From: Ann Nyland (accuratebibles@accuratebibles.com)
Date: Sat Feb 23 2002 - 20:20:13 EST
Hi Stephen,
There's quite a few differences between Ionic and Attic. I would suggest
starting with Lysias, to avoid initially the Ionic dialects of both Homer
and Herodotos.
If you want to read Homer, I would suggest you start with Attic Greek before
NT, which I would leave until last. I would suggest to start with the
orators (avoiding Isaeus); Lysias (such as Against Eratosthenes), Antiphon
(On the Murder of Herodes), Andocides (On the Mysteries) as well as
Xenophon, Anabasis, then work up to Plato's Apology. Once you are reasonably
happy with such texts, then move to the Ionic dialect - Homer and Herodotos
(say Book 2). Try the Odyssey rather than the Iliad. After that, move to NT
Greek which will be a welcome relief!
Ann Nyland
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chuck Tripp" <ctripp@ptialaska.net>
To: "Biblical Greek" <b-greek@franklin.metalab.unc.edu>
Sent: Sunday, 24 February 2002 5:40
Subject: [b-greek] Re: Attic and Homeric Greek vs. Koine
> Hello Stephan,
>
> Let me give you a learner's perspective on the differences. This is based
> on the following: being self taught, I happened to latch onto a Attic
Greek
> book a few years ago, which has become my primary learning tool for
learning
> greek. I had previously read a beginners book on NT Greek. I am also
> reading slowly Herodotus (which is written in Ionic) and read of couse the
> NT and the LXX. I don't do this for a living, have never taken a formal
> class.
>
> Attic and the older Ionic of Herodotus seems to rely more heavily on the
> inflected nature of the language. The Koine of the NT, while inflected,
> makes more use of prepositions to convey an idea. If I read Herodotus for
> an extended period of time and then switch to the NT, some of the
> preposition use almost seems redundant at times. In Attic and Herodotus,
> there is more extensive use of the Optative which is pretty rare in the
NT,
> also you see future infinitives and participles which I often confuse with
> aorists. It seems also that there are more ways in Attic/Herodotus to
> construct sentences with subordinate clauses, only perhaps a third of
which
> appear regularly in the NT.
>
> Here is a couple of examples: the construction MEN....DE. A weakened
form
> of 'on the one hand, on the other hand' is fairly common in
> attic/herodotus, appears a few times in the NT but is not that frequent.
> Also, the word TE, used in common with KAI, is used very frequently in
> attic/herodotus. It pops up i think in Luke/Acts and a few Pauline
letters.
> The TE lets the reader know that another KAI is coming or that there is a
> series or that if it accompanies a second KAI that that second has a link
> the first KAI.
>
> By comparison with NT, Attic is particle happy. All those second words of
a
> sentence. Sometimes it seems that a sentence can consist of more
particles
> than any other word type. Even now, I am not sure what new meaning these
> particles add to a sentence.
>
> Homer. I have looked at Homer and can't make heads or tails of it. I
think
> the thing there among other things is that words are lengthened or
shortened
> to fit a 'meter' which makes them hard to recognize at first. I have
heard
> that once you get the hang of it it is not that difficult, actually less
> difficult than attic.
>
> The attic has been helpful to me in that I recognize some of the rarer
> constructions in the NT that I might not otherwise recognize right away.
If
> you have the energy, I would recommend doing extra biblical reading in
> greek. I don't know if I would recommend Herodotus though. Maybe
Anabasis
> by Xenophon which is reputed to be one of the easier of the attic
writings.
>
> Chuck Tripp
> Kodiak, Alaska
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Stephen Y. Duncan <ollec16@hotmail.com>
> To: Biblical Greek <b-greek@franklin.metalab.unc.edu>
> Sent: Friday, February 22, 2002 3:31 AM
> Subject: [b-greek] Attic and Homeric Greek vs. Koine
>
>
> > I am just beginning to learn NT Greek. How much of a stretch will it be
> > for me to read Attic and Homeric Greek? Are the differences similar to
> > the great differences of OE, ME, and Mod. English? Thanks for your
help.
> >
> > ---
> > B-Greek home page: http://metalab.unc.edu/bgreek
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> >
>
>
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