Most of what we will deal with is the Koine Greek. If you are interested in the older Classical, the Koine is still a good place to start as it is a less complicated version. Many schools teach the Koine first then move into the Classical writings.
History: The Classical Greek deals with the Greek writings from about 800BC to 300BC. When in 300BC Alexander the Great conquered Greece and the Middle East he introduced the Greek culture and language to a much larger area. The Middle East speakers simplified the more ornate Classical Greek to something the common, everyday person could speak. Thus the name Koine which means common. The original language of the Bible's New Testament was written in what was the everyday language of the people in the eastern half of the Roman Empire. Though the language of the Roman government was Latin (their native language), Greek became the everyday trade and cultural language of the Roman Empire. The Romans had fallen in love with the Greek culture and all things Greek. Even their children were tutored in the Greek language and culture by Greek tutors. The Koine Greek covers from 300BC to around 300 AD.
Alphabet: The Greeks borrowed around 900 - 1000 BC the Phoenician alphabet. The Greeks modified it and passed it on indirectly to the Romans who continued modifying the alphabet. The modern English alphabet comes directly from the Roman one. Thus, when you study Greek many letters are the same as our alphabet, and many are not. Some many even resemble ours, but they mean something entirely different.
Expressiveness of the Greek Language: The earliest writing using the Greek alphabet was by Homer who wrote down the Iliad (Helen of Troy and the Trojan horse) based on fact with mythical additions, and the mythical Odyssey (The adventures of Ulysses/Odysseus). The Iliad was a centuries old poem of a time and events that happened centuries before it was written down. Before these poems were written down, the stories were learned, passed on, and told verbally by and to the people. These poems were the people's entertainment and history. They were written in such a way that as the events were spoken the words themselves related the sounds of what happening in the poem. If it was a battle, the words chosen for this part of the poem sounded like the battle sounds as it was quoted. If it was a scene at the beach you could hear the sound of gulls and birds as that section was quoted. The Greek of that time was also very musical in sound and beat as it was spoken in these poems. Thus, as the poems were spoken, the Greek was painting a picture for the listener. Though the Greek of the Koine is not as verbal or musical as the older Greek in painting pictures, the Koine is every bit as expressive as it paints pictures with the meaning of the words themselves.
Text: We will use the text that some Classical and Theological schools use to teach first year Greek: The Gospel of John. It is the best and easiest one to use to learn Greek. We will jump right into the text from the first lesson. Each lesson will study a small section of text to learn the alphabet, pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary.
When I took first year Greek half of the class had dropped out by the second lesson. They were given too much information to learn at one time. They became overwhelmed and gave up. Thus, the goal of this study is to teach simply small amounts of information that will allow you to be able to comprehend and learn at your own pace.
Pronunciation: The pronunciation used here is USA, and what I learned in my school. If your area in America or the world pronounces the Greek differently, use your pronunciation. All pronunciation is best guess anyway. No one had a tape player 2000 years ago. Having said that, it seems only a couple of vowels or vowel combinations are spoken differently from area to area.
Greek Fonts/Letters: Since Blogger does not have Greek font letters that can be used in this blog, I have used my art/photo program to make the Greek text available (as a photo) to use in the blog. To type Greek words as I teach, I will have to type them in their English letter equals.
To go to the first lesson click here
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Oldest known fragment of the Gospel of John which dates back to 125-150 AD.
Welcome
The purpose of this blog is to explore and learn about the Greek language in an easy, simple way. The goal is to open the Greek language to those desiring to understand the Koine Greek of the New Testament Bible or even those who desire to learn Classical Greek. The desire of this site is to open to anyone who wants to learn Greek, and all the gems and treasures to be found in this very expressive language.
Study suggestions: Bookmark which ever lesson you are currently on or print it out. All lessons can be found in the Blog Archive which is lower right on any page. To start learning click here.
Study suggestions: Bookmark which ever lesson you are currently on or print it out. All lessons can be found in the Blog Archive which is lower right on any page. To start learning click here.
John Ryland's Fragment P52 of the Gospel of John
Oldest known fragment of the Gospel of John which dates back to 125-150 AD.
About Me
- Ramona Davidson
- United States
- I have had a love of the Greek language since I learned it was the original language of the New Testament of the Bible. My love of it led to me taking four years Biblical/Koine Greek and 6 years of Classical Greek. My desire here is to open to all a simple way to learn this interesting, moving language. My credentials: BA in Classical Greek, BA in Bible and Religion, MA in Theology and Biblical Languages. If you wish to email me click on "view my complete profile" below and on the left side of the page is my email.