Download Chapter 1(b)

Chapter 1(a)
What I expect you to know…
Vocabulary
Verbs: ̉έστι(ν), λέϒει, οι̉κει̂, πονει̂, ϕιλει̂, χαίρει
Nouns: ο͑ α̉ργός, ο͑ ά̉νθρωπος, ο͑ αυ̉τουργός, ο͑ οι̉̉̑κος, ο͑ πόνος, ο͑ σι̉̑τος
Adjectives: καλός, μακρός, μῑκρός, πολύς
Prepositional Phrase: ε͗ν ται̉̑ς Α͗θη̒ναις
Adverbs: ου͗, ου͗κ, ου͗χ….not to be confused with ου͗ν̉̑
Conjunctions: α͗λλά, γάρ (never occurs first in its clause), καί
Particle: δέ (never occurs first in its clause)
Additionally
Verbs: σκοπει̉̑, γεωργει̉̑, στενάζει, παρέχει, λύει
Nouns: ὁ κλη̉̑ρο̒ς (nominative), τὸν κλη̉̑ρον (accusative), ὁ βίος, ἡ σοφία, ὁ
̒
λο̒γος, ὁ ιππος,
ὁ ζευ̉̑γος
Prepositional Phrase: ἐν τοι̉̑ς ἀγροι̉̑ς
Adjectives: χαλεπός, απε̒ραντος, ’ισχūρóς, ’áοκνος, ’ελεúθερος, ‘ικανóν
Adverbs: ἀεὶ, πολλάκις
Verb Stems
There are three kinds of verb stems: regular, contract, and irregular. In Ancient
Greek, verb endings change depending on the person (1st, 2nd, 3rd) and number
(singular or plural) of the verb.
Regular will follow the form: λυ-̄́ “loosen, loose” (3rd person sing.): λυ-̄́ ει
Contract will follow the form: ϕιλε- “love” (3rd person sing.): ϕιλέ-ει>ϕιλει̉̑
Irregular doesn’t follow a form, so you just have to memorize the changes these
verbs make: ε͗σ- “to be” (3rd person sing.): ε͗στί(ν)
Nouns Have Gender
So far, we have looked at each gender in the singular:
1. Masculine: ο͑
2. Feminine: η͑
3. Neuter: τό
Note: nouns also have different declensions, but we’ll get to that later. I just wanted to note that this will get
slightly more complicated as we move forward.
Rules for Translating
1. Look for the noun with the articles ͑ο, ͑η, or τó. This tells you what the
subject of the sentence is.
2. Look for the verb next. Right now, many of our verbs end in ει, because
this is the common third person singular ending for active verbs.
3. Look for the noun with the articles τòν, τńν, or τó. This tells you what the
object of the sentence is. Notice that the gender neutral articles is the same
in the nominative (subject) and accusative (object) cases.
Example Sentence:
Note: the translation of the Greek is at the bottom of the slide.
‘ο Δικαιóπολις αυ’τουργóς ’εστιν; ϕε̒ρει δὲ τòν μóσχον.
subject
complement
; main verb
object
This example shows the basic subject/verb/object structure of most English sentences. I have highlighted the main
clues you should use to determine what is what in the sentence. Beware! Most Ancient Greek sentences are not
structured like English sentences.
“Dicaeopolis is a farmer, and he carries the calf.”
Example Sentence:
Note: the translation of the Greek is at the bottom of the slide.
πολὺν σι̉̑τον παρε̒χει ο͑ κλη̉̑ροϛ.
object verb
subject
This example shows how differently Greek syntax works than English syntax. Here, the subject of the sentence is
the very last word, but we can still tell it’s the subject because the “ο͑” tells us that κλη̉̑ροϛ is in the nominative (i.e.
subject) case. Likewise, the “ον” ending for σι̉̑τον tells us it’s in the accusative (i.e. object) case.
“The farm provides much grain,” or more colloquially: “a lot of grain.”
Example Sentence:
Note: the translation of the Greek is at the bottom of the slide.
ο͑ ’άνθρωπος ου͗ πονει̉̑ ε͗ν τοι̉̑ς α͗γροι̉̑ς.
subject
verb
prepositional phrase
Here’s a somewhat different structure than subject/verb/object. In this sentence, the prepositional phrase takes
the place of the object of the verb. We’ll deal with prepositional phrases soon, but you might notice the “οι̉̑ς”
endings. This means the prepositional phrase “in the fields” is (a) plural, (b) in the dative case, and (c) masculine.
We’ll talk about what dative means soon!
“The man doesn’t work in the field.”
Example Sentence:
Note: the translation of the Greek is at the bottom of the slide.
‘ο Δικαιóπολις τὸν οι̉̑͗κον ϕιλει̉̑.
subject
object
verb
Here you see a standard subject/verb/object but they’re simply not in common English arrangement. In your
translation, you would merely put them in English syntactical order.
“Dicaeopolis loves the home,” or more colloquially: “his home.”
Example Sentence:
Note: the translation of the Greek is at the bottom of the slide.
καλο̒ς ε͗στιν ο͑ οι͗κ̉̑ ος.
complement subject
This is a common alternative sentence structure that we find in English and Ancient Greek: subject/complement.
To complement something is simply to ascribe a quality to it: “Jim is tall,” or “The walk was arduous,” or “Mexican
food is delicious.” There is no action verb in such sentences and therefore no object of the action verb.
“The house is beautiful.”
Example Sentence:
Note: the translation of the Greek is at the bottom of the slide.
α͗εὶ ου̉̑͗ν πονει̉̑ ‘ο Δικαιóπολις καὶ πολλα̒κις στενα̒ζει.
verb1
subject
verb2
This one looks more complicated on first glance, but it’s actually simpler than the subject/verb/object structure,
because in this case we only have a subject/verb structure. It’s just that there are two verbs combined by that και
and the sentence begins with the connecting adverb ου̉̑͗ν (“and so”), which has to be the second word in its phrase
for weird Ancient Greek grammatical reasons. Remember, γα̒ρ and δὲ also follow this “second place” rule.
“And so always Dicaeopolis works and often he groans,” or more
colloquially: “And so Dicaeopolis always works and he groans often.”
Example Sentence:
Note: the translation of the Greek is at the bottom of the slide.
̄́ κνος; πολλάκις ου͗ν̉̑ χαίρει;
α͗λλὰ ι͗σχῡρός ε͗στιν ο͑ α͗ν̄́ θρωπος καὶ α͗ο
comp1
subject1
comp2;
m. verb
ε͗λεύθερος γάρ ε͗στι καὶ αυ͗τουργός.
comp
subject2
This is a complex sentence in which we have two subjects, where the second subject modifies the first. Note: και here
means “also.”
“But man is strong and energetic, and so he rejoices often; for a farmer is also
free.”