First published in 1978, Reading Greek has become a best-selling one-year introductory course in ancient Greek for students and adults. It combines the best of modern and traditional language-learning techniques and is used widely in schools, summer schools and universities across the world. It has also been translated into several foreign languages. This volume contains a narrative adapted entirely from ancient authors, including Herodotus, Euripides, Aristophanes and Demosthenes, in order to encourage students rapidly to develop their reading skills. Generous support is provided with vocabulary. At the same time, through the texts and numerous illustrations, students will receive a good introduction to Greek culture, and especially that of Classical Athens. The accompanying Grammar and Exercises volume provides full grammatical support together with numerous exercises at different levels, Greek-English and English-Greek vocabularies, a substantial reference grammar and language surveys.
Part I. Athens at Sea: Section 1. A-J. The insurance scam; Section 2. A-D. The glorious past; Section 3. A-E. Athens and Sparta; Part II. Moral Decay?: Section 4. A-D. Lawlessness in Athenian life; Section 5. A-D; Section 6. A-D. 'Socrates corrupts the young'; Section 7. A-H. Socrates and intellectual inquiry; Part III. Athens through the Comic Poet's Eyes: Section 8. A-C. Aristophanes' Birds and visions of Utopia; Section 9. A-J. Aristophanes' Wasps; Section 10. A-E. Aristophanes' Lysistrata; Section 11. A-C. Aristophanes' Akharnians; Part IV. Women in Athenian Society: Sections 12-14. The Prosecution of Neaira: Section 12. A-I. Neaira as slave; Section 13. A-I. Neaira as married woman; Section 14. A-F. Guarding a woman's purity; Section 15. A-C. Alkestis in Euripides' play; Part V. Athenian Views of Justice: Sections 16-17. Official and Private Justice: Section 16. A-H. Official justice, ships, state and individuals; Section 17. A-E. Private justice: trouble down at the farm; Section 18. A-E. How Zeus gave justice to men; Part VI. Gods, Fate and Man: Section 19. A-F. The story of Adrastos; Part VII. Homeric Hero and Heroine: Section 20. A-G. Odysseus and Nausikaa; A total Greek-English vocabulary of all words to be learnt.
