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Excellent
Great for beginners...immediate access to the Iliad
there are answer keys on the internet for the autodidact
Not Ideal for the Solo Learner
Good, but not good enough

Homeric Greek: A Book for Beginners
Clyde Pharr , and John Wright
Manufacturer: University of Oklahoma Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Homeric Vocabularies: Greek and English Word List for the Study of Homer
Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect
The Iliad: Volume I, Books 1-12 (Loeb Classical Library No. 170)
A Reading Course in Homeric Greek, Book One
Introduction to Attic Greek

ASIN: 0806119373

Customer Reviews:

Excellent.......2007-05-23

Pharr's Homeric Greek has much going for it. It is an old-style grammar, however, and one must be prepared for a different version of user-friendliness. No, there are no cute comicbook characters or a made-up story about a family caught up in the conflict, a la Athenaze or, on the Latin side, Ecce Romani. On the other hand, the book conserves space by placing all paradigms in the back of the book. This feature forces students to review more thoroughly than grammars that present paradigms piecemeal throughout the body of the text. The introduction contains an interesting argument for teaching Homeric Greek in a child's first year of Greek study, rather than the more traditional Attic Greek. The book is reasonably sturdy, for a paperback. John Wright revised the book lightly, mainly taking out material a modern student would not use or need.

What do I like about it? Each lesson presents a manageable amount of vocabulary and focuses on a single point of grammar. Once the student starts reading real Homer, the passages of poetry are preceded by prose sentences for review of new vocabulary and grammar. A teacher might assign these as homework, after a sufficient amount of in-class review, and have students read the Homeric passage at sight the following day. I also like the suggestion that students memorize the first 21 lines of the poem. Few things enliven a dead party like the ability to recite long passages of poetry in a dead language. Doing so drunk merely adds to the charm!

Finally, the book does not confuse students about its aim: the goal is the ability to read Homer's Greek. This straightforwardness arises from a confidence that most modern texts lack: modern editors seem to feel students won't bother with the language unless the cup is sweetened with loosely written and shallow 'essays' on Greek culture.

A very useful ancillary text is Homeric Vocabularies: Greek and English Word List for the Study of Homer.

Great for beginners...immediate access to the Iliad.......2005-02-27

This book has helped me realize a lifelong dream-- to read Homer in the original Greek. This book is a reprint, with some revision, of a text used in the early part of the 20th century. It is not, as far as I can tell "watered down" and the vocabulary started with words that allow the learner to begin reading the Iliad almost immediately. The practice lessons are sentences that relate to the first lines of the Iliad. Both Greek->English and English-> Greek are provided. The first half of the book are the lessons and explanation, the last half is a grammar and usage. The lessons take the learner through the first book of the Iliad. You begin actually reading and translating the first five lines in Lesson XIII. The author also spends times explaining the scansion of the Iliad so that the learner can begin to "hear" the Iliad as well as read it. Although Attic Greek is different from Homeric Greek, I found Teach Yourself Ancient Greek: a Complete Course helpful in clarifying some of the explanations of the grammar and syntax. This book is also available from Amazon. In fact, I don't suppose I would be reading Greek now if I hadn't discovered Amazon (pardon the plug, but I'm hooked!). Finding the complete Iliad can be a challenge. I finally located it at Harvard University Press: Greek and English on facing pages. Join the new Renaissance made possible by the Internet and read the real Homer. It is, to use a common expression, awesome!

there are answer keys on the internet for the autodidact.......2005-02-02

such as the one at greekgeek dot org. Also from time to time a new study group for this book will start, on the forum/message board of textkit dot com.

Not Ideal for the Solo Learner.......2004-12-26

The best thing about this book is the introductory article explaining why Homeric Greek should be the first type of ancient Greek that a student should be exposed to. Of course the incredible quality of certain New Testament Greek introductory grammars provide, in my opinion, a more practical introductory source. They claim that classical Attic is usually a student's first dialect and that Xenophon's Anabasis is normally a student's first text, and that this is a bad choice because Homer is more interesting to prospective classics students and more relevant in terms of its effect on classical culture and world literature. They also make the point that Homeric Greek is easier than Attic and a more appropriate stepping stone. Against this argument one can say that there is no text more culturally relevant than the New Testament, and that New Testament Koine is both easier than Attic and more similar to it than the Homeric form.

As a grammar, this book is inferior to, say, Bill Mounce's Basics of Biblical Greek. The print is small and often unclear, and the lessons are peculiar in their organization. The beginning of the book consists of graduated lessons that contain little instruction, but merely references to other paragraphs in the later part of the book where grammatical information is presented. This makes the book very flexible for a Greek teacher, who can choose to edit the content of each lesson. The text can also serve as a useful reference tool, as the informative section of the book is organized like a reference grammar.

I really can't knock the book, as Homer is a good medium for introductory Greek, and this work makes an innovative attempt to provide both a classroom textbook and a reference grammar. My chief complaint is that I have always been self-taught. The book really requires a teacher to relate its rather unfriendly declension and conjugation tables and tie together the rather odd organization. It just isn't working for me like Bill Mounce's Basics of Biblical Greek, or even David Mastonarde's Intruduction to Attic Greek in terms of organization and clarity.

If you have a good teacher and a good classroom environment to work with, Homer makes a great study of basic Greek. For the self-learner, stick with the Koine Greek of the New Testament. It is an easier form of Greek and the text is interesting and relevant for all types of readers. The variety of New Testament writers makes for a more diverse sample of Greek forms. Finally, there are a larger number of higher quality learning materials available, and there is a greater access to distance education courses.

Apart from all this, though, I have to say that I haven't found any introductory grammar devoted exclusively to Homer other than this one. If you want to read Homer in the original, you are going to want this book. It does a decent job of showing the idiosyncrasies of the Homeric dialect.

I would give this book four stars in terms of use in a classroom. It is a little tough for self-teaching, though, so I only gave it three.

Good, but not good enough.......2004-12-23

I don't find anything wrong with this text, and it's better than others I've worked with. But I want to chime in and add my echo to a reviewer below on a point which applies to this book and to all Greek textbooks in general. It really is difficult to understand why these texts do not have answer keys. I do understand that they are well-nigh useless for truly learning the language, since the teacher is going to give you the sinew and the essentials of the sentences. But, nevertheless, a lot of these books begin like this: "Given the mortal danger that classical Greek is in these days..." Well...ENCOURAGE THE AUTODIDACTS! Every textbook I'd ever worked with before taking a class left me flabbergasted by the third or fourth chapter because of some really easy to clear up confusion about how to translate the exercises. Often it involves minor points like how to understand "ti" in a particular instance.
If classicists want the classics to live, then get them out of classics departments and give them to the hoi polloi. Otherwise, they're just helping to murder it. The lack of aid to potential learners is reprehensible.
But as it goes, this is a good text.

Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges

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Superficial but still useful.
Good for getting through lots of Homer quickly
An essential book for the swift reading of Homer.

Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges
Georg Autenrieth
Manufacturer: University of Oklahoma Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

Homeric Vocabularies: Greek and English Word List for the Study of Homer
Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect
Homeric Greek: A Book for Beginners
Selections from Homer's Iliad
The Iliad: Volume I, Books 1-12 (Loeb Classical Library No. 170)

ASIN: 0806112891

Customer Reviews:

Superficial but still useful........2002-04-08

Autenrieth's major problem is that the entries are incomplete and lack morphological information; gender, for example, is not given for nouns. Definitions are often superficial and incomplete, and odd forms are words are often not glossed or cross-referenced.

This is useful if you already know Homeric greek, and need only occasional promptings. If you're still a student (undergraduate or graduate), spend the extra cash and get Cunliffe. You really won't regret it.

This is okay for speed/incomplete reading, as the other reviewers suggest, but it is not in any way an authoritative text.

Good for getting through lots of Homer quickly.......2002-01-14

It's handy, easy to use and authoritative enough to be recommended by professors for the purpose of rapid reading. For in-depth study or a more authoritative translation, use Cunliffe.

An essential book for the swift reading of Homer........1999-05-13

Having been a student of Greek for five years, and having used other dictionaries, I find that this one is the best and easiest for Homer. It suits the needs of both the beginner and the more advanced. I must also praise the illuminating pictures. Well worth the money!

Homeric Grammar (BCP Advanced Language) (BCP Advanced Language)

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Homeric Grammar (BCP Advanced Language) (BCP Advanced Language)
D.B. Monro
Manufacturer: Duckworth Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Syntax of the Moods and Tenses of the Greek Verb
Greek Dialects (BCP Advanced Language)
Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect

ASIN: 1853995800

Book Description

In 1882, D.B. Munro wrote that "a new Grammar of the Homeric dialect is sorely wanted". Monro's 2nd edition (1891), long out of print, is presented here in full, providing a comprehensive account of Homeric Greek grammar.

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The best entry into Epic Greek language
A most welcome 2006 edition of a classic text!
An enlightening pleasure
volume 1 now available again (at long last!)
Useful if you already know some Greek

Reading Course in Homeric Greek
Raymond V. Schoder
Manufacturer: Loyola Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Linguistics | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

Homeric Greek: A Book for Beginners
Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect
Beginning Greek With Homer
Homeric Vocabularies: Greek and English Word List for the Study of Homer
Transition to Attic Greek

ASIN: 0829405208

Book Description

This text is a revised edition of the well respected text by Frs. Schroder Horrigan. A Reading Course in Homeric Greek, Book One, provides an introduction to Greek language as found in the Greek of Homer. Covering 120 lessons, readings from Homer begin after the first 10 lessons in the book. Honor work, appendices, and vocabularies are included. Volume II is due later in 2005.

Customer Reviews:

The best entry into Epic Greek language.......2007-01-08

If you want to read ancient texts in Greek, the best way, now pleasantly-surprisingly feasible with this book, is to start in Homer (however many individuals you believe actually composed the works under that name). I say this for two reasons:

1. Literarily, Homer's works function in almost all ancient Greek and Roman literature in the same way that the King James Bible and Shakespeare's works function in English literature.

2. Linguistically, it's always easier to go forward in time through linguistic changes than to go backward. English speakers today have to work at first to get the right feel for Shakespeare's English, and even the later ancient Greeks (after the time of Alexander the Great) depended on their scholars to explain "difficult" parts of Homer's language for them.

This textbook is good. It rewards you with frequent, and real, accomplishment at each step. However, if you're a complete beginner in Greek who has never "declined" nouns and adjectives in any other language, you'll get much better results by taking a class based on this book or else by meeting frequently with a qualified private tutor. If you are comfortable declining nouns, and you are able to teach yourself a language efficiently, you can profitably work through this book on your own.

A most welcome 2006 edition of a classic text!.......2006-09-17

This excellent 3rd edition, including some well-chosen revisions and supplements, retains all the advantages of Schoder and Horrigan's measured approach while improving typography and readability, expanding the (extra-Homer) readings, and speaking more clearly to the preparation-deprived student of our time (earlier editions pretty much took for granted conceptual understanding of grammar and syntax). The book's pace is excellent and so is its well-phased introduction of new concepts as the student progresses. Self-correcting exercises are also included for the first time. Selections from the Odyssey begin halfway through the book, after the student has acquired sufficient knowledge and cultural background to appreciate them.
Highly recommended. I hope that Collins Edwards, the reviser, is even now working on Book 2, last republished (2nd edition) in 1986.

An enlightening pleasure.......2006-08-05

"A Reading Course in Homeric Greek" is a wonderfully-written text, filled with warmth and wisdom. This is a key to the genetic code of Western Civilization!

volume 1 now available again (at long last!).......2005-02-02

update: The publisher has made the first eighty pages (which go up to the middle of Chapter 24) of this book available as a free sample to download, on their website "pullins dot com." So you can order the book now and start studying today with the free sample while you wait for your hard copy to arrive.

Useful if you already know some Greek.......2004-07-23

As others have mentioned, you need book 1 first. It took me about a year to track it down, but I did find eventually.

The strong point of this book is that there are a lot of exercises. Your vocabulary really gets a good work-out.

On the down-side, the book was written assuming that students would have a teacher, so important things like the difference between the aorist and the imperfect are handled in only one paragraph.

The other issue I have is that a lot of the exercises are drawn from the New Testament, which is Koine Greek, and translated into the Homeric dialect. This is a bit like a Latin course giving quotes from Dante translated into classical Latin--sure, it can be done, but it makes more sense to use the original language. (Other exercises are drawn from Plato, Aristotle, et al, also not Homeric, but not as distant as Koine)

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Homeric Greek
Clyde Pharr
Manufacturer: Univ of Oklahoma Pr (Txt)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Indispensible Tool for Reading Homer
Essential dictionary for reading or translating Homer

Homeric dictionary
Georg Autenrieth
Manufacturer: University of Oklahoma Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Classics | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Homeric Vocabularies: Greek and English Word List for the Study of Homer
Homer: The Iliad Books XIII - XXIV
Homer: Iliad I-XII
Homer: The Odyssey I-XII
Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect

ASIN: B0007HBNMK

Book Description

9,000 words in the Illiad and Odyssey, with grammatical forms and illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

Indispensible Tool for Reading Homer.......2003-08-19

Autenrieth's Homeric Dictionary is an indispensible tool for reading Homer in the original. Because it focuses only on Homeric vocabulary, it is easier to use than standard lexica that include thousands of other words and later, non-Homeric meanings for Homeric words. Illustrations and detailed explanations are supplied for words describing armor and weapons and the like, which is helpful and not offered by most other lexica. Autenrieth is also more convenient than the glossaries found in beginner's texts because it allows the reader to look up words in a separate volume rather than turning to the back of the same book.

The introduction to the text claims that students should be able to read Homer with this dictionary almost twice as fast as they would with a standard lexicon. This may sound somewhat overblown, but in my experience it is true. Anyone reading a considerable amount of Homer would do well to pick up this volume and save themselves some time.

The only unfortunate thing is that this isn't available in hardcover. Why publishers increasingly fail to recognize the value of offering hardbound editions of reference works that are likely to be used often, I just don't understand. Even still, the Homeric Dictionary is worth owning if you plan to spend any serious time with Homer in Greek.

Essential dictionary for reading or translating Homer.......2000-03-30

This dictionary was invaluable while I was translating The Iliad. It is amazingly comprehensive, full of wonderful illustrations that accompany the definitions and includes clear instructions on how to read Homeric verse.

A Grammar of the Homeric Dialect (Clarendon Press Series)

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A Grammar of the Homeric Dialect (Clarendon Press Series)
David B. Monro , and D. B. Monro
Manufacturer: Georg Olms Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 3487053071

Homeric vocabularies;: Greek and English word-lists for the study of Homer,

Average customer rating:

List of words by frequency can be helpful
Indispensible Study Aid
Good for Beginners, But Could Be Better
Simple but effective
A must-do for reading Homer

Homeric vocabularies;: Greek and English word-lists for the study of Homer,
William Bishop Owen
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

English (All) | Dictionaries & Thesauruses | Reference | Subjects | Books

Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect
Homeric Greek: A Book for Beginners
The Iliad: Volume I, Books 1-12 (Loeb Classical Library No. 170)
A Reading Course in Homeric Greek, Book One
Selections from Homer's Iliad

ASIN: B00088HHZ0

Customer Reviews:

List of words by frequency can be helpful.......2006-03-12

If you wish to read any language, vocabulary is necessary. The listing of words by frequency and parts of speech helps one to focus study time where it will bear the most fruit.

Indispensible Study Aid.......2005-07-04

I will disagree with the reviewers that fault Owen & Goodspeed for the lack of principle parts and alternate definitions; for me, the strength of this little volume was the ability to carry it tucked in a pocket and quickly drill vocabulary when I had a few minutes. Anyone reading Homer should have a good lexicon and use that for examining meanings and forms; if you memorize the contents of Owen & Goodspeed, you'll be able to quickly identify words and, if necessary, look them up for other meanings or unusual forms.

Good for Beginners, But Could Be Better.......2003-03-12

The greatest obstacle to reading Homer in Greek is the sheer density of the vocabulary. That is to say, Homer's vocabulary is
enormous. As an attempt to help the student of Homeric Greek acquire a good grasp on Homer's vocabulary, this little book is useful yet not as useful as it could have been.

The book contains word lists covering words that occur up to ten times in the Iliad and Odyssey. Unfortunately, there are serious faults with the word lists. As one reviewer has already mentioned, the verbs give only the present indicative active; with a verb such as audao (to speak, say, utter (something)(to someone)), this is no problem, since the verb only appears in a few tenses in which context and form always guarantee one's recognition of it. However, there are countless verbs which undergo such dramatic changes in form from one tense to the next
that knowing the present indicative active alone is well-nigh useless. Thus, principal parts should have been provided for such words.

Also, there are many words whose meaning changes from one context to the next. The definitions provided for such words in the word lists are almost useless, since they only equip the reader with an understanding of them in certain contexts.

One last criticism: There are a number of words which really do not need to be included in these word lists. Words like kai, de, and alla are so common and so basic that only the most intellectually challenged of Greek students would need to practice them.

So the book is useful for the absolute beginner in Homeric Greek, but its defects become more and more obvious the more
one progresses in one's learning. It's a shame that no one has come up with a better alternative to these word lists. Personally, I would love to see a full vocabulary guide to Homeric Greek such as one can find for the vocabulary of the Greek New Testament, in which principal parts and variant meanings are included, and in which all of Homer's vocabulary is covered down to those pesky hapax legomena (words used only once).

Simple but effective.......2002-03-12

This wordlist is of inestimable value to all those few yet thrice-blessed who still learn to read Homer in Greek. By the time you finish it, you will have at least a nodding acquaintance with every word that appears ten times or more in the Iliad and Odyssey. That may indeed leave a trireme of unknown words, but trust me, knowing the most frequent ones makes it much easier to get the gist of a passage before running to the lexicon. If you are learning Homer from Pharr--as nearly everyone does--this is a good reference to consult to see which words in his chapter vocabularies are worth committing to your active memory. (I wish that Pharr had marked the words of infrequent occurrence. Wright should have done this in his "revision" but he didn't really revise Pharr much at all.)

There is only one shortcoming, though I do consider it a serious one: the list of verbs does not include principal parts, and the noun list does not give genders or stems. You could easily write in the article and genitive forms for the nouns, but good luck trying to fit the five remaining principal parts of a verb on the same line as its entry. So no matter how you solve this problem, you will still need to look up nearly every word. That's an onerous task to inflict on a beginner. With a class of students, though, I suppose the teacher could divide up the drudge-work.

A must-do for reading Homer.......2001-06-14

If you build your vocabulary, the lexicons/dictionaries will become your friends instead of your taskmasters as you read Homer. Use this handy, helpful little gem (making your own flashcards) while you go through Pharr's primer.

A Homeric dictionary for schools and colleges: Based upon the German of Dr. Georg Autenrieth

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A Homeric dictionary for schools and colleges: Based upon the German of Dr. Georg Autenrieth
Georg Autenrieth
Manufacturer: Harper & Brothers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

A Homeric dictionary for use in schools and colleges,: From the German of Dr. Georg Autenrieth

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A Homeric dictionary for use in schools and colleges,: From the German of Dr. Georg Autenrieth
Georg Autenrieth
Manufacturer: Harper & Bros
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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