today’s vote is important, and you are glad you backed Pericles as strategos (military leader) previously. You also have faith in the boule (council) and the jurors, all men elected by lot rather than by vote, and therefore shielded from the possibility of corruption. Speaking of the boule, your ears perk up and the crowd’s murmurings die down as the boule’s agenda for this meeting of the ekklesia is read. It will be a long morning, but an important one. The debates have begun, and you see the best speaker of your deme (tribe) rise to discuss his position. There was little debate on this first point and nearly all hands were raised in support. One vote down, fourteen more to go.

Speakers from other demes come forth, more debate ensues, and more votes are taken. After six hours you are done and returning home for a big meal and an afternoon nap. As you are nodding off to sleep you once again think about the isonomia of the Athenian constitution – being equal under the law. You think too about the kratos (power) of the demes…demos kratos…demokratia…something new to the world thanks to you and your fellow Athenians. You wonder if it will catch on.

 

Three Myths about Learning Classical Mythology

Let's Talk Myth Congeniality

By Amy E. Barr, The Lukeion Project

Ah! Classical Mythology! I’ve offered a course on the subject for more than a decade. This is the first year I’ve taken a break. Students love to read vivid tales of heroes, monsters, and adventure. Parents love to see their kids learning more about vocabulary, history, and writing while they grow to love good literature. Soon students become thirsty to read more, explore ancient art, search for Classical themes in music, and maybe even go see a Greek tragedy or start their own Classically inspired writing projects. What’s not to like about a course in Classical Mythology? Yet, this tends to be a course with ridiculously small enrollment even though those that do join the class, love it. 

I have a theory. I think a few too many people believe a few of these myths about Classical mythology.

Myth #1: Classical mythology is childish and is best for young students.

Indulge your imagination with tales of Jason and the Argonauts as they outwit the serpent and steal the Golden Fleece. Construe your own heroic escapes from the Cyclops, Cerberus, and Charybdis. Cheer or boo the crafty Greeks as they outwit the Trojans with a wooden horse. Rick Riordan has a huge following of young fans who adore how he’s applied Classical mythology to the fictional lives of modern teenage heroes. These stories are a lot of fun, but can mythology bring more to the table for older students than fluffy entertainment?

Outside the sporadic head-sprouting Hydra, man-eating turtle, or deadly gorgon, the subject matter of Classical literature requires the maturity of a student who is well into the logic stage and is ready to express himself coherently as he reasons through the complexities of the story at hand. A younger student can memorize scads of mythological names, get a kick out of Odysseus outwitting the Cyclops, or cheer on Theseus fighting the Minotaur. Yet the younger student will likely misinterpret Achilles’ rage, fail to understand Hecuba’s desolation, misconstrue Clytemnestra’s revenge, and miss the mark on Oedipus’ hubris. Simply put, most Classical stories are PG-13. 

Older students love to wrestle with the complex dilemmas posed by myths in Classical literature. Did Penelope’s suitors deserve their fate based on the mores of the ancient guest-host relationship? Why did Theseus grow suddenly absent-minded as he abandoned Ariadne? Was Achilles justified in all that rage? Did Oedipus deserve his cruel fate? 

Save mythology for your high school learners who crave weighing in on life’s bigger questions. Your teenagers will love to debate the weightier questions of Classical mythology even while enjoying a few violent cyclops stories.

Myth #2: Classical Mythology isn’t an appropriate subject for persons of faith.

One time I was in my booth at a homeschool conference when one very angry woman stormed up to me and asked if I taught Classical mythology. I’d never had anyone angry at me for this sort of thing but when I said yes, she glared and snorted, “I can’t believe people still believe in the Olympian gods.” 

She spun and left in a huff.

She must think the strangest things about historians, science fiction writers, literature teachers, and artists of all types.

Despite some admittedly problematic decisions by those Olympians, many notable scholars and authors of faith have been experts in Classical literature. A quote credited to C. S. Lewis sums things up nicely, "I believe Christianity as I believe the sun has risen, not because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." Lessons of courage, hospitality and loyalty can inform and instruct as well as tales of greed, pride, and cowardice. The vast range of Classical literature has inspired authors from Augustine to Shakespeare, from Twain and Tolkien to our C. S. Lewis who himself who wrote poems, essays, and elegant epics with strong Classical underpinnings. 

Myth #3:  Classical mythology isn’t a good use of precious busy high school time

I saved this for last since it is one that many hardworking home educators fervently believe (because it’s the one I hear quite often). With an impossible schedule of duel enrollment and 3 AP classes, I find a lot of students skip the study of Classical literature because they think it isn’t particularly useful for serious-minded folks trying to get into a serious-minded college. Likewise, students who are not planning on the college path are expected to grind away on the same topics that have failed to inspire before so they can tick boxes and be done. 

“Mythology,” mom says, “won’t help you finish your math and science diploma requirements nor get you into college.”  

Mythology in Classical literature may be one of the most practical topics a high school student can study. Hear me out: Greek and Latin word roots and origins found in mythology will open wide the potential for English word power. Mastering Greek and Latin literature will pull back the velvet curtain on the currently maligned Western Civilization. Virtues like courage, hospitality, civic duty, and hard work are exemplified in these ancient tales. Concepts like liberty, responsibility, perseverance, and loyalty abound. Nearly every great literary work has been inspired by the Classical world in some way. Skipping Classical literature is like pulling half the blocks out of a building’s foundation. That building may not fall, but it will surely be rendered useless and flimsy during toughter times.

Once considered an essential part of an excellent education, mythology in Classical literature has now been consigned to the academic discard pile by public, private, and home educators alike. Shifting perceptions about education have pushed it out of the way out to make room for more math and science. 

Ignorance about Classical literature will narrow one’s perspective and can make the mind’s terrain a tad barren. Encourage your high school student to take on the intellectual challenge of a good Greek tragedy, a finely worded epic, or even a suspiciously funny retelling by Ovid.  You never know where his interests might lead him; maybe he’ll be this generation’s Aristotle, Shakespeare, Tolkien, or C. S. Lewis.

Lukeion Students: Mythology took a short vacation during the 2020-2021 academic year at The Lukeion Project. Look for the new version to roll out for the 2021-2022 academic year under the genius tutelage of Dr. Fisher, Muse. 

Why Put Yourself to the Test with the NGE or NLE?

It is the Classical Language Exam Time of the Year!

by Amy Barr, The Lukeion Project

This week’s blog is going to be a bit more specific to TheLukeion Project as we discuss the National Greek Exam (March 2, 2020) and The National Latin Exam (March 9, 2020). I’ll answer the most frequently asked questions about why we participate in these exams and offer some last-minute encouragement as you prepare for these competitions.

Why does The Lukeion Project participate in the NGE and NLE each year?

There are a zillion different approaches, curricula, and programs that promise students a chance to study Latin and Classical Greek. Sadly, some of these approaches offer no more than vague language familiarity, even after several years of “hard work.” Others—especially The Lukeion Project—make language mastery the goal. How can we make this claim without some standardized exam results to back us up? More importantly, how can you –the student—claim to have attained excellence without some standardized test results to back you up? Participating in the NLE/NGE is a great opportunity to compare your efforts to other students worldwide.

“The National Greek Examination in 2019 enrolled 1774 students from 173 high schools, colleges, and universities in the US and around the world.” There are seven levels: Introduction to Greek, Beginning Attic, Intermediate Attic, Homeric Odyssey, Homeric Iliad, Prose, and Tragedy. The exam is offered by the American Classical League.

Roughly 140,000 students take the NLE. “The National LatinExam (NLE) is a test given annually to Latin students across the United States and around the world. The NLE is not meant to be a competition but rather an opportunity for students to receive reinforcement and recognition for their accomplishments in the classroom. Depending upon their score, students may earn certificates, medals, and may even qualify for scholarships.” The exam is sponsored by the American Classical League and the National Junior Classical League and is offered to students on seven levels.

Neither the NGE nor the NLE exams are based on any specific textbook series so students will be put to the test in a fair comparison across the board. Roughly half of the students who participate worldwide will earn honors at varying levels. On average, 95% of Lukeion Latin students and 90% of Lukeion Greek students earn honors each year. For the NLE, Lukeion students typically earn in the ballpark of 3% of all perfect papers scored each year worldwide.

Shouldn’t I “wait until I’m better” at the languages before taking the test for the first time?

Both the NGE and NLE exams come in 7 forms and are meant to be taken annually for every level completed by the student. Students gain valuable experience by taking exams yearly and they might also be awarded special book awards (and even a shot at scholarships) if they earn gold medals for three successive years. Around a dozen Lukeion advanced students (NLE III – NLE VI) will be awarded prestigious book awards for three (or more) years of success annually. While scholarships are very limited, students are only offered the chance to apply for them after completing the NLE III level. So, take the exam that corresponds to your level from the start (we do not offer the Intro level for our students)

Do I get credit in my language class? If not, why bother to study?

Much satisfaction can be realized when one prepares well for a challenge and when one is recognized for the attainment of mastery of that challenge. This fact has been true about human beings for as long as we have records regarding the fastest, smartest, and bravest. There’s a tremendous feeling of success shared by those who compete and do well in sports, debate, performance, cooking, painting, or…Greek and Latin! Working hard is its own reward but getting a bit of extra recognition for that hard work – at the international level – is a nice boost to one’s confidence.

Taking any exam makes me nervous so why voluntarily take something like the NLE or NGE?

Many of us are naturally exam adverse. Reasons can include test-anxiety, fears of failure, or maybe a little laziness, truth be told. Academic tests are inevitable unless you plan to quit your formal education quite young. The only thing that makes all those inevitable quizzes, tests, and exams more endurable is practice and experience. The NLE and NGE offer the added benefit of (a) not causing any permanent damage to your transcript if things go badly, and (b) the potential of much laud and honor if things go well. In other words, do your best but there's nothing to lose.

So, why voluntarily put yourself through extra study effort over the next few days leading up to your NGE and NLE dates? For now, you’ll improve your language mastery, which will benefit your course grade. In the future, you’ll demonstrate your language mastery, which will strengthen your future transcripts. In the long run, you’ll attain language mastery, which will strengthen every part of your thinking, writing, and speaking henceforth!   

How an Italian Volcano Changed America

Amy Barr, January 31, 2020, in part originally a June 2012 article for The Old Schoolhouse

Villa San Marco (and the Lukeion Educational Tour group)

Several years ago, I visited our nation’s capital. My kids were still young at the time so standing in line was great for teachable moments lest boredom became an issue. While waiting to see The National Archives an impromptu group of listeners formed as my husband and I, both Classical Archaeologists, explained the neoclassical images ornamenting the building. An eavesdropper remarked, “I didn’t know this art had to do with Greece and Rome!” Almost every artistic element on the building intentionally refers to our two Classical civilizations.

Thomas Jefferson was more than the architect of our Declaration of Independence; he was also fascinated by real architecture as he imagined the construction of our new nation. He gave considerable thought to crafting buildings to last for generations. Jefferson could have recommended the flowery architecture of European cathedrals or the onion-bulb towers of Russia or even down-to-earth austere Colonial style. Instead, he dreamed up enough columns and capitals to make Caesar himself feel at home.

Certainly, our nation’s founders drew inspiration from the Classical world but particularly Roman ideas were brought to the fore in the late 1700s because two factors came to play at that moment in time. First was Jefferson’s brilliant Classical education in both Latin and Greek. Second, was the unearthing of thousands of mysterious things in northern Italy that had remained hidden since the tragic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in A.D. 79. Essentially, the rediscovery of all things Rome came to light during our nation’s most formative years.

Pliny (the younger) tells us that one warm August day his uncle Pliny (the elder) noticed a strange cloud in the distance near what is today Napoli, Italy. He observed that this cloud was shaped just like a pine tree. If you haven’t been to Italy, you may not know that there, pine trees are shaped like umbrellas. Pliny was grasping for words to describe this event since such a catastrophe had never been witnessed before.  Romans would eventually learn to call this natural disaster a volcano.

Natural curiosity and steadfast Roman bravery would win out over terror on the day of the eruption.  Pliny the elder rushed to help the panicked residents of the area as darkness closed in around him and his military craft. Pliny the younger, however, did not go. His uncle had assigned him a writing project so that 17-year-old decided to finish his schoolwork instead of sailing headlong into an exploding mountain. His uncle would not survive the adventure. He himself would provide one of our only eye witness accounts. 

The eruption would last for three excruciating days. When it was over, what had once been lush vineyards, pleasant hillsides, and thriving towns—most notably Pompeii and Herculaneum—would look lifeless and ashen like the surface of the moon. The dead remained where they fell, utterly forgotten for seventeen centuries.

In 1738 excavations began in Herculaneum, well before archaeology included any science. Workers knew nothing about the events that placed these items in the ground. Mystery added to the beauty of the discoveries. Soon Europe was engrossed with the ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii, her sister city, discovered in 1749. As workers uncovered perfectly preserved homes, temples, baths, sculptures and paintings, a remarkable thing happened: the world’s imagination was captured by ancient Rome and, by association, ancient Greece. What had once been forgotten now retook center stage in the minds of the best thinkers and doers of that day.

When Thomas Jefferson was ambassador to France from 1784 to 1789, he took a few well-earned breaks. He scoured France looking at her Romanesque architecture, he toured her Roman ruins, and he voraciously read Classical authors (both Latin and Greek) looking for insight, inspiration, and warning.  Having started his Classical education at age 9, he was fluent in Greek, Latin and at least three other languages, skills that would inform every aspect of his career. He too felt the powerful pull of Pompeii and the potent words of Roman authors. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams would work together to craft a constitution with a tripartite system of government which found its roots in Rome. Jefferson himself would introduce the neoclassical style of architecture to the United States.

All this enthusiasm was not just because he thought Roman buildings were majestic, but because he believed that the Roman Republic’s system of checks and balances was a brilliant idea for our new nation. What better model for our architecture?  Ever the student of Roman history, he also knew that a nation must be vigilant lest it topples at the hands of a tyrant as Rome once did.

Intellectual souvenirs from his time in France included his design of the Virginia State Capitol, the University of Virginia, and Monticello, his home. He would suggest the name “Capitol” after the Capitoline hill in Rome and would inspire the plan for our Capitol building modeled on the ancient Pantheon of Rome. So, when you look at it this way, from the ruins of Rome and the ashes of Pompeii would come the enduring structures of our nation. At least in some small way, the tragic end of the cities of Vesuvius would inspire the rise of America.

The Value of Classical Subjects in a Modern Education

By Amy E. Barr at The Lukeion Project

I spend a lot of time at homeschool conferences talking about the benefits of Latin and Greek during the high school years. People with limited time, money, and energy always want to know why they should bother with “dead” languages when live ones seem more exciting or at least more…modern. All things being equal, Spanish, French or Russian may seem more interesting and the restaurant field trips can be super tasty.

A few decades ago a good education, as had been the case for over 2000 years in a few big parts of the world, depended on a firm foundation in Greek and Latin. At the turn of the last century, for example, even an average high school graduate could handle a goodly paragraph of Cicero, Vergil or Caesar. Today, very few of even the most ambitious high school students will study these languages, and even fewer of them will study for more than two years. Have Latin and Greek fallen out of style? Are they finally dead?

When a student first tackles these languages for real (say, age 14 and older), she will not spend much time learning how to order food in Latin or driving directions in Classical Greek. Since these languages are primarily read, students jump in at a higher level and advance quickly. In only chapter 3 of Wheelock, for example, students learn Seneca’s wise observation that nulla copia pecunia avarum virum satia, “No amount of money satisfies a greedy man.” They then follow up with modum tenere debemus, “We ought to maintain moderation.”1 

Meanwhile, most beginner Spanish students are still working through the correct pronunciation of “Hello, my name is ____, what is yours?”

Because of inflection (changing the form of a word to reflect its purpose in the sentence) and because there’s little focus on a proper Roman or Athenian accent, a Classical language student must read everything syllable by syllable. Word order is very different in Latin and Greek so the student must become aware of sentence mechanics while she works out ambiguous case endings and tense markers.

The results? A student’s analytical skills will increase a thousand-fold as he practices his powers of deduction to decode the ever-changing language puzzles at hand. Progressing more quickly than he would in any spoken language, he rapidly learns to apply language mechanics and analysis to everything from math to music, English to exegesis, and Calculus to composition. Learning Latin and Greek will make a student analytical and logical by necessity. He becomes a person who “reasons.”

Look at how Cicero explains why we humans are different from animals to see the value of being a person who reasons: “But man—because he is endowed with reason, he understands the chain of consequences, observes the causes of things comprehends the relation of cause to effect and of effect to cause, draws analogies, and, connecting and associating the present and the future, he easily surveys the course of his whole life and makes the necessary preparations for its conduct (de officiis 1.11).”

Becoming logical, analytical and well-reasoned is just one beneficial side effect of Classical studies. Can you imagine the ripple effect of improving the quantity of thoughtful reasoning human beings in the modern world?!  Meanwhile, Classical subjects impact the quality of writing and composition skills, vocabulary, speech, and comprehension.  Estimates of how many words have entered English from Latin and Greek start with a conservative 60%. Those who are legal, medical or scientific professionals might say it is closer to 80%. The study of Classical language used to be the primary lens through which we could better understand the mechanics and vocabulary of English. Therefore, previous generations were so much better at our own language while we moderns flop around with a greatly diminished literacy rate.

The Princeton Review sums up: https://www.princetonreview.com/college-majors/64/classics

We can't overestimate the value of a Classics major. Check this out: according to Association of American Medical Colleges, students who major or double-major in Classics have a better success rate getting into medical school than do students who concentrate solely in biology, microbiology, and other branches of science. Crazy, huh? Furthermore, according to Harvard Magazine, Classics majors (and math majors) have the highest success rates of any majors in law school. Believe it or not: political science, economics, and pre-law majors lag fairly far behind. Even furthermore, Classics majors consistently have some of the highest scores on GREs of all undergraduates.

Teaching Latin and Greek is now on the decline in all public schools and almost all private schools. I believe this fact is symptomatic of something bigger than budget cuts. Consider the results:  reasoning, analytical, logical, independent learners and thinkers. These qualities are old-fashioned (nay, even dangerous) by today’s standards. Let me urge you to be old-fashioned. Master some Latin and Greek.

-------------------

Latin students compared to all other students on the verbal portion of the SAT:

	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Latin	672	674	681	672	678	677	676	678
All Students	507	508	508	503	502	502	502	501
French	638	642	643	637	637	632	631	633
German	626	627	637	632	632	627	630	626
Spanish	575	575	573	577	574	565	557	561
Hebrew	628	630	620	623	622	611	619	612

1 Wheelock, Frederick M., and Richard A. La Fleur. Wheelock's Latin. New York: Harper Collins, 2011. 29. Print.

The Right Kind of Ancient Greek

Which Version of the Greek Language Should I Learn?
By Regan Barr

When I was in junior high, my best friend and I discovered the magical world of Middle Earth and quickly became Tolkien addicts. To our delight, we discovered that my dog-eared paperback edition of The Return of The King had an appendix with a table of Dwarven Runes in the back.  For countless hours we practiced writing notes to each other in runes as we gradually mastered this new and fascinating code. Other close friends, however, thought we were crazy. Why spend so much time learning to write “meet me at my house in an hour” in a new alphabet?

Fast forward several decades to a homeschool conference at which The Lukeion Project was an exhibitor. A mother hurried up to our booth and excitedly announced to me, “My daughter wants to learn Greek!” I was thrilled. I grabbed the sample copy of our textbook from the table and opened it to begin explaining the new adventure she was about to undertake.

And then her daughter saw the first paragraph in Greek. She jumped back, visibly shaken, as though she’d seen a ghost. “What is that?!” she exclaimed. I answered, “That’s Greek. Look, we start here with the alphabet, and then…” She interrupted me, “I don’t wanna do that! What are those funny marks?” She turned on her heels and was off through the convention hall to find a language that offered the comfort and familiarity of her own alphabet.

Well, Greek isn’t for everyone. Yes, you do have to learn a new alphabet to even get started, and then there are those pesky accents and breathing marks. Everyone’s heard of Active Voice and Passive Voice, but what pit of doom spat out this new-fangled Middle Voice? I find that a students’ approach to the alphabet can be a good indicator of how they’ll do in the language. Some approach it with fear and trembling, and perhaps they should start with Latin. But others are magnetically drawn to the alphabet, eyes wide with wonder – as Bobby and I were to Tolkien’s runes. These are the students I love to have in my Greek 1 course.

I didn’t have a chance to learn Greek until college, but Sir Winston Churchill famously wrote of schoolboys, “I would make them all learn English, and then I would let the clever ones learn Latin as an honour, and Greek as a treat.” In my experience, Greek is challenging, but it is certainly a treat. There’s nothing like reading the words of Plato, Jesus, or Thucydides in the original language!

Perhaps you, or someone you know, has considered learning Greek. There are many reasons for doing so: a desire to read the Greek historians and philosophers in the original language, a thirst for Biblical studies, or perhaps an infatuation with ancient civilizations and languages. The first question to answer is: “which Greek should I learn?”

Ancient Greek courses generally fall into one of three categories: Homeric Greek, Classical Greek, or Hellenistic Greek. Classes that focus on that last one may also be called Koine or Biblical Greek. The one you choose to start with might depend on your motivations, but I’ve studied all of them and definitely have an opinion about which gives you the biggest bang for your buck.

Homeric Greek (750 to 500 BC) is, as you might guess, the Greek in which Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey are written. It’s not our earliest written Greek; that honor goes to the Mycenaean Greek (1500 to1200 BC) found on Bronze Age tablets written in Linear B. But it is the earliest Greek to tell stories. (If you like reading financial records, Mycenaean Greek is for you; otherwise, I’d move along.) Make no mistake: reading the Iliad and Odyssey in the original Greek is a delight, but most of the body of great Greek literature is from a bit later.

Classical Greek (500 to 300 BC) is the language of Herodotus, Euripides, Plato, and Xenophon. Some of our earliest and greatest literature is written in Classical Greek: Tragedy, Comedy, History, Philosophy, and more. This is the Greek that universities, a few special high schools, and programs like ours at The Lukeion Project, will focus on. It’s well worth the effort.

Hellenistic Greek (300 BC to AD 600) emerged as a result of the conquests of Alexander the Great. As his army marched south into Egypt and east as far as India, people who spoke different Greek dialects were thrown together with people learning Greek as a second language. The result was a somewhat simplified version of Greek, often called Koine or “common” Greek. This was the language of Strabo’s Geography, the New Testament documents, and Plutarch’s Lives. This is the kind of Greek that most seminaries teach.

The engaged student will profit from studying any of these, but I believe that the best place to start is with Classical Greek, whatever your ultimate goal.  Both Homeric and Hellenistic Greek are well within reach if you begin with the masters of Attic and Ionian Greek in the Classical period.

Many learners are very happy with that answer, but I get the most pushback from people who are particularly interested in Biblical studies. They often say, “but my real goal is reading the New Testament; isn’t it easier to just learn koine?” It’s a valid question, and one to which I am sympathetic; that’s where I began my journey with Greek. In fact, some seminary professors will tell you that’s all you need. I disagree with them.

Imagine someone who doesn’t speak English saying, “I want to read Shakespeare.” A friend might respond, “then you’ll need to learn English.” “But I don’t want to learn ALL English – I just want to learn Shakespeare.” Hmm… Shakespeare didn’t write in a vacuum. The words he used came with baggage and nuances and a variety of meanings, depending on context. Sometimes he used words in surprising ways that can only be grasped if you’ve encountered that word in other contexts.

So it is with the New Testament. Many classes on Koine Greek are actually classes that teach only New Testament Greek; if it’s not found in the New Testament, it’s not mentioned in class. You’ll leave class unprepared to read Strabo, the Septuagint, Plutarch, or the early Church fathers. If a word has a meaning that Bible translators and editors believe is never found in the New Testament, it won’t be in your glossary, either. You’ll never have a chance to consider that meaning along with the others.

The original recipients weren’t working from a New Testament glossary, and they weren’t encountering these words for the first time in their lives, like beginning Greek students are. For the first century audience, the words were already steeped in meaning. It was only when I began to read Classical literature that I could appreciate some of the surprising, original, and sweeping ideas that the New Testament writers expressed using words in ways that challenged their readers' assumptions. To truly read the New Testament as the original recipients did, get your translator and editor out of the way – read it for yourself, with as much context as you can. And that means starting with Classical Greek.