Introduction to Attic Greek

Many Greek texts (and, for that matter, texts for many other disciplines) take great effort to make their presentations fun for the student. This is certainly not a fault, provided this motive is not overriding to the detriment of mastering the discipline itself. Indeed, enjoyment is a major factor effective learning. Enjoyment, however, can come from many sources, and it would seem that by the time a student is beginning to tackle Classical Greek, it should find its origin in the delight for the language itself. "Introduction to Attic Greek" by Donald Mastronarde does not dazzle with multi-colored illustrations, humorous anecdotes or invented stories about the life of a farmer. What it does do is present an admittedly difficult language in a clear, well-organized and thoughtful manner. It is linguistically very thorough, goes out of its way to explain clearly concepts that used to be understood by most people with a high school education (this is no longer the case), and helps the student who puts forth the effort to make rapid progress in reading real Attic Greek. The complaints to the effect that Mastronarde's text is dry suggest a lack of real interest in putting forth the effort to master the language. The serious student will find in this text a wealth of detail, vocabulary lists of very acceptable length, and grammar concepts clearly presented, with an abundance of exercises designed to cement the material in the student's mind, not excluding English-to-Greek sentences in moderation for those who seek a greater challenge (these need not be done, but as a teacher I find them excellent for students who really want to check their mastery). I might add that, as with most texts, the material can be entertaining if offered by a good classroom instructor. True, there are perhaps easier books out there, though "easiness" should not be the qualifying motive for choosing a text. Clarity of presentation, manageable vocabularies and grammar topics, and good exercises will do far more to generate a love of the language and a pride in making good progress which is the real "entertainment" when studying any language. This is especially important when one is tackling a highly inflected language like Ancient Greek.In the end, all learners are different. It may be that you are moved to choose another text. But what you will find in "An Introduction to Attic Greek" is sound methodology that will give you many clues early on which will be a great help in future mastery. Mastronarde's text is challenging, but "do-ably" so, thorough without being overwhelming, and eminently rewarding the deeper one goes. It works well for those studying Classical Greek (its intended audience), but is not unsuited even for Biblical koine Greek and even later texts (whose authors often sought to imitate the Classical idiom). I highly recommend this book even for those working on their own without a teacher, especially if they have had previous experience with another inflected language (e.g., Latin, Russian, or even German). The student of any language needs patience, and nowhere is this more true than in the study of Classical Greek. Be patient, set reasonable goals, and review often.

This textbook suffers the same fault as so many other Greek (and Latin) textbooks. Greek is a very difficult language to learn--and this book makes it more difficult. It relies on chapter after chapter chock full of the most obscure grammatical points. Now if that is your purpose fine--as for me I wish to read the Iliad or the Phaedo etc (yes yes I know they are different dialects). A text like Athenaze has the right idea and as I recall so does the cambridge course in Latin. Grammar is an adjunct to reading. This text and others (Hansen and Quinn) seem to think the opposite. It is time that new and yes more friendly texts were written.

I’ve heard great things about the contents, but the printing of this book is terrible. Several pages are the wrong size and several others are missing print.

My son is using the book as a supplemental book, however he said the explanations are clearly written and it’s an excellent aid in his studies.

I studied classics in college and taught Latin for thirty years before retiring. I used this text and the corresponding answer key to revive and, more importantly, to reestablish my ancient Greek skills from forty years ago. The book is very demanding of your time, but rightly so. By using these two books as well as the incredible textbook website, I was able to successfully resurrect my 1970 skills. The website enables students to test themselves on vocabulary and grammar. I am now able to translate ancient Greek texts!

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I have been using Introduction to Attic Greek by Mastronarde for about three months now and so far like it very much. I am new to Greek and don't have a teacher. (Later: It took me fourteen months to go through the whole book, not doing chapter end exercises.) I can list the following as virtues of this book.1. It has the "dual" as part of the main presentation. Some books omit it or relegate it to the appendix. (E.g., Teach Yourself Ancient Greek Complete Course by Gavin Beets and Oxford Grammar of Classical Greek by James Morwood. These "lost" to Mastronarde for this reason when I was trying to choose a book.) I don't know how important the dual will turn out to be, but the idea of leaving a gap and having to fill it later does not appeal to me.2. It spends a great deal of time on how accents work, if necessary by going into earlier (uncontracted) forms.3. It tries to reduce the number of things you have to memorize by pointing out whatever could be "understood" instead, such as patterns and origins. Item 2 above is actually an instance of this.4. It is "austere" (as another reviewer put it). It just gives you the stuff without worrying about whether you will find it interesting. I only wish it were more austere. For example, I would have liked it to do nouns all in one place before moving on to verbs etc.5. It's got an associated Web page, in which you get paradigm tables and some audio. The paradigm tables are quite handy if you want to study on your mobile device. I created a huge verb sheet by cutting and pasting from the online tables.6. It's got great appendices: paradigms, Greek-English glossary, E-G glossary, index, etc. The index is quite thorough.Another reviewer (who doesn't seem to have liked this book much) wonders how many people that like this book would have got past unit 18 in two years time.I don't think working through the book from unit 1 on down (the way you may do a math book) would work for me. Related things are too far apart. For instance, Present Active Indicative is in unit 5, and Future Active in unit 18, when they look quite similar. You couldn't avoid this "too far" spacing even if all the verb materials were collected together (just too many of them).Instead I am trying to do an area (e.g. verbs) in many quick layers (the way you apply lacquer). E.g. look at all the verb forms one day. Copy the whole thing another. Spend a few weeks trying to memorize them all. A few days to read all verb units in the book, etc.

Very scholarly with linguistic insights. Old-fashioned pedagogy.

It was not a Greek course, but the answers to one, and so useless.

Good product, highly recommended.

I purchased Introduction to Attic Greek at my son's university book shop. I took Greek several decades ago and kept it up a little. I've plunged back into the language with the main book but as I am doing it alone this time I needed to check my answers. Hence I purchased this key which has proven to be exactly what I wanted and needed. If I knew how to switch to a Greek font on this computer, I'd even impress you with something from Homer right now!

Just as ordered. Necessary study manual for self-study.

In good shape.Thks.José Ponte