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From Alpha to Omega
A Beginning Course in Classical Greek
Fourth Edition

Anne H. Groton
From Alpha to Omega
A Beginning Course in Classical Greek
Fourth Edition
From Alpha to Omega
A Beginning Course in Classical Greek
Fourth Edition

Anne H. Groton
St. Olaf College

Focus Publishing
Newburyport, Massachusetts
From Alpha to Omega
A Beginning Course in Classical Greek Fourth Edition
© 2013 Anne H. Groton
Focus Publishing/R. Pullins Company
PO Box 369
Newburyport, MA 01950
www.pullins.com
ISBN: 978-1-58510-473-4
Also available in paperback (ISBN 978-1-58510-391-1). To see all available eBook
versions, visit www.pullins.com. Some content that appears in the print edition may not
be available in other formats.
All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, by
photocopying, recording, or by any other means, without the prior writtent permission
of the publisher. If you have received this material as an examination copy free of charge,
Focus Publishing/R. Pullins Company retains the title to the information and it may not
be resold. Resale of any examination copies of Focus Publishing/R. Pullins Company
materials is strictly prohibited.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Groton, Anne H. (Anne Harmar)
From alpha to omega : a beginning course in classical Greek / Anne H. Groton. --
Fourth edition.
pages. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-58510-391-1
1. Greek language--Grammar. 2. Greek language--Textbooks. I. Title.
PA258.G79 2013
488.2’421--dc23
2013012496
Last updated April 2013
Table of Contents
Preface
Preface ix
Lesson 1 Introduction: The
The Greek
GreekAlphabet
Alphabet 1
Lesson 2 The Greek Accents
Introduction: The Greek Accents 9
Lesson 3 Ω-Verbs: Present
Present Active
ActiveIndicative,
Indicative,Present
PresentActive
ActiveInfinitive,
Infinitive, 13
PresentPresent Active
ActiveImperative
Imperative 13
Lesson 4 First Declension:
Declension:Feminine
FeminineNouns,
Nouns,Part
Part1 1 21
Lesson 5 First Declension:
Declension:Feminine
FeminineNouns,
Nouns,Part
Part2 2 27
Lesson 6 Ω-VERBS:Future
Ω-Verbs: FutureActive
ActiveIndicative,
Indicative, Future
Future Active Infinitive
Infinitive 31
Lesson 7 Second Declension:
Second Declension:Masculine
MasculineNouns
Nouns 37
Lesson 8 Second Declension:
Second Declension:Neuter
NeuterNouns;
Nouns;Adjectives:
Adjectives: 43
First/Second Declension
First/Second Declension 43
Lesson 9 First Declension:
Declension:Masculine
MasculineNouns;
Nouns;Substantives
Substantives 51
Lesson 10 Ω-Verbs: Imperfect
Imperfect Active
ActiveIndicative;
Indicative;Correlatives
Correlatives 57
Ω-Verbs:Middle/Passive
Lesson 11 Ω-Verbs: Middle/Passive Voice;
Voice;Prepositions
Prepositions 63
Lesson 12 εἰµί;
εἰμί;Enclitics
Enclitics 71
Lesson 13 Demonstratives
Demonstratives 77
Lesson 14 Personal
Personal Pronouns
Pronouns 83
Lesson 15 Contract Verbs
Verbs (-άω,
(-άω,-έω,
-έω,-όω);
-όω);Contracted
ContractedFutures
Futures 87
Lesson 16 Third Declension:
Declension:Stop,
Stop,Liquid,
Liquid,andandNasal
NasalStems
Stems 95
Lesson 17 Third Declension:
Declension:Sigma
SigmaStems;
Stems;Adjectives:
Adjectives:Third Declension
Third Declension 101
Lesson 18 Ω-Verbs: First Aorist
AoristActive
ActiveandandMiddle
MiddleIndicative,
Indicative, 107
First Aorist
Aorist Active
Activeand andMiddle
MiddleInfinitives First
Infinitives, Aorist
First AoristActive
Active
and and Middle Imperative
Imperatives 107
Lesson 19 Ω-Verbs: Second
SecondAorist
AoristActive
Active and Middle
and MiddleIndicative,
Indicative, 115
Second Aorist
Second AoristActive
ActiveandandMiddle
MiddleInfinitives, Second
Infinitives, Second Aorist Active
Aorist Active
and Middle Imperative;
Imperatives;Reflexive Pronouns
Reflexive Pronouns 115
Lesson 20 Ω-Verbs: Perfect
Perfect Active
ActiveIndicative,
Indicative,Perfect
PerfectActive
ActiveInfinitive,
Infinitive; 123
Pluperfect Active
Pluperfect ActiveIndicative
Indicative 123
Lesson 21 Interrogative
Interrogative τίς
τίςand
andIndefinite τις 131
Indefiniteτις
Lesson 22 Ω-Verbs: Perfect
Perfect Middle/Passive
Middle/PassiveIndicative,
Indicative,Perfect
PerfectMiddle/
Middle/ 137
Passive Infinitive;
Passive Infinitive;Pluperfect
PluperfectMiddle/Passive
Middle/Passive Indicative
Indicative 137
Lesson 23 Relative
Relative Pronouns;
Pronouns;πᾶς;πᾶς;Expressions
ExpressionsofofTimeTime 145

v
vi

Lesson 24 Ω-Verbs: Present


PresentActive
ActiveParticiple,
Participle, Future
FutureActive Participle,
Active Participle, 153
First First and Second Aorist Active Participles, Perfect Active
Second Aorist Active Participles, Perfect Participle
Active Participle 153
Lesson 25 Ω-Verbs: Present
Present Middle/Passive
Middle/PassiveParticiple
Participle, 163
Future Middle
MiddleParticiple,
Participle,First
Firstand
andSecond
SecondAorist
Aorist
Middle Middle Participles,
Participles,Perfect
PerfectMiddle/Passive
Middle/Passive Participle
Participle 163
Lesson 26 Direct and
and Indirect
IndirectQuestions;
Questions;Alternative Questions 171
AlternativeQuestions
Lesson 27 Ω-Verbs: Aorist
Aorist Passive Tense 181
PassiveTense
Lesson 28 Ω-Verbs: Future
Future Passive
PassiveTense;
Tense;Future
FuturePerfect
PerfectActive
Active 189
and Middle/Passive
Middle/PassiveTenses;
Tenses;οἶδα
οἶδα 189
Lesson 29 Third Declension:
Declension:Vowel
VowelStems
Stems, and SyncopatedStems
Syncopated Stems 195 195
Lesson 30 Deponent Verbs;
Verbs; Genitive
GenitiveAbsolute;
Absolute;εἷς, οὐδείς/µηδείς
εἷς; οὐδείς/μηδείς 203 203
Lesson 31 Adverbs:
Adverbs: Positive
PositiveDegree;
Degree;Result
ResultClauses
Clauses 211
Comparative
Lesson 32 Adjectives andand Superlative
Adverbs: Degrees and Superlative Degrees;
Comparative 219
Genitive of
Genitive of Comparison;
Comparison;Partitive
PartitiveGenitive
Genitive 219
Lesson 33 Adjectives
Adjectivesand andAdverbs:
Adverbs:Irregular
IrregularComparative
Comparative 227
and Superlative
SuperlativeDegrees;
Degrees;-υς,-υς,-εια, -υ-υ
-εια, Adjectives;
Adjectives;
Dative Dative ofof Degree
DegreeofofDifference
Difference 227
Numerals
Lesson 34 Numerals 235
Lesson 35 Subjunctive
Subjunctive Mood:
Mood:Present,
Present,Aorist,
Aorist,Perfect
Perfect Tenses;
Tenses 243
Active, Middle,Passive
Active, Middle, PassiveVoices;
Voices; Independent
Independent Uses
Uses of of
thethe
Subjunctive (Hortatory,Prohibitive,
Subjunctive (Hortatory, Prohibitive,Deliberative)
Deliberative) 243
Optative Mood:
Lesson 36 Optative Mood: Present,
Present,Future,
Future,Aorist,
Aorist,Perfect
Perfect Tenses;
Tenses 253
Active, Middle,
Active, Middle,Passive
PassiveVoices;
Voices; Independent
Independent Uses
Uses of of
thethe Optative
Optative
(Wishes, Potentiality)
(Wishes, Potentiality) 253
Lesson 37 Conditions
Conditions 263
Lesson 38 Conditional Relative
RelativeClauses;
Clauses;Relative
RelativeAdverbs
Adverbs 271
Lesson 39 Purpose Clauses
Purpose Clauses 279
εἶμι;Indirect
Lesson 40 εἶµι; IndirectDiscourse
Discourse(ὅτι/ὡς)
(ὅτι/ὡς) 285 285
Lesson 41 φημί; IndirectDiscourse
φηµί; Indirect Discourse(with
(withinfinitive)
infinitive) 295 295
Lesson 42 Indirect Discourse
Discourse(with
(withparticiple)
participle);Crasis
Crasis 303
Lesson 43 More Uses
Usesofofthe
theInfinitive;
Infinitive;πρίν
πρίν 313
Adjectivesinin-τέος
Lesson 44 Verbal Adjectives -τέος&and
-τός -τός 321
Lesson 45 Clauses
Clauses ofof Effort
Effortand
andFear
Fear 329 329
MI-Verbs (δίδωµι,
Lesson 46 ΜΙ-Verbs (δίδωμι,ἵστηµι)
ἵστημι) 337 337
Lesson 47 MI-Verbs (τίθημι,ηµι)
ΜΙ-Verbs (τίθηµι, ημι) 347 347
Lesson 48 ΜΙ-Verbs (δείκνῡμι); UnattainableWishes
(δείκνῡµι) Unattainable Wishes 355
Lesson 49 βαίνω, γιγνώσκω: Directional Suffixes;
βαίνω, γιγνώσκω; Directional Suffixes; Accusative Accusative of Respect 363
of Respect 363
Lesson 50 Redundant µή; μή; Uses
Usesofofµὴμὴοὐοὐ&&οὐοὐµήμή; 371
Attraction
Attraction of of Relative
RelativePronouns
Pronoun 371
Grammatical Appendix
Grammatical Appendix
  Nouns
Nouns 381
  Definite Article Article 385 385
vii

  Pronouns
Pronouns 385
  Adjectives
Adjectives 389
  Numerals
Numerals 394
  Adverbs
Adverbs 396
Verbs
  Verbs 397 397
Word Lists
Word Lists 439
441
English-to-Greek Glossary 455
English-to-Greek Glossary 457
Greek-to-English Glossary 483
Greek-to-English Glossary 485
Index 517
Index 519
St
r
ym
on
R
.
t
on
sp
lle
e
H
LESBOS

Pherae • AEGEAN
ION
IA

SEA

Thermopylae •

Delphi •
ATTICA
Marathon• SAMOS
• Athens
• SALAMIS • Miletus
Corinth
Argos • AEGINA
• Halicarnassus
PELOPONNESE
Sparta

Pylos •
Maps
xv

GREECE AND THE AEGEAN


xv
Preface
When I set out to write From Alpha to Omega during my sabbatical in 1990-91, I was
motivated by the desire to produce an elementary Greek textbook that would fit the
St. Olaf College calendar, the St. Olaf College student, and the vigorously traditional
St. Olaf College Classics curriculum. This meant that the book had to be divided into
no more than fifty chapters, half of them to be completed each semester; that every
grammatical concept had to be explained clearly and carefully, in language neither
too simple nor too sophisticated; and that the readings for each lesson had to be
selected with a view toward preparing students to read Plato in their third semester of
Greek. Because we have only three class meetings per week, I limited the number of
exercises in each chapter to ten Greek-to-English translation sentences, five English-
to-Greek translation sentences, and (beginning in Lesson 5) one short reading. I also
restricted to ten or so the number of vocabulary words to be memorized per lesson.
In a society no longer inclined to value a Classical education, those motivated enough
to study ancient Greek need all the encouragement they can get. For this reason I
strove to make the textbook as pleasant and accessible as possible without sacrificing
its rigor. The sentences to be translated in each chapter are designed to help students
learn the vocabulary words and constructions introduced in that lesson, while
reviewing familiar ones. The readings give students experience in translating whole
paragraphs of more or less “real” Greek, in which new vocabulary and syntax are
mixed with old. I drew the readings for Lessons 5-25 from Aesop’s most amusing
and curious fables. For Lessons 26-50 I chose what I thought were interesting as
well as instructive passages, usually spread over two or more lessons, from the New
Testament, Demosthenes, Xenophon, Thucydides, Lysias, Arrian, Aristotle, and
Plato. Although I was wary of overwhelming the students with too many glosses
and explanatory notes, I did try in each reading to retain as much as I could of the
original Greek.
At the back of the textbook are chapter-by-chapter word lists, followed by Greek-
to-English and English-to-Greek glossaries containing all vocabulary words and all
other words found in the readings, along with the number(s) of the lesson(s) in which
they appear. The book concludes with an appendix of paradigms (including the dual
forms not explicitly taught in the textbook) and an index. It has been a happy surprise
to me to discover that the book’s format suits other academic schedules as well as St.
Olaf’s. For example, all fifty lessons have been covered successfully in one and a half
semesters by a class that meets four times per week, in two ten-week trimesters by
a class that meets five times per week, and in a nine-week summer intensive course.
When pressed for time, some teachers have preferred to assign only the sentences,
not the reading, in each lesson; others have continued to assign all the readings but
only half or so of the sentences. Students are free to use the skipped exercises for
additional practice or for review before a quiz or examination.
ix
x

From Alpha to Omega would never have seen the light of day without the wise
counsel and support of my St. Olaf colleagues, particularly Professor James May, and
without the talents of the obliging staff at Focus Publishing. I am also grateful to my
colleagues at other schools who were daring enough to test a brand-new textbook
and with their eagle eyes spotted scores of typos and other errors that I had missed.
Let me single out for special thanks Professors John Gibert (University of Colorado),
Clara Shaw Hardy (Carleton College), John Lenz (Drew University), Leslie Mechem
(Skidmore College), and Richard Wevers (Calvin College). Finally, I wish to thank
all the dedicated students who struggled cheerfully and patiently through one of the
earlier versions of the book and succeeded in learning Greek even from its flawed
pages. I hope that they will be pleased with this final version of a textbook created not
only for them but, to a large extent, by them.
ἐκ παίδων σ ικρῶν ἀρξά ενοι, έχρι οὗπερ ἂν ζῶσι,
καὶ διδάσκουσι καὶ νουθετοῦσιν.
From early childhood, their whole lives through,
people teach and admonish them. — Plato’s Protagoras 325c

Preface to the Fourth Edition


The most obvious change in the fourth edition is its updated look: the new layout
and formatting are designed to highlight the main points of each lesson. Many of
the grammatical explanations have been rewritten to make them easier to follow.
The glossaries have been moved to a more convenient location, just before the index.
Finally, to accompany the textbook, there are online resources available at courses.
pullins.com. I have no room to thank everyone who has helped me complete this
latest revision, but I am especially grateful to Ron Pullins and Allen Cooper of Focus
Publishing for their constant encouragement.
Lesson 1

A
Introduction
The Greek Alphabet
ἀρχὴ δέ τοι ἥµισυ παντός (Well begun is half done)
—one of Pythagoras’ sayings, quoted by Iamblichus in Pythagoras 162

1. Greek belongs to a large and colorful family of Indo-European languages,


all thought to be descended from a very old, now extinct language spoken
by people who roamed over the Eurasian continent during prehistoric
times. Other prominent members of the family are the Italic (including
Latin and the Romance languages), Germanic (including English), Celtic,
Baltic, Slavic (including Russian), Armenian, Iranian, and Indic languages.
2. The Greek language has been in continuous use for more than three
thousand years; its vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation have been
evolving gradually over the centuries. There is a great deal of difference
between, say, Greek of the seventh century BCE and Greek of the first
century CE, even though they are both “ancient” from our point of view.
Moreover, each geographical region of Greece had its own dialect. Some
authors wrote in their native dialect; others, working within an established
literary genre, wrote in the dialect(s) that tradition demanded.
The ancient Greek taught in this book is Classical in date. It is the sort
of Greek that would have been used by educated people during Greece’s
Classical age, roughly the fifth and fourth centuries BCE. These were glory
days for Athens, artistically and intellectually as well as militarily. Much
of the literature surviving from the Classical period is written in Attic, the
dialect of the Athenians. (Attica is the name of the district that includes
Athens.) The philosopher Plato, the orators Lysias and Demosthenes, the
historians Thucydides and Xenophon, the comic playwright Aristophanes—
to name just a few of Athens’ most famous authors—all wrote in Attic.
Once you are familiar with Attic, you will find it relatively easy to learn
ancient Greek’s other literary dialects.
Dialect Used in works such as
Epic Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey
Ionic Herodotus’ Histories
Doric choral songs in Attic tragedies
Aeolic poems by Sappho
1
2 • From Alpha to Omega

Knowledge of Classical Greek also equips you to read Greek of the


Hellenistic age, the period following the Classical age. The local dialects
gradually died out and were replaced by Koine (the name means
“common”), a dialect derived in large part from Attic and used from the
third century BCE to the sixth century CE throughout the Greek-speaking
world. The New Testament of the Bible is written in a literary form of
Koine.
3. In 403 BCE, after years of using their own alphabet, the Athenians officially
adopted the more precise alphabet used by speakers of the Ionic dialect, a
close relative of Attic. This Ionic alphabet became standard for Greek; in
later centuries the Coptic, Gothic, Armenian, and Cyrillic alphabets were
derived from it. The Latin alphabet, by the way, goes back to the Greek
inhabitants of Chalcis in Euboea, who spoke an Attic-Ionic dialect. When
they colonized parts of Italy, they passed on their alphabet to the Etruscans,
from whom the Romans acquired it.
Of the Greek alphabet’s twenty-four letters, the first nineteen were adapted
from letters in the Phoenician alphabet and thus have Semitic names; the
last five were invented by the Greeks. Only the large, capital forms of the
letters existed in antiquity. It was not until the ninth century CE that scribes
devised cursive forms that could be written quickly; these evolved into the
small letters now in use.
The pronunciations suggested below are those thought by scholars to have
been used during the Classical age. Alternative pronunciations are enclosed
in square brackets.
Lesson 1 • 3

The Alphabet of Classical Greek


Pronounced like
Greek English Name of letter the italicized letter(s)
letter equivalent in the English word
Α α Aa ἄλφα alpha ah
Β β Bb βῆτα beta better
gamble; before γ, κ,
μ, ξ, χ = nasalized
Γ γ Gg γάμμα gamma n [or gamble; before
γ, κ, ξ, χ (not before
μ) = nasalized n]
Δ δ Dd δέλτα delta delete
Ε ε Ee ἒ ψīλόν epsilon etch
wisdom [or
Ζ ζ Zz ζῆτα zeta gadzooks]
Η η Ēē ἦτα eta error [or ace]
sweetheart [or
Θ θ Th th θῆτα theta author]
pizza [or ι = pit;
Ι ι Ii ἰῶτα iota ῑ= pizza]
Κ κ K k or C c κάππα kappa candy
Λ λ Ll λάµβδα lambda lantern
Μ µ Mm µῦ mu music
Ν ν Nn νῦ nu nuclear
Ξ ξ Xx ξῖ xi taxi
Ο ο Oo ὂ µīκρόν omicron off
Π π Pp πῖ pi pillow
R r or (at start of
Ρ ρ ῥῶ rho rolled r [or rocky]
a word) Rh rh
signal; before
Σ σ, ς S s σίγµα sigma β, γ, δ, µ = z
Τ τ Tt ταῦ tau tardy
French u [or υ
Υ υ Y y or U u ὖ ψīλόν upsilon = foot; ῡ = boot]
Φ φ Ph ph φῖ phi uphill [or telephone]
backhand [or candy
Χ χ Kh kh or Ch ch χῖ chi or German ch]
Ψ ψ Ps ps ψῖ psi tipsy
Ω ω Ōō ὦ µέγα omega aw [or oh]
After epsilon used to come digamma, ϝ (sounding like w), until it fell out of use.
Sigma has the form ς only when it is the last letter in a word; otherwise it ap-
pears as σ. Some scholars, especially those who work with fragmentary manu-
scripts, prefer to use ϲ, a “lunate” sigma; it has the same shape regardless of
where in a word it occurs. Its capitalized form is Ϲ.
4 • From Alpha to Omega

4. Vowels. Of Greek’s seven vowels (α, ε, η, ι, ο, υ, ω), ε and ο are always short;
η and ω are the long versions of ε and ο; α, ι, and υ are sometimes short,
sometimes long. “Short” and “long” refer to the vowel’s quantity, i.e., the
duration of its sound. In the Classical age long vowels were held out about
twice as long as short ones. Apparently the quality, i.e., the sound, of α, ι,
and υ, did not change much when those vowels were held out; η and ω, on
the other hand, were not only longer but also more open in pronunciation
than their short counterparts, ε and ο.
5. A diphthong is two vowels combined in pronunciation; the sound of the
first either merges with or glides into the sound of the second. The two
vowels together form one long syllable.
Classical Greek has eleven diphthongs. The first eight listed below are called
“proper diphthongs” because, in each of them, both vowels continussed to
be pronounced. The last three in the list are called “improper diphthongs”
because the second letter (iota) in each of them eventually became silent. In
the Classical age, however, the iota was still pronounced.
Diphthongs
Proper Pronounced like the italicized letter(s) in the
English word:
ΑΙ Αι αι aisle
ΑΥ Αυ αυ ouch
ΕΙ Ει ει eight
ΕΥ Ευ ευ etch gliding into French u [or you]
ΗΥ Ηυ ηυ error gliding into French u [or hey you]
ΟΙ Οι οι oily
ΟΥ Ου ου ooze
ΥΙ Υι υι French u gliding into ee [or wee]
Improper Pronounced like the italicized letter(s) in the
English word:
ᾹI Ᾱι ᾱͅ or ᾱι ah gliding into ee [or same as ᾱ]
ΗΙ Ηι ῃ or ηι error gliding into ee [or same as η]
ΩΙ Ωι ῳ or ωι aw gliding into ee [or same as ω]
In an improper diphthong the iota may be written either next to the other
vowel or beneath it. When it is written next to it, the iota is called an iota
adscript; when it is written beneath it, it is called an iota subscript. The
ancient Greeks always wrote the iota as an adscript; the subscript did not
come into use until the eleventh or twelfth century. Today the iota is still
written as an adscript if the ᾱ, η, or ω is capitalized. If both vowels are in
lower-case letters, the practice varies, but a subscript is far more common.
This textbook prints the iota as a subscript unless the iota is combined with
a capitalized vowel.
During the Classical period the letters omicron, omega, epsilon, and
upsilon had the names οὖ, ὦ, εἶ, and ὖ. The expanded names they now
have (meaning “small o,” “big o,” “plain e,” and “plain u”) were created
for clarity’s sake by grammarians in the Byzantine age. By then the
Lesson 1 • 5

pronunciation of Greek had changed so much that “small” ο had become


indistinguishable from “big” ω and the diphthong αι had become identical
in sound with the “plain” vowel ε, while the diphthong οι had become
identical in sound with the “plain” vowel υ, creating confusion.
6. Breathings. Many Greek words begin with an h-sound followed by a vowel;
this h-sound (called “aspiration”) is indicated not by a letter but by a mark
(῾) called a rough breathing, which is placed above the vowel (e.g., ἑ-). If the
word does not begin with an h-sound, a smooth breathing (᾿) is used instead
(e.g., ἐ-). Every vowel that begins a word must have a breathing to show
whether it is aspirated (rough) or unaspirated (smooth).
If a word begins with a proper diphthong, the breathing goes above the
second vowel (e.g., αἱ-, αἰ-). If the word begins with an improper diphthong,
the breathing goes above the first vowel, never above the iota (e.g., ͅ-, ι-,
ͅ-, ι-).
When the consonant rho occurs at the beginning of a word, it too has a
breathing—always rough (ῥ-)—and is transliterated as rh rather than r.
If the initial vowel or rho is capitalized, the breathing should be written to
the left of the capital letter (e.g., Ἡ-, Ἐ-, Ῥ, improper diphthong ῾Ᾱι-). In the
case of a capitalized proper diphthong, the breathing mark remains in its
usual place, above the second vowel (e.g., Αἱ-).
There are no words in Classical Greek that begin with upsilon and smooth
breathing, so a word with an initial upsilon will always have rough breathing
(e.g., ὑ-, υἱ-).
7. Consonants. Of Greek’s seventeen consonants, nine are stops (also called
mutes); these are further classified as labials (π, β, φ), dentals (τ, δ, θ), or
palatals (κ, γ, χ). Two are liquids (λ, ρ); two are nasals (µ, ν); one is a sibilant
(σ); three are double consonants: ζ (= σδ, later δσ), ξ (= κσ, γσ, or χσ), ψ
(= πσ, βσ, or φσ). A Greek word is not permitted to end in any consonant
except ν, ρ, ς, ξ, or ψ. The words ἐκ and οὐκ, both ending in kappa, are the
only exceptions to this rule.
8. Pronunciation. If one stop (π, β, φ, τ, δ, θ, κ, γ, χ) is followed by a different
stop or by a liquid (λ, ρ) or a nasal (µ, ν), they are usually pronounced
together (e.g., φθ, βδ, κτ, θλ, χρ, γµ, πν). If one liquid or nasal is followed
by a different liquid or nasal or by a stop, they are pronounced separately
(e.g., ρ|ν, λ|θ, µ|π; µν is an exception). Repeated consonants are also always
pronounced separately (e.g., λ|λ, π|π, ρ|ρ, σ|σ, τ|τ), as are the two sounds
in a double consonant (ζ, ξ, ψ). When a sigma is followed by a different
consonant, the pronunciation is ambiguous, so the two may be regarded
either as being pronounced together or as being pronounced separately.
A Greek word has as many syllables as it has vowels and diphthongs (e.g.,
θε-αί = two syllables). If a vowel or diphthong is separated from the next
vowel or diphthong by a single consonant or by two or more consonants
pronounced together, the break between the syllables comes immediately
after the vowel or diphthong (e.g., φῦ-λα, ἄ-κρον, οἶ-στρος [here σ is
6 • From Alpha to Omega

regarded as part of the consonant cluster]). If the two consonants following


the vowel or diphthong are separately pronounced, the syllabic break
comes between those two consonants (e.g., φύλ-λα, ἄρ-χων, ἄν-θραξ, οἶσ-
τρος [here σ is regarded as separate from the consonant cluster]). Since it
is impossible to show the break in a double consonant, just put a hyphen
immediately after the vowel or diphthong (e.g., τά-ξις).
9. Punctuation. Greeks in the Classical age used little, if any, spacing or
punctuation. Later, four punctuation marks were devised: the comma (,)
and the period (.), exactly like their English counterparts; the colon or high
dot (·), corresponding to a semi-colon or colon in English; and the question
mark (;), equivalent to an English question mark. There are no special
marks to indicate exclamations or quotations; some publishers of ancient
Greek texts now use modern quotation and exclamation marks for their
readers’ convenience.
It is customary to capitalize the first letter of a proper name, of a word
beginning a quotation, and of a word beginning a long section (e.g., a
paragraph or a chapter), but not of a word beginning an ordinary sentence.
In this textbook a macron (“long mark”) is printed above a vowel if there would
otherwise be no way to tell that the vowel is long: ᾱ, ῑ, ῡ. You will never see a
macron above η or ω since both are always long, nor above ε or ο since both are
always short. Macra were not used by the ancient Greeks and are seldom used
today except in textbooks and lexica.
Greek accents will be explained in the next lesson. For now, simply stress the
syllable over which an accent (΄, `, or ῀) appears.

10. Exercises
A. Divide into syllables and pronounce each of the following words
(famous names from Greek history and mythology). Then transliterate
each word, i.e., replace each Greek letter or breathing with its English
equivalent (refer to the table Alphabet of Classical Greek earlier in the
lesson).
Rough breathing is transliterated as h.
Kappa may be transliterated as either k or c, chi as either kh or ch.
Rho at the beginning of a word is transliterated as rh, otherwise as r.
Upsilon is transliterated as u if it follows a vowel (and thus is the second letter in
a diphthong), as y if it follows a consonant.
Do not be alarmed if some of the famous names seem to be slightly misspelled
in your English transliterations. Many Greek words have come to us through
Latin, and their Latin spelling, not their original Greek spelling, is often the one
that English has preserved.
Lesson 1 • 7

1. Ποσειδῶν 7. Βαῦκις 13. Σωκράτης 19. Λεύκιππος


2. Ἀφροδτη 8. Ξέρξης 14. Μοῦσα 20. ῞Ᾱιδης
3. Ἥφαιστος 9. Κύκλωψ 15. Ζεύς 21. Οἰδίπους
4. Θουκῡδίδης 10. Ῥέᾱ 16. Ἀγαµέµνων 22. Εἰλείθυια
5. Ἀχιλλεύς 11. Δίρκη 17. Ὠκεανός 23. Γλαύκων
6. Τροίᾱ 12. Ὅµηρος 18. Φειδίᾱς 24. Χάρυβδις

B. Read aloud the following little story (Aesop’s Fable 119) for practice
in pronouncing the Greek letters. Pay close attention to the breathings
and stress the syllables that have an accent. A translation is provided for
your enjoyment.

Zeus Cuts the Camel Down to Size

Κάµηλος θεᾱσαµένη ταῦρον ἐπὶ τοῖς κέρᾱσιν ἀγαλλόµενον


φθονήσᾱσα αὐτῷ ἠβουλήθη καὶ αὐτὴ τῶν ἴσων ἐφīκέσθαι. διόπερ
παραγενοµένη πρὸς τὸν Δία τούτου ἐδέετο, ὅπως αὐτῇ κέρᾱτα
προσνείµῃ. καὶ ὁ Ζεὺς ἀγανακτήσᾱς κατ’ αὐτῆς, εἴγε µὴ ἀρκεῖται
5 τῷ µεγέθει τοῦ σώµατος καὶ τῇ ἰσχύι, ἀλλὰ καὶ περισσοτέρων
ἐπιθῡµεῖ, οὐ µόνον αὐτῇ κέρᾱτα οὐ προσέθηκεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ µέρος
τι τῶν ὤτων ἀφείλετο. οὕτω πολλοὶ διὰ πλεονεξίᾱν τοῖς ἄλλοις
ἐποφθαλµιῶντες λανθάνουσι καὶ τῶν ἰδίων στερούµενοι.

Translation
A camel, observing a bull glorying in his horns, became envious of him
and wanted to get an equally fine set of horns for herself. So, going up to
Zeus, she begged him to grant her some horns. And Zeus, annoyed at her
since she was not content with the size and strength of her body but desired
greater dimensions, not only did not give her horns but even took away
a portion of her ears. Thus do many people [and animals!], eyeing others
jealously out of greed, unwittingly lose what is their own.
Lesson 2

B
The Greek Accents
δεινὸν δ’ ἐστὶν ἡ µὴ ‘µπειρίᾱ (Inexperience is a dreadful thing)
—comment by a woman in Aristophanes’ Ecclesiazusae 115

11. In the last lesson we asked you to give extra stress to the accented
syllables, and that, in fact, is what most teachers and students do when they
pronounce ancient Greek. In reality, however, the marks were designed to
indicate raising or lowering of the pitch of the speaker’s voice and have
nothing to do with stress. Over time the original pitch accents were lost and
replaced with the stress accent now heard in Modern Greek.
Greeks of the Classical period had no need for accent marks because they
knew by heart which syllables had a change in pitch. The marks are said
to have been invented by Aristophanes of Byzantium in the third century
BCE, when non-native speakers of Greek required help in learning the
language’s pitch accents.
The accents of Greek words occasionally make a difference in what the
words mean, so learning them is helpful for understanding what the text
says, as well as for pronouncing the words as accurately as possible.
12. Types of Accents. There are three types of accent marks (usually referred
to simply as “accents”): acute (΄), grave (`), and circumflex (῀). The acute
denotes a gliding up of pitch, the grave a gliding down, the circumflex a
gliding up followed by a gliding down.
If a syllable is to be accented, an accent is placed above the vowel or
diphthong in that syllable; if a breathing also belongs there, it is written to
the left of an acute or a grave, and beneath a circumflex (῎, ῞, ῍, ῝, ῏, ῟). Like
the breathings, the accents always go above the second vowel of a proper
diphthong (e.g., εὔ), above the first vowel of an improper diphthong (e.g.,
ᾦ, ὦι), and to the left of a capital letter (e.g., Ἅ, ῞Ᾱι). In a capitalized proper
diphthong, the breathing and accent remain in their usual place, above the
second vowel (e.g., Αἵ).
There is much scholarly debate about the grave accent. The mark perhaps
shows, not that the pitch should glide down, but simply that it should not glide
up (i.e., it could remain steady).
13. Position of Accents. In most Greek words one (and only one) syllable is
marked with an accent, and that syllable is always one of the last three

9
10 • From Alpha to Omega

syllables; an accent mark never appears earlier than that in a word. In


φιλόσοφος, for example, the acute is as far left as the rules of accenting
allow; it could never appear above φι. Traditionally, the last syllable in
a word is called the ultima (Latin for “last”); the next-to-last syllable is
called the penult (“almost last”); the syllable before the penult is called
the antepenult (“before the almost last”). A word’s ultima, penult, and
antepenult are the only syllables in it that can ever be accented.
A few words in Greek have no accent, and under certain circumstances a word
may receive a second accent. This will all be explained in later lessons.
14. The acute and grave accents are found above diphthongs, long vowels, and
short vowels; the circumflex is found only above diphthongs or long vowels.
(This is logical since the brief sound of a short vowel would not allow
enough time for the pitch to glide both up and down.) Thus, whenever you
see a circumflex, you automatically know that the vowel beneath it is long;
a macron to indicate the quantity of the vowel would be superfluous.
The acute can appear on the antepenult (e.g., θάλαττα), the penult (e.g.,
χώρᾱ), or the ultima (e.g., θε). The circumflex can appear on the penult
(e.g., µοῖρα) or the ultima (καλῶς) but never as far back as the antepenult.
The grave appears only on the ultima and only under these circumstances:
if a word that would have had an acute on its last syllable is followed directly
by another word, with no intervening punctuation mark, the acute switches
to a grave (e.g., ἀγαθὴ τύχη). If there is a punctuation mark immediately
after the word, the acute remains unchanged (e.g., ἀγαθή· τύχη).
The regular substitution of a grave for an acute on the ultima suggests that a
gliding up in pitch at the end of a word happened only when a break in thought
followed; if there was no break, the pitch evidently glided down or stayed the
same.
15. In some Greek words the position of the accent (i.e., whether it belongs on
the antepenult, the penult, or the ultima) is unpredictable; you will simply
have to memorize where to put the accent in each of those words. In many
other Greek words, however, the position of the accent is totally predictable
and does not need to be memorized.
Right now there are just two general principles for you to learn; both assume
that you already know “where the accent wants to be” in a particular word.
(How to determine the position of the accent will be covered in future
lessons.) The first principle will tell you whether an acute on the antepenult
can remain there; the second will tell you whether an accent on the penult
should be a circumflex or an acute.
To understand these important principles, you must first know how to
recognize whether a syllable is long by nature, long by position, or short:
A syllable is long by nature when it contains a naturally long vowel (e.g.,
χώ-ρᾱ, κλ-νη) or a diphthong (e.g., µοί-ρᾱ )ͅ . One important exception: the
proper diphthongs αι and οι are regarded as short when they are the very
last letters in a word (e.g., οι is short in ἵπποι, but long in οἶκος and ἵπποις).
Lesson 2 • 11

You will discover an exception to this exception in Lesson 36, but until then
you will be safe if you assume that final αι and οι are short.
A syllable is long by position when its vowel or diphthong is followed by
two consonants separately pronounced or by a double consonant (e.g.,
ἀρ-χή, ἧτ-τον, λεί-ψω, φύ-λαξ). Notice that the length of the vowel or
diphthong is not changed by its position; in φύλαξ, for example, the alpha
is still naturally short even though the syllable is long by position. In λείψω
the syllable is both naturally long (because it contains the diphthong ει) and
long by position.
A syllable is short when it contains a naturally short vowel followed by no
consonant (e.g., θε-ός) or by a single consonant (e.g., θύ-ρᾱ).
A syllable is short when it contains a naturally short vowel followed by two
or more consonants pronounced together (e.g., ἄ-κρον; see Lesson 1). This
holds true for Attic prose; in Greek verse, however, the poet may choose
to pronounce the consonants separately and treat the syllable as long by
position.
Two General Principles of Accenting
1. [Assume that the accent wants to be on the antepenult.]
General Principle: The acute can stay on the antepenult only if
the ultima is short (i.e., if it has a short vowel not followed by a
double consonant, or if it ends in -αι or -οι; e.g., διδάσκαλος,
διδάσκαλοι). If the ultima is long by nature or position, the
acute must move to the penult, i.e., one syllable to the right
(e.g., διδασκάλου, διδασκάλοις).
2. [Assume that the accent wants to be on the penult.]
General Principle: If the penult is naturally long and the ultima
has a short vowel or ends in -αι or -οι, the accent on the penult
will be a circumflex (e.g., δῶρον, κῆρυξ, παῦε, ἐκεῖναι). If the
penult is not naturally long, or the ultima does not have a short
vowel or end in -αι or -οι, the accent on the penult will be an
acute (e.g., τότε, ἵπποι, παύεις, ἐκείνᾱς).

16. Exercises
A. The following are all genuine Greek words transliterated into
English. Transliterate them back into Greek with proper breathings and
accents. (If you need a reminder about how to transliterate, see §3 and
§10 of Lesson 1.)
1. harmoniā, acute on penult
2. ainigma, acute on antepenult, proper diphthong
3. gltta, circumflex on penult
4. mēchanē, acute on ultima
5. rhapsidia, acute on penult, improper diphthong
12 • From Alpha to Omega

6. symptma, acute on antepenult


7. ichthȳs, acute on ultima
8. thlīpsis, circumflex on penult
9. exangeliā, acute on penult, use gamma for n-sound
10. kīnēsis, acute on antepenult
11. syllogismos, acute on ultima
12. zion, circumflex on penult, improper diphthong
13. autarkeia, acute on antepenult
14. haima, circumflex on penult, proper diphthong
15. basileus, acute on ultima

B. Two of the words in each group are incorrectly accented. Pick


out the only form that does not violate one of the general principles of
accenting.
1. κάµηλῳ κάµηλον καµῆλοις
2. ἔπιθῡµει ἐπιθῡµεῖ ἐπίθῡµει
3. σῶµατος σώµατων σώµατος
4. ἄφειλετο ἀφεῖλετο ἀφείλετο
5. ἶδιος ἴδιοι ἴδιοις
6. προσνεῖµῃ πρόσνειµῃ προσνείµῃ
7. αὐτή αὒτη αὔται
8. τόυτου τοῦτοις τούτων
9. ἐφικέσθαι ἐφῖκεσθαι ἔφικεσθαι
10. ταύρος ταῦρον ταῦρῳ
Lesson 3

Γ
Ω-Verbs
Present Active Indicative, Present Active
Infinitive, Present Active Imperative
σπεῦδε βραδέως (Make haste slowly)
—one of Augustus’ sayings, quoted by Suetonius in Augustus 25

17. Greek has eight parts of speech: nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs,
conjunctions, prepositions, and particles. In this chapter we focus on verbs.
Some of the grammatical terminology may be intimidating at first, but you
should not let it scare you. Many of the terms are traditional and come from
Latin; once you understand them, you will find them convenient to use.
After all, they were designed to be helpful, not horrifying!

18. This section presents an overview of Greek verbs for those who would
like to have “the big picture” from the very beginning. You may find it
helpful to return to the section and re-read it as you proceed through the
textbook. For now it is enough if you merely familiarize yourself with the
terminology.
Verbs. Verbs are words that denote actions or states of being. Like English
verbs, Greek verbs have the properties of person, number, voice, mood, and
tense. Related to tense are the grammatical concepts of aspect and time.
Person. A Greek verb has one of three possible persons: first, second, or
third.
The verb is in first person if its subject is the person speaking (“I”
or “we”).
The verb is in second person if its subject is the person being
spoken to (“you”).
The verb is in third person if its subject is someone or something
other than the person speaking or the person being spoken to
(“he,” “she,” “it,” or “they”).
Number. A Greek verb has one of three possible numbers: singular,
dual, or plural.

13
14 • From Alpha to Omega

The singular denotes that the subject is just one person, thing, or
abstract idea.
The dual denotes that the subject is a pair of people, things, or
abstract ideas.
The plural denotes that the subject is more than one person, thing,
or abstract idea.
Voice. A Greek verb has one of three possible voices: active, passive, or
middle.
A verb has active voice if its subject performs an action (e.g., “I
teach,” “I teach the children”).
A verb has passive voice if its subject is acted upon by someone or
something else (e.g., “the children are taught by me”).
A verb has middle voice if the subject performs an action for itself
or on someone or something of special interest to it (e.g., “I teach
[for myself],” “I have the children taught [because of my interest
in them]”; the words in brackets are implied by the verb’s middle
voice, but do not actually appear in the Greek sentence).
Verbs with active or middle voice may be either transitive (i.e.,
combined with a direct object that identifies who or what is being
acted upon; e.g., “I teach the children,” “I have the children
taught”) or intransitive (i.e., with no direct object appearing in
the sentence; e.g., “I teach,” “I teach [for myself].” A passive
sentence is the equivalent of a transitive active sentence; e.g.,
“The children are taught by me” describes the same situation as
“I teach the children.” In both sentences it is the children who
experience the teaching, but the idea is expressed in two different
ways: first with “children” as the direct object of an active verb,
then with “children” as the the subject of a passive verb.
Mood. A Greek verb has one of four possible moods: indicative,
imperative, subjunctive, or optative.
The mood of a verb reflects the speaker’s estimate of how real the
action is:
Indicative mood suits statements of fact or discussions of reality
and actual occurrences (e.g., a statement—“you are here”; a
question—“are you here?”).
Imperative mood is appropriate for commands, i.e., requests to
change reality (e.g., “be here!”).
Subjunctive and optative moods are associated with a variety
of actions that are all only contemplated or imagined (e.g., a
wish—“would that you were here!”; fear or doubt—“you may be
here”; a possibility—“you might be here”).
Tense. When it comes to Greek, the notion of “tense” can be
problematic, but because the term is traditional and still commonly
Lesson 3 • 15

used, we include it in this textbook. The danger of using the term is


that, on the basis of English, students may simply equate it with time
and not realize that Greek makes an important distinction between
time and aspect.
The number of possible tenses in Greek depends on the mood of
the verb:
A Greek verb in the imperative, subjunctive, or optative mood has
one of three possible tenses: present, aorist, or perfect.
A Greek verb in the indicative mood has one of seven possible
tenses: present, imperfect, future, aorist, perfect, pluperfect, or
future perfect.
There is a logical explanation for the higher number of tenses in
the indicative: the imperative, subjunctive, and optative moods
use tense to show aspect, while the indicative mood uses tense to
show not only aspect but also time.
Aspect. Aspect is the type or quality of the action, as perceived by the
speaker. A Greek verb has one of three possible aspects: imperfective,
aoristic, or perfective.
Imperfective aspect: the speaker perceives the action as a process
continuing or repeated over time.
Aoristic aspect: the speaker perceives the action as a one-time
occurrence, neither continuing nor completed.
Perfective aspect: the speaker perceives the action as completed
and having an enduring result.
In the imperative, subjunctive, and optative moods each tense
matches one of the three aspects:
present tense: imperfective aspect
aorist tense: aoristic aspect
perfect tense: perfective aspect
Time. A Greek verb in the indicative mood has one of three possible
times: present, past, or future. (A verb in the imperative, subjunctive,
or optative mood never denotes time; the one exception, the future
optative, is discussed in Lesson 40.)
The indicative mood combines time and aspect in the following
ways:
present tense: present time, imperfective or aoristic aspect
imperfect tense: past time, imperfective aspect
future tense: future time, imperfective or aoristic aspect
aorist tense: past time, aoristic aspect
perfect tense: present time, perfective aspect
pluperfect tense: past time, perfective aspect
future perfect tense: future time, perfective aspect
16 • From Alpha to Omega

The four tenses of the indicative mood that denote present or


future time (present, future, perfect, future perfect) are called
primary (or principal) tenses.
The three tenses of the indicative mood that denote past time
(imperfect, aorist, pluperfect) are called secondary (or historical)
tenses.
19. Every Greek verb alters or inflects (“bends”) its form to indicate changes in
its person, number, voice, mood, and tense. Inflecting a verb means adding
suffixes and (sometimes) prefixes to one of its six stems; this process is
known as conjugating (“joining together”).
Conjugations. All the verbs that are conjugated in the same way are grouped
together and said to belong to the same conjugation. Greek has two main
conjugations, a large one to which all the ω-verbs belong, and a small one
to which all the µι-verbs belong. This book does not explain the features of
µι-verbs systematically until all the forms of ω-verbs have been introduced.
20. The present tense of the indicative mood denotes an action happening in the
present time. It may be an action happening now and only now, or it may
be one that goes on all the time, including now. Most often it is viewed as
a continuing, repeated, or habitual process; if so, the verb has imperfective
aspect. Sometimes it is viewed as a one-time occurrence; if so, the verb
has aoristic aspect. Although there is no difference in appearance between
a present-tense Greek verb with imperfective aspect and one with aoristic
aspect, the context generally makes clear which aspect the author of the
sentence had in mind.
The verb παιδεύω (“teach”) will serve as a paradigm (i.e., a model) for the
conjugation of ω-verbs in the indicative mood, present tense, active voice.
Each Greek word in the paradigm is followed by two examples of how it
might be translated into English.
English has multiple ways to convey the sense of the present indicative, each
with a different nuance (e.g., “I teach,” “I do teach,” “I am teaching,” “I con-
tinue teaching,” “I keep teaching”). Since Greek uses just one form, broad
enough to cover all of these nuances, there is no simple formula for translating
the Greek present indicative into English. You must rely on the context to help
you choose a suitable translation.
Because the dual is seldom used in Attic Greek (the plural generally takes its
place), it has been omitted from the paradigms that appear in the lessons. All of
the dual forms, however, are listed for reference in the appendix of the textbook.
Present Active Indicative
Singular Endings
1st person παιδεύω (“I teach/am teaching”) -ω
2nd person παιδεύεις (“you [sg.] teach/are teaching”) -εις
3rd person παιδεύει (“he/she/it teaches/is teaching”) -ει
Lesson 3 • 17

Plural
1st person παιδεύοµεν (“we teach/are teaching”) -οµεν
2nd person παιδεύετε (“you [pl.] teach/are teaching”) -ετε
3rd person παιδεύουσι(ν) (“they teach/are teaching”) -ουσι(ν)
Present Stem. To form the present tense, you must first find the present stem.
When you look up a Greek verb in a lexicon, you will be confronted with six
principal parts. The first of these will be the first-person singular present ac-
tive indicative; if it ends in -ω (e.g., παιδεύω), the verb must belong to the
ω-conjugation. Dropping the -ω from the first principal part will give you the
present stem.
Endings. Each ending is actually a combination of a thematic vowel (a mark of
the present tense — usually ε, but ο is used before µ or ν) and a personal ending:
-ω = ο + lengthening, -εις = ε + σι (σ dropped out) + ς, -ει = ε + σι (σ dropped
out), -οµεν = ο + µεν, -ετε = ε + τε, -ουσι = ο + νσι (ν dropped out; ο lengthened
to ου). It is good to be aware that these phonetic changes have occurred, but you
need only memorize the endings in their final form, keeping in mind that the
first letter of each is a thematic vowel.
Movable Nu. The ν in the third-person plural ending is called a movable ν. It is
added to a word ending in -σι whenever the following word begins with a vowel
or whenever the -σι word falls at the end of a sentence.
Finite Forms. Verb forms that have personal endings are referred to as “finite”
because the action is confined to a specific person—first, second, or third—and
to a specific number—singular or plural. Finite forms do not need to be supple-
mented with personal pronouns (“I,” “we, “you,” “he,” “she,” “it,” “they”) to
clarify who is doing the action; the endings already make that clear. Personal
pronouns are added only for emphasis.
Recessive Accent. The accent of most finite forms is recessive, i.e., it wants to
move as far to the left in the word as possible. Thus, if the word has only two
syllables, the accent will recede to the penult (and be either a circumflex or an
acute, according to general principle #2 in §15 of Lesson 2). If the word has
three or more syllables, the accent will recede to the antepenult and stay there
unless it is forced back to the penult by general principle #1 (e.g., the acute re-
cedes to the antepenult in παιδεύοµεν, but the long ultima draws it back to the
penult in παιδεύω).
21. Infinitive. An infinitive is a special form that in English always appears
as the word “to” followed by a verb (e.g., “to write”). In both English
and Greek, it has the ability to function in either of two ways: as a verb,
complementing the main verb in the sentence (e.g., “I wish to write”), or
as a noun (e.g., “to write is difficult”; in this example the infinitive is the
subject of the sentence). Some scholars argue that the infinitive, when it
functions as a verb, should be classified as a mood. This textbook prefers to
see infinitives as constituting their own category.
The infinitive in Greek is built on a verbal stem, and as its name implies,
it is non-finite: its action is not limited to a particular person or number. It
has no mood, but it does have tense (which shows only aspect, not time—
exceptions will be discussed in later lessons) and voice.
Here is the infinitive of παιδεύω in the present tense, active voice:
18 • From Alpha to Omega

Present Active Infinitive


παιδεύειν (“to teach”)
The present active infinitive is formed by adding -ειν (= thematic vowel ε +
εν [the two epsilons contract into the diphthong ει]) to the present stem, with
recessive accent. Despite its name a present infinitive does not signify an event
taking place right now; rather, it implies an on-going or habitual action. Thus its
tense is not an indication of present time, but of imperfective aspect. You may
prefer to translate the present infinitive in a way that emphasizes the on-going
nature of the action (e.g., “to be engaged in teaching” or “to continue teaching”
or “to keep teaching”).
22. The imperative mood, used for giving commands, has person (but not first
person), number, voice, and tense. Tenses in this mood show only aspect,
not time. The present imperative has imperfective aspect and denotes an
action that the speaker wishes to see happening for a while or repeatedly.
Here are the forms of παιδεύω in the imperative mood, present tense, active
voice:
Present Active Imperative
Singular Endings
2nd person παίδευε (“teach!”) -ε
3rd person παιδευέτω (“let him/her teach!”) -ετω
Plural
2nd person παιδεύετε (“teach!”) -ετε
3rd person παιδευόντων (“let them teach!”) -οντων
The present active imperative is built on the present stem. Its endings are com-
binations of the thematic vowel ε/ο and the personal endings —, -τω, -τε, -ντων.
As you would expect with finite verb forms, the accent is recessive. The second-
person plural present imperative is identical in appearance to the second-person
plural present indicative. The context will help you distinguish the two.
In English there is no difference in form between a second-person singular
command, addressed to one person, and a second-person plural command, ad-
dressed to more than one person. In Greek, however, the singular command has
a different ending from the plural (-ε instead of -ετε).
The third-person imperative is an order addressed to one or more persons who are
neither the one(s) speaking nor the one(s) being spoken to. Because English has
no exact equivalent for this sort of command, a construction with “let” is normal-
ly used. Notice that this translation can be misleading: “let” may seem to mean
“allow,” and the word that is the subject of the Greek verb confusingly appears in
the objective case in English; e.g., the “they” subject of παιδευόντων turns into
“them” in the translation “let them teach.” Translating “may they teach” would
solve that problem but at the same time introduce another by transforming the
command into a wish. There is no perfect solution.
Since the present imperative has imperfective aspect, you may prefer a transla-
tion that emphasizes the on-going nature of the action (e.g., “continue teach-
ing!” for παίδευε or “let them keep teaching!” for παιδευόντων).
Lesson 3 • 19

23. Negative Adverbs. In the indicative mood the normal negative adverb is
οὐ; the usual place to put οὐ is right before the verb (e.g., οὐ παιδεύεις,
“you are not teaching” or “you do not teach”).
A prohibition or negative command is signaled by µή (“not”); the usual
place to put µή is right before the imperative form of the verb (e.g., µὴ
παίδευε, “don’t teach!”).

24. Vocabulary
Words are grouped according to their part of speech and presented in this order:
verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, par-
ticles. Within each category the order is alphabetical. English derivatives are
printed in italics and placed in square brackets at the end of each entry.
If a verb can be used with an infinitive, the vocabulary item will begin with (+
infinitive), and the meanings that are appropriate when the infinitive is used will
have the word to following them in parentheses. The parentheses indicate that
the verb may be used either with an infinitive or without one.
If a word in the vocabulary list has an acute accent on its ultima, do not assume
that that accent can never change. Whenever the word is used in a sentence and
another word follows it with no intervening punctuation, the accent will switch
to a grave (as explained in §14 of Lesson 2). It is for simplicity’s sake that the
word is printed with an acute accent whenever it is quoted out of context.

γράφω write, draw [cf. autograph]


ἐθέλω (+ infinitive) be willing (to), wish (to)
θω offer sacrifice, sacrifice, slay
κλέπτω steal [cf. kleptomania]
παιδεύω teach, educate [cf. propaedeutic]
σπεύδω (+ infinitive) hasten (to), strive (to), be eager (to)
φυλάττω stand guard, guard, protect, preserve [cf. prophylactic]
µή (negative adverb used with imperative mood) not
οὐ (οὐκ, οὐχ) (negative adverb used with indicative mood) not
οὐ is a proclitic, a type of word that “leans ahead” to the word following
it and has no accent of its own; there are ten such words in Greek. οὐ is
unique in that it does receive an accent (acute) if it comes at the end of
a clause (οὔ). Before a word with smooth breathing, οὐ becomes οὐκ;
before a word with rough breathing, οὐ becomes οὐχ. οὐκ and οὐχ are
exceptions to the rule that a Greek word can end only in a vowel, ν, ρ, ς,
ξ, or ψ.
καί (conjunction) and; (adverb) also, even
καὶ...καί (correlative conjunctions) both…and
As a conjunction, καί (“and”) connects parallel words (e.g., two finite
verbs, two infinitives, two nouns). If the sentence seems to have a super-
fluous καί in it, καί is either an adverb, stressing the word that immedi-
ately follows it, or a correlative conjunction paired with another καί. In a
vocabulary list it is conventional to show the first correlative with its acute
accent changed to grave, since another word would most likely follow it
with no intervening punctuation.
20 • From Alpha to Omega

25. Exercises

Greek-to-English Sentences
1. παιδεύεις καὶ οὐ κλέπτεις.
2. µὴ γράφε· σπεῦδε φυλάττειν.
3. καὶ θῡόντων καὶ παιδευόντων.
4. ἐθέλετε κλέπτειν; οὐκ ἐθέλουσιν.
5. σπεύδει παιδεύειν· µὴ κλεπτέτω.
6. ἐθέλοµεν καὶ θειν καὶ γράφειν.
7. µὴ κλέπτε· φυλάττει.
8. σπεύδουσι καὶ γράφειν; γραφόντων.
9. παιδεύω· θῡέτω.
10. φυλάττοµεν· µὴ σπεύδετε κλέπτειν.

English-to-Greek Sentences
1. Offer sacrifice (pl.) and do not steal!
2. Also hasten (sg.) to teach!
3. Is he willing to stand guard? Let him not continue drawing!
4. She is not writing; she is both educating and sacrificing.
5. Let them steal! We do not wish to guard.
Lesson 4


First Declension
Feminine Nouns, Part 1
καλὸν ἡσυχίᾱ (Leisure is a fine thing)
—one of Periander’s sayings, quoted by Diogenes Laertius 1.97

26. A noun is a word naming or signifying a person, thing, or abstract idea.


Greek nouns are less formidable than Greek verbs but still challenging.
Like verbs, they too are inflected.
Declensions. Inflecting a verb is called conjugating; inflecting a noun is
called declining. Verbs are classified by their conjugation; nouns are
classified by their declension. This chapter introduces the first of Greek’s
three declensions.
27. Unlike a Greek verb, which has six stems, a Greek noun usually has just
one. Endings that are added to the stem indicate gender, number, and case.
Gender. The gender of a noun may be masculine, feminine, or neuter. The
gender of nouns denoting male persons is almost always masculine, and
the gender of nouns denoting female persons is almost always feminine,
but the gender of sexless objects, contrary to what you might expect, is
not almost always neuter; it is just as often feminine (like the Greek word
for “marketplace”) or masculine (like the Greek word for “river”). For
such nouns the gender has nothing to do with their “sex”; it is simply a
grammatical trait (comparable to a blood-type), which has to be memorized
along with the stem and the endings. Each Greek noun is “born” with a
particular gender, and that gender never changes.
Number. The number of a noun is similar to the number of a verb; it may be
singular, dual, or plural, depending on how many people, things, or abstract
ideas the speaker has in mind. Since the dual (implying a pair) is rarely
used in Attic Greek, it is relegated to the appendix of this textbook.
Case. The case of a noun is a clue to how the noun is functioning in its
sentence. It is often difficult for English-speakers to grasp the notion of
cases because English uses the position of a noun in a sentence, not the form
of the noun, to indicate its function. In “the dog chases the cat,” we know
that “dog” is the subject because it is placed before the verb, while “cat”
is shown to be the object by its placement after the verb. If the positions of

21
22 • From Alpha to Omega

“dog” and “cat” in the sentence are reversed, “dog” becomes the object,
“cat” becomes the subject, and the sentence means the opposite of what it
originally did.
In Greek the position of a noun does not dictate how it is functioning in
the sentence; this is shown instead by the noun’s case. The idea of the dog
chasing the cat could be expressed in Greek with any of the following
arrangements of words: “the dog chases the cat,” “the cat chases the dog,”
“the dog the cat chases,” “the cat the dog chases,” “chases the dog the
cat,” “chases the cat the dog.” In none of the Greek versions would there
be any doubt that the dog is doing the chasing; the noun for “dog” would
be in the case appropriate for the subject of a sentence, while the noun for
“cat” would be in the case appropriate for the object. The speaker would
be free to choose whether to put the nouns before, after, or on either side of
the verb; the decision would depend on which words the speaker wished to
emphasize or which grouping of sounds was most pleasing to the ear.
Greek nouns have five cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, and
vocative. It is traditional to list them in that order, with the last four cases
seeming to “decline” or fall from the nominative (the word case comes
from the Latin word for “a falling”). The next section gives an overview of
the cases and their uses.
28. Nominative: The nominative case designates the subject of the sentence. In
a sentence that has a “linking verb” connecting the subject with a predicate
noun, both the subject and the predicate noun will be in the nominative
case (e.g., “we are friends,” “you have become a nuisance,” “they will be
chosen as delegates”). Unlike a direct object, which is acted upon by the
subject, a predicate noun is equated with the subject and therefore must be
identical with it in case.
Genitive: The genitive case designates a noun that is being used to modify
another noun in the sentence. The relationship between the two nouns can
usually be conveyed in English with the preposition of (e.g., “the grapes
of wrath,” “love of life,” “the book of the student”; in the last example
the phrase shows possession and could be expressed alternatively as “the
student’s book”). The genitive also functions as a substitute for Indo-
European’s ablative case, of which only a few traces are left in Greek. Thus
the genitive is the appropriate case for nouns denoting a source or point of
origin (“away from,” “out of”).
Dative: The dative case designates a noun that has some relationship to
the action but is not the subject or direct object of the sentence. Often the
best way to translate a dative is with the preposition to or for (e.g., “give
the prize to the winner”; “for ducks, the weather is perfect”). The dative
also functions as a substitute for Indo-European’s instrumental and locative
cases, both of which have nearly vanished in Greek. Thus the dative is the
appropriate case for nouns denoting means, accompaniment, location, or
time (“by,” “with,” “in,” “at”).
Lesson 4 • 23

Accusative. The accusative case designates the sentence’s direct object, the
noun that is being directly acted upon by the subject. It is also used for
nouns that denote a destination or goal or an extent of time or space (“into,”
“to,” “toward,” “for”).
Vocative. The vocative case designates a person, either real or imaginary,
who is being addressed. It is common in Greek to personify things and
call out to them as well as to human beings (e.g., “farewell, Socrates!”; “O
death, where is thy sting?”).
29. First-declension nouns can be divided into two groups: feminines and
masculines. The feminines are discussed here and in the next lesson, the
masculines in Lesson 9.
Originally all first-declension feminine nouns had stems ending in -ᾱ; this
remained so in the Doric and Aeolic dialects. In Attic, however, -ᾱ was replaced
by -η (e.g., σκηνή) in all cases of the singular, except when -ᾱ was preceded by
ε, ι, or ρ (e.g., θε, ἡσυχίᾱ, χώρᾱ). This meant that, in Attic, there were two
different types of first-declension feminines, ᾱ-stems and η-stems:
First-Declension Feminine Nouns, ᾱ-Stems & η-Stems
Singular (“goddess”) (“leisure”) (“place”) (“tent”) Endings
Nominative θε ἡσυχίᾱ χώρᾱ σκηνή -ᾱ -η
Genitive θεᾶς ἡσυχίᾱς χώρᾱς σκηνῆς -ᾱς -ης
Dative θεᾷ ἡσυχίᾱͅ χώρᾱͅ σκηνῇ -ᾱͅ -ῃ
Accusative θεν ἡσυχίᾱν χώρᾱν σκηνήν -ᾱν -ην
Vocative θε ἡσυχίᾱ χώρᾱ σκηνή -ᾱ -η
Plural (“goddess”) (“leisure”) (“place”) (“tent”) Endings
Nominative θεαί ἡσυχίαι χῶραι σκηναί -αι -αι
Genitive θεῶν ἡσυχιῶν χωρῶν σκηνῶν -ων -ων
Dative θεαῖς ἡσυχίαις χώραις σκηναῖς -αις -αις
Accusative θες ἡσυχίᾱς χώρᾱς σκηνς -ᾱς -ᾱς
Vocative θεαί ἡσυχίαι χῶραι σκηναί -αι -αι
As you can see, first-declension feminines all have the same endings in the plu-
ral: -αι, -ων, -αις, -ᾱς, -αι. The singular endings are -ᾱ, -ᾱς, -ᾱͅ, -ᾱν, -ᾱ only if
the preceding letter is ε, ι, or ρ; otherwise they are -η, -ης, -ῃ, -ην, -η. Notice
that the nominative and the vocative forms are identical. You will soon discover
that the nominative and vocative are identical in the plural of every declension
(though not always in the singular).
Persistent Accent. The accent of these and all other Greek nouns is persistent,
i.e., the location of the accent in the nominative singular shows where the accent
wants to stay or “persist.” “Location” refers not to antepenult, penult, etc., but
to the actual letters making up the accented syllable; in the nominative singu-
lar of χώρᾱ, for example, the accented syllable is χω-, and the acute accent tries
to remain with that particular group of letters. (Notice that this is different from
the accent of finite verbs, which wants simply to recede.) When the case-ending
changes, the general principles of accenting (see §15 of Lesson 2) may force the
noun’s accent to move to another syllable or to change its form (e.g., χώρᾱ be-
comes χῶραι). It is vital for you to memorize the location of the accent in the
nominative singular.
24 • From Alpha to Omega

There are two peculiarities in the accenting of first-declension feminine nouns:


1. If the accent falls on the ultima in the genitive and dative, singular and plural,
it changes from acute to circumflex. Example: One would expect to see θε,
θες, θε ͅ since there is no general principle forcing accents on the ultima to
change from acute to circumflex; nevertheless the correct inflection is θε,
θεᾶς, θεᾷ.
2. In the genitive plural of first-declension nouns, the syllable that receives the
accent is always the ultima. Example: One would expect to see χώρων since there
is no reason for the accent to move from its preferred spot above χω-; nevertheless
the correct form is χωρῶν. For this second peculiarity there is a logical explana-
tion: the original ending of the genitive plural in first declension was -ων, but as
time went by, the long alpha and the omega contracted, producing -ῶν; the cir-
cumflex is a sign that there has been a contraction of two vowels into one.
30. Both Greek and English use a definite article (“the”) to indicate that
someone or something is definite, previously mentioned, or well-known.
Greek’s definite article changes its form to match the gender, number, and
case of the noun that it modifies. In this lesson only the feminine forms of
the article are necessary for you to learn. They closely resemble the endings
of first-declension feminine nouns.
Definite Article, Feminine Forms
Singular Feminine Plural Feminine
Nominative ἡ Nominative αἱ
Genitive τῆς Genitive τῶν
Dative τῇ Dative ταῖς
Accusative τήν Accusative τς
The nominatives ἡ and αἱ are proclitics (like οὐ) and thus have no accent. No
vocatives exist because a definite article would be superfluous in a direct ad-
dress. This applies to English too; we say, e.g., “O goddess, listen!”, not “O the
goddess, listen!”.
When you see a definite article in a Greek sentence, do not assume that you
should include “the” in your translation: Greek uses “the” in more ways than
English does. In Greek, for instance, it is customary to put a definite article with
an abstract noun if the speaker is thinking of the concept as a whole: e.g., πέµπε
τὴν ἡσυχίᾱν (“send leisure [all of it]!”), as opposed to πέµπε ἡσυχίᾱν (“send
[some/any] leisure!”). In a different context, however, πέµπε τὴν ἡσυχίᾱν might
mean “send the leisure [i.e., the particular sort of leisure that the speaker has in
mind]!”; it would then be accurate to include “the” in your translation. It is also
more normal in Greek than in English to add a definite article to a proper name
(e.g., “the Socrates,” “the Zeus,” “the Greece”). If “the” sounds awkward in
your English translation, feel free to omit it.
31. Indirect Object. One of the most frequent uses of the dative case is to
designate the indirect object in a sentence concerned with giving (the word
dative comes from the Latin verb meaning “give”). In such a sentence the
subject gives, offers, presents, dedicates, entrusts, or promises someone or
something (= direct object, accusative case) to someone or something else
(= indirect object, dative case). The indirect object and/or the direct object
may be omitted. Examples:
Lesson 4 • 25

θω τὴν βοῦν τῇ θεᾷ. “I sacrifice the cow to the goddess.”


θω τὴν βοῦν. “I sacrifice the cow.”
θω τῇ θεᾷ. “I sacrifice to the goddess.”
θω. “I sacrifice.”
With verbs of sending, writing, or saying—as opposed to giving—,
the speaker has the choice of using an indirect object (dative case, no
preposition) or a prepositional phrase (i.e., a preposition meaning “to”
followed by a noun in the accusative case). As the object of the preposition,
the recipient is viewed as a destination or goal, the point toward which the
action is directed. The indirect object generally has a more personal flavor:
the recipient is viewed as the beneficiary of the subject’s action.

32. Vocabulary
Greek lexica always give a noun’s nominative and genitive singular and
the appropriate definite article (in the nominative singular). The noun’s
declension is shown by the first two forms, its gender by the article (e.g.,
ἡ = feminine). This is the way nouns will be presented in the vocabulary
at the end of each lesson.
Recall that the words are listed according to their part of speech: verbs,
nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, particles.
πέµπω send [cf. propempticon]
ἀγορ, -ᾶς, ἡ marketplace, market [cf. agoraphobia]
ἐπιστολή, -ῆς, ἡ letter, message [cf. epistle]
ἡσυχίᾱ, -ᾱς, ἡ leisure, stillness, tranquillity
θε, -ᾶς, ἡ goddess
σκηνή, -ῆς, ἡ tent [cf. scene]
χώρᾱ, -ᾱς, ἡ land, country, countryside, space, position
εἰς (preposition + object in accusative case) into, to
ἐκ (ἐξ) (preposition + object in genitive case) out of (ἐξ is
  used before words starting with a vowel) [cf.
  eclectic, ecstasy]
Like οὐκ and οὐχ, ἐκ violates the rule that a Greek word can end only in a
vowel, ν, ρ, ς, ξ, or ψ. There are no other exceptions to the rule.
ἐν (preposition + object in dative case) in [cf. entropy,
  enzyme]
εἰς, ἐκ, and ἐν are proclitics; like οὐ, ἡ, and αἱ, they have no accent. A
Greek preposition, like an English preposition, is usually placed in front
of the noun that serves as its object. ἐκ and εἰς imply that someone or
something is moving out of one environment and into another; ἐν implies
that someone or something is in a certain environment, neither entering it
nor moving out of it.
26 • From Alpha to Omega

ὦ (interjection used with a noun in the vocative) O!


ὦ and the vocative used with it normally come in the interior of a sentence,
but they may be placed at the start of a sentence for emphasis. When
addressing someone, it is more customary to add ὦ than to leave it out;
since ὦ is far more familiar-sounding in Greek than “O!” is in English, it
is often best to omit “O!” from your translation. ὦ is not equivalent to our
surprised “oh!”; it is never used alone as an exclamation.

33. Exercises

Greek-to-English Sentences
If you see a noun that can serve as the subject, substitute that noun for the “he,”
“she,” “it,” or “they” that you would have used if the sentence had had no noun
in the nominative case and you had had to rely solely on the verb-ending. Your
sentence should not read, for example, “The goddess she is eager.”

1. µὴ πεµπέτω τς ἐπιστολς ἐκ τῆς σκηνῆς.


2. ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ φυλάττειν οὐ σπεύδοµεν.
3. πέµπε, ὦ θε, τῇ χώρᾱͅ τὴν ἡσυχίᾱν.
4. ἐκ τῶν σκηνῶν καὶ εἰς τὴν ἀγορν σπεύδουσιν.
5. καὶ τῇ θεᾷ γράφεις τὴν ἐπιστολήν;
6. φυλάττετε, ὦ θεαί, ἐν ταῖς σκηναῖς τς ἐπιστολς.
7. ἐκ τῆς ἀγορᾶς κλέπτετε καὶ τς σκηνς;
8. τς ἐπιστολς τῶν θεῶν πέµπει εἰς τὴν χώρᾱν.
9. ἡ θε καὶ τὴν ἀγορν καὶ τὴν χώρᾱν φυλάττει.
10. σπεύδω ταῖς θεαῖς θειν· τὴν ἡσυχίᾱν πέµπουσιν αἱ θεαί.

English-to-Greek Sentences
1. We are writing, and we wish to send the message into the
country.
2. Do you (sg.) sacrifice also to the goddess of the marketplace?
3. He is not guarding the tents in the countryside.
4. Let them not steal the letters out of the marketplaces!
5. Tranquillity, hasten into the land of the goddess!
Lesson 5

E
First Declension
Feminine Nouns, Part 2
ἀλλὰ καὶ ὥρη / εὕδειν (But there is also a time for sleeping)
—comment by Odysseus in Homer’s Odyssey 11.330-331

34. In the Attic dialect a short alpha was allowed to creep into the nominative,
accusative, and vocative singular endings of some ᾱ-stem and some η-stem
nouns, thus creating two relatively small (but still important) subcategories
of first-declension feminine nouns:
First-Declension Feminine Nouns, α/ᾱς & α/ης Subcategories
Singular (“fate”) (“sea”) Endings
Nominative µοῖρα θάλαττα -α -α
Genitive µοίρᾱς θαλάττης -ᾱς -ης
Dative µοίρᾱͅ θαλάττῃ -ᾱͅ -ῃ
Accusative µοῖραν θάλατταν -αν -αν
Vocative µοῖρα θάλαττα -α -α
Plural
Nominative µοῖραι θάλατται -αι -αι
Genitive µοιρῶν θαλαττῶν -ων -ων
Dative µοίραις θαλάτταις -αις -αις
Accusative µοίρᾱς θαλάττᾱς -ᾱς -ᾱς
Vocative µοῖραι θάλατται -αι -αι
The plurals of these nouns are no different from the plurals of the nouns
in Lesson 4. The singulars are not difficult if you keep in mind that a short
alpha in the nominative dictates that the accusative and vocative singular
will also have a short alpha. In a noun like µοῖρα the circumflex over the
penult confirms that the alpha in the nominative singular ending is short
(the accent would be acute if the α were long, as it is, for example, in the
genitive singular ending: µοίρᾱς). If a noun’s genitive singular ending has
an eta, but its nominative singular ending has an alpha (e.g., θάλαττα, -ης),
you can be sure that the α in the nominative singular ending is short.
Nouns in these subcategories have persistent accent with the two
peculiarities characteristic of first declension (i.e., circumflexes on the
ultima of genitive and dative singular and plural, if accented; genitive
plural always accented on the ultima). Notice how the acute in θάλαττα is
27
28 • From Alpha to Omega

“pulled” from the antepenult to the penult when the case-ending is a long
syllable (e.g., θαλάττης).
35. Reflexive Use of the Definite Article. The definite article is often used
in a reflexive sense to indicate someone or something that belongs to the
subject, has some relation to it, or is a physical part of it. Thus, when the
Greek literally says, “Teachers earn the salaries,” “Do you love the father?”,
“We are washing the hands,” it may actually mean, “Teachers earn their
salaries,” “Do you love your father?”, “We are washing our hands.” The
context will make clear when the article has this reflexive sense. Example:
ἡ δέσποινα κελεύει τς θεραπαίνᾱς.

“The lady commands her own servants.”

36. Vocabulary
ἀκούω (+ genitive or accusative) hear, listen, listen to [cf.
  acoustics]
The genitive case is used if it is a person who is being heard, the accusative
case if it is an actual sound that is being heard. This makes sense since a
person could be the source of a sound, but never the sound itself.
βλάπτω harm, hurt
κελεύω (with accusative or dative + infinitive) order (to),
  command (to), urge (to)
The person who receives the order to do something may appear in either
the accusative or the dative case. If the speaker regards the person as the
subject of the infinitive (i.e., as the doer of the commanded action), then
the accusative case is appropriate—a grammar point that will be discussed
in later lessons. If the speaker thinks of the person as the recipient of the
order, then the dative case (designating an indirect object) is preferable.
You have the option to use whichever of the two cases you wish; your
choice will not affect the basic meaning of the sentence.
δέσποινα, -ης, ἡ mistress (of the household), lady, Lady (title for a
  goddess)
θάλαττα, -ης, ἡ sea [cf. thalassocracy]
θεράπαινα, -ης, ἡ servant (female), maid
κλνη, -ης, ἡ couch, bed [cf. clinic]
µοῖρα, -ᾱς, ἡ destiny, fate; Μοῖρα = Destiny or Fate (personified
  as a goddess)
ὥρᾱ, -ᾱς, ἡ season, hour; (with accusative or dative + infinitive)
  it is time (to) [cf. horoscope, hour]
When ὥρᾱ is combined with an infinitive, you will very often find that the
sentence appears to have no main verb. Actually it is just that the speaker
has chosen to leave out the word for “is,” assuming that you will supply
it. The best way to translate the idiom into English is to begin with “it is”
(“it is the hour to...” or, more simply, “it is time to...”). The person who
Lesson 5 • 29

is expected to do the action is put into the accusative or the dative case,
depending on the speaker’s point of view (see the note above on κελεύω).
Example: ὥρᾱ τὴν θεράπαιναν [or τῇ θεραπαίνῃ] θειν (“it is time for
the maid to offer sacrifice”).

ἐπεί or ἐπειδή (conjunction) when, after, since, because


ἐπεί and ἐπειδή are virtually synonymous: each introduces a subordinate
adverbial clause that tells when or why the main action of the sentence
occurs. The context will show whether the clause is temporal (indicating
the time at which something happens) or causal (indicating the reason for
its happening).

37. Exercises

Greek-to-English Sentences
1. ὥρᾱ κελεύειν τς δεσποίνᾱς θειν ταῖς θεαῖς;
2. ἐκ τῆς θαλάττης σπεύδουσι καὶ κλέπτουσι τς σκηνς.
3. ἡ Μοῖρα µὴ ἐθελέτω κλέπτειν τὴν ἡσυχίᾱν ἐκ τῆς χώρᾱς.
4. ἐπεὶ ἡ δέσποινα παιδεύει, σπεύδοµεν ἀκούειν.
5. µὴ βλάπτε, ὦ Μοῖρα δέσποινα, τς θεραπαίνᾱς.
6. οὐκ ἐθέλω γράφειν τὴν ἐπιστολὴν τῇ δεσποίνῃ.
7. φύλαττε, ὦ θε τῆς χώρᾱς, τς σκηνς ἐν τῇ ἡσυχίᾱͅ.
8. γράφεις, ὦ θεράπαινα, ἐν τῇ κλνῃ; οὐχ ὥρᾱ πέµπειν
ἐπιστολς.
9. ἄκουε τῆς θεᾶς ἐπειδὴ κελεύει· σπεῦδε ἐκ τῆς κλνης.
10. καὶ τς θεραπαίνᾱς πέµπουσιν εἰς τὴν χώρᾱν.

English-to-Greek Sentences
1. Also order (pl.) the maids to hasten out of their beds.
2. Mistress, do you wish to send a message to the countryside?
3. Since they are guarding the market, we are writing in the tent.
4. It is time to sacrifice to Lady Destiny; I hear the goddess.
5. Let the sea not harm the (female) servants!
30 • From Alpha to Omega

Reading
A Fowl Plan Backfires
(Aesop’s Fable 55)

Ἐπειδὴ ἡ δέσποινα ἀκούει τοῦ ἀλεκτρυόνος, κελεύει τς


θεραπαίνᾱς σπεύδειν ἐκ τῶν κλīνῶν καὶ πονεῖν. αἱ θεράπαιναι
τῆς δεσποίνης οὐκ ἐθέλουσι πονεῖν· θουσι τὸν ἀλεκτρυόνα.
ἡ δέσποινα, ἐπειδὴ οὐκ ἀκούει τοῦ ἀλεκτρυόνος, ἀγνοεῖ τὴν
5 ὥρᾱν καὶ ἐννυχέστερον κελεύει τς θεραπαίνᾱς πονεῖν. τὸ ἴδιον
βούλευµα τς θεραπαίνᾱς βλάπτει.

Vocabulary Help for the Reading


τοῦ ἀλεκτρυόνος (line 1) the rooster (genitive singular of ἀλεκτρυών,
    a third-declension masculine noun, preceded by the definite article)
πονεῖν (line 2) from πονέω: work, labor (a contract verb—the rationale
    for its accent will be explained in a later lesson)
τὸν ἀλεκτρυόνα (line 3) the rooster (accusative singular)
ἀγνοεῖ (line 4) from ἀγνοέω: not know, be ignorant of (another
    contract verb with an accent to be explained later)
ἐννυχέστερον (line 5) (adverb) earlier in the morning (literally, “more
   in the night”)
τὸ ἴδιον βούλευµα (lines 5-6) their own plan (literally, “the personal
    plan”; nominative singular of βούλευµα, a third-declension
    neuter noun, preceded by the definite article and an adjective)
ϝ
Lesson 6
Ω-VERBS
Future Active Indicative
Future Active Infinitive
δειπνήσειν µέλλοµεν, ἢ τί; (Are we going to have dinner, or what?)
—question asked by Euelpides in Aristophanes’ Birds 464

38. The future tense (active voice) of the indicative mood uses the same
endings as the present tense (active voice): -ω, -εις, -ει, -οµεν, -ετε, -ουσι(ν).
Remember that each of these is actually a combination of a thematic vowel
(ε/ο) and a personal ending. These six endings are added to the future stem,
which is ordinarily just the present stem + the tense-marker σ:
Future Active Indicative
Singular Endings
παιδεύσω (“I shall teach/shall be teaching”) -σ-ω
παιδεύσεις (“you [sg.] will teach/will be teaching”) -σ-εις
παιδεύσει (“he/she/it will teach/will be teaching”) -σ-ει
Plural
παιδεύσοµεν (“we shall teach/shall be teaching”) -σ-οµεν
παιδεύσετε (“you [pl.] will teach/will be teaching”) -σ-ετε
παιδεύσουσι(ν) (“they will teach/will be teaching”) -σ-ουσι(ν)
Notice that the accent is recessive, as expected in finite forms, and that mov-
able ν is added to the third-person plural. While the present tense is much more
likely to have imperfective than aoristic aspect, the future tense is just as likely
to have aoristic aspect (e.g., “we shall eat dinner when we are hungry”) as it is
to have imperfective aspect (e.g., “we shall be eating dinner for an hour”). The
future tense may be translated with “shall,” “will,” or “am/are/is going to.”
Euphony. If the present stem ends in a vowel or a diphthong, adding a sigma
to form the future stem presents no complications. If the present stem ends
in a consonant, however, the collision between the consonant and the sigma
produces either a double consonant (ψ, ξ) or a phonetic change of some sort,
designed to avoid roughness in sound. The ancient Greeks always strove for
euphony, a pleasing blend of sounds, in their language.
Here is a summary of the euphonic changes that take place when the future
stem is formed:

31
32 • From Alpha to Omega

Stem ending in a labial: -π, -β, -φ + σ =ψ


Stem ending in a palatal: -κ, -γ, -χ + σ =ξ
Stem ending in a dental: -τ, -δ, -θ + σ = σσ; one σ drops out =σ
Stem ending in πτ: -πτ + σ = πτσ; τ drops out; π + σ = ψ
Stem ending in ττ: -ττ + σ =ξ
You may wonder why stems ending in ττ use ξ rather than σ for the future tense.
Contrary to their appearance, these stems are not dental but palatal: they actu-
ally end with κ, γ, or χ, followed by a consonantal ι (y-sound). For euphonic rea-
sons Attic Greek replaces κι, γι, and χι with ττ (other dialects, including Koine,
replace them with σσ).
What happens when a stem ends in a liquid (λ, ρ), a nasal (µ, ν), or ζ will be
explained in a later lesson.
Second Principal Part. Many Greek verbs are irregular in the future tense.
This means that knowing how a verb’s future should theoretically look is
no guarantee that it will look that way. Fortunately the lexicon will always
give you the first-person singular future active indicative (e.g., παιδεύσω)
as the verb’s second principal part. Dropping the personal ending -ω will
leave you with the future stem.
From now on, whenever a verb is introduced, you will need to learn not just
one but two principal parts. The list below contains the first two principal
parts of each of the verbs in Lessons 3-5; being able to recognize euphonic
changes should help you memorize the forms:
ἀκούω, ἀκούσοµαι κλέπτω, κλέψω
βλάπτω, βλάψω παιδεύω, παιδεύσω
γράφω, γράψω πέµπω, πέµψω
ἐθέλω, ἐθελήσω σπεύδω, σπεύσω
θῡ́ω, θῡ́σω φυλάττω, φυλάξω
κελεύω, κελεύσω
During the Classical age the future tense of ἀκούω always had the endings
for middle voice, even when its meaning was active. Future active endings
(ἀκούσω, ἀκούσεις, etc.) did not come into use for that verb until late antiquity.
You will not be asked to translate or compose sentences with the future tense of
ἀκούω until you have learned the middle voice (Lesson 11).
ἐθέλω forms its future stem by adding both a lengthened thematic vowel (ε be-
comes η) and a sigma to its present stem: ἐθελήσω. One of the verbs introduced
in this lesson, µέλλω, forms its future stem in the same way: µελλήσω.
39. From a logical standpoint, it would seem that Greek should not need a
future infinitive: its three other infinitives (present, aorist, perfect) should
be sufficient to indicate aspect (imperfective, aoristic, or perfective).
While, as a rule, Greek infinitives do not indicate time, there are important
exceptions. In certain instances (to be discussed in later lessons), infinitives
can show time relative to that of the main verb; in such cases a future
Lesson 6 • 33

infinitive is needed to denote an action occurring subsequent to the time of


the main verb.
Future Active Infinitive
παιδεύσειν (“to be going to teach/be teaching”)
The future active infinitive is made by adding the ending -ειν (thematic vowel ε
+ εν; ε + ε → ει) to the future stem; its accent is always on the penult. It is pos-
sible for a future infinitive to have either aoristic aspect (e.g., “to be going to
teach on one occasion”) or imperfective aspect (e.g., “to be going to be teaching
for a while”). The context will show which aspect is intended.
Use of μέλλω. In the vocabulary list at the end of each lesson, the notation
(+ infinitive) indicates that a present infinitive, an aorist infinitive, or, rarely,
a perfect infinitive—but not a future infinitive—may be used to complete
the idea expressed by the verb. The only verb in this textbook that ever
takes a future infinitive as its complement is μέλλω (“I am about,” “I
intend”), and even with μέλλω the present infinitive is a common substitute
for the future infinitive. Saying µέλλω παιδεύσειν or µέλλω παιδεύειν (“I
am about to teach” or “I intend to teach”) is the rough equivalent of saying
παιδεύσω (“I am going to teach”). Notice that when you translate the future
infinitive with µέλλω, you should drop the words “be going to” to avoid the
awkwardness of “I am about to be going to teach.”
If µέλλω is used alone or is complemented with a present infinitive, it
may mean “I delay” or “I hesitate,” implying that the speaker intends to
do something but has qualms about doing it. Examples: µὴ µέλλε, “don’t
delay!”; µέλλω παιδεύειν, “I hesitate to teach.” Thus, while µέλλω + future
infinitive will always mean “I am about/intend to,” the meaning of µέλλω
+ present infinitive (either “I am about/intend to” or “I delay/hesitate to”)
will depend on the context.

40. Vocabulary
ἀλλάττω, ἀλλάξω change, alter [cf. parallax]
ἀλλάττω does not mean “I change” in the sense of “I become different”;
rather, it means “I make something or someone change.” Thus, in the ac-
tive voice, it always has a direct object with it; i.e., it is always transitive.
διώκω, διώξω pursue, chase, hunt, drive away, banish
ἔχω, ἕξω/σχήσω have, hold, possess; (+ infinitive) be able (to) [cf.
  cathexis]
ἕξω has imperfective aspect (“I shall possess [for a period of time]”), while
σχήσω has aoristic aspect (“I shall get hold of [on a particular occasion]”).
µέλλω, µελλήσω (+ future infinitive) be about (to), intend (to); (+
  present infinitive) delay (to), hesitate (to)
κόρη, -ης, ἡ maiden, girl, daughter; Κόρη = Maiden (another
  name for Persephone, daughter of the goddess
  Demeter) [cf. hypocorism]
κόρη is an exception to the rule that, in Attic, ᾱ after ρ never changes to η.
34 • From Alpha to Omega

οἰκίᾱ, -ᾱς, ἡ house, household


ἔτι (adverb) still, yet, longer
µηκέτι (adverb) no longer, no more
οὐκέτι (adverb) no longer, no more
µηκέτι is used wherever µή would be appropriate (e.g., with imperative
mood), οὐκέτι wherever οὐ would be appropriate (e.g., with indicative
mood).
πάλιν (adverb) back, backwards, again, once more [cf.
  palimpsest, palindrome]
ἀλλά (ἀλλ’) (conjunction) but (ἀλλ’ is written before a vowel)
A Greek word ending in a short vowel is usually elided (i.e., the final
vowel is dropped and no longer pronounced) when it comes before a word
starting with a vowel. These elisions are often taken for granted and left
unmarked in manuscripts, but in a few common words that are frequently
elided, it is conventional to mark the elision with an apostrophe; ἀλλά is
one of those words.

41. Exercises

Greek-to-English Sentences
1. µέλλεις πάλιν θσειν τῇ θεᾷ; φυλάξοµεν τὴν σκηνήν.
2. παιδεύσω καὶ κελεύσω, ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἐθελήσεις ἀκούειν.
3. µὴ µέλλε τς θεραπαίνᾱς εἰς τὴν οἰκίᾱν πάλιν πέµπειν.
4. ἐν τῇ σκηνῇ ἔχω γράφειν τς ἐπιστολς, ἀλλὰ θειν οὐκ ἔχω.
5. κελευέτω ἡ δέσποινα ταῖς θεραπαίναις ἔτι φυλάττειν τὴν
οἰκίᾱν.
6. ἐπεὶ ὥρᾱ γράφειν τὴν ἐπιστολὴν τῇ κόρῃ, οὐ µελλήσω
γράφειν.
7. αἱ θεαὶ ἐκ τῆς χώρᾱς καὶ εἰς τὴν θάλατταν σπεύσουσιν.
8. µέλλει διώξειν τς κόρᾱς; οὐκέτι ἕξοµεν τὴν ἡσυχίᾱν.
9. ἄκουε τῆς θεραπαίνης, ὦ δέσποινα, καὶ µηκέτι βλάπτε.
10. ἐκ τῆς ἀγορᾶς πάλιν κλέψειν µέλλετε τς κλνᾱς;

English-to-Greek Sentences
1. Shall we pursue the maids into the market?
2. I intend to educate the girls, mistress, since I still have leisure.
3. They will guard the tents, but they will not write the letters.
4. Will you (sg.) be able to change your destiny in the
countryside?
5. It is time to sacrifice to the goddess; let them not hesitate to
hasten out of the house.
Lesson 6 • 35

Reading
Old Habits Never Die
(Aesop’s Fable 50)

Ἡ Ἀφροδτη γαλῆν εἰς κόρην ἀλλάττει. τὴν κόρην νεᾱνίᾱς


γαµεῖ. ἀλλ’ ἡ θε µέλλει τῆς κόρης πειρσειν. τοὺς τρόπους τῆς
γαλῆς ἔτι ἕξει ἡ κόρη; ἡ Ἀφροδτη µῦν πέµπει εἰς τὴν οἰκίᾱν τῆς
κόρης. τὸν µῦν ἡ κόρη διώξει; µὴ δίωκε, ὦ κόρη· γαλῆ οὐκέτι εἶ.
5 ἀλλ’ ἡ κόρη τὸν µῦν διώκει. ἡ θε τὴν κόρην εἰς γαλῆν πάλιν
ἀλλάττει. οὐκ ἔχει καὶ ἡ Ἀφροδτη ἀλλάττειν τοὺς τρόπους.

Vocabulary Help for the Reading


Ἀφροδτη (line 1) from Ἀφροδτη, -ης, ἡ: Aphrodite, goddess of love
γαλῆν (line 1) from γαλῆ (contracted from γαλέη), -ῆς, ἡ: weasel
νεᾱνίᾱς (line 1) young man (nominative singular of a first-declension
   masculine noun)
γαµεῖ (line 2) from γαµέω, γαµῶ (a contract verb): take to wife, marry
πειρσειν (line 2) from πειράω, πειρσω (another contract verb) (+
   genitive): test, make trial (of)
τοὺς τρόπους (line 2) the habits, character (accusative plural of
   τρόπος, a second-declension masculine noun, preceded by the
    definite article)
µῦν (line 3) mouse (accusative singular of µῦς, a third-declension
    masculine noun; used with the definite article later in the line)
εἶ (line 4) you are (second-person singular present active indicative of
    the irregular verb meaning “be”)
Lesson 7

Ζ
Second Declension
Masculine Nouns
ὑπὸ παντὶ λίθῳ σκορπίον, ὦ ἑταῖρε, φυλάσσεο
(Beware, comrade, of a scorpion under every stone)
—Praxilla, fragment 4

42. Second Declension. We are not quite finished with the first declension (its
masculine subgroup remains to be discussed in Lesson 9), but we are going
to put it aside temporarily and devote the next two chapters to the second
declension. Nouns in this declension can be divided into two groups:
masculines and neuters. The masculines are covered in this lesson, the
neuters in Lesson 8. You will be glad to learn that the second declension
has fewer complications than the first.
43. All second-declension masculines have the same set of endings; there are
no variations caused by features of the Attic dialect. The endings resemble
those of the first declension, but with ο, not ᾱ or η, as the stem-vowel. Here
are two typical ο-stem masculine nouns:
Second-Declension Masculine Nouns
Singular (“human being”) (“river”) Endings
Nominative ἄνθρωπος ποταµός -ος
Genitive ἀνθρώπου ποταµοῦ -ου
Dative ἀνθρώπῳ ποταµῷ -ῳ
Accusative ἄνθρωπον ποταµόν -ον
Vocative ἄνθρωπε ποταµέ -ε
Plural
Nominative ἄνθρωποι ποταµοί -οι
Genitive ἀνθρώπων ποταµῶν -ων
Dative ἀνθρώποις ποταµοῖς -οις
Accusative ἀνθρώπους ποταµούς -ους
Vocative ἄνθρωποι ποταµοί -οι
Notice that the accent is persistent, remaining above the same letters as in
the nominative case unless a long ultima forces it to move (e.g., ἄνθρωπος
but ἀνθρώπου).
Just as in the first declension, the singular and plural endings of the genitive

37
38 • From Alpha to Omega

and dative, if accented, have a circumflex. Unlike first-declension nouns,


however, second-declension nouns do not invariably put a circumflex
above the genitive plural ending; instead the accent remains, if it can, in its
preferred position. The reason for this is that the -ων of first declension still
reflects its origin as a contraction (-ων) while the -ων (originally -όων) of
second declension does not.
In first-declension feminine nouns the nominative singular and vocative
singular are identical; in second-declension masculine nouns they are
not (e.g., nominative ἄνθρωπος but vocative ἄνθρωπε). (As noted in §29
of Lesson 4, the nominative plural and vocative plural will always be
identical.)
44. The masculine forms of the definite article look very much like the endings
of second-declension masculine nouns:
Definite Article, Masculine Forms
Singular Masculine Plural Masculine
Nominative ὁ Nominative οἱ
Genitive τοῦ Genitive τῶν
Dative τῷ Dative τοῖς
Accusative τόν Accusative τούς
The nominatives ὁ and οἱ are proclitics (like οὐ, εἰς, ἐκ, ἐν, ἡ, and αἱ) and thus have
no accent. As with the feminine forms of the article, there is no vocative case.
45. Gender. Occasionally a noun will have ο-stem endings but be feminine
instead of masculine. Its unusual gender will be shown, not by the form of
the word itself, but by the form of the words that modify it (e.g., a definite
article or an adjective). In ὁ λόγος and ἡ ὁδός, for example, the articles
reveal that λόγος is masculine, while ὁδός is feminine.
To complicate matters further, some second-declension nouns are variable
in their gender: they may be either masculine or feminine—often with a
major difference in meaning: ὁ ἄνθρωπος (“man”), ἡ ἄνθρωπος (“woman”);
ὁ θεός (“god”), ἡ θεός (“goddess”—a synonym for θε). Such words are
called “epicene” and are said to have common gender. In a vocabulary list
an epicene noun will always be accompanied by two definite articles (ὁ, ἡ).
46. Dative of Means & Dative of Manner. A noun in the dative case may
indicate the means or the instrument by which something is done (e.g.,
σπεύδοµεν τῇ ὁδῷ, “we are hastening by means of the road”; βλάπτεις τὸν
ἵππον λίθοις, “you are hurting the horse with stones”). It may also show
the manner or the way in which something is done (e.g., παιδεύω χαρᾷ,
“I teach with joy” or “I teach joyfully”). The dative of means is usually
translated with the preposition with or by; the dative of manner is usually
translated with the preposition with or with an adverb formed from the
noun and ending in -ly. In Greek no preposition is required for either the
dative of means or the dative of manner.
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