Getting started on ancient Greek

GCG_1 Getting started on ancient Greek

Getting started on ancient Greek

Page 2 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

About this free course

This version of the content may include video, images and interactive content
that may not be optimised for your device.

You can experience this free course as it was originally designed on

OpenLearn, the home of free learning from The Open University –
https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-
ancient-greek/content-section-overview

There you’ll also be able to track your progress via your activity record, which
you can use to demonstrate your learning.

Copyright © 2021 The Open University

Intellectual property

Unless otherwise stated, this resource is released under the terms of the
Creative Commons Licence v4.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.en_GB. Within
that The Open University interprets this licence in the following way:
www.open.edu/openlearn/about-openlearn/frequently-asked-
questions-on-openlearn. Copyright and rights falling outside the terms of
the Creative Commons Licence are retained or controlled by The Open
University. Please read the full text before using any of the content.

We believe the primary barrier to accessing high-quality educational

experiences is cost, which is why we aim to publish as much free content as
possible under an open licence. If it proves difficult to release content under

Page 3 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

our preferred Creative Commons licence (e.g. because we can’t afford or gain
the clearances or find suitable alternatives), we will still release the materials
for free under a personal end-user licence.

This is because the learning experience will always be the same high quality
offering and that should always be seen as positive – even if at times the
licensing is different to Creative Commons.

When using the content you must attribute us (The Open University) (the OU)
and any identified author in accordance with the terms of the Creative
Commons Licence.

The Acknowledgements section is used to list, amongst other things, third

party (Proprietary), licensed content which is not subject to Creative
Commons licensing. Proprietary content must be used (retained) intact and in
context to the content at all times.

The Acknowledgements section is also used to bring to your attention any

other Special Restrictions which may apply to the content. For example there
may be times when the Creative Commons Non-Commercial Sharealike
licence does not apply to any of the content even if owned by us (The Open
University). In these instances, unless stated otherwise, the content may be
used for personal and non-commercial use.

We have also identified as Proprietary other material included in the content

which is not subject to Creative Commons Licence. These are OU logos,
trading names and may extend to certain photographic and video images and
sound recordings and any other material as may be brought to your attention.

Page 4 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Unauthorised use of any of the content may constitute a breach of the terms
and conditions and/or intellectual property laws.

We reserve the right to alter, amend or bring to an end any terms and
conditions provided here without notice.

All rights falling outside the terms of the Creative Commons licence are
retained or controlled by The Open University.

Head of Intellectual Property, The Open University

Page 5 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Contents
 Introduction
 Introduction
 Historical overview
 Session 1: The alphabet
 Introduction
 1 First steps
 2 More letters
 3 Unfamiliar letters
 4 ‘False friends’
 5 Places and people
 6 Transliteration
 7 Learning the letters
 8 Alphabetical order
 9 Practise your learning
 10 A Greek inscription
 11 Summary
 Session 2: Sounds
 Introduction
 1 The sounds of Greek
 2 Breathings
 3 Refinements

Page 6 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

 4 Accents
 5 Stress
 6 Diphthongs
 7 Practice
 8 Reconstructing pronunciation
 9 Listening to Homer
 10 Summary
 Session 3: Writing
 Introduction
 1 Forming the letters
 2 First words
 3 Practice
 4 Upper and lower case
 5 Listening
 6 Ancient writing
 6.1 Capital letters
 6.2 Lower case
 6.3 Word division
 7 Summary
 Session 4: Words
 Introduction
 1 Greek and English
 2 Suffixes
 3 Prefixes

Page 7 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

 4 Eponyms
 5 Vocabulary
 6 The definite article
 7 Counting
 8 Plato's Timaeus
 9 Summary
 Session 5: Word endings
 Introduction
 1 English noun endings
 2 A Greek example
 3 The genitive case
 4 Case endings
 5 Patronymics
 6 The genealogy of Leonidas
 7 The direction of Greek writing
 7.1 A Greek vase
 7.2 The Gortyn code
 8 Summary
 Session 6: Subjects and objects
 Introduction
 1 Subjects and objects
 2 Sentence patterns
 3 Noun endings in English
 4 Nominative and accusative

Page 8 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

 5 Declensions
 6 Using case endings
 7 Forms of the article
 8 Alexander's dedication
 9 Local scripts
 9.1 Athens
 9.2 Crete
 10 Summary
 Session 7: Subjects and complements
 Introduction
 1 Subject and object: recap
 2 Subject and complement
 3 εἰμί, I am
 4 Boundary stones
 5 καλός inscriptions
 6 Beatitudes
 7 The standardisation of the alphabet
 8 Summary
 Session 8: Reading Greek
 Introduction
 1 Alexander’s dedication
 2 Reading skills
 2.1 The alphabet
 2.2 Sounds

Page 9 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

 2.3 Word shape

 2.4 Syntax
 2.5 Meaning
 2.6 Context
 2.7 Putting it all together
 3 Closing thoughts
 References
 Acknowledgements
 Solutions
 Descriptions

Page 10 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Introduction

Page 11 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Introduction
Welcome to Getting started on ancient Greek. This free
course offers a taster of the ancient Greek world through the study
of one of its most distinctive and enduring features: its language.

This introduction will give you a brief historical overview to the

Greek language. You will then start your study of the language by
learning the alphabet. Sessions 1 to 3 introduce you to the letters,
tackling them through a combination of reading, speaking, listening
and writing.

Session 4 reinforces the first three sections by turning the focus

onto whole words. It also asks you to reflect upon the influence
that some of these words have exerted upon the English language.

Sessions 5 to 7 dip a toe into the waters of Greek grammar,

especially the use of word endings, a device that plays a more
central role in Greek than English.

Session 8 looks back upon the course, ties up some loose ends,
and looks ahead, asking what it is like to study Greek in greater
depth.

Along the way you will meet examples of Greek from the ancient
world, including: a snippet from a Platonic dialogue, the genealogy

Page 12 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

of a Spartan king, a dedication by Alexander the Great from a

temple in Turkey, Greek writing on pottery and coins, a law code
from Crete and two boundary stones from Athens. Accompanying
images will introduce you to Greek as it was actually written in the
ancient world, which can differ in interesting respects from the
standardised Greek familiar today.

We hope you enjoy the course.

After studying this course, you should be able to:

 read the letters of the ancient Greek alphabet

 recall a small set of ancient Greek words and their
meanings in English
 read and understand simple sentences in ancient
Greek
 understand some of the historical and geographical
context of ancient Greek
 feel more confident about embarking on independent
study of ancient Greek.

Page 13 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Historical overview
The Greek language predates the Greek alphabet by many
centuries, although without written evidence it is difficult to
determine its age exactly. One point that can be made with
certainty is that Greek has the longest attested history of any
European language still in use today. Modern Greek differs in
some respects from its ancient counterpart but it is recognisably
the same language.

Activity 1 Three maps

Allow about 5 minutes

Study the three maps outlining the spread of Greek in successive

historical phases in the ancient world. Can you identify Greek-
speaking areas outside modern Greece?

Map 1: 700–350 BCE

Page 14 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

View description - Map 1: 700–350 BCE

Map 2: 350–1 BCE

View description - Map 2: 350–1 BCE

Map 3: 1 CE–end of the classical era

View description - Map 3: 1 CE–end of the classical era

View discussion - Activity 1 Three maps

You can now get started with learning the language in Session 1.

Page 15 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Session 1: The alphabet

Page 16 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Introduction
The Greek alphabet is the ancestor of the Roman alphabet, which
is used today to write English and most European languages. Your
first task is to learn the 24 Greek letters, upper and lower case,
along with a small number of extra markings needed to read and
write ancient Greek.

Activity 1 The Greek alphabet

Allow about 10 minutes

Spend a couple of minutes looking at the table of letters, which

contains both capitals and lower case. You will find it helpful to
have the alphabet constantly available, whether that’s by keeping it
open it in a separate window, or using the printable version
underneath.

Pay particular attention to any letters that look unfamiliar. You

might like to highlight these on your own version.

Table 1 The Greek alphabet, capitals and lower case

Αα alpha Ιι iota Ρρ rho

Ββ beta Κκ kappa Σσς sigma
Γγ gamma Λλ lambda Ττ tau
Δδ delta Μμ mu Υυ upsilon

Page 17 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Εε epsilon Νν nu Φφ phi
Ζζ zeta Ξξ xi Χχ chi
Ηη eta Οο omicron Ψψ psi
Θθ theta Ππ pi Ωω omega

Sigma is written ς at the end of a word, but otherwise σ. For

example, σοφος (sophos = wise).

Iota following eta, omega, and, sometimes, alpha, is usually written

in miniature underneath (ῃ, ῳ, ᾳ). This form of iota is known as
‘iota subscript’. It is not usually pronounced.

If you would like a version of the alphabet for reference, either to

print or to keep open in a separate window, follow this link:
Alphabet Guide.

Page 18 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

1 First steps
Most Greek letters have an English counterpart. A few look and
sound very much like their English equivalent. To take one
example: the Greek letter ‘beta’ – written as lower case β or capital
Β – looks and sounds similar to the English letter ‘b’.

Occasionally a Greek word will look identical to an English one. An

example is the king and father of the Olympian gods:

Ζευς (= Zeus)

Activity 2 Broken pottery

Allow about 5 minutes

This is an ostrakon (Greek οστρακον), a broken piece of pottery,

containing the name of an Athenian politician. His name is on the
first line. What is it? (Hint: the letters are all capitals).

Figure 1 An ostrakon

View description - Figure 1 An ostrakon

Page 19 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

View discussion - Activity 2 Broken pottery

2 More letters
Some letters look unfamiliar but have an English counterpart. For
instance, you can think of ‘delta’ (δ, upper case Δ) as an English
‘d’, or ‘pi’ (π, upper case Π) as an English ‘p’.

Look at the name of the Greek god ‘Poseidon’, which contains a

combination of letters that might look both familiar and strange:

Ποσειδων (= Poseidon)

Although Ποσειδων is trickier to decipher than Ζευς, there is still a

one-to-one correspondence between eight Greek letters and eight
English ones.

Activity 3 Ostrakon continued

Allow about 5 minutes

The second line of the ostrakon seen in Activity 2 contains the

name of the politician’s father. Can you identify all the letters and
try to pronounce the name? (Note that you can ignore the faint final
mark on the right-hand side which looks like a ‘u’ or a ‘c’ on its
side: this is just an additional scratch rather than a letter.)

Page 20 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Figure 1 (repeated) An ostrakon

View description - Figure 1 (repeated) An ostrakon

View discussion - Activity 3 Ostrakon continued

3 Unfamiliar letters
The Greek alphabet contains a few letters with no opposite number
in English. An example would be the letter ‘psi’ (ψ, Ψ) which in
English has to be represented by a combination of two letters, ‘p’
and ‘s’.

Activity 4 Letters with no English equivalent

Allow about 5 minutes

Using the table of letters seen earlier (here's the link to the
downloadable version again: Alphabet Guide), identify any Greek
letters with no English equivalent.

View discussion - Activity 4 Letters with no English

equivalent

Page 21 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

4 ‘False friends’
A few Greek letters resembling English ones can be misleading at
first. The letter ‘rho’ (ρ, Ρ), for instance, looks like an English ‘p’,
whereas the ‘p’ sound in Greek is represented by the letter ‘pi’ (π,
Π).

Activity 5 False friends

Allow about 5 minutes

Look at the Greek letters and note any which might be mistaken for
English ones. Consider both lower case and capitals.

View discussion - Activity 5 False friends

5 Places and people

In this section, you get to test your knowledge of Greek letters by
trying to match the ancient Greek names of various places and
people with their English equivalents.

Activity 6 Pairing names

Allow about 15 minutes

Here are some Greek place names with their English equivalents.
Try to match them up, using the Greek alphabet to guide you.

Page 22 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Hint: the letters won’t always correspond exactly, but they are
close. Any divergence will usually occur towards the end of the
word. (Consider, for example, the English name for the city of
‘Munich’ with the German ‘München’.)

Αθηναι

Δηλος

Θηβαι

Κορινθος

Σικελια

Χιος

Athens

Delos

Thebes

Corinth

Sicily

Chios

Page 23 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

View answer - Part

View discussion - Part

Now try to match the names of these peoples with their English
equivalents. Some are easier than others, which means you might
need to use a process of elimination.

Αιγυπτιοι

Βαβυλωνιοι

Λακεδαιμόνιοι

Περσαι

Ρωμαιοι

Φοίνικες

Egyptians

Babylonians

Lacedaimonians

Persians

Romans

Page 24 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Phoenicians

View answer - Part

View discussion - Part

6 Transliteration
There is a standard system for representing, or ‘transliterating’,
Greek letters in English. A transliteration can be a useful tool in the
initial stages of learning Greek, because it can confirm that you
have understood each individual letter correctly.

For example:

 Ποσειδων Poseidо̄ n
 λεγω legо̄ (= ‘I say’)
 σοφος sophos (= ‘wise’)

The following letters are represented in English by two letters:

 θ (theta) th
 φ (phi) ph
 χ (chi) ch
 ψ (psi) ps

Page 25 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

The long vowels are represented by their English equivalents, ‘e’

and ‘o’ with a horizontal line above, called a macron.

 η (eta) ē
 ω (omega) о̄

Gamma is transliterated as ‘n’, when it precedes gamma, kappa, xi

or chi. This reflects the way in which these combinations of letters
were pronounced by the ancient Greeks:

 αγγελος angelos (= ‘messenger’)

 αγκυρα ankura (= ‘anchor’)

Upsilon can be represented as ‘u’ or ‘y’.

The transliteration of Greek names often follows a Latinised form,

especially if a name is well known. Thus ‘Aeschylus’ is the usual
spelling of the name of the Greek playwright, rather than the
technically correct ‘Aischulos’ (Αἰσχύλος).

Activity 7 Letter counting

Allow about 5 minutes

How many Greek letters are needed to write the following words?

1. theatron (= ‘theatre’)
2. philosophos (= ‘philosopher’)

Page 26 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

3. chaos (= ‘chaos’)
4. psuchē (= ‘soul’, ‘mind’)
5. о̄ phthē (= ‘he/she was seen’)

View discussion - Activity 7 Letter counting

7 Learning the letters

There are many ways to learn the letters of the Greek alphabet.
You should spend a little time considering what might work best for
you. Here are a few tips:

1. Aim for a mixture of reading, speaking and writing. You

might prefer one of these but it is important to try all
three. Speaking and writing will be introduced in
Sessions 2 and 3 of the course.
2. A few regular short practice sessions of around 20-25
minutes are likely to be more productive than the
occasional long session.
3. Be patient and allow yourself time.
4. Keep track of any letters that cause particular difficulty.
Mistakes provide valuable feedback which you can
incorporate into your next session.
Activity 8 OU practice site
Allow about 20 minutes

Page 27 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Go to the following Open University website and look at the two

sections entitled ‘Review’ and ‘Letters’. The second of these
provides an interactive tool for checking and reinforcing your study
of the alphabet. Aim for a session of about 20 minutes, but do
increase or decrease the timing depending on your progress.

Introducing Ancient Greek (Make sure to open this link in a new

tab/window so you can return easily)

8 Alphabetical order
As well as learning to recognise the letters, it is useful to be able to
recite the alphabet, from alpha to omega. Not only will this help to
reinforce your knowledge of the letter names, it will also assist later
when looking up words in a dictionary.

Activity 9 Comparing alphabets

Allow about 5 minutes

Look again at the Greek letters, and the order of the alphabet. Are
there any that seem to be in an unexpected position when
compared with English?

View discussion - Activity 9 Comparing alphabets

Page 28 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Think about the best way for you to learn the order of the alphabet.
You might choose to learn it in chunks, for example in four groups
of six letters. Or perhaps you would find it easier to learn
everything at once. Whichever approach you take, it will likely be a
few days or weeks before you really master it. Keep in mind that
spreading this study across a few short learning sessions will likely
be more productive than one long one.

If you like, you can test your progress with this by using the
‘Sequence’ option on the Introducing Ancient Greek OU
website from Activity 8.

9 Practise your learning

When you feel reasonably confident about the order of the letters,
try the following activities.

Activity 10 Session practice

Allow about 10 minutes

1. Which word from each of the following three pairs should appear
first in the dictionary?

δουλος (slave)

γη (earth, land)

Page 29 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

View answer - Part

θεος (god)

τιμη (honour)

View answer - Part

ξενος (stranger, foreigner)

νικη (victory)

View answer - Part

2. Place the names of these people in alphabetical order:

First in order

Second

Third

Fourth

Fifth

Last in order

Ζευς

Page 30 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Θεμιστοκληϛ

Ξερξηϛ

Πλατων

Ραμψινιτος

Σωκρατηϛ

View answer - Part

View discussion - Part

10 A Greek inscription
Now that you’re more familiar with the alphabet, you can have a go
at identifying Greek letters on an ancient inscription.

Activity 11 Inscribed block

Allow about 10 minutes

This inscribed marble block is from the city of Priene on the

western coast of Turkey. The letters are all capitals, with the first
word being:

ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ (basileus = king)

Page 31 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Look for this word at the start of the first line. Try to identify each of
the 8 letters.

Are the letter forms similar to the ones you have learned? Are
there any surprises?

Figure 2 First lines of the Priene block inscription

View description - Figure 2 First lines of the Priene block

inscription

View discussion - Part

The remainder of the first line contains the king’s name. Can you
identify him?

View discussion - Part

11 Summary
Page 32 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

This session has introduced you to the Greek alphabet and

presented two examples of Greek writing from the ancient world,
an ostrakon and an inscription.

You have also begun to develop two important skills:

1. recognising the Greek letters, lower case and capitals

2. reciting the Greek alphabet, from alpha to omega.

You certainly aren’t expected to have mastered everything yet, but

hopefully this session has seen you off to a good start. You will
continue to reinforce and develop your understanding as you
progress through the course.

If you would like more practice, you could revisit the Introducing
Ancient Greek website from Activity 8 – especially the sections
entitled ‘Letters’ and ‘Sequence’. A second go at the ‘Letters’
section might be particularly valuable before embarking on the
study of pronunciation in Session 2.

You can now move on to Session 2.

Page 33 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Session 2: Sounds

Page 34 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Introduction
In this session, you will discover more about how ancient Greek
was spoken and what it might have sounded like. You will receive
plenty of opportunities to develop and practise your own
pronunciation. You will also learn about how the sounds of an
ancient language can be reconstructed without access to native
speakers.

Speaking and listening offer another way to absorb Greek, in

addition to reading (introduced in Session 1) and writing (Session
3). For this reason, it is highly recommended that you take every
opportunity to read aloud.

An additional reason to pay attention to the sounds of Greek is that

most literature in the ancient world was meant to be heard –
sometimes through song or performance – and not just read in
silence. When learning Greek, it is important to keep in mind that
the language was encountered through the ears as well as the
eyes.

Page 35 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Figure 1 Douris cup

View description - Figure 1 Douris cup

This fifth-century scene depicts the musical and literary education

of a young boy. The stringed instrument, of which there are four
examples, is a ‘barbitos’ (βαρβιτος), a relative of the lyre. The
teacher holds open a papyrus roll, containing what appears to be
the beginning of a poem. The poem begins with an address to the
muse (Μοισα), as do the Iliad and Odyssey.

1 The sounds of Greek

As a living language, Greek would have varied in pronunciation
across different locations and time periods, and, no doubt, within
the same city. For the purposes of study, the key point is to be
pragmatic, and to focus on speaking clearly and with confidence.

Page 36 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

If you know how to speak Greek already, you are welcome to

continue with your current pronunciation. It would still be important,
however, for you to understand the pronunciation outlined here, as
it is a reasonable reconstruction of how Greek was spoken in
Classical Athens, i.e. during the fifth and fourth centuries BCE,
based on the best available evidence.

Activity 1 Speaking aloud (1) – historical figures

Allow about 5 minutes

Try to say the names of these historical figures. Then listen to the
audio, and repeat the word out loud.

Αλεξανδρος

Audio content is not available in this format.

Θεμιστοκλης

Audio content is not available in this format.

Ξερξης

Audio content is not available in this format.

Κλεοπατρα

Audio content is not available in this format.

Page 37 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Περικλης

Audio content is not available in this format.

Σωκρατης

Audio content is not available in this format.

View discussion - Activity 1 Speaking aloud (1) – historical

figures

2 Breathings
Every Greek word beginning with a vowel (α, ε, η, ι, ο, υ, ω) or ‘rho’
(ρ) has a little mark above it, resembling an inverted comma. This
mark is called a ‘breathing’.

A rough breathing indicates a word that should be spoken with an

‘h’ sound (i.e. with a ‘breath’). The Greeks called a rough breathing
‘shaggy’ or ‘hairy’:

ἱππος (hippos = ‘horse’)

Audio content is not available in this format.

ὁπλα (hopla = arms, weapons)

Audio content is not available in this format.

Page 38 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

A smooth breathing indicates an absence of an ‘h’ sound. It can

be ignored for the purpose of pronunciation, but it should be used
when writing. In Greek a smooth breathing was described as ‘bare’
or ‘hairless’:

ἀκουω (akouō = ‘I hear’)

Audio content is not available in this format.

ἐχω (echō = ‘I have’)

Audio content is not available in this format.

Greek words beginning with ‘rho’ or ‘upsilon’ always take a rough

breathing. English words beginning ‘rh-’ (‘rhythm’, ‘rhododendron’)
and ‘hy-’ (‘hypochondria’, ‘hydroelectric’) tend to derive from Greek
words starting with ῥ or ὑ. The breathings on the other vowels can
be either smooth or rough:

ῥοδον (rhodon = ‘rose’)

Audio content is not available in this format.

ὑπερ (huper or hyper, ‘over’, ‘beyond’)

Audio content is not available in this format.

Breathings are written to the left of capital letters:

Page 39 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Ἀριστοφανης (Aristophanēs, the Greek comic poet)

Audio content is not available in this format.

Ὁμηρος (Homēros = the poet Homer)

Audio content is not available in this format.

Activity 2 Speaking aloud (2) – breathings

Allow about 5 minutes

Say the following words aloud, paying close attention to any

breathings. Listen to the answer and repeat.

ἀγαθος (‘good’)

Audio content is not available in this format.

Ἀθηναιος (‘Athenian’)

Audio content is not available in this format.

ἐπιστολη (‘letter’)

Audio content is not available in this format.

Ἑκατη (goddess of the underworld)

Audio content is not available in this format.

Page 40 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

ἡμερα (‘day’)

Audio content is not available in this format.

ὁδος (‘road’, ‘way’)

Audio content is not available in this format.

ὀρος (‘mountain’)

Audio content is not available in this format.

ῥις (‘nose’)

Audio content is not available in this format.

ὑπνος (‘sleep’)

Audio content is not available in this format.

ὡρα (‘hour’)

Audio content is not available in this format.

View discussion - Activity 2 Speaking aloud (2) –

breathings

From this point in the course, Greek words will be displayed with
breathings.

Page 41 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

3 Refinements
Four sounds can prove troublesome for English speakers:

1. theta (θ / Θ) in classical Greek was probably sounded like the ‘t’

in ‘top’ as opposed to the ‘t’ in ‘stop’. But this is a subtle distinction
for native English speakers, and you will often hear it pronounced
as ‘th’, as in ‘theatre’.

θεος (god)

strict:

Audio content is not available in this format.

simplified:

Audio content is not available in this format.

2. phi (φ / Φ) was probably similar to the ‘p’ in ‘pot’ as opposed to

the ‘p’ in ‘spot’. You will commonly hear it pronounced in a
simplified form, like an English ‘f’:

φιλοσοφια (philosophy)

strict:

Audio content is not available in this format.

Page 42 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

simplified:

Audio content is not available in this format.

In fact θ and φ were pronounced like English ‘th’ and ‘f’ at some
point after the fifth century BCE – as they are in modern Greek –
although when this change occurred is debated.

3. chi (χ / Χ) was pronounced as ‘k’ followed by ‘h’. If possible, you

should pronounce this like ‘ch’ in loch, to distinguish it from a
kappa, but you will hear it as a ‘k’ sound as well:

χρονοϛ (time)

strict:

Audio content is not available in this format.

simplified:

Audio content is not available in this format.

4. zeta (ζ / Ζ) is properly pronounced like the ‘s’ + ‘d’ sounds in the

phrase ‘it is done’. However, many English speakers simply
pronounce it like the ‘z’ in ‘zoo’.

Ζευς (Zeus)

Page 43 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

strict:

Audio content is not available in this format.

simplified:

Audio content is not available in this format.

Activity 3 Speaking aloud (3) – mythological

figures
Allow about 5 minutes

Say the names of these figures from Greek mythology, listen to the
pronunciation, and repeat.

Ἀθηνη

Audio content is not available in this format.

Ἀνδρομαχη

Audio content is not available in this format.

Ἀφροδιτη

Audio content is not available in this format.

Ζευς

Audio content is not available in this format.

Page 44 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Θυεστης

Audio content is not available in this format.

Χαος

Audio content is not available in this format.

4 Accents
Greek words are usually printed with one of three accents: acute
( ´ ), grave ( ` ) or circumflex ( ῀ ). You will meet them in dictionaries
and printed texts, so it is important to be able to recognise them.
But they can be ignored in the early stages of learning Greek,
except on rare occasions where they affect the meaning of a word.
From this point in the course, Greek words will be displayed with
accents.

The following statement contains a grave, an acute, and a

circumflex, in that order:

χεὶρ νίπτει χεῖρα

cheir niptei cheira = a hand washes a hand (or, ‘one hand

washes the other’)

The system of accents was devised in antiquity, probably around

200 BCE at the great library of Alexandria in Egypt. Its purpose

Page 45 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

was to help readers pronounce Greek syllables with the correct

melodic ‘pitch’, that is with a rising tone (acute), a falling tone
(grave) or a rising followed by a falling tone (circumflex), similar
to that found in modern tonal languages like Chinese. Since
syllables in English are not expressed with pitch, but with stress,
i.e. a greater or lesser degree of emphasis, accents are difficult for
native English speakers to use as intended. They are typically
reserved for more advanced students of Greek, who may find them
of great interest.

Study note:
Learners are rarely asked to use accents in the early stages of
studying ancient Greek. For the present, concentrate on mastering
the alphabet and breathings. And try not to confuse breathings with
accents.

5 Stress
Every English word has at least one syllable where the stress falls.
Occasionally the same word can vary its stress depending on its
meaning:

They signed a contract.

She did not wish to contract measles.

Page 46 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

The farm grew wonderful produce.

This contraption will produce a loud bang.

In practice, it is difficult for English speakers not to emphasise at

least one of the syllables in a Greek word, but there is little
agreement about how to do this. Some speakers place the stress
where it seems most natural to them, others place it on the syllable
containing the accent. You should be prepared to encounter both
methods.

6 Diphthongs
Greek vowels can be combined to form a new sound. The same
phenomenon can be observed in English words like ‘pair’ or
‘shout’, where two vowels work together to create a sound distinct
from that of the individual vowels.

This combination is called a diphthong, ‘double sound’, from the

Greek prefix di- (δίς, dis = twice) and (φθογγή, phthongē =
sound; recall that double gamma makes an ng sound). The Greek
diphthongs are shown below, and spoken out loud, along with an
example of a word using each diphthong.

αι καί, kai = and

Audio content is not available in this format.

Page 47 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

αu αὐτός, autos = self

Audio content is not available in this format.

ει λείπω, leipо̄ = I leave

Audio content is not available in this format.

ευ εὑρίσκω, heuriskо̄ = I find

Audio content is not available in this format.

οι οἴμοι, oimoi = alas!

Audio content is not available in this format.

ου ἀκούω, akouо̄ = I hear

Audio content is not available in this format.

Other combinations of vowels should be pronounced separately.

For example, the iota and epsilon in:

ἱερόν hieron = temple

Audio content is not available in this format.

Page 48 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Breathings appear above the second letter of a diphthong: this

explains why the breathing sits above the second letter of αὐτός
and εὑρίσκω, but the first letter of ἱερόν.

Activity 4 Speaking aloud (4)

Allow about 5 minutes

Say the following words, then listen to the pronunciation.

Ἀθηναῖος (= Athenian)

Audio content is not available in this format.

δεῖπνον (= meal)

Audio content is not available in this format.

oὐ (= not)

Audio content is not available in this format.

φεύγω (= I run away)

Audio content is not available in this format.

πλοῖον (= vessel)

Audio content is not available in this format.

Page 49 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Ἰούλιος Καῖσαρ (= Julius Caesar)

Audio content is not available in this format.

View discussion - Part

Now, identify the number of syllables in the following words, then

pronounce them out loud. You will be able to listen to audios in the
discussion afterwards.

1. βίος

one

two

three

View answer - Part

2. οἰκία

one

two

three

View answer - Part

Page 50 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

3. ποιέω

one

two

three

View answer - Part

4. Οἰδίπους

one

two

three

View answer - Part

5. ποιεῖ

one

two

three

View answer - Part

Page 51 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

View discussion - Part

7 Practice
In this section, you get to practise saying some Greek words aloud
yourself.

Activity 5 Speaking aloud (5)

Allow about 5 minutes

Say the names of these places. Then listen to the pronunciation

and repeat. Can you recall their English equivalents from Session
1?

Ἀθῆναι

Audio content is not available in this format.

Δῆλος

Audio content is not available in this format.

Θῆβαι

Audio content is not available in this format.

Κόρινθος

Audio content is not available in this format.

Page 52 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Σικελία

Audio content is not available in this format.

Χίος

Audio content is not available in this format.

View discussion - Part

Now, say the names of these peoples. Then listen to the audio and
repeat. Can you recall the English equivalents, also mentioned in
Session 1?

Αἰγύπτιοι

Audio content is not available in this format.

Βαβυλώνιοι

Audio content is not available in this format.

Λακεδαιμόνιοι

Audio content is not available in this format.

Πέρσαι

Audio content is not available in this format.

Page 53 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Ῥωμαῖοι

Audio content is not available in this format.

Φοίνικες

Audio content is not available in this format.

View discussion - Part

If you have read any of the Iliad or Odyssey, you might remember
Homer’s use of ‘epithets’, recurring adjectives or phrases that
accompany the names of major characters. Try reading the
following examples:

 γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη (‘bright-eyed Athena’)

 κορυθαίολος Ἕκτωρ (‘Hector of the flashing helmet’)
 λευκώλενος Ἥρη (‘white-armed Hera’)
 ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠώς (‘rosy-fingered Dawn’)
 πόδας ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεύς (‘swift-footed Achilles’)

View discussion - Part

8 Reconstructing pronunciation
Is it possible to reconstruct the pronunciation of a language without
access to native speakers?

Page 54 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Although complete certainty is impossible, we can reconstruct the

pronunciation of ancient Greek with some confidence using ancient
evidence combined with principles drawn from modern linguistics.

Here are some of the main types of evidence:

 The testimony of Greek writers – one Greek

grammarian stated explicitly that ‘zeta’ was
pronounced as a combination of ‘s’ followed by ‘d’.
Another speaks of the tongue ‘beating the air’ in the
pronunciation of ‘rho’, implying that it was ‘trilled’ as in
Italian, unlike the ‘r’ sound of southern England.
 The representation of Greek words in other languages
– especially Latin, where, for instance, the letter φ is
rendered not as ‘f’ but ‘p’ or ‘ph’.
 Changes in spellings – these can provide valuable
evidence for the way pronunciation changed over time
and the way in which ancient pronunciation relates to
modern. Common spelling mistakes on stone or
papyrus can also provide useful clues in the hands of
an expert.
 Wordplay, including puns, onomatopoeia (words that
match the sounds they describe) and even baby-talk,
like μάμμη (mammē) and πάππα (pappa), which are
similar across many languages.

Page 55 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

The ostraka in Figure 2 contain the name of the Athenian

statesman Themistocles, son of Neocles. We know from many
ostraka that his name was regularly spelled Themisthocles, with
a second theta instead of the letter tau. The eventual change of
spelling from theta to tau is easier to understand if the
pronunciation of theta and tau was closer in the fifth century than
they are today.

Figure 2 Themistocles ostraka

View description - Figure 2 Themistocles ostraka

Sometimes clues to unlocking the pronunciation of Greek in the

classical era come from unusual sources, such as attempts by
ancient authors to represent in writing the sounds that various
animals make. In the following exercise you will encounter some of
these ‘onomatopoeic’ words (a term derived from the Greek words
ὄνομα, name, and ποιέω, I make).

Activity 6 Animal sounds

Page 56 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Allow about 5 minutes

Try to match the sound with the animal.

Page 57 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Page 58 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

κόκκυ

βῆ βῆ

αὖ αὖ

κικκαβαῦ

βρεκεκεκὲξ κοὰξ κοάξ

View answer - Activity 6 Animal sounds

View discussion - Activity 6 Animal sounds

9 Listening to Homer
Knowing the sounds of ancient Greek, in addition to helping you
pronounce Greek words accurately, also helps you to appreciate

Page 59 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

the rhythms of Greek poetry. Greek verse, unlike English-language

poetry, does not rely on stress patterns and rarely contains rhyme.

You will now listen to some examples.

Activity 7 Homeric rhythm

Allow about 5 minutes

Listen again to the Homeric epithets from Activity 5. Can you

detect a rhythmic pattern towards the end of each phrase?

γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη (‘bright-eyed Athena’)

Audio content is not available in this format.

κορυθαίολος Ἕκτωρ (‘Hector of the flashing helmet’)

Audio content is not available in this format.

λευκώλενος Ἥρη (‘white-armed Hera’)

Audio content is not available in this format.

ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠώς (‘rosy-fingered Dawn’)

Audio content is not available in this format.

πόδας ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεύς (‘swift-footed Achilles’)

Page 60 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Audio content is not available in this format.

View discussion - Part

Now listen to some complete lines from the beginning of the Iliad
and Odyssey. You are not expected to understand all the details,
but perhaps you can pick out a few words, like ‘Achilles’ or ‘Troy’.

μῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος

οὐλομένην, ἣ μυρί᾽ Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε᾽ ἔθηκε

Sing, goddess, of the anger of Achilles son of Peleus,

Destructive anger which brought countless miseries to the

Achaeans

(Iliad, book 1, lines 1-2)

Audio content is not available in this format.

ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, μοῦσα, πολύτροπον, ὃς μάλα πολλὰ

πλάγχθη, ἐπεὶ Τροίης ἱερὸν πτολίεθρον ἔπερσε’

Speak, muse, of the man of many a turn, who undertook a

multitude of

wanderings, when he had sacked the sacred city of Troy

Page 61 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

(Odyssey, book 1, lines 1-2)

Audio content is not available in this format.

Look again at the translations of these two passages. Who, in each

case, is being addressed?

View discussion - Part

To experience what a poetic performance might have sounded

like, listen to this recreation of the opening of the Iliad, sung to the
lyre.

Audio content is not available in this format.

Audio 1 A performance by Stefan Hagel

Study note
You can learn more about the reconstruction of the Iliad, and the
research behind it, in the course Introducing Homer’s Iliad.

10 Summary
This session has introduced you to the sounds of ancient Greek
and the important role of the spoken word within Greek society.

Page 62 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

You have begun to develop the crucial skill of reading Greek words
on sight. The more you practise, the clearer and more confident
your pronunciation will become.

You should also have an understanding of:

 the sounds of the individual letters

 the pronunciation of diphthongs
 the role of breathings
 the three accents (you should recognise them, but
they can otherwise be ignored)
 methods for reconstructing the pronunciation of an
ancient language.

If you would like more practice with spoken Greek, you can review
the ‘Sounds’ option in the Introducing Ancient Greek website.

You can now move on to Session 3.

Page 63 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Session 3: Writing

Page 64 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Introduction
You have been introduced to Greek through reading, in Session 1,
and through speaking and listening in Session 2. This session will
emphasise a third skill, that of writing.

The earliest surviving examples of the Greek alphabet date from

the eighth century BCE. It is possible that the alphabet is older
than this, but the majority view is that it is an eighth-century BCE
invention. It was based on a pre-existing script used by the ancient
Phoenicians (a sea-faring people from the Eastern Mediterranean),
but with some changes and simplifications. The major Greek
innovation was the use of letters to mark the sound of vowels. In
this respect, the Greek alphabet was an advance over its
predecessors because it could represent speech precisely, making
it easier to read unfamiliar words on sight.

Take a look at Figure 1. On this tablet from the second century CE,
a teacher has written two lines of Greek. Underneath, a student
has copied the lines twice.

Page 65 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Figure 1 Greek homework book

View description - Figure 1 Greek homework book

Page 66 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

1 Forming the letters

To get the most out of your practice, you should attempt to form
the letters by hand, for instance with pencil and paper. The
activities contain links to printable worksheets with spaces you can
fill in, although you can use a blank sheet of paper if you wish.

If you prefer to use a keyboard, there are websites available. One

site enabling you to enter Greek using a mouse or keystrokes is
Lexilogos (if you take a look, make sure to open the link in a new
tab/window so you can easily return to the course).

If this is your first experience of writing Greek, it is best to take a

practical approach. Aim for simplicity and write the letters so they
can be recognised and understood. As with English, if you look
closely at different styles of handwriting, you will see an enormous
variety of shapes and styles. In print too, close examination reveals
subtle twirls, shifts of angle and changes of thickness that are
visually attractive but do not need to be reproduced in handwriting.

You can use the illustration below as a guide to writing the lower-
case letters, although there are no hard-and-fast rules for exactly
how to go about this.

Page 67 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Figure 2 Guide to lower case letters

View description - Figure 2 Guide to lower case letters

Activity 1 Letter practice

Allow about 15 minutes

Write the letters of the Greek alphabet, lower case and upper. You
can use this worksheet if you wish: Forming the letters.

View discussion - Activity 1 Letter practice

2 First words
Now that you have had some practice writing individual letters, let’s
move on to words. When writing words, there are some additional
points to bear in mind:

 If a word begins with a vowel, it needs a breathing.

 Sigma at the end of a word has its own shape (ς
instead of σ).

Page 68 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Take your time and refer to the alphabet sheet as necessary

(here's the link to the downloadable version again: Alphabet
Guide). Keep a note of any letters that you find difficult to write.

Activity 2 First words

Allow about 15 minutes

Try writing out the following common Greek words yourself. You
can use this worksheet if you wish: First words.

 δένδρον (dendron) = tree

 κακός (kakos) = bad
 λόγος (logos) = word, reason, story
 ποταμός (potamos) = river
 σοφός (sophos) = wise
 ἄγγελος (angelos) = messenger
 βίβλος (biblos) = book
 θεοί (theoi) = gods
 ξένος (xenos) = stranger, foreigner, guest
 ψυχή (psuchē) = soul, mind

View discussion - Part

3 Practice

Page 69 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Now try to convert some transliterated words back into the Greek
alphabet. For example:

Themistoklēs —> Θεμιστοκλῆς

If you'd like to refresh your memory of transliterated Greek, refer

back to Session 1, Section 6. Remember that eta is represented by
ē, and omega by о̄ .

Activity 3 Word practice

Allow about 20 minutes

Write the following words. You should include breathings where

necessary. Accents are, as usual, optional. You can use this
worksheet if you wish: Practice

 anthrо̄ pos (= man)

 didaskalos (= teacher)
 potamos (= river)
 stratēgos (= a general)
 phо̄ nē (= voice)

View discussion - Part

Now, convert the names of the Olympian gods into the

corresponding Greek form.

Page 70 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Start with an initial capital and continue in lower case. Remember

to include breathings if needed.

 Artemis
 Dēmētēr
 Dionysos
 Zeus
 Hēra
 Poseidо̄ n

View discussion - Part

Now try a few more.

 Athēnē
 Apollо̄ n
 Arēs
 Aphroditē
 Hēphaistos
 Hermēs

View discussion - Part

4 Upper and lower case

Now practise your ability to read and write the capital letters.

Page 71 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Activity 4 Case practice

Allow about 15 minutes

Rewrite the Greek words using capital letters throughout. Note that
when Greek words are written in capital letters, accents are not
used and breathings are regularly omitted, too. You can use this
worksheet if you wish: Upper and lower case.

 γῆ (= earth)
 δοῦλος (= slave)
 ἔγραψα (= I wrote)
 θαυμάζω (= I am amazed)
 νίκη (= victory)
 συμμάχος (= ally)

View discussion - Part

Now, rewrite the following words using lower case Greek letters
only.

 ΑΛΛΑ (= but; apply a smooth breathing)

 ΔΗΜΟΣ (= people)
 ΕΙΡΗΝΗ (= peace; apply a smooth breathing)
 ΛΕΓΩ (= I say, speak)
 ΜΑΝΘΑΝΩ (= I learn)
 ΣΤΡΑΤΟΠΕΔΟΝ (= a camp)

Page 72 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

View discussion - Part

Look again at the inscription from Priene you saw in Session 1.

Rewrite the first line in lower case letters, preserving the initial
capital of Alexander’s name.

Figure 3 First lines of the Priene block inscription

View description - Figure 3 First lines of the Priene block

inscription

View discussion - Part

5 Listening
In this activity you will combine your knowledge of Greek sounds
and letters, by listening and writing down what you hear. You
encountered all of these words a few pages ago. See how much
you can remember.

Page 73 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Activity 5 Listening practice

Allow about 10 minutes

Play the audio and see if you can write down the words in Greek.
You have encountered these words before, but you may well need
to listen to each one a few times.

Audio content is not available in this format.

Audio content is not available in this format.

Audio content is not available in this format.

Audio content is not available in this format.

Audio content is not available in this format.

View discussion - Part

The following words are a little more challenging. Listen carefully to

the pronunciation and write them in Greek. Remember to include
breathings where necessary.

Audio content is not available in this format.

Audio content is not available in this format.

Audio content is not available in this format.

Audio content is not available in this format.

Audio content is not available in this format.

Page 74 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

View discussion - Part

6 Ancient writing
You have already studied two examples of Greek writing from the
ancient world: a fourth-century BCE inscription set up in the name
of Alexander the Great; and some fifth-century BCE Athenian
ostraka, containing the names of the politicians Cimon and
Themistocles.

There are clear differences between the writing on these artefacts

and Greek from a printed book, or indeed the letters on this site.
Two features immediately stand out:

 the use of capital letters

 the absence of spaces to mark the division between
words.

This section takes a closer look at these two features. Later

sessions of this course will present examples of two other
important aspects of Greek writing before the end of the fifth-
century BCE:

 the direction of writing

 the variety of Greek scripts.

Page 75 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

6.1 Capital letters

Coins provide another excellent source of Greek writing. This
example is roughly contemporary with the inscription from Priene,
i.e. it comes from the latter part of the fourth century BCE.

Activity 6 Identify the king

Allow about 5 minutes

Using your knowledge of Greek capital letters, can you identify the
king represented on the coin? His name is on the right-hand side,
his title on the left.

Figure 4 King depicted on a coin

View description - Figure 4 King depicted on a coin

Page 76 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

View discussion - Part

Compare the letters on the coin with those on the inscription from
Priene. The words are similar, but one letter is different near the
end of each word. What are the differences?

Figure 5 Alexander coin alongside Priene block inscription

View description - Figure 5 Alexander coin alongside

Priene block inscription

View discussion - Part

6.2 Lower case

Lower case or ‘minuscule’ letters did not become standard until
long after the end of the ancient world. It was only in the ninth
century CE that Byzantine scribes began to use them regularly

Page 77 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

when making copies of books, adapting a system that was already

in use for documents.

The image shows one page from a complete manuscript of the

Gospel of St. John. Its date is disputed, but 200 CE has been
suggested, which would make it unusually old. It was discovered in
Egypt, where the dry climate is well suited to the preservation of
papyrus. The Nile is the source of the reed, Cytherus papyrus,
from which papyrus was manufactured.

Figure 6 Gospel of St. John papyrus

View description - Figure 6 Gospel of St. John papyrus

Activity 7 Reading the papyrus

Allow about 5 minutes

Page 78 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Reading papyri is a specialist skill which even experienced readers

of Greek find tricky. But, based on your knowledge of the alphabet,
you might be able to pick out some letters and even words.

Can you find the following?

(a) καί (‘and’) at the beginning of lines 5 and 6 (and also line 2)

(b) the famous opening words in line 1:

ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος

in the beginning (ἐν ἀρχῇ) was (ἦν) the word (ὁ λόγος)

What is your overall impression of the letter forms, in comparison

with the Priene inscription? Are there any obvious differences?

View discussion - Activity 7 Reading the papyrus

6.3 Word division

In a printed text, the gaps between words are as important for
readability as the shapes of the letters themselves. This point is
easy to appreciate if the gaps are omitted and the words squeezed
together.

Try to read the following text. How easy or difficult do you find it?

Page 79 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

THEWORDSAREEASIERTOREADIFYOUALREADYKNOWTH
ELANGUAGE

Perhaps you succeeded in making out most, or all, of the words at

first glance. But you probably found the task a strain and were
relieved to return to a conventional layout with spacing between
the words.

THE WORDS ARE EASIER TO READ IF YOU ALREADY

KNOW THE LANGUAGE

If you understand a language, you can generally puzzle out the

word breaks yourself. For instance, English speakers know
intuitively that the letters ‘rds’ cannot start an English word. They
might appear in the middle of a word (like ‘wordsmith’), but are
most likely to occur at the end, not least because ‘s’ is frequently
tacked onto the end of nouns (‘cats and dogs’) or verbs (‘walks and
talks’).

Activity 8 The Callias decree

Allow about 10 minutes

Look at this inscription from fifth-century BCE Athens. You should

be able to pick out a few letters, most of which are still legible.
Consider the overall layout. Do you notice anything about the way

Page 80 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

the letters have been laid out on the stone, especially the
horizontal and vertical arrangement?

Figure 7 Fifth-century BCE inscription (the Callias decree)

View description - Figure 7 Fifth-century BCE inscription

(the Callias decree)

View discussion - Part

This inscription is part of a decree passed by the Athenian

assembly in the 430s BCE relating to Athenian financial
administration. It is sometimes known, informally, as the ‘Callias [or
‘Kallias’] decree’ after the name of the man who proposed it.

Try to find the following words:

1. The name of the proposer in the middle of the second

line: ΚΑΛΛΙΑΣ ΕΙΠΕ (Καλλίας εἶπε, Kallias eipe =
‘Kallias said’).

Page 81 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

2. The reference to a sum of money, ‘3000 talents’, at the

end of the third line, running over into the fourth:
ΤΡΙΣΧΙΛΙΑ ΤΑΛΑΝΤΑ (τρισχίλια τάλαντα, trischilia
talanta).

7 Summary
In this session you have practised writing ancient Greek and
learned about some of the characteristic features of Greek as it
was written in antiquity.

The main skills you should keep practising are:

 forming the correct shapes of all the letters, lower case

and capitals
 writing whole words – this might be through the
process of:
 copying
 converting an English transliteration
 writing down any words you can
remember. You could combine this with
the process of learning vocabulary,
introduced in the next session.

If you would like additional practice, you could visit the ‘Words’
section of the Introducing Ancient Greek website.

Page 82 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

This concludes your study of the Greek alphabet. However, you

will continue to consolidate your knowledge of it through the rest of
the course as you study Greek words (Session 4) and are
introduced to some basic grammar (Session 5-7).

The end of this session therefore provides a good opportunity to

pause and reflect, and to ensure you have a reasonable
understanding of:

 the 24 letters of the Greek alphabet, lower and upper

case
 breathings (rough and smooth)
 accents (you should be able to recognise an acute,
grave and circumflex)
 the pronunciation of the Greek letters, individually and
in combination, e.g. as diphthongs or double
consonants.

You can now move on to Session 4.

Page 83 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Session 4: Words

Page 84 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Introduction
In this session you will take a closer look at Greek words: their
shapes, meanings and the imprint they have left upon the English
language. You will also meet some common items of vocabulary.
The links between Greek and English can sometimes make the
task of learning vocabulary a little easier.

Don’t worry if you are still uncertain about the Greek alphabet at
this early stage in your studies. This session offers plenty of
reading practice, building upon and consolidating your work on the
alphabet in Sessions 1-3. You do not need to learn these words by
heart to complete the course, but if you take your studies further,
you will meet many of them again, some of them repeatedly.

1 Greek and English

The contribution of Greek to English tends to be more evident in
specialist or technical vocabulary than in ordinary, everyday
English words. This reflects the fact that Greek literature offered a
large stock of ideas and technical terms that subsequent readers
could draw upon and incorporate into their own languages. It also
reflects the historical importance of ancient Greek within European
education, until well into the twentieth century.

Page 85 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

To take one example: although English uses the word ‘tree’ where
Greek uses the word δένδρον, the Greek form dendron is still
visible in English, in words such as ‘rhododendron’ or
‘dendrochronology’ (‘the measurement of time through the study
of tree-rings’). These terms, the second of which is rather long and
intimidating, can be broken down into some simple Greek
elements:

 rhododendron ῥόδον (rose) + δένδρον (tree)

 dendrochronology δένδρον (tree) + χρόνος (time)
+ λόγος (word or account)

As it happens, δένδρον is used as a stand-alone word in English,

although characteristically it is used in a technical sense: a
dendron, or dendrite, is a ‘short, branched, thread-like extension
of a nerve-cell’.

Let us begin with some words that have been incorporated into
English almost to the letter.

Activity 1 English derivations from Greek (1)

Allow about 5 minutes

Identify the English words derived from these Greek terms. Recall
that upsilon can become either ‘u’ or ‘y’ in English. Kappa is often
represented by ‘c’ rather than ‘k’.

Page 86 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

 γένεσις
 ἰδέα
 δρᾶμα
 κάθαρσις
 καταστροφή
 κόσμος
 μανία
 νέμεσις
 πάθος
 ὕβρις
 ὑπόθεσις
 χάρισμα

View discussion - Activity 1 English derivations from Greek

(1)

Usually a Greek word enters English with a slight change of form.

Changes typically occur at the end of the word, for example
‘cataclysm’, from κατακλυσμός (‘deluge’) or ‘poet’, which is related
to the Greek ποιητής (‘poet’, or ‘maker’).

Activity 2 English derivations from Greek (2)

Allow about 5 minutes

Can you think of English words derived from these Greek terms?

Page 87 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

 ἆθλον (prize)
 ἀκούω (I hear)
 βίος (life)
 γράφω (I write)
 μικρός (small)
 ναυτικόν (fleet)
 στρατηγός (a general)

View discussion - Activity 2 English derivations from Greek

(2)

The path leading from Greek to English is sometimes unclear. You

might need to pause for a moment to detect the connection
between the meaning of an English word and its Greek ancestor. It
helps to know that γράφω, for instance, has a wider range of
meanings than ‘write’. It also covers ‘paint’ and ‘draw’, which helps
explain its appearance in ‘graph’ and ‘graphic’.

2 Suffixes
Some Greek words survive in English as suffixes – fixed patterns
of letters at the end of English words. The word κράτος, for
instance, means ‘strength’ or ‘power’, and lies behind the ending ‘-
cracy’ in the word ‘democracy’, ‘rule by the people’ (δῆμος).

Page 88 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Suffixes can be used to generate new English words, almost

indefinitely.

Activity 3 Greek roots (1)

Allow about 5 minutes

Try to relate the English words to their Greek roots. If you are
unsure of the meaning, use the translations of the Greek words
underneath to help you.

 aristocracy
 democracy
 gerontocracy
 kakistocracy
 kleptocracy
 ochlocracy
 plutocracy
 theocracy
 ἄριστος the best
 γέρων old man
 δῆμος people
 θεός god
 κάκιστος worst
 κλέπτης thief
 ὄχλος crowd, mob

Page 89 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

 πλοῦτος wealth

View discussion - Activity 3 Greek roots (1)

Here are three more suffixes with Greek roots:

 ἀρχή power, sovereignty. Suffix -archy

 λόγος word, thought, reason. The suffix -ology is
used to indicate a field of study.
 φόβος fear. Suffix -phobia.

Activity 4 Greek roots (2)

Allow about 5 minutes

Relate the following words with their Greek roots. Do the Greek
words provide a clue to their English meaning?

 arachnophobia
 agoraphobia
 geology
 haematology
 hierarchy
 monarchy
 oligarchy
 xenophobia
 zoology

Page 90 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

 ἀγορά marketplace
 αἷμα blood
 ἀράχνη spider
 γῆ earth, land
 ζῷον animal
 ἱερεύς priest
 μόνος alone, only
 ξένος stranger, foreigner
 ὀλίγοι a few

View discussion - Activity 4 Greek roots (2)

3 Prefixes
Greek words can also appear at the start of English words, as
prefixes. You have already encountered bio- from βίος (‘life’). Here
are three more examples, each of which can still be used to
produce new words:

 poly- (πολύ, much, many): polygamy, polymath,

polyphony
 pan- (πᾶν, all): pandemic, pandemonium, panorama,
pan-European
 pseudo- (ψευδής, false): pseudonym, pseudo-science

Page 91 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

One rich source of prefixes are prepositions – words like ‘up’,

‘down’, ‘through’, or ‘to’ that accompany a noun to form a phrase:

 up the mountain
 down the river
 through the forest
 on the road

English prepositions, like Greek, can be found as prefixes at the

beginning of words:

Activity 5 Prepositions
Allow about 15 minutes

Identify the English prepositions at the start of these words.

1. uptake
2. downbeat
3. afterthought
4. throughput
5. onset
6. byproduct

View discussion - Part

Page 92 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Now, familiarise yourself with some Greek prepositions, all of

which can be found at the start of English words. Read them aloud
and, for this exercise, focus as much on the shape and the sound
as the meanings.

 ἀνά up, upon

 ἀπό from
 διά on account of, through
 ἐκ out of
 ἐπί on, at, to
 κατά down, along, over
 παρά beside, against
 περί about
 σύν with
 ὑπέρ over, above
 ὑπό under

Using the list of prepositions, identify the two parts of the following
English words.

Example
analysis = ana + lysis (literally, ‘a breaking up’)

1. apocalypse
2. catastrophe

Page 93 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

3. diaspora
4. ecstatic
5. epidemic
6. hyperbole
7. hypothesis
8. paradox
9. periphrasis
10. synthesis

View discussion - Part

4 Eponyms
Now let us look at some eponyms. These are words derived from
names, usually of a person, but sometimes of a place, or a
geographical feature such as a river or mountain. A familiar
example is ‘narcissist’, derived from the mythical figure of
Narcissus, the beautiful youth who fell in love with his own
reflection. The word ‘eponym’ comes from the adjective ἐπώνυμοϛ,
which describes something that lends its name to something else.
ἐπώνυμοϛ is formed from the Greek preposition ἐπι (‘upon’) and
the noun ὄνομα (name).

Activity 6 Greek proper names

Allow about 5 minutes

Page 94 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Can you work out the English words derived from the following
Greek proper names?

1. Μέντωρ, an old friend entrusted by Odysseus to look

after his household when he left for Troy.
2. Δράκων, an Athenian lawgiver of the 7th century BCE
whose laws were reputed to have specified the death
penalty for most crimes.
3. Μαίανδρος, the Menderes river which winds through
southwestern Turkey, mentioned in Homer’s Iliad.
4. Μαύσωλος, a fourth-century BCE king of Caria in
western Turkey. His tomb was one of the Seven
Wonders of the ancient world.
5. Ἀφροδίτη, goddess of love and beauty.

View discussion - Part

Here is another selection. Can you identify the English eponyms?

1. Τάνταλος, legendary king, punished by the gods with

food and drink that was always just out of reach.
2. Θέσπις, believed in antiquity to be the inventor of
tragic drama.
3. Μορφεύς, god of dreams.

Page 95 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

4. Πάν, shepherd god who acquired a reputation for

sowing sudden bouts of fear.
5. Πρωτεύς, a shape-shifting sea-god whose fight with
Menelaus is described in the Odyssey.

View discussion - Part

5 Vocabulary
Now you will look at a few items of Greek vocabulary, starting with
nouns, which can be defined as the names of people, places and
things.

Review the following Greek nouns. You might find it helpful to read
the words aloud. Can you think of any English words that could
help you commit these to memory?

 ἄγγελος messenger
 γῆ land
 θεός god
 ἵππος horse
 λόγος word, reason, story
 νίκη victory
 ποταμός river

Page 96 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

If you find derivations useful, perhaps ‘theology’ would help with

θεός and λόγος, or ‘geology’ γῆ and λόγος. ἄγγελος is not an
angel, although an ‘angel’ is a divine messenger. It may, or may
not, help to connect νίκη with a well-known sporting brand (spelled
identically but pronounced differently). ἵππος and ποταμός
combine to produce hippopotamus, ‘river-horse’.

Activity 7 Match the nouns

Allow about 5 minutes

Without looking back at the list, try matching the nouns with their
English equivalents.

θεός

ἄγγελος

ποταμός

λόγος

νίκη

γῆ

god

messenger

Page 97 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

river

word, reason, story

victory

land

View answer - Activity 7 Match the nouns

Here are six common verbs to review. Verbs can be defined as

words that describe actions (‘eats’, ‘runs’) or, less frequently,
states (‘is’, ‘seems’). Links with English are less obvious here, so
you might need to find other techniques for recalling them.

Note that the English translations include the personal pronoun ‘I’,
although no word for ‘I’ is supplied in Greek. It is embodied in the
ending -ω. Greek personal pronouns like ἐγώ (‘I’) exist, but are
retained for special occasions, such as emphasis.

 ἄγω I lead
 βαίνω I go
 ἔχω I have
 λέγω I say
 παύω I stop
 φέρω I carry, I bring

Page 98 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

παύω is connected to the English word 'pause’. λέγω, ‘I say’, and

λόγος, ‘word, story’, are related to each other, so it might help to
learn them together.

But the connections are harder to make than with the first group.
Different memorisation techniques might therefore be needed –
some suggestions will be made later in Session 8.

Activity 8 Match the verbs

Allow about 5 minutes

Match the Greek verbs with their English equivalents.

ἔχω

λέγω

φέρω

ἄγω

βαίνω

παύω

I have

I say

Page 99 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

I carry, bring

I lead

I go

I stop

View answer - Activity 8 Match the verbs

6 The definite article

A noun in a Greek dictionary will appear with its meaning,
naturally, and some additional information. One extra item is the
definite article, i.e. the word ‘the’. This will be shown in one of three
forms: ὁ, ἡ or τό.

The form of the article depends on the noun’s gender: masculine,

feminine or neuter. English nouns do not have gender in this
grammatical sense, although many European languages do,
including French, German, Spanish and Italian. Gender is
important because it influences the endings of any adjectives
accompanying the noun.

Masculine nouns are accompanied by ὁ:

 ὁ θεός the god

 ὁ λόγος the word

Page 100 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

or, in their dictionary form:

 θεός, ὁ god
 λόγος, ὁ word

Feminine nouns are accompanied by ἡ:

 ἡ γῆ the land
 ἡ νίκη the victory

These words would be presented in a dictionary as:

 γῆ, ἡ land
 νίκη, ἡ victory

Neuter nouns are accompanied by τό:

 τὸ πλοῖον the boat

 τὸ ῥόδον the rose

The dictionary forms would be:

 πλοῖον, τό boat
 ῥόδον, τό rose

Nouns denoting male and female individuals will be masculine or

feminine – ‘priest’ will be masculine, ‘priestess’ feminine. But in

Page 101 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

most cases the grammatical gender of nouns needs to be learned.

The article ὁ, ἡ or τό will identify the gender for you.

Greek proper names, unlike English, usually occur with an article:

 ὁ Σωκράτης Socrates
 ἡ Ἀθήνη Athena

Activity 9 Test your learning – noun gender

Allow about 5 minutes

What is the gender of these nouns?

τιμή, ἡ honour

masculine

feminine

neuter

View answer - Part

ἔργον, τό work

masculine

feminine

Page 102 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

neuter

View answer - Part

νῆσος, ἡ island

masculine

feminine

neuter

View answer - Part

νόμος, ὁ law, custom

masculine

feminine

neuter

View answer - Part

πόλεμος, ὁ war

masculine

feminine

Page 103 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

neuter

View answer - Part

7 Counting
Another type of Greek word that occurs frequently in English are
numbers. You may recognise them from English words like
‘pentagon’ (‘five corners’), ‘heptathlon’ (‘seven contests’) or
‘octopus’ (‘eight feet’).

Read through the numbers from 1 to 10. Some numbers, like the
definite article, have more than one form.

 Some Greek numbers:

 one εἷς, μία, ἕν
 two δύο
 three τρεῖς, τρία
 four τέσσαρες, τέσσερα
 five πέντε
 six ἕξ
 seven ἑπτά
 eight ὀκτώ
 nine ἐννέα
 ten δέκα
 one hundred ἑκατόν

Page 104 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

 one thousand χίλιοι

 ten thousand μυρίοι

In English, words related to ‘one’ are usually derived from μόνος

(‘only’) and πρῶτος (‘first’) rather than from εἷς. For example:

 monarchy – rule by a single individual

 monogamy – marriage to one person
 proton – literally, ‘first thing’; a primary substance
 prototype – a first sketch or model

Activity 10 Test your learning – numbers

Allow about 10 minutes

Part 1
Use the list of numbers to answer the following questions:

In the early Christian church, how many patriarchs ruled the

pentarchy?

View answer - Part

Page 105 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

How many kingdoms formed the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy?

View answer - Part

How many sides are there in a tessera (a piece of glass or stone

used in a mosaic)?

View answer - Part

How many fluorine atoms are there in hexafluoride?

View answer - Part

Page 106 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

How many sides does an enneahedron have?

View answer - Part

Part 2
If καί means ‘and’, what are the following numbers?

πεντεκαίδεκα

13

15

17

View answer - Part

ὁκτωκαίδεκα

17

18

Page 107 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

19

View answer - Part

ἑπτακαίδεκα

14

17

18

View answer - Part

Part 3
Some final number-based questions:

What is triskaidekaphobia?

From which Greek number does the English word ‘myriad’

(‘innumerable’) derive?

Using the English word ‘hemisphere’, can you work out what
ἥμισυς means? (σφαῖρα is a ‘ball’ or ‘globe’)

View answer - Part

8 Plato's Timaeus

Page 108 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Knowledge of Greek numbers equips you to understand the

opening words of Plato’s dialogue Timaeus, which gives an
account of the structure and origins of the cosmos (κόσμος, which
means, among other things, ‘the universe’). It is also one of the
sources for the myth of Atlantis.

Activity 11 Plato's Timaeus

Allow about 5 minutes

Plato’s dialogues are usually laid out like plays, starting with the
names of the speakers. Here are the participants in Timaeus.
What are their names?

 ΣΩΚΡΑΤΗΣ
 ΤΙΜΑΙΟΣ
 ΈΡΜΟΚΡΑΤΗΣ
 ΚΡΙΤΙΑΣ

View discussion - Part

After the list of characters, the dialogue begins. The speaker is

identified by a two-letter abbreviation in capital letters. Can you
translate the opening words?

ΣΩ: εἷς, δύο, τρεῖς …

Page 109 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

View discussion - Part

9 Summary
This session has examined the links between Greek and English,
and looked at some common items of Greek vocabulary. It has
also introduced the Greek definite article and shown how the
article varies its form depending on the gender of a word. You
have seen how to determine a word’s gender from its dictionary
entry.

You are not expected to remember all the words you have
encountered. But if you would like to review some of the most
common items of Greek vocabulary, you could look again at the
activities in Section 5 of this session.

You can now move on to Session 5.

Page 110 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Session 5: Word endings

Page 111 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Introduction
This session shifts the spotlight from Greek words to their endings.
It does so by focusing on nouns, whose endings can vary
according to their role in a sentence and their relationship with the
words around them. These different endings identify what is known
as the grammatical case of the noun in a particular sentence.
There are five cases in total. This session will introduce you to one
of them: the genitive case.

Study note
Learning to use word endings is a central part of learning to read
Greek. This involves learning to recognise them and to tease out
all of their implications. A Greek word ending may be small –
usually no more than a letter or two – but it needs close attention
because it shows how words fit together into larger units, such as
phrases or sentences.

In this session, you will also continue your study of examples of

Greek writing from the ancient world.

1 English noun endings

A language that relies upon word endings is called an inflected
language. Greek is an inflected language whereas English is, for

Page 112 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

the most part, uninflected. English nouns do, however, change

their endings in certain situations. The most common change is the
addition of a final ‘s’ to indicate that a noun is plural rather than
singular, i.e. that the noun refers to more than one item.

 boy —> boys

 house—> houses
 elephant —> elephants

Rarely, an English noun might undergo a more radical change:

 goose —> geese

 mouse —> mice
 woman —> women

In grammatical terms, we say that the ending of an English noun

changes according to its number (singular or plural). Greek nouns
do the same. Number is treated in more detail in Sessions 6 and 7.

Another change that English nouns can undergo is to acquire an

apostrophe + ‘s’ to indicate ownership or possession:

 Fred’s shop
 Jane’s car
 the pilot’s licence

If the noun is plural, the ‘s’ and the apostrophe are reversed:

Page 113 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

 the god’s anger (singular: one god)

 the gods’ anger (plural: many gods)

Greek nouns change their ending in similar circumstances. The

ending that denotes ownership or possession, the ‘genitive case’
ending, will be the focus of this session.

2 A Greek example
You can contrast two different endings of the same Greek noun by
comparing Alexander’s name on the inscription from Priene with
his name on the coin.

Activity 1 Two forms of Alexander

Allow about 5 minutes

Review the two forms of ‘Alexander’ and remind yourself of any

differences:

 Coin: Ἀλεξάνδρου
 Inscription: Ἀλέξανδρος

Page 114 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Figure 1 Alexander coin alongside Priene block inscription

View description - Figure 1 Alexander coin alongside

Priene block inscription

View discussion - Activity 1 Two forms of Alexander

The difference in spelling is small, but the effect is significant.

Ἀλέξανδρος is the basic form of Alexander’s name, the one that
you would find in a dictionary. To indicate that the coin ‘belongs to’
or is ‘of’ Alexander, the ending has been modified from -ος to -ου.

 Ἀλέξανδρος Alexander
 Ἀλεξάνδρου of Alexander or Alexander’s

Grammatically, ‘Alexander’s coin’ is no different to ‘Fred’s shop’ or

‘the pilot’s licence’. The modified ending indicates that one noun
(‘Alexander’ or ‘Fred’) is related grammatically to another (‘coin’ or
‘shop’). The relationship is one of ownership or possession.

Page 115 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

The word ‘king’ has also undergone a change, with -εύς (βασιλεύς)
becoming -έως (βασιλέως). There’s no need to dwell upon that
particular change here, other than to point out that it has been
made for a similar reason: to express the fact that this coin is the
possession ‘of King Alexander’.

3 The genitive case

The genitive case has a range of uses, but to begin with, think of it
as the ‘of’ case. Here are more examples, with the genitive ending
highlighted:

 ἄγγελος θεοῦ a messenger of god (or god’s

messenger)
 φόβος θανάτου fear of death
 βουλή Ἀφροδίτῆς a plan of Aphrodite (or
Aphrodite’s plan)

Note that although Greek possesses a definite article (‘the’), it has

no indefinite article (‘a’ or ‘an’). This often needs to be supplied in
an English translation.

 Vocabulary
 θάνατος, ὁ death
 φόβος, ὁ fear

Page 116 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Note that it is the word ending, not the order of the words, that
affects the meaning. φόβος θανάτου and θανάτου φόβος mean
the same thing: ‘fear of death’.

You saw earlier that in English, if the noun is plural the apostrophe
and the ‘s’ swap places.

 god’s messenger (singular: one god)

 the gods’ messenger (plural: many gods)

Greek noun endings also vary according to whether they are

singular or plural. The genitive plural ending of a noun always ends
in -ων.

 φόβος θεῶν fear of gods

Activity 2 Test your learning – genitive case

Allow about 5 minutes

In Greek, which noun could be expressed using a genitive case?

1. The mother of Achilles

mother

Achilles

View answer - Part

Page 117 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

2. The daughter of Zeus

daughter

Zeus

View answer - Part

3. The defeat of Athens

defeat

Athens

View answer - Part

4. Sparta’s victory

Sparta

victory

View answer - Part

5. The gods’ quarrel

gods

quarrel

Page 118 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

View answer - Part

4 Case endings
Greek nouns must have one of five case endings – you have now
met two of these.

Firstly, you met the nominative case.

This is the dictionary form of a noun, the one to learn when

studying vocabulary. You have encountered many examples, but
the term ‘nominative’ has not been employed until now. The
purpose and uses of the nominative case are discussed in
Sessions 6 and 7.

Here are two examples of nominative case endings, plural as well

as singular:

Table 1 Nominative case endings

singular plural
τιμή τιμαί
λόγoς λόγοι

Secondly, you’ve met the form just introduced, the genitive case.
Here are two example of genitive case endings:

Table 2 Genitive case endings

Page 119 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

singular plural
τιμῆς τιμῶν
λόγου λόγων

In a Greek dictionary, the genitive singular ending will be included

along with the definition of the noun. This important piece of
information enables the reader to predict all of the noun’s endings
– this is a point you will return to shortly. For the moment though,
concentrate on the dictionary entry and what can be deduced from
it.

Example
τιμή, -ῆς, ἡ honour

The dictionary entry can be broken down as follows:

 τιμή: the noun in the nominative case

 -ῆς: the genitive singular ending. In full, the word would
read τιμῆς
 ἡ: the definite article, showing the word’s gender
(feminine in this instance)
 ‘honour’: the meaning

Activity 3 Test your learning – case and

gender
Allow about 5 minutes

Page 120 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Read the dictionary entries provided and select all statements that
are true. (If you need to refresh your memory of grammatical
gender, you can refer back to Section 6 of Session 4.)

ποταμός, -οῦ, ὁ river

The genitive singular is ποταμοῦ

The gender is feminine

The genitive singular is ποταμός

The nominative singular is ποταμός

The gender is masculine

View answer - Part

πυλή, -ῆς, ἡ gate

The genitive singular is πυλή

The gender is masculine

The gender is feminine

The genitive singular is πυλῆς

The nominative singular is πυλή

Page 121 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

View answer - Part

5 Patronymics
Let us now look at the use of the genitive case on some ostraka.
The ostrakon bearing the name of Cimon, reads:

Κίμων Μιλτιάδο

Cimon [son] of Miltiades

Figure 2 An ostrakon

View description - Figure 2 An ostrakon

The name of Cimon’s father is Μιλτιάδης, written here as Μιλτιάδο,

with the final omicron (ο) representing a sound which later writers
would spell as -οu (Μιλτιάδοu). Once again, a small change of
spelling carries a significant implication. Greeks would understand
this to mean ‘Cimon, [son] of Miltiades’. In this context, the word
‘son’ is not necessary and would have been understood.

Page 122 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

The use of the father’s name to refer to Greek males,

distinguishing them from others with the same name, was common
in public settings. The additional name was known as a
‘patronymic’ (from πατήρ, father and ὄνομα, name). Very
occasionally, the mother’s name was used to form a ‘metronymic’
(from μήτηρ, mother).

Patronymics exist in many languages. English examples include:

Johnson, Richardson and Robertson. Mc and Mac have a
similar force in Scots, as does O’ in Irish.

Activity 4 The grammar of ancestry

Allow about 5 minutes

Who is the father here: Alexander or Philip?

 Ἀλέξανδρος Φιλίππου

Alexander

Philip

View answer - Part

View discussion - Part

Page 123 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

If Ἀλέξανδρος Φιλίππου means ‘Alexander, son of Philip’, what

would be the meaning of this?

 Ἀλέξανδρος Ἀλεξάνδρου Φιλίππου

View discussion - Part

6 The genealogy of Leonidas

Names in the genitive case can be linked to form a genealogy.
One impressive example is that of King Leonidas, who led the 300
Spartans at the battle of Thermopylae against the Persians in 480
BCE. Herodotus records it in chapter 204 of the seventh book of
his Histories. The list contains 21 names in total. It starts like this:

 Λεωνίδης ὁ Ἀναξανδρίδεω τοῦ Λέοντος τοῦ …

 Leonidas, the [son of] Anaxandridas, the [son of] Leon,
the [son of] …

The name Leonidas is in the nominative case, the names of his

ancestors are in the genitive case. The shape of the definite article
also changes according to the case of the name it accompanies: ὁ
is nominative, referring back to Λεωνίδης, the first instance of τοῦ
is genitive, referring back to Ἀναξανδρίδεω, the second τοῦ is
genitive, referring back to Λέοντος, and so on. The word ‘son’ does
not need to be spelled out in this context.

Page 124 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Activity 5 Genitive genealogy

Allow about 5 minutes

Here is the full genealogy of 21 names. All names are in the

genitive case, except for Leonidas. The final name has been left
untranslated. From whom did Leonidas claim ultimate descent?

 Λεωνίδης ὁ Leonidas, the [son of]

 Ἀναξανδρίδεω τοῦ Anaxandrides, the [son of]
 Λέοντος τοῦ Leon, the [son of]
 Εὐρυκρατίδεω τοῦ Eurykratides, the [son of
 Ἀναξάνδρου τοῦ Anaxandros, the [son of]
 Εὐρυκράτεος τοῦ Eurykrates, the [son of]
 Πολυδώρου τοῦ Polydoros, the [son of]
 Ἀλκαμένεος τοῦ Alkamenes, the [son of]
 Τηλέκλου τοῦ Teleklos, the [son of]
 Ἀρχέλεω τοῦ Archelaos, the [son of]
 Ἡγησίλεω τοῦ Hegesilaos, the [son of]
 Δορύσσου τοῦ Doryssos, the [son of]
 Λεωβώτεω τοῦ Leobotas, the [son of]
 Ἐχεστράτου τοῦ Echestratos, the [son of]
 Ἤγιος τοῦ Agis, the [son of]
 Εὐρυσθένεος τοῦ Eurysthenes, the [son of]
 Ἀριστοδήμου τοῦ Aristodemos, the [son of]

Page 125 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

 Ἀριστομάχου τοῦ Aristomachos, the [son of]

 Κλεοδαίου τοῦ Kleodaios, the [son of]
 Ὕλλου τοῦ Hyllos, the [son of]
 Ἡρακλέος ?

View discussion - Activity 5 Genitive genealogy

You might have noticed that the genitive case endings in the
genealogy vary. As you will see later, each noun follows one of a
small number of patterns. The name Πολύδωρος, for instance,
follows the same pattern as λόγoς. Its genitive case is therefore
Πολυδώρου (like λόγου). Other names follow different patterns.
You will learn more about these noun patterns, known as
‘declensions’, in Session 6.

7 The direction of Greek writing

Session 3 introduced two features of ancient Greek writing that
differ from later practice: the exclusive use of capitals and the
absence of spaces. Another difference is the direction of the
writing, which was initially quite flexible. The Phoenician script on
which Greek was based was written from right to left. Many
languages follow the same direction today, including Hebrew, a
close relative of Phoenician. In the earliest examples of Greek
writing, right-to-left and left-to-right are both found, sometimes

Page 126 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

within the same piece of writing. It was during the fifth century BCE
that the direction of left-to-right began to dominate.

These two boundary stones from Athens contain the same text
written in different directions. The text on the left-hand stone
begins at the top right and runs from right to left, then top to
bottom. The words on the right-hand stone begin at the top left,
run from left to right, and continue from top to bottom. You will
return to the meaning of the stones in Session 7. For the moment,
focus on the way the letters are written.

Figure 3 Athenian boundary stones

View description - Figure 3 Athenian boundary stones

Activity 6 Reading the stones

Allow about 5 minutes

Can you match any of the letters on the two stones?

View discussion - Activity 6 Reading the stones

7.1 A Greek vase

Page 127 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Let’s now look at some examples of writing from a piece of painted

pottery from the early to mid-sixth century BCE. Words painted
onto pots like this are known by the Italian word ‘dipinti’, i.e.
‘painted things’ (compare the word ‘graffiti’, which is the Italian for
‘written things’).

Activity 7 A Greek vase handle

Allow about 10 minutes

Look at this detail from the handle of a Greek vase. The names of
one of the two figures has been written ‘backwards’. Can you
identify which one? Which letters help you to decide?

Page 128 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Figure 4 Greek vase

View description - Figure 4 Greek vase

View discussion - Part

Now, can you read either of the names? Familiarity with Greek
mythology and events from the Trojan War would help.

(Tip: the fourth letter down on the left-hand name is a lambda,

looking rather more like English ‘L’ than the Λ which eventually
became standard.)

View discussion - Part

7.2 The Gortyn code

One style of writing combined both directions, running from right to
left and then left to right on alternate lines. In Greek this was called
boustrophedon, literally ‘ox turning’ (from βοῦς, ox and στρέφω, I
turn), recalling the furrows inscribed into the earth by a plough.

Activity 8 Reading boustrophedon

Allow about 5 minutes

Look at the following example of boustrophedon from the city of

Gortyn on the southern coast of Crete. Try to identify which lines

Page 129 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

go from right to left and which from left to right. Which letters help
most in determining the direction of the writing?

Figure 5 The Gortyn code

View description - Figure 5 The Gortyn code

View discussion - Activity 8 Reading boustrophedon

Page 130 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

This inscription, known as the Gortyn code, is thought to date to

around the middle of the fifth century BCE. It consists of twelve
columns of text inscribed on the curved wall of a building. Each
column consists of approximately 55 lines, except for the twelfth
(displayed in the photograph), which is 19 lines long. The code
contains laws regulating society at Gortyn, related to such matters
as rape and other sexual offences, divorce, marriage, rights over
children, inheritance, property and adoption. It is a fine illustration
not just of boustrophedon but of how an inscription can shed
light upon places, periods and practices that are not well known
from Greek literature.

8 Summary
In this session you have been introduced to noun endings,
specifically the genitive case. You have seen examples of the use
of the Greek genitive where English would deploy the word ‘of’, or
an apostrophe and an ‘s’.

You have continued to explore written Greek, focusing on the

direction of writing and the use of boustrophedon.

You should now understand the following terms:

 inflected language
 the genitive case.

Page 131 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

You should be familiar with:

 the genitive case endings τιμῆς and λόγου (singular)

and τιμῶν and λόγων (plural)
 the use of the genitive case in a phrase such as φόβος
θανάτου (‘fear of death)
 the different parts of a dictionary entry for a Greek
noun.

You can now move on to Session 6.

Page 132 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Session 6: Subjects and objects

Page 133 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Introduction
Session 5 introduced two case endings, the nominative and the
genitive. This session presents a third, the accusative case, and
explains how to use nouns in the nominative and accusative case
to form a complete sentence with a subject, a verb and an object:

ὁ ἵππος διώκει τὸν ἄνθρωπον

The horse chases the man.

Understanding the nominative and accusative case will enable you

to read more of Alexander’s inscription from Priene. You will also
examine the variety of scripts in which Greek was written before
the end of the fifth century BCE.

1 Subjects and objects

Before turning to Greek, let us start with English. Imagine a reader
who understood the meaning of every English word, having read a
dictionary from cover to cover and digested all of its definitions.
Although the reader’s knowledge of English would be formidable, it
would nevertheless fall short in important respects. This can be
illustrated through the following examples:

The dog chases the cat.

Page 134 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

The cat chases the dog.

These two sentences contain the same words. Yet their meanings
are different, indeed diametrically opposed. The dictionary cannot
explain the difference because it deals with the meaning of the
words in isolation. A reader needs to understand the words within
the context of the sentence as a whole, to identify their roles, and
to ask who is doing what to whom.

Activity 1 Finding the meaning

Allow about 5 minutes

How do you know which animal is doing the chasing? How do you
know which animal is being chased?

View discussion - Activity 1 Finding the meaning

The extra ingredient, beyond the meaning of the individual words,

is grammar, or to be exact, syntax. Syntax covers the rules for
combining words into sentences. It explains why ‘the dog’ (or ‘the
cat’) is doing the chasing. It also explains why some arrangements
of words are meaningful, while others are gibberish. The word
‘syntax’ derives from Greek: σύν means ‘with’ or ‘together’, τάξις is
an ‘ordering’ or ‘arrangement’, including the arrangement of
soldiers in battle formation.

Page 135 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

2 Sentence patterns
Behind a sentence like ‘the dog chases the cat’ lies a simple
pattern:

Subject + Verb + Object

The dog (Subject) chases (Verb) the cat (Object)

The verb describes an action (‘chases’, ‘eats’, ‘speaks’) or a state

(‘is’, ‘seems’, ‘rests’).

The subject is in charge of the verb. If the verb is ‘chases’, the

subject is doing the chasing.

The object is on the receiving end of the verb. If the verb is

‘chases’, the object is the person or thing being chased.

The sentence might contain other words, but at its heart lies a
simple pattern:

(Every morning) the (yapping) dog (angrily) chases the

(startled) cat (out of the garden and across the road).

The dog chases the cat.

In English, subject, verb and object are expected in that order.

Languages that adopt this order are sometimes referred to as

Page 136 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

‘Subject Verb Object (SVO)’ languages. Knowing the pattern

allows predictions to be made about the way a sentence might
unfold. Some continuations can be ruled in and others excluded.

Activity 2 Complete the sentence

Allow about 5 minutes

Choose the items that could fill the gap and complete the following
sentence:

The dog chases ___________ .

the elephant

[a subject]

the kangaroo

an object

View answer - Activity 2 Complete the sentence

View discussion - Activity 2 Complete the sentence

3 Noun endings in English

A small number of English words carry traces of a grammatical
system in which subjects and objects are marked not by their

Page 137 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

position in the sentence but by a change of word ending, or even

of the entire shape of the word.

He likes her.

As usual in English, the word before the verb (‘likes’) is the subject
(‘he’) and the word after is the object (‘her’). But in this instance,
reversing the meaning of the sentence requires more than
swapping the positions of ‘he’ and ‘her’. The words must also
change their shape:

He likes her —> she likes him.

These changes are characteristic of the English personal

pronouns: ‘I’, ‘you’, ‘he’, ‘she’, ‘we’ and ‘they’. The shape of the
word is related to the role that it plays in the sentence. ‘He’ and
‘she’ are sometimes referred to as ‘subject pronouns’, ‘her’ and
‘him’ as ‘object pronouns’. ‘Who’ and ‘whom’ also work in the same
way.

Activity 3 Swapping subject and object

Allow about 5 minutes

What changes would need to take place in these sentences to

convert the subject into an object and object into subject?

Page 138 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

1. I like her.
2. We like them.
3. She likes you.

View discussion - Activity 3 Swapping subject and object

Activity 4 Flexible word order

Allow about 5 minutes

The use of word shape enables languages to adopt a flexible

rather than a fixed word order. This is more frequent in Greek, but
also possible in English, as the following extract from the New
Testament demonstrates:

These things write I unto you

(1 John 2.1, King James Version)

1. What is the order of ‘These things write I’?

Subject Verb Object

Verb Subject Object

Object Verb Subject

View answer - Part

Page 139 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

View discussion - Part

2. Why, in this instance, can English invert the word order without
creating confusion?

View discussion - Part

3. Look at the original Greek words of 1 John. Why do you think

this word order was chosen by the translators?

ταῦτα [these things] γράφω [write I] ὑμῖν [unto you]

View discussion - Part

4 Nominative and accusative

Greek indicates subjects and objects using word endings, rather
like the system used by English pronouns. The nominative case,
which you have met, marks the subject. The accusative case,
introduced here for the first time, marks the object. The definite
article also has a set of case endings – an important point you’ll
return to soon.

ὁ ἵππος διώκει τὸν ἄνθρωπον

The horse chases the man

For horse and man to swap roles, the case endings must change.

Page 140 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

τὸν ἵππον διώκει ὁ ἄνθρωπος

The man chases the horse

Unlike English, the word order does not determine the subject or
object. In the above examples, ὁ ἵππος (the horse, nominative
case) in any position will be the subject, τὸν ἄνθρωπον (the man,
accusative case) in any position will be the object. Their position in
relation to the verb, διώκει (he, she, or it chases) does not affect
their meaning.

Activity 5 Test your learning – case endings

Allow about 5 minutes

Bearing in mind that subjects and objects in Greek are determined

by word ending and not word order, select all the sentences in
which the horse is chasing the man:

διώκει ὁ ἵππος τὸν ἄνθρωπον

τὸν ἵππον διώκει ὁ ἄνθρωπος

τὸν ἄνθρωπον διώκει ὁ ἵππος

τὸν ἵππον ὁ ἄνθρωπος διώκει

View answer - Part

Page 141 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Now, select the sentences in which the man is chasing the horse:

ὁ ἄνθρωπος διώκει τὸν ἵππον

διώκει τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὁ ἵππος

διώκει ὁ ἵππος τὸν ἄνθρωπον

ὁ ἄνθρωπος τὸν ἵππον διώκει

View answer - Part

Is there a difference in meaning between these two sentences?

 ὁ ἵππος διώκει τὸν ἄνθρωπον

 τὸν ἄνθρωπον διώκει ὁ ἵππος

View discussion - Part

5 Declensions
Greek noun endings fall into patterns, called ‘declensions’. There
are three declensions in total, with some variations inside each.
The standard method for learning case endings is to learn the
declension of one representative noun for each pattern. Two such
nouns are τιμή and λόγος.

The case endings you have met so far are:

Page 142 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Table 1 Two case endings

τιμή, honour (1st declension)

singular plural
nominative τιμή τιμαί
accusative τιμήν τιμάς
genitive τιμῆς τιμῶν
λόγος, word (2nd declension)
singular plural
nominative λόγος λόγοι
accusative λόγον λόγους
genitive λόγου λόγων

The declension of a noun can be determined from its dictionary

entry. Remember that the dictionary entry shows the nominative
form of a noun (e.g. τιμή) and its genitive singular ending (-ῆς). A
noun with the same nominative and genitive singular as τιμή will
follow the same pattern of endings. In grammatical terms, it
belongs to the same declension as τιμή, or ‘declines like’ it.

 First declension:
 τιμή, -ῆς, ἡ honour
 βουλή, -ῆς, ἡ plan, council
 κόρη, -ης, ἡ girl
 νίκη, -ης, ἡ victory

Page 143 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Here are some nouns that belong to the same declension as

λόγος:

 Second declension:
 λόγος, -ου, ὁ word
 ἄγγελος, -ου, ὁ messenger
 δοῦλος, -ου, ὁ slave
 ποταμός, -οῦ, ὁ river

Activity 6 Identify the declension

Allow about 5 minutes

Using the dictionary entries, decide whether each of these nouns

belongs to the first declension, like τιμή, or the second, like λόγος.

στρατηγός, -οῦ, ὁ general

first declension (like τιμή)

second declension (like λόγος)

View answer - Part

πύλη, -ης, ἡ gate

first declension (like τιμή)

second declension (like λόγος)

Page 144 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

View answer - Part

φωνή, -ῆς, ἡ voice

first declension (like τιμή)

second declension (like λόγος)

View answer - Part

διδάσκαλος, -ου, ὁ teacher

first declension (like τιμή)

second declension (like λόγος)

View answer - Part

ἐπιστολή, -ῆς, ἡ letter

first declension (like τιμή)

second declension (like λόγος)

View answer - Part

κώμη, -ης, ἡ village

first declension (like τιμή)

Page 145 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

second declension (like λόγος)

View answer - Part

Activity 7 Case endings – first declension

Allow about 5 minutes

These nouns decline like τιμή. Identify their case endings.

 Vocabulary
 νίκη, -ης, ἡ victory
 φωνή, -ῆς, ἡ sound, voice
 πύλη, -ης, ἡ gate

νίκης

nominative

accusative

genitive

View answer - Part

φωνήν

nominative

accusative

Page 146 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

genitive

View answer - Part

πύλη

nominative

accusative

genitive

View answer - Part

Activity 8 Case endings – second declension

Allow about 5 minutes

These nouns decline like λόγος. Identify their case endings.

 Vocabulary
 ξένος, -ου, ὁ foreigner
 σύμμαχος, -ου, ὁ ally
 ποταμός, -οῦ, ὁ river

ξένον

nominative

accusative

Page 147 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

genitive

View answer - Part

συμμάχου

nominative

accusative

genitive

View answer - Part

ποταμός

nominative

accusative

genitive

View answer - Part

6 Using case endings

The ending of a word is like a sign displaying information about the
word’s role in a sentence and how it relates to the words around it.
Noticing and responding to these signs is central to reading Greek.

Page 148 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

How, then, can the endings be used? If you encounter a sentence

beginning with a noun-article pair in the nominative case:

ὁ ἵππος …

Then you might be tempted to say:

‘The horse’

That would be an excellent start. But you can go further, using

knowledge of word endings and the basic elements of a sentence.
As the noun is in the nominative case, you could think of the word
and its ending as raising the following expectations:

The horse verbs [object]

This can be expressed as ‘the horse somethings [something]’.

The object is in square brackets because the sentence may or may
not contain an object. That depends on the nature of the verb. But
you can certainly expect a verb.

Alternatively, perhaps the sentence starts:

τὸν ἵππον

Now the sentence begins with a noun in the accusative case, i.e. a
noun that appears to be an object. Instead of simply saying ‘the
horse’, you could represent the information in the ending like this:

Page 149 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

subject verbs the horse, or, something somethings the horse

You must read on to discover the subject and the verb, i.e. who is
doing what to the horse.

Activity 9 Subject or object?

Allow about 5 minutes

What role would you expect the following words to play in these
sentence fragments? (You can find a vocabulary list underneath.)

1. τὴν ἐπιστολήν ___________

subject

object

View answer - Part

2. ὁ ξένος ___________

subject

object

View answer - Part

3. ἡ γῆ ___________

Page 150 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

subject

object

View answer - Part

4. τὸν θεόν ___________

subject

object

View answer - Part

 Vocabulary
 ἐπιστολή, -ῆς, ἡ letter
 ξένος, -ου, ὁ stranger, foreigner
 γῆ, -ῆς, ἡ land
 θεός, οῦ, ὁ god

View discussion - Part

Activity 10 Complete the sentence

Allow about 5 minutes

Select the words or phrases that could complete the following

sentence fragment:

Page 151 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

ὁ στρατηγὸς __________

τὸν στρατὸν ἄγει

ἄγει τὸν στρατὸν

[an object and a verb]

[a subject and a verb]

View answer - Part

 Vocabulary
 ἄγει leads (from ἄγω, I lead)
 στρατηγός, -οῦ, ὁ general
 στρατός, -οῦ, ὁ army

View discussion - Part

7 Forms of the article

Like Greek nouns, the shape of the Greek definite article (i.e. the
word ‘the’) varies according to its case (e.g. nominative, accusative
and genitive) and number (singular or plural). Unlike nouns its
shape also varies according to gender (masculine, feminine or
neuter; this course covers the first two).

Page 152 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

The nominative singular forms ὁ (masculine) and ἡ (feminine)

should be familiar from your study of dictionary forms.

 ἡ τιμή
 ὁ λόγος

The accusative singular forms are τόν (masculine) and τήν

(feminine).

 τὴν τιμήν
 τὸν λόγον

Study note
The article is a valuable tool for reading Greek. If you are unsure of
the case of a noun, the shape of the article might tip the balance in
favour of one case over another. This can be invaluable in the
early stages of learning Greek as a shortcut to identifying a noun’s
ending. For this reason, students of Greek are advised to
memorise the forms of the article as soon as possible, to observe
its shape carefully when reading, and to extract every drop of
information from it.

Activity 11 Identify the case

Allow about 5 minutes

Page 153 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Identify the case of the following pairs of articles and names.

Although some of the nouns belong to unfamiliar declensions, the
article provides enough information to answer the question.

τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον

nominative

accusative

View answer - Part

ὁ Μιλτιάδης

nominative

accusative

View answer - Part

τὴν Κλεοπάτραν

nominative

accusative

View answer - Part

τὸν Σωκράτη

Page 154 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

nominative

accusative

View answer - Part

ἡ Σαπφώ

nominative

accusative

View answer - Part

View discussion - Part

8 Alexander's dedication
An understanding of subjects, objects and the definite article will
help you to read the second line of Alexander’s inscription from
Priene.

Activity 12 Continuing to read the inscription

(1)
Allow about 5 minutes

First, remind yourself of the initial line:

βασιλεύς Ἀλέξανδρος

Page 155 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

King Alexander …

Both words are in the nominative case. What role, therefore, would
you expect ‘King Alexander’ to play in the sentence?

subject

object

View answer - Part

View discussion - Part

What else would you expect the sentence to contain?

View discussion - Part

The next word is the verb you would be expecting. ΑΝΕΘΗΚΕ

means ‘dedicated’.

βασιλεὺς Ἀλέξανδρος King Alexander

ἀνέθηκε dedicated …

Activity 13 Continuing to read the inscription (2)

Allow about 10 minutes

Try to find ΑΝΕΘΗΚΕ at the start of line 2.

Page 156 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Figure 1 First lines of the Priene block inscription

View description - Figure 1 First lines of the Priene block

inscription

Does the verb raise expectations of an object?

View discussion - Part

Examine the remaining part of the line:

ΤΟΝΝΑΟΝ

This series of letters is actually two words. Using your knowledge

of the definite article and case endings, where do you think the
word break falls?

View discussion - Part

What role do you think τὸν ναόν plays in the sentence?

Page 157 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

subject

object

View answer - Part

View discussion - Part

Using the dictionary entry provided, translate the first two lines of
the inscription:

βασιλεύς Ἀλέξανδρος

ἀνέθηκε τὸν ναόν

Vocabulary

ναός, -οῦ, ὁ temple

View discussion - Part

9 Local scripts
In the first centuries of the Greek alphabet, from the eighth to the
fifth centuries BCE, there was a great diversity of scripts, reflecting
a world of independent regions and city-states, under no overall
central direction or control. This diversity affected the shapes of
individual letters and also the number of letters used in different,

Page 158 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

local alphabets. The familiar 24-letter alphabet did not emerge fully
formed in the eighth century BCE, but was the result of a long
process of development, refinement and, eventually,
standardisation.

9.1 Athens
Some minor variations of letter forms can be observed on the
Themistocles ostraka, seen earlier in the course. Themistocles
was ostracised from Athens at the end of the 470s. Over 2,000
ostraka with his name have been found, including a group of 190
discovered in a well on the north slope of the Acropolis. This group
appears to have been written by a small number of individual
hands, which suggests that the ostraka were prepared in advance
for distribution to voters who were unable to write.

ΘΕΜΙΣΘΟΚΛΕΣ ΝΕΟΚΛΕΟΣ

Figure 2 Themistocles ostraka

Page 159 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

View description - Figure 2 Themistocles ostraka

Activity 14 Different letter forms

Allow about 5 minutes

Do you detect any differences between these letter forms and the
capitals you have learned? Look especially at theta, lambda and
sigma.

View discussion - Part

You have observed the use of a second theta instead of a tau in

Themistocles’ name. There is one other difference between
Themistocles’ name on the ostrakon and the standard, dictionary
form Θεμιστοκλῆς. Can you find it? (Hint: it relates to one of the
vowels.)

View discussion - Part

9.2 Crete
A much greater divergence from the standard Greek alphabet can
be observed on the Gortyn code, with some letters looking
surprisingly different from the standard forms they assumed later.
The code contains just 18 letters in total, which was perhaps the
full extent of the Cretan alphabet at the time.

Page 160 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Figure 3 The Gortyn code

View description - Figure 3 The Gortyn code

The reduced number of letters in the code can partly be explained

by the use of some letters to represent more than one sound:

 Ε (epsilon) was used for both short and long ‘e’, as at

Athens.

Page 161 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

 Ο (omicron) was used for both short and long ‘o’, as at

Athens.
 Π (pi) was used for Π (pi) and Φ (phi).
 Κ was used for Κ (kappa) and Χ (chi).

Activity 15 Examining the Gortyn code

Allow about 10 minutes

The letter Ξ (xi) was not used, but its sound was represented by
two letters. If you recall the sound of a ‘xi’, can you work out which
two?

View discussion - Part

The letter Ψ (psi) was also represented by two letters. Which

ones?

View discussion - Part

Now let us look for some unusual letter forms. Try to find:

 on line 2, a letter that looks like ‘C’

 on line 3, letters that look like ‘W’, ‘S’ and ‘M’

Recall that the top line in the photograph is written from left to right,
and that the direction of writing changes on alternate lines.

Page 162 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

View discussion - Part

Look at the last complete line, i.e. ignoring the final short line. Can
you find a letter that looks like ‘F’?

View discussion - Part

10 Summary
This session has introduced you to the accusative case. You have
learned how to use nominative and accusative case endings to
create a sentence of the form: Subject + Verb + Object. You have
also compared the different approaches of English and Greek to
signposting subjects and objects, through word order and word
ending respectively.

You have continued to explore the way Greek was written, by

looking at examples of the range of scripts in existence across the
Greek world before the end of the fifth-century BCE.

You should understand the following terms:

 subject
 object
 accusative case
 declension.

Page 163 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

You should understand how the following sentences work:

ὁ ἵππος διώκει τὸν ἄνθρωπον (‘the horse chases the man’)

τὸν ἵππον διώκει ὁ ἄνθρωπος (‘the man chases the horse’)

If you would like more practice with subjects and objects in Greek,
you can use the ‘Sentences’ section of the OU’s Introducing
Ancient Greek website.

You can now move on to Session 7.

Page 164 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Session 7: Subjects and

complements

Page 165 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Introduction
After reviewing the Subject + Verb + Object pattern, this session
introduces a second pattern: Subject + Verb + Complement. This
pattern lies behind sentences such as:

 The grass is green.

 Socrates is a philosopher.
 The book is on the table.

You will also be introduced to one of the most useful and important
of Greek verbs, εἰμί, ‘I am’.

Finally, you will conclude your study of Greek writing by examining

how the variety of scripts and letter forms across the Greek world
were eventually standardised into the form recognisable today.

1 Subject and object: recap

Before introducing complements, let us review subjects and
objects.

Activity 1 Complete the sentence

Allow about 5 minutes

Which word or phrase could complete the following sentence?

Page 166 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

ἡ Ἀφροδίτη φιλεῖ __________

 Vocabulary
 Ἀφροδίτη, -ης, ἡ Aphrodite
 φιλεῖ loves (from φιλέω, I love)
 κόρη, -ης, ἡ girl
 Ξάνθιππος, -ου, ὁ Xanthippos

τὴν κόρην

ἡ κόρη

τὸν Ξανθίππον

[a noun in the accusative case]

[a noun in the nominative case]

View answer - Activity 1 Complete the sentence

View discussion - Activity 1 Complete the sentence

2 Subject and complement

The following sentences illustrate a second pattern: Subject + Verb
+ Complement.

 Aphrodite is beautiful

Page 167 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

 Themistocles is a general
 The grass is green
 The citizens are unhappy

These sentences consist of three parts:

 a subject (e.g. ‘Aphrodite’ or ‘the citizens’)

 a ‘linking’ verb like ‘is’, or ‘are’
 a ‘complement’, describing the subject. The
complement is usually an adjective (e.g. ‘green’) or a
noun (‘a general’), but phrases are also possible, such
as ‘the book is on the table’.

Just a handful of verbs are able to ‘link’ subjects and complements.

Note that verbs that take objects, for instance ‘chases’, ‘eats’ or
‘loves’, do not have this capability.

Activity 2 Linking verbs

Allow about 5 minutes

In the sentence ‘The grass is green’, can you think of other ‘linking’
verbs that could replace ‘is’?

View discussion - Activity 2 Linking verbs

Page 168 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

A ‘linking’ verb is the main clue to a Subject + Verb + Complement

sentence, in Greek as well as English. A form of the verb ‘to be’,
such as ‘is’, ‘are’ or ‘was’ is the most common. This is the verb that
will be concentrated on here.

A second clue is that a complement, unlike an object, provides a

description of the subject. The relationship between subject and
complement is often close, as between ‘Aphrodite’ and ‘beautiful’
or ‘Themistocles’ and ‘a general’.

Activity 3 Objects or complements?

Allow about 5 minutes

Are the highlighted words or phrases objects or complements?

The sky is blue.

object

complement

View answer - Part

The girl opened the door.

object

complement

Page 169 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

View answer - Part

The horse appears contented.

object

complement

View answer - Part

Hera is the wife of Zeus.

object

complement

View answer - Part

The horse chases the man.

object

complement

View answer - Part

The gods are angry.

object

Page 170 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

complement

View answer - Part

View discussion - Part

Which options could complete these sentences?

The soldiers are __________.

brave

cowards

[a subject]

[an object]

[a complement]

View answer - Part

View discussion - Part

3 εἰμί, I am
The verb ‘to be’, along with its forms such as ‘am’, ‘is’, ‘are’ or
‘was’, is the most common linking verb in Greek. Here are three
forms of the present tense, which indicates a state of affairs in the

Page 171 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

present (‘is/are’) rather than the past (‘was’) or the future (‘will be’).
The complete list of all the forms of a verb is called its
‘conjugation’.

 εἰμί I am
 ἐστί(ν) he/she/it is
 εἰσί(ν) they are

Recall that Greek does not need to state the personal pronoun
explicitly. Personal pronouns such as ἐγώ (‘I’) are supplied only for
emphasis. The letter nu in brackets following ἐστί and εἰσί (so-
called ‘movable nu’) is used when the next word begins with a
vowel, or at the end of a sentence.

The complement takes the same case as the subject, i.e. the
nominative case:

ὁ Θεμιστοκλῆς ἐστι στρατηγός

Themistocles is a general

If the complement is an adjective, it also ‘agrees with’ its subject in

gender and number as well as case. This is the grammatical
concept of ‘agreement’. This course won’t go into adjectives in
detail here, but the endings of some adjectives, like καλός
(‘beautiful) are almost identical to the endings of the definite article:

Page 172 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Aphrodite is beautiful

ἡ Ἀφροδίτη ἐστὶ καλή

The teachers are wise

οἱ διδάσκαλοί εἰσι σοφοί

The plans are foolish

αἱ βουλαί εἰσι μῶραι

As usual, Greek word order can be flexible:

ὁ Θεμιστοκλῆς στρατηγός ἐστιν

καλή ἐστι ἡ Ἀφροδίτη

Activity 4 Forms of εἰμί

Allow about 5 minutes

Which form of εἰμί would be needed to translate the verb in these

sentences?

Aphrodite is wise.

Page 173 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

εἰμί

ἐστί

εἰσί

View answer - Part

Socrates is wise.

εἰμί

ἐστί

εἰσί

View answer - Part

The gods are wise.

εἰμί

ἐστί

εἰσί

View answer - Part

I am wise.

Page 174 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

εἰμί

ἐστί

εἰσί

View answer - Part

Which word could complete this sentence?

ὁ Ξάνθιππός ἐστι __________.

 Vocabulary
 Ξάνθιππος, -ου, ὁ Xanthippos
 δοῦλος, -ου, ὁ slave

δοῦλος

δοῦλον

View answer - Part

View discussion - Part

4 Boundary stones
Boundary stones were an important feature of ancient Greece,
marking the ownership of land and the transition from one type of
space to another, e.g. from public to private. Two inscribed marble

Page 175 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

stones have been found on the west side of the Athenian agora
(‘marketplace’), the civic and commercial hub of Athens. It was
important to define the boundaries of the agora, as it was both
public land and sacred space. Some individuals were not allowed
to enter, including certain convicted criminals and young men who
had not yet carried out their military service.

Figure 1 Athenian boundary stones

View description - Figure 1 Athenian boundary stones

Activity 5 Reading the boundary stones

Allow about 10 minutes

Remember that the inscriptions on the two stones are identical,

although the words have been inscribed in different directions. The
text begins:

ΗΟΡΟΣΕΙΜΙ

This is two words. Using your knowledge of the Greek verb ‘I am’,
try to identify the position of the word break.

View discussion - Part

Page 176 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Next, using the vocabulary provided, try to translate the first two
words:

ὅρος εἰμί

 Vocabulary
 ὅρος, -ου, ὁ limit, boundary

View discussion - Part

Now, examine the whole inscription:

ὅρος εἰμὶ τῆς ἀγορᾶς

Using the definite article, identify the case of τῆς ἀγορᾶς.

nominative

accusative

genitive

View answer - Part

Finally, observing that τῆς ἀγορᾶς is in the genitive case, can you
translate the inscription?

View discussion - Part

Page 177 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

There must have been many boundary stones throughout Athens

and the surrounding countryside. In the early sixth century BCE,
the Athenian lawgiver Solon claimed to have freed the earth by
removing ‘the boundary stones (ὅρους) fixed in many places’. This
somewhat obscure claim hints at a programme of radical social
reform involving changes to the ownership of land. It was certainly
controversial, as we can tell from Solon’s surviving poetry. Indeed,
Solon even portrayed his own role in the controversy as that of a
ὅρος, standing as an impartial mediator between two opposing
parties, one of whom thought he had gone too far and the other,
not far enough.

5 καλός inscriptions
The verb ‘is’ or ‘are’ can be omitted in Greek if the meaning is
clear.

ὁ παῖς καλός

The boy is beautiful

Here the verb is implied and must be assumed by the reader. The
Subject + Verb + Complement pattern can clarify how this works:

 ὁ παῖς: noun in the nominative case, i.e. subject

 <ἐστί>: linking verb, omitted

Page 178 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

 καλός: masculine, singular, nominative adjective, i.e.

complement

The construction is perhaps more natural in Greek because of the

use of case endings. Even without the verb ἐστί, the nominative
cases imply a grammatical link between ‘the boy’ and ‘beautiful’.
English, by contrast, needs to make the verb explicit. The non-
standard English phrase ‘he beautiful’, while just about intelligible,
would draw attention to itself in a way that ὁ παῖς καλός does not.

The inscription ὁ παῖς καλός is taken from a Greek vase. A number

of these so-called ‘καλός inscriptions’ praising youthful beauty
survive from the sixth and fifth centuries, with more than 300 found
on Athenian vases. The subject of a καλός inscription is usually
named and generally male, although a few female names are
found. The named individual is not usually the figure depicted on
the vase, which means the inscription is not a label but probably
refers to a contemporary youth. Some names, such as Miltiades,
are familiar from historical events, although it is difficult to prove a
connection between a historical figure and a καλός inscription.

Activity 6 καλός inscriptions

Allow about 5 minutes

Part 1

Page 179 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Here are a few examples of καλός inscriptions. The adjective, as

usual, agrees with its noun in gender, number and case. Identify
each individual as male or female.

Ἵππαρχος καλός

male

female

View answer - Part

Κορώνη καλή

male

female

View answer - Part

Λέαγρος καλός

male

female

View answer - Part

Μέμνων καλός

Page 180 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

male

female

View answer - Part

Ῥοδῶπις καλή

male

female

View answer - Part

View discussion - Part

Part 2
Which form of the adjective would complete the following καλός
inscriptions?

ἡ κόρη __________

καλός

καλή

View answer - Part

Μιλτιάδης __________

Page 181 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

καλός

καλή

View answer - Part

View discussion - Part

6 Beatitudes
Our final example of Greek subjects and complements is from the
Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew. Knowledge of
Greek can help to illuminate an otherwise puzzling feature of some
translations. If you turn to the King James Version, you will find:

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of

heaven

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth

Matthew 5:3-5

Modern printing conventions imply that the words in italics should

be spoken with emphasis, even though ‘are’ does not appear to be

Page 182 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

an especially significant word. To understand the purpose of the

italics, it is necessary to check the translation against the Greek
text.

The first half of the first line reads:

μακάριοι (blessed) οἱ πτωχοὶ (the poor) τῷ πνεύματι (in spirit)

 Vocabulary
 μακάριος blessed, happy, fortunate
 πνεῦμα, -ατος, τό wind, breath, spirit
 πτωχός, -οῦ, ὁ beggar

Activity 7 Examining the translation

Allow about 5 minutes

In the translation ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit’, which English

word has no counterpart in the Greek text?

View discussion - Part

If the word ‘are’ had been present in the Greek text, what form
would it have taken?

ἐστίν

εἰσίν

Page 183 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

View answer - Part

View discussion - Part

With the verb εἰσί supplied, what kind of sentence pattern is this?

Subject Verb Object

Subject Verb Complement

View answer - Part

View discussion - Part

Italicisation has been used to mark words in the English translation

that are not present in the Greek. This is a good example of the
difficulties of translating from one language into another. As you
saw with καλός inscriptions, the omission of ‘is’ or ‘are’ comes
naturally and idiomatically to Greek. It does not work at all in
English, which is why the translation needs an additional word. In
the King James Bible the translators have scrupulously marked
these additions with italics. Italicisation does, therefore, mark
emphasis, but of a rather unusual kind.

Perhaps you know the opening lines of the Sermon on the Mount
as ‘the Beatitudes’. The term comes from the Latin ‘beatus’
(‘happy’ or ‘blessed’) and describes a statement that begins

Page 184 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

‘Blessed is the one who …’. ‘Beatus’ was a translation into Latin of
the Greek word μακάριος. Another word for a ‘beatitude’, derived
from Greek, is a ‘macarism’.

7 The standardisation of the alphabet

The version of the Greek alphabet in use today is the East Ionic,
which possesses, among other features, the letters eta and omega
that other versions lacked. It could therefore offer, in some
respects, a more exact representation of spoken Greek.

Ionia refers to an area on the west coast of Turkey, with strong

links to Athens. The adoption of the Ionic alphabet by the
Athenians for official documents in 403/2 BCE was a decisive step
towards a standard alphabet for all Greeks. We know the date of
this change because it is recorded as having taken place in the
archonship of Euclides. (The archonship was an annual office at
Athens which ran from one summer to the next, in the case of
Euclides from mid-403 to mid-402. This is why dates in Greek
history sometimes straddle two years.) The change seems to have
been part of a wider reorganisation of Athenian public life following
defeat in the Peloponnesian War and a bloody, short-lived
experiment with oligarchic rule under a group known as ‘The Thirty
Tyrants’.

Page 185 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

The conquests of Alexander (d. 323 BCE) consolidated and spread

the use of the Ionic alphabet, reaching areas previously little
influenced by Greek culture. It was this world that the Romans
encountered when Roman and Greek history became entangled
from the third century BCE onwards. The spread of the alphabet
can be seen in the maps from the course introduction.

Some of the differences between the Ionic and Athenian alphabets

can be illustrated by the boundary stones.

Figure 1 (repeated) Athenian boundary stones

View description - Figure 1 (repeated) Athenian boundary

stones

Activity 8 Reading the boundary stones

Allow about 10 minutes

Look for the letter gamma on the boundary stone, using the text
below as a guide:

ὅρος εἰμὶ τῆς ἀγορᾶς

I am a boundary of the agora

Page 186 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

How does the shape of gamma on the stone differ from the
standard form?

View discussion - Part

On the right-hand boundary stone, how many of the following

features of the Athenian alphabet and letter forms can you detect?

1. the use of a symbol ‘H’ to represent an ‘h’ sound

2. the use of epsilon to represent both short and long ‘e’
3. sigma written with 3 lines instead of 4.

View discussion - Part

Finally, look again at the inscription from Priene, from the latter
part of the fourth century when the Ionic alphabet had become
standard.

Figure 2 First lines of the Priene block inscription

Page 187 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

View description - Figure 2 First lines of the Priene block

inscription

Find an example of eta and epsilon. Use the text below as a guide:

βασιλεὺς Ἀλέξανδρος ἀνέθηκε τὸν ναόν

View discussion - Part

8 Summary
This session has presented a new clause pattern: Subject + Verb +
Complement. It has also introduced you to the linking verb εἰμί and
the concept of agreement between nouns and adjectives.

In addition, you have looked briefly at how the original diversity of

Greek scripts gave way to a standardised form of the alphabet.

You should understand the following terms:

 complement
 agreement

You should understand how the following sentences work in

Greek:

 ὁ Θεμιστοκλῆς ἐστι στρατηγός

 Themistocles is a general

Page 188 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

 ἡ Ἀφροδίτη ἐστὶ καλή

 Aphrodite is beautiful

You can now move on to Session 8.

Page 189 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Session 8: Reading Greek

Page 190 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Introduction
Session 8 offers an opportunity to take stock, to review what you
have learned and to consider your next steps.

It begins with a final look at Alexander’s dedication of the temple of

Athena Polias, introducing a new case and recapitulating some
points from earlier in the course. The rest of the session then
provides a summary and overview of the process of reading
Greek. It outlines the relevant areas of language and the skills
needed to understand a Greek text. Some, such as reading the
alphabet, should be reasonably familiar by now. Others will take
more time and practice. All of these skills have been touched upon
in the course, even if only briefly. This final section will be of
particular interest to those intending to study ancient Greek in
greater depth.

1 Alexander’s dedication
Let us conclude the study of Alexander’s dedication by examining
the third line:

βασιλεὺς Ἀλέξανδρος King Alexander

ἀνέθηκε τὸν ναὸν dedicated the temple

Page 191 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Ἀθηναίῃ Πολιάδι

Figure 1 First lines of the Priene block inscription

View description - Figure 1 First lines of the Priene block

inscription

Understanding the phrase Ἀθηναίῃ Πολιάδι requires an

understanding of the dative case. An example of a dative from the
New Testament was presented in Session 6 in the discussion of
word order:

ταῦτα [these things] γράφω [write I] ὑμῖν [unto you]

The personal pronoun ὑμῖν is in the dative case. It is the equivalent

of ‘unto you’, or, in contemporary English, ‘to you’. In the early
stages of learning Greek you can think of the dative as the ‘to’ or

Page 192 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

‘for’ case, although further study would reveal a wider range of

uses.

Activity 1 Replace the verb

Allow about 5 minutes

In the following sentence, can you think of English verbs that could
replace ‘write’ without making the sentence ungrammatical? One
example would be ‘donate’.

 I write these things to you.

View discussion - Activity 1 Replace the verb

Verbs of ‘giving’, ‘saying’ or ‘showing’ frequently imply a dative

case because they describe an act involving a recipient, i.e.
someone to whom a thing is given, said or shown. Indeed, the term
‘dative’ derives from the Latin word ‘to give’ (‘do’, which rhymes
with ‘oh’). The noun in the dative case is called the indirect object.
It answers the question, ‘To whom did she give/show/tell it’? The
thing given, which so far has been referred to simply as ‘the object’
is, strictly speaking, the direct object.

Activity 2 Direct object case

Allow about 5 minutes

Page 193 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

The case of the indirect object is the dative. What is the case of the
direct object?

nominative

accusative

genitive

dative

View answer - Activity 2 Direct object case

View discussion - Activity 2 Direct object case

The dative case endings for τιμή and λόγος are:

Table 1 Dative case endings

τιμή, honour (1st declension)

singular plural
dative τιμῇ τιμαῖς
λόγος, word (2nd declension)
singular plural
dative λόγῳ λόγοις

Activity 3 Recall the mark

Allow about 5 minutes

Page 194 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Do you recall (from Session 1) the name of the mark underneath

the final vowels of τιμῇ and λόγῳ?

View discussion - Part

Using the notes provided and your knowledge of the dative case,
complete the translation of the dedication.

βασιλεὺς Ἀλέξανδρος King Alexander

ἀνέθηκε τὸν ναὸν dedicated the temple

Ἀθηναίῃ Πολιάδι

 Notes
 Ἀθηναίῃ Πολιάδι is the dative form of Ἀθηναία Πολιάς,
the goddess ‘Athena Polias’ or ‘Athena Guardian of
the City’. Ἀθηναία is an alternative form of Ἀθήνη.

View discussion - Part

2 Reading skills
A central aim of learning Greek is to be able to read Greek texts
with accuracy, fluency, understanding and enjoyment. This
involves bringing together skills across a range of different areas of
language. An experienced reader will apply these skills intuitively,
without thinking much about them. You might like to compare your

Page 195 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

own experiences of reading in your native language. Explicit

thoughts about grammar and vocabulary tend to arise only in case
of problems – an unfamiliar word, for instance, or a mistake in a
text.

A learner, on the other hand, needs to take a slower, step-by-step

approach, mixing reading with the study of grammar and
vocabulary. The areas of language most relevant to the study of
Greek are laid out below:

 the alphabet
 sounds
 word shape
 syntax
 meaning
 context.

Further study of the first two will mostly be a matter of

consolidation and refining details. It is the other four areas that
tend to occupy students of Greek. A good course will help you to
broaden and deepen your understanding of all of them, helping
you to read independently and to make your own explorations
within the vast world of Greek writing. This course had discussed
these areas briefly and separately, but the key is to bring them all

Page 196 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

together. It is only through reading (and rereading) Greek that you

can really begin to absorb everything.

2.1 The alphabet

The alphabet was introduced in Session 1, and reinforced in
Sessions 2 and 3 through speaking and writing. These should
provide you with a good working knowledge. Going forward, the
experience of reading Greek, and perhaps writing it, will help your
knowledge to become second nature.

Activity 4 Problematic letters

Allow about 5 minutes

Think back to the beginning of the course, and to any letters that
were difficult to remember or confusing. Are there any letters that
still cause problems?

View discussion - Activity 4 Problematic letters

Hints and tips

Two areas that usually need additional work are:

 Capital letters: these can cause problems because

they appear less frequently than their lower-case
counterparts. It is worth keeping capitals under

Page 197 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

review, especially those that differ significantly from

lower case. Delta (Δ) and lambda (Λ), for instance,
are often confused.
 Breathings: when reading, the main difficulty is
remembering to pronounce the rough breathing.
When writing, the main difficulty is to remember to
include a breathing at all, and to place it on the
second letter of a word that starts with a diphthong,
like εἰμί, ‘I am’.

Finally, can you recite the alphabet yet? If asked to look up the
words ζωή, θύρα and ξίφος in a dictionary, would you be able to
find them?

2.2 Sounds
The sounds of Greek were covered in Session 2, which presented
a reconstruction of fifth-century BCE pronunciation, but also
emphasised the need to be pragmatic, and the importance of
speaking clearly and with confidence.

Hints and tips

Areas that might need further practice once you have grasped the
basics of pronunciation include:

Page 198 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

1. breathings, in particular spotting the rough breathing

(Section 2 of Session 2)
2. diphthongs (Section 6 of Session 2)
3. gamma in combination with gamma, kappa, xi or chi
(Section 6 of Session 2)

Activity 5 Test your listening

Allow about 5 minutes

Can you hear the difference between these?

τὸ ὄρος the mountain

Audio content is not available in this format.

ὁ ὅρος the boundary stone

Audio content is not available in this format.

Can you pronounce diphthongs, as in these words?

Ἀθηναῖος Athenian

Audio content is not available in this format.

δεῖπνον meal

Audio content is not available in this format.

Page 199 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

πλοῖον vessel

Audio content is not available in this format.

Can you pronounce the gamma correctly in these words?

ἐγγύς near

Audio content is not available in this format.

ὄγκος burden

Audio content is not available in this format.

The main advice for readers of Greek is to spend a little time

reading aloud, familiarising yourself with the sound and rhythms of
the language. That is especially important with poetry, including
Greek drama, but Greek prose has rhythmic patterns of its own
and was also intended to be heard as much as read.

2.3 Word shape

Word endings play a central role in inflected languages like Greek.
The following endings were introduced in Sessions 4-7:

 the definite article, ὁ, ἡ, τό

 the nouns τιμή and λόγος
 some forms of the adjective καλός, ή, όν

Page 200 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

 -ω and -ει endings of verbs, e.g. διώκω, ‘I chase’ and

διώκει, ‘he/she/it chases’
 some forms of the verb εἰμί, ‘I am’.

The technical term for the study of word endings is morphology,

from μορφή (shape) and λόγος (word). ‘Shape’ is the correct term,
because words sometimes change in the middle (like English
‘goose/geese’, or ‘run/ran’) or at the beginning (Greek verbs do this
to mark a change of tense).

Hints and tips

 Word endings are a means to an end, the end being to
read Greek. For a reader, spotting the endings is a
crucial first step, but drawing out their implications is
the goal. This is why morphology needs to be studied
alongside other areas of language and observed in
practice through the reading of Greek.
 The definite article deserves special attention as it
shows the gender, number and case of the noun with
which it agrees. It can therefore provide clues about
nouns, even if their endings are unfamiliar. There is
also a substantial overlap between its endings and
those of certain nouns and adjectives, notably τιμή,
λόγος, and καλός.

Page 201 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Activity 6 Unfamiliar endings

Allow about 5 minutes

These activities contain nouns with unfamiliar endings. Use the

article to answer the following questions.

 Vocabulary
 βασιλέυς, -έως, ὁ king
 γέρων, -οντος, ὁ old man
 Λητώ, -οῦς, ἡ Leto (the mother of Apollo and
Artemis)
 ναύτης, -ου, ὁ sailor
 νύξ, νυκτός, ἡ night

Part 1
What is the case of these nouns?

τοῦ βασιλέως

nominative

accusative

genitive

View answer - Part 1

Page 202 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

ἡ Λητώ

nominative

accusative

genitive

View answer - Part

τὴν νύκτα

nominative

accusative

genitive

View answer - Part

Part 2
What is the number of these nouns? Singular or plural?

οἱ γέροντες

singular

plural

Page 203 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

View answer - Part 2

ὁ ναύτης

singular

plural

View answer - Part

ἡ νύξ

singular

plural

View answer - Part

Part 3
What is the gender of these nouns?

ἡ νύξ

masculine

feminine

neuter

Page 204 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

View answer - Part 3

τὸν ναύτην

masculine

feminine

neuter

View answer - Part

2.4 Syntax
Syntax covers the rules for combining individual words into larger
units such as phrases, clauses or sentences. An understanding of
syntax helps you to recognise which combinations of words are
allowed and which can be ruled out. The study of syntax and
morphology is what is traditionally understood by the term
‘grammar’.

Three combinations have been introduced:

 A phrase consisting of two nouns, one in the genitive

case:
 ἄγγελος θεοῦ a
messenger of god (or god’s messenger)

Page 205 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

 Ἀλέξανδρος
Φιλίππου Alexander [son] of
Philip
 Two basic sentence patterns:
 Subject + Verb + Direct Object:
 ὁ ἄνθρωπος διώκει τὸν ἵππον the
man chases the horse
 Subject + Verb + Complement:
 ἡ Ἀφροδίτη ἐστὶ
καλή Aphrodite is beautiful

The beginning of this session also showed how certain verbs, such
as ‘dedicate’, raise the prospect of an indirect object as well as a
direct object.

Hints and tips

A feel for syntax can help you understand how a sentence might
unfold, to make predictions about what could come next and to
know when a sentence is complete.

Activity 7 Test your knowledge of syntax

Allow about 5 minutes

What is the basic minimum you can expect a sentence to contain?

Page 206 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Subject + Verb + Direct Object

Subject + Verb

Subject + Verb + Complement

View answer - Part

View discussion - Part

Look at the short list of verbs below and imagine coming across
them in a sentence. Which of these verbs raises the expectation
that the sentence contains a direct object?

 sleeps
 happens
 eats
 is

View discussion - Part

Which of these verbs raises the expectation of a complement?

sleeps

happens

eats

Page 207 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

is

View answer - Part

View discussion - Part

What could complete the following sentence?

ὁ Περικλῆς ἄγει __________

 Vocabulary
 Περικλῆς, -έους, ὁ Pericles
 ἄγει leads (from ἄγω, I lead)
 στρατός, -οῦ, ὁ army
 οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι the Athenians (nominative
plural)
 τοὺς Ἀθηναίους the accusative plural of οἱ
Ἀθηναῖοι

[a noun in the nominative case]

[a noun in the accusative case]

τὸν στρατόν

οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι

τοὺς Ἀθηναίους

Page 208 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

View answer - Part

View discussion - Part

2.5 Meaning
Syntax and morphology describe the internal workings of language
and the rules for putting words together into larger units. To reach
beyond words to the world outside requires something extra. The
following utterances are syntactically the same, consisting as they
do of a subject, a verb and a complement. But thanks to the
meaning of the words, the consequences of saying them are
different:

 The book is on the table.

 The house is on fire!

The difference here is one of meaning. It is meaning that allows

speakers to do things with words: to describe, question, teach,
persuade, amuse, frighten, annoy, to warn someone to flee a
burning building … almost anything in fact.

The study of meaning is the field of ‘semantics’, from the Greek

verb σημαίνω, ‘I show’ or ‘I point’. For students of language,
studying meaning usually takes the form of learning vocabulary.
That is reasonable, especially in the early stages when vocabulary

Page 209 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

is limited. It is worth recalling, however, that larger units such as

sentences have meanings that cannot be reduced to the meanings
of their individual words (this was covered in Session 6).

Some examples of vocabulary have been provided throughout the

course. Can you remember the meanings of these words,
presented in Section 5 of Session 4?

 ἄγγελος
 γῆ
 θεός
 ἵππος
 λόγος
 νίκη
 ποταμός

You were also introduced to the dictionary forms of nouns in

Sessions 5 and 6.

Hints and tips

If you already have experience of learning a second language, you
have probably developed some preferred techniques for learning
vocabulary. If an idea has worked well for you in the past, consider
whether it could be applied to ancient Greek.

Page 210 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Here are a few suggestions, but the list is certainly not exhaustive:

1. Use flash cards to test your recall. These could be of

the traditional, paper-based variety, or you could
search online for electronic versions.
2. Use English derivations as a prompt.
3. Experiment with a combination of reading, writing and
speaking. If a word will not stick, try writing it down. Or
repeat it aloud a number of times.
4. As you start to read longer chunks of Greek, look for
little phrases or sentences containing the word you
wish to learn. Seeing a word in use, within a larger
context, might be more memorable than seeing it in
isolation.
5. Review words in groups. There are many possible
types of arrangement, including:
a.grammatical type: e.g. nouns, verbs and
adjectives
b.words with similar roots (e.g. ναῦς, ship;
ναύτης, sailor; ναυτικόν, fleet)
c.words with related meanings, like ‘speech’
(e.g. λέγω, I say; ἀγγέλλω, I announce;
φωνή, voice) or ‘warfare’ (στρατηγός,
general; στρατός, army)

Page 211 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

d.words from particular authors or works.

2.6 Context
Meaning also depends upon context, which tends to be implicit
rather than explicit. The statement, ‘The house is on fire!’ is, on the
surface, a description of a state of affairs. Yet it is clearly more
than a description. It is an urgent warning and much the same as
an instruction to ‘Get out!’ or ‘Call the fire brigade!’. The context
here is a general, background understanding of the way the world
works – that burning buildings are to be avoided and fires to be
extinguished.

Other contexts are more culturally specific. A wide range of

background information can be used to interpret a Greek text:
mythology, history, literature, philosophy, religion, archaeology,
architecture, art, geography and so on. Some contexts are quite
detailed. This course has hinted at a few of them: the
representation of Ajax and Achilles on vase paintings, the use of
coins to project the image of Greek rulers, the layout of ancient
Athens, the nature of writing in the ancient world, and the practice
of ostracism. All aspects of Greek life are potentially relevant for a
rounded, three-dimensional understanding of a piece of Greek.
The study of Greek language and Greek culture are mutually
reinforcing, with each potentially shedding light upon the other.

Page 212 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Contexts fall under the area of language study called ‘pragmatics’,

a term derived from the Greek word πρᾶγμα, ‘thing’ or ‘deed’.
Pragmatics focuses on how language is used in practice rather
than in the abstract.

Hints and tips

The study of context and background provides an opportunity to
draw from your own interests and areas of expertise. These might
be related to previous study of ancient Greece, but they could
come from other disciplines and experiences. This kind of cross-
fertilisation of ideas can be productive and is to be encouraged.

2.7 Putting it all together

This final session has discussed six areas of language study:

 the alphabet
 sounds
 word shape
 syntax
 meaning
 context.

For convenience, they have been treated separately, but in reality

they all work together to create a piece of meaningful Greek. Two

Page 213 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

letters could form a word ending; the ending could indicate the
case of a noun; the case affects the way in which the word fits into
a sentence; that in turn affects the meaning of the sentence as a
whole. All these aspects of language need to be brought together
when reading.

Session 6 contained walkthroughs of short texts, demonstrating

one approach and suggesting some questions that might help a
reader to work their way through a text. Ultimately, the aim is
simply to read, but a slower, more deliberative approach may be
helpful in the early stages of learning.

3 Closing thoughts
Congratulations, you have now completed this course!

Whatever your plans for future study, hopefully this course has
provided a helpful and enjoyable introduction to ancient Greek and
its place within ancient Greek life and society.

You should now be able to:

 read the letters of the ancient Greek alphabet

 recall a small set of ancient Greek words and their
meanings in English

Page 214 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

 read and understand simple sentences in ancient

Greek
 understand some of the historical and geographical
context of ancient Greek
 feel more confident about embarking on independent
study of ancient Greek.

Further study
If you would like to continue your studies, you can do this with the
Open University, including formal study options:

 Learning Ancient Greek

 BA (Honours) Arts and Humanities (Classical
Studies)

You can also keep learning right here on OpenLearn. There are
over 1000 courses to choose from, including:

 Discovering Ancient Greek and Latin

 Introducing the classical world
 Introducing Homer's Iliad

Page 215 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

References
Herodotus, The Histories, trans. A. De Sélincourt (1954)
Harmondsworth, Penguin.

Page 216 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Acknowledgements
This free course was written by Jeremy Taylor, with contributions
from Christine Plastow and James Robson.

This free course was written by Jeremy Taylor, with contributions

from Christine Plastow and James Robson.

Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms
and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0
Licence.

The material acknowledged below is Proprietary and used under

licence (not subject to Creative Commons Licence). Grateful
acknowledgement is made to the following sources for permission
to reproduce material in this free course:

Introduction

Activity 1: Maps illustrating the spread of the Greek language: 700

BCE–end of the classical era. (Adapted from Taplin, O. (ed.)
(2000) Literature in the Greek and Roman Worlds, Oxford, Oxford
University Press, pp. 7–11.)

Session 1

Page 217 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Figure 1: CM Dixon/Heritage Images

Figure 2: © The Trustees of the British Museum;

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Session 2

Figure 1: Photo: Antikensammlung der Staatlichen Museen zu

Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz; Photographer: Johannes
Laurentius;
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/de/deed.en

Figure 2: Leemage; Getty Images

Activity 6: Cuckoo: Rajukhan Pathan; Pexels; Sheep: Pixabay;

Pexels; Dog: Pixabay; Pexels; Owl: Pixabay; Pexels; Frog: Mali
Maeder; Pexels

Session 3

Figure 1: © British Library Board: Origin:

http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?
ref=add_ms_34186_f001r

Figures 3 and 5: © The Trustees of the British Museum;

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Figure 4: Science History Images; Alamy Stock Photo

Page 218 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Figure 6: DEA PICTURE LIBRARY; Getty Images

Figure 7: Arterra; Universal Collection; Getty Images

Session 5

Figure 1: Science History Images; Alamy Stock Photo and : © The

Trustees of the British Museum;
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Figure 2: CM Dixon/Heritage Images

Figure 3: ASCSA.net; Museum Guide (2014), p. 67, fig. 39. Guide

(2010), p. 55, fig 26.

Figure 4: Alinari Archives, Florence

Figure 5: Josephine Powell, Rome; Encyclopædia Britannica

Session 6

Figure 1: © The Trustees of the British Museum;

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Figure 2: Leemage; Getty Images

Figure 3: Josephine Powell, Rome; Encyclopædia Britannica

Session 7

Page 219 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Figure 1: ASCSA.net; Museum Guide (2014), p. 67, fig. 39. Guide

(2010), p. 55, fig 26.

Figure 2: © The Trustees of the British Museum;

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Session 8

Figure 1: © The Trustees of the British Museum;

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Every effort has been made to contact copyright owners. If any

have been inadvertently overlooked, the publishers will be pleased
to make the necessary arrangements at the first opportunity.

Don't miss out

If reading this text has inspired you to learn more, you may be
interested in joining the millions of people who discover our free
learning resources and qualifications by visiting The Open
University – www.open.edu/openlearn/free-courses.

Page 220 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Solutions
Activity 1 Three maps
Discussion
The Greek language was spoken wherever Greek communities
settled and flourished. In addition to the area covered by modern
Greece, these include parts of Turkey, Sicily, Southern Italy and
North Africa (Map 1).

Greek extended its reach after the conquests of Alexander the

Great (356-323 BCE), when it became the language of culture and
administration across the eastern Mediterranean and beyond.
Egypt was of particular importance thanks to the foundation of
Alexandria in 331 BCE and, subsequently, the great library
established there by Ptolemy I (d. 282 BCE). Significant libraries
were also created at Pergamon and Antioch, both in Turkey (Map
2).

Under the Roman empire, the Greek-speaking world was

consolidated around the Eastern Mediterranean, where it
continued as the language of culture and imperial administration
(Map 3). The ‘Greek’ (eastern) and ‘Latin’ (western) halves of the
Roman empire eventually separated in 395 CE, with each having

Page 221 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

its own emperor. The ‘Greek’ half survived the deposition of the
last emperor in the West (476 CE), metamorphosing into the
Byzantine Empire, which lasted until 1453 CE.

Back to - Activity 1 Three maps

Activity 2 Broken pottery

Discussion
The politician’s name is ‘Kimon’ (also spelled ‘Cimon’ in English).
The ostrakon would have been inscribed during an ‘ostracism’, a
process during which Athenian citizens, a group restricted to adult
males, cast votes for a citizen to be exiled for ten years. If at least
6,000 votes in total were cast, then the citizen with the most votes
was ‘ostracised’ (or, on an alternative interpretation, 6,000 votes
had to be cast against a single individual).

More than 10,000 ostraka have been unearthed at excavations in

Athens, in the agora (the marketplace or forum), which was a
centre of Athenian civic life and commerce, and in the
Kerameikos (the ‘Potters’ Quarter’).

Cimon was ostracised in 461 BCE, after the failure of his policy of
pursuing friendly relations between Athens and Sparta.

Back to - Activity 2 Broken pottery

Page 222 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Activity 3 Ostrakon continued

Discussion
The word is ‘Miltiado’ (Μιλτιαδο), a form of the Greek name
Miltiades (Μιλτιαδης). The ostrakon reads ‘Kimon, son of
Miltiades’ (literally, ‘Kimon, of Miltiades’).

Miltiades was an Athenian general at the battle of Marathon, which

took place on the shore near Athens against a Persian
expeditionary force in 490 BCE. He is mentioned a number of
times by the Greek historian Herodotus in his Histories,
composed around 430 BCE.

Back to - Activity 3 Ostrakon continued

Activity 4 Letters with no English

equivalent
Discussion
Your list should include at least the consonants:

 θ, Θ (theta)
 φ, Φ (phi)
 χ, Χ (chi)
 ψ, Ψ (psi)

Page 223 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

There are also two versions of ‘e’ and ‘o’, a short and a long:

 ε, Ε (epsilon) and η, Η (eta)

 ο, Ο (omicron) and ω, Ω (omega)

Omicron just means ‘little o’ (μικρος, mikros = small), while omega

is ‘big o’ (μεγας, megas = large).

You might need to give these letters extra attention in the initial
stages of learning the alphabet.

Back to - Activity 4 Letters with no English equivalent

Activity 5 False friends

Discussion
Your list might differ from the one presented here, but it probably
includes some of the following letters:

 γ (gamma)
 ν (nu)
 ρ (rho)
 σ (sigma), but sigma at the end of a word (ς) looks
more familiar
 χ (chi)
 ω (omega)

Page 224 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Perhaps you also identified these capitals:

 Η (eta)
 Ρ (rho, again)
 Υ (upsilon)
 X (chi, again)

Back to - Activity 5 False friends

Activity 6 Pairing names

Part
Answer
The correct matches are:

Αθηναι

Athens

Δηλος

Delos

Θηβαι

Thebes

Page 225 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Κορινθος

Corinth

Σικελια

Sicily

Χιος

Chios

Back to - Part

Discussion
The words in brackets below are the Greek letters represented in
English. These ‘transliterations’, which are helpful guides for
students new to the alphabet, are presented in more detail in the
next section.

 Αθηναι (Athēnai) = Athens

 Δηλος (Dēlos) = the island of Delos
 Θηβαι (Thēbai) = Thebes
 Κορινθος (Korinthos) = Corinth
 Σικελια (Sikelia) = Sicily
 Χιος (Chios) = the island of Chios

Page 226 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
The correct matches are:

Αιγυπτιοι

Egyptians

Βαβυλωνιοι

Babylonians

Λακεδαιμόνιοι

Lacedaimonians

Περσαι

Persians

Ρωμαιοι

Romans

Φοίνικες

Page 227 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Phoenicians

Back to - Part

Discussion
Here are the answers with transliterations in brackets:

 Αιγυπτιοι (Aiguptioi) = Egyptians

 Βαβυλωνιοι (Babulо̄ nioi) = Babylonians
 Λακεδαιμόνιοι (Lakedaiomonioi) = Lacedaimonians
(= the Spartans)
 Περσαι (Persai) = Persians
 Ρωμαιοι (Rhо̄ maioi) = Romans
 Φοινικες (Phoinikes) = Phoenicians

Back to - Part

Activity 7 Letter counting

Discussion
1. Seven letters – θεατρον (theatron)
2. Nine letters – φιλοσοφοϛ (philosophos)
3. Four letters – χαος (chaos)
4. Four letters – ψυχη (psuchē)
5. Four letters – ωφθη (о̄ phthē)

Page 228 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Back to - Activity 7 Letter counting

Activity 9 Comparing alphabets

Discussion
The order of Greek letters is very close to the order of the English
alphabet. But students are often caught out by:

 ‘zeta’ (ζ / Ζ) and ‘xi’ (ξ / Ξ), which, from the standpoint

of English, look misplaced
 letters with no English counterpart, like ‘eta or ‘phi’.
Memorising the jingles ‘zeta-eta-theta’ and ‘phi-chi-
psi-omega’ can help overcome most of the difficulties.

Back to - Activity 9 Comparing alphabets

Activity 10 Session practice

Part
Answer
Right:

γη (earth, land)

Wrong:

Page 229 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

δουλος (slave)

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

θεος (god)

Wrong:

τιμη (honour)

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

νικη (victory)

Wrong:

ξενος (stranger, foreigner)

Page 230 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
The correct matches are:

First in order

Ζευς

Second

Θεμιστοκληϛ

Third

Ξερξηϛ

Fourth

Πλατων

Fifth

Ραμψινιτος

Last in order

Page 231 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Σωκρατηϛ

Back to - Part

Discussion
This is the correct order, along with some description of the figures
in question:

 Ζευς (Zeus), father of the gods.

 Θεμιστοκληϛ (Themistoclēs), Athenian politician and
general; victor over the Persians at the battle of
Salamis in 480 BCE.
 Ξερξηϛ (Xerxēs), king of Persia, 486-465 BCE.
 Πλατων (Platо̄ n = Plato), Athenian philosopher, c.
429-347 BCE; author of numerous philosophical
dialogues.
 Ραμψινιτος (Rhampsinitos), legendary Egyptian
pharaoh mentioned by Herodotus in his Histories.
 Σωκρατηϛ (Sо̄ cratēs), Athenian philosopher, teacher
of Plato; put to death on a charge of impiety in 399
BCE.

Back to - Part

Activity 11 Inscribed block

Page 232 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Part
Discussion
These letter forms, from the fourth century CE, are similar to those
in use today. The horizontal lines of the sigma are angled slightly,
and the two uprights of the upsilon are curved instead of straight.
But overall the shapes are recognisable.

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
The second word is ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ (Alexandros). There were
many king Alexanders in the ancient world. This inscription refers
to the most famous, Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE). In lower
case, the first line would read:

βασιλευς Αλεξανδρος

Once again, the letter forms are quite close to printed Greek. The
exception is the fourth letter, ‘xi’, which has the usual square
shape, but also a vertical line down the middle

Back to - Part

Page 233 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Activity 1 Speaking aloud (1) –

historical figures
Discussion
The names are:

 Αλεξανδρος, Alexandros = Alexander

 Θεμιστοκλης, Themistoclēs = Themistocles
 Ξερξης, Xerxēs = Xerxes
 Κλεοπατρα, Kleopatra = Cleopatra
 Περικλης, Periclēs = Pericles
 Σωκρατης, Sо̄ cratēs = Socrates

Back to - Activity 1 Speaking aloud (1) – historical figures

Activity 2 Speaking aloud (2) –

breathings
Discussion
The words are:

 ἀγαθος (agathos)
 Ἀθηναιος (Athēnaios)
 ἐπιστολη (epistolē)
 Ἑκατη (Hekatē)

Page 234 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

 ἡμερα (hēmera)
 ὁδος (hodos)
 ὀρος (oros)
 ῥις (rhis)
 ὑπνος (hupnos)
 ὡρα (hora)

Back to - Activity 2 Speaking aloud (2) – breathings

Activity 4 Speaking aloud (4)

Part
Discussion
The words are as follows:

 Ἀθηναῖος (Athēnaios)
 δεῖπνον (deipnon)
 oὐ (ou)
 φεύγω (pheugо̄ )
 πλοῖον (ploion)
 Ἰούλιος Καῖσαρ (Ioulios Kaisar)

Back to - Part

Part
Page 235 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Answer
Right:

two

Wrong:

one

three

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

three

Wrong:

one

two

Back to - Part

Page 236 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Part
Answer
Right:

three

Wrong:

one

two

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

three

Wrong:

one

two

Page 237 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

two

Wrong:

one

three

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
βίος, bios = life

Audio content is not available in this format.

οἰκία, oikia = house

Audio content is not available in this format.

Page 238 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

ποιέω, poieо̄ = I make

Audio content is not available in this format.

Οἰδίπους, Oidipous = the Theban king Oedipus

Audio content is not available in this format.

ποιεῖ, poiei = he, she or it makes

Audio content is not available in this format.

Back to - Part

Activity 5 Speaking aloud (5)

Part
Discussion
The places mentioned are:

 Ἀθῆναι, Athēnai = Athens

 Δῆλος, Dēlos = the island of Delos
 Θῆβαι, Thēbai = Thebes
 Κόρινθος, Korinthos = Corinth
 Σικελία, Sikelia = Sicily
 Χίος, Chios = the island of Chios

Page 239 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
The peoples mentioned are:

 Αἰγύπτιοι (Aiguptioi) Egyptians

 Βαβυλώνιοι (Babulо̄ nioi) Babylonians
 Λακεδαιμόνιοι (Lakedaiomonioi) Lacedaimonians (=
the Spartans)
 Πέρσαι (Persai) Persians
 Ῥωμαῖοι (Rhо̄ maioi) Romans
 Φοίνικες (Phoinikes) Phoenicians

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη (glaukо̄ pis Athēnē)

Audio content is not available in this format.

κορυθαίολος Ἕκτωρ (koruthaiolos Hectо̄ r)

Audio content is not available in this format.

Page 240 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

λευκώλενος Ἥρη (leukо̄ lenos Hērē)

Audio content is not available in this format.

ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠώς (rhododaktulos Ēо̄ s)

Audio content is not available in this format.

πόδας ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεύς (podas о̄ kus Achilleus, literally ‘feet swift

Achilles’)

Audio content is not available in this format.

Back to - Part

Activity 6 Animal sounds

Answer
The correct matches are:

Page 241 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

κόκκυ

βῆ βῆ

Page 242 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

αὖ αὖ

κικκαβαῦ

Page 243 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

βρεκεκεκὲξ κοὰξ κοάξ

Back to - Activity 6 Animal sounds

Discussion
Here are the sounds spoken aloud:

κόκκυ (kokku) – cuckoo.

Audio content is not available in this format.

βῆ βῆ (bē bē) – sheep.

Audio content is not available in this format.

αὖ αὖ (au au) – dog.

Audio content is not available in this format.

Page 244 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

κικκαβαῦ (kikkabau) – owl.

Audio content is not available in this format.

βρεκεκεκὲξ κοὰξ κοάξ (brekekekex koax koax) – frog. This is

the phrase uttered by the frog chorus in Aristophanes’ comic play,
The Frogs.

Audio content is not available in this format.

Back to - Activity 6 Animal sounds

Activity 7 Homeric rhythm

Part
Discussion
Homeric epic follows the rules of Greek poetic metre, a flexible
system for combining long and short syllables in standard patterns.
You might have been able to detect a repeating rhythm to the last
five syllables of each phrase, something like tum-ti-ti-tum-tum.

These epithets, which recur throughout the epics, are designed to

fit into the end of a Homeric line, where the pattern is at its most
regular. The underlying rhythm, called ‘dactylic hexameter’, would
have formed one important dimension of a performance of
Homeric poetry.

Page 245 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
The poet seeks inspiration from the goddess (θεά) or muse
(μοῦσα), before embarking upon his lengthy performance. (The
Iliad is roughly 15,000 lines long, the Odyssey about 12,000).

The impression is of a poet acting as a medium through which

divine words (ἔννεπε, ‘speak!’) and song (ἄειδε, ‘sing!’) can flow.
The muse, in effect, underwrites the poem, allowing the poet to
describe places and events he has not seen himself, including the
actions and conversations of the gods on Mount Olympus.

Back to - Part

Activity 1 Letter practice

Discussion
If you used the worksheet, here is a completed version for
comparison: Forming the letters [completed].

Back to - Activity 1 Letter practice

Activity 2 First words

Page 246 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Part
Discussion
Here's a completed version of the worksheet for comparison: First
words [completed].

Back to - Part

Activity 3 Word practice

Part
Discussion
In Greek the words are:

 ἄνθρωπος
 διδάσκαλος
 ποταμός
 στρατηγός
 φωνή

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion

Page 247 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

The Greek names are:

 Ἄρτεμις (goddess of the hunt and childbirth)

 Δημήτηρ (goddess of grain and agriculture)
 Διόνυσος (god of the grape and wine)
 Ζεύς (father of the gods)
 Ἥρα (wife and sister of Zeus)
 Ποσειδῶν (god of the sea)

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
The Greek names are:

 Ἀθήνη (goddess of wisdom and war)

 Ἀπόλλων (god of the lyre, prophecy, medicine)
 Ἄρης (god of war)
 Ἀφροδίτη (goddess of love and beauty)
 Ἥφαιστος (god of fire and blacksmiths)
 Ἑρμῆς (the messenger god)

If you used the worksheet, here is a completed version for

comparison: Practice [completed].

Page 248 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Back to - Part

Activity 4 Case practice

Part
Discussion
In capital letters the words should read as follows:

 ΓΗ (gē)
 ΔΟΥΛΟΣ (doulos)
 ΕΓΡΑΨΑ (egrapsa)
 ΘΑΥΜΑΖΩ (thaumazо̄ )
 ΝΙΚΗ (nikē)
 ΣΥΜΜΑΧΟΣ (summachos)

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
In lower case the words should read as follows:

 ἀλλά
 δῆμος
 εἰρήνη

Page 249 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

 λέγω
 μανθάνω
 στρατόπεδον

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
In lower case the first line would read:

 βασιλεὺς Ἀλέξανδρος

If you used the worksheet for these activities, here is a completed

version for comparison: Upper and lower case [completed].

Back to - Part

Activity 5 Listening practice

Part
Discussion
The words spoken are:

 δένδρον (dendron) = tree

 κακός (kakos) = bad

Page 250 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

 λόγος (logos) = word, reason, story

 ποταμός (potamos) = river
 σοφός (sophos) = wise

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
The words spoken are:

 ἄγγελος (angelos) = messenger

 βίβλος (biblos) = book
 θεοί (theoi) = gods
 ξένος (xenos) = stranger, foreigner, guest
 ψυχή (psuchē) = soul, mind

Back to - Part

Activity 6 Identify the king

Part
Discussion
The king is Alexander. The text reads:

ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ

Page 251 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Or in lower case:

βασιλέως Ἀλεξάνδρου

The coin is one of many surviving examples of a silver

‘tetradrachm’ (four drachmas). The image is not of Alexander, but
Zeus seated on a throne, with a sceptre in his left hand and an
eagle on his right.

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
On the coin, the penultimate letter of ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ is an omega
instead of an upsilon. And the final letter of Alexander’s name is an
upsilon, which appears to have been turned slightly to fit the space
available. Otherwise, the letters are the same and the style of
writing is similar.

Coin: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ (βασιλέως Ἀλεξάνδρου)

Inscription: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ (βασιλεὺς Ἀλέξανδρος)

The different word ending on the coin indicates that it ‘belongs to’
or is ‘of’ ‘King Alexander’. This use of word endings is treated in
greater depth in Session 5.

Page 252 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Back to - Part

Activity 7 Reading the papyrus

Discussion
The curved, flowing strokes typical of handwriting with a reed pen
and ink produce a different style of lettering from the straight,
chiselled forms on the inscription. On the papyrus you can also see
hints of eventual lower case or ‘minuscule’ shapes, for instance,
alpha and omega. See, for example, the second and seventh
letters on line 6.

Figure 6 (repeated) Gospel of St. John papyrus

View description - Figure 6 (repeated) Gospel of St. John

papyrus

Back to - Activity 7 Reading the papyrus

Activity 8 The Callias decree

Part
Page 253 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Discussion
The letters have been laid out as if on a grid, in rows and columns,
in a style known as stoichedon (‘row-by-row’, from στοῖχος,
stoichos = ‘row’). To achieve this effect, the stone-cutter would
have needed to plan the text carefully in advance to allow sufficient
space. Once inscribed, a stoichedon text would be difficult to
change, especially through the deletion or addition of letters, a fact
which perhaps gave it an aura of reliability. The overall effect is
rather imposing, appropriately for an official record of a decision
taken by the Athenian state. Athens contained many such
inscriptions.

Back to - Part

Activity 1 English derivations from

Greek (1)
Discussion
The Greek words, with translations, are given below.

 genesis γένεσις (birth, origin)

 idea ἰδέα (the look or form of a thing)
 drama δρᾶμα (a deed, act)
 catharsis κάθαρσις (purification)

Page 254 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

 catastrophe καταστροφή (overturning, subjugation)

 cosmos κόσμος (good order; also, the world or
universe)
 mania μανία (madness)
 nemesis νέμεσις (justifiable anger, divine
retribution)
 pathos πάθος (suffering)
 hubris ὕβρις (insult, an act of violence against
a person)
 hypothesis ὑπόθεσις (a supposition)
 charisma χάρισμα (a divine gift)

Back to - Activity 1 English derivations from Greek (1)

Activity 2 English derivations from

Greek (2)
Discussion
Perhaps you suggested some of the following words:

 athlete, triathlon
 acoustic
 biology, and many other words like bioscience,
biosphere, biotechnology
 graph, graphic

Page 255 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

 microbe, microscope, omicron (‘little o’)

 nautical
 strategic, strategy

Back to - Activity 2 English derivations from Greek (2)

Activity 3 Greek roots (1)

Discussion
 aristocracy, rule by the best (ἄριστος)
 democracy, rule by the people (δῆμος)
 gerontocracy, rule by old men, or the elderly (γέρων)
 kakistocracy, rule by the worst people (κάκιστος, from
κακός, bad)
 kleptocracy, rule by thieves (κλέπτης)
 ochlocracy, rule by the mob (ὄχλος)
 plutocracy, rule by wealth or the rich (πλοῦτος)
 theocracy, rule by god (θεός)

The suffix -cracy has also been combined with non-Greek words,
creating terms such as ‘bureaucracy’ (from French) and
‘meritocracy’ (from English, ultimately deriving from Latin).

Back to - Activity 3 Greek roots (1)

Page 256 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Activity 4 Greek roots (2)

Discussion
 arachnophobia, fear of spiders (ἀράχνη)
 agoraphobia, fear of open spaces (ἀγορά)
 geology, the study of the earth (γῆ)
 haematology, the branch of medicine concerned with
diseases of the blood (αἷμα)
 hierarchy, a system or classification for ordering
groups or individuals (ἱερεύς)
 monarchy, rule by a single person (μόνος)
 oligarchy, rule by a few (ὀλίγοι)
 xenophobia, fear of foreigners (ξένος)
 zoology, the study of animals (ζῷον)

In most of these cases, there is a clear relationship between the

English and Greek. But the derivation sometimes needs
supplementing to explain the full sense of the English word.

The word ‘hierarchy’, for instance, unlike ἱερεύς, generally has no

religious connotations. It does, however, imply a series of ranks
(such as priest, bishop, archbishop), rising like a pyramid from a
wide base to a narrow peak. For agoraphobia it helps to know that
an ἀγορά (marketplace) was an outdoor, public space inside a city

Page 257 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

where Greeks met and interacted, socially as well as commercially.

It would, we can assume, have been crowded and noisy.

Back to - Activity 4 Greek roots (2)

Activity 5 Prepositions
Part
Discussion
1. up-take
2. down-beat
3. after-thought
4. through-put
5. on-set
6. by-product

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
1. apocalypse apo + calypse (‘unveiling’)
2. catastrophe cata + strophe (‘overturning’)
3. diaspora dia + spora (‘scattering about’)

Page 258 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

4. ecstatic ec + stasis (‘standing outside

[oneself]’)
5. epidemic epi + demic (‘among, or in, the
people’)
6. hyperbole hyper + bole (‘overshooting’)
7. hypothesis hypo + thesis (‘an underlying
assumption’)
8. paradox para + dox (‘against expectation’)
9. periphrasis peri + phrasis (‘a roundabout way of
saying something’)
10. synthesis syn + thesis (‘putting together’,
‘combining’)

Once again, there are instances here where the roots of a word
are not a reliable guide to its current meaning. An ‘apocalypse’ is
literally an ‘unveiling’ or ‘uncovering’, from καλύπτω, ‘I cover’. In
the New Testament book of Revelation – whose original title is
‘The Apocalypse of John’ (Ἀποκάλυψις Ἰωάννου) – what is
‘unveiled’ is a series of divine revelations concerning the end of the
earth. These certainly include the catastrophes with which the
word ‘apocalypse’ is now associated, although for Christian
readers these are signs of the impending arrival of the Kingdom of
God.

Back to - Part

Page 259 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Activity 6 Greek proper names

Part
Discussion
1. mentor
2. draconian
3. meander
4. mausoleum
5. aphrodisiac

Incidentally, the Maeander river runs close to the city of Priene, the
source of the inscription discussed in Section 10 of Session 1.

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
1. tantalise
2. thespian
3. morphine
4. panic
5. protean (‘variable’, ‘able to take on different shapes’)

Back to - Part

Page 260 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Activity 7 Match the nouns

Answer
The correct matches are:

θεός

god

ἄγγελος

messenger

ποταμός

river

λόγος

word, reason, story

νίκη

victory

γῆ

land

Page 261 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Back to - Activity 7 Match the nouns

Activity 8 Match the verbs

Answer
The correct matches are:

ἔχω

I have

λέγω

I say

φέρω

I carry, bring

ἄγω

I lead

βαίνω

I go

παύω

Page 262 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

I stop

Back to - Activity 8 Match the verbs

Activity 9 Test your learning – noun

gender
Part
Answer
Right:

feminine

Wrong:

masculine

neuter

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

neuter

Page 263 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Wrong:

masculine

feminine

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

feminine

Wrong:

masculine

neuter

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

Page 264 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

masculine

Wrong:

feminine

neuter

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

masculine

Wrong:

feminine

neuter

Back to - Part

Activity 10 Test your learning –

numbers

Page 265 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Part
Answer
Right:

Wrong:

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

Wrong:

Page 266 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

Wrong:

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

Wrong:

Page 267 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

Wrong:

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

15

Wrong:

Page 268 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

13

17

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

18

Wrong:

17

19

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

17

Page 269 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Wrong:

14

18

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number 13.

Myriad derives from μυρίοι, meaning 10,000 or, simply, ‘countless’.

ἥμισυς means half (a Greek hero or demi-god is a ἡμίθεος).

Back to - Part

Activity 11 Plato's Timaeus

Part
Discussion
The participants are Socrates, Timaios (often spelled ‘Timaeus’),
Hermocrates and Critias. Socrates is the central figure in most
Platonic dialogues, although he is unusually quiet in Timaeus.
Hermocrates was a general from Syracuse in Sicily, who played a

Page 270 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

prominent part in defeating the Athenian attempt to gain control of

the island between 415 and 413 BCE during the Peloponnesian
War. Critias is probably an older relative of Plato’s. Timaios, the
main speaker, is not well attested outside this dialogue and may be
Plato’s invention.

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
SO[CRATES]: ‘one, two, three …’

Here Socrates notes the arrival of the three participants in the

dialogue. He goes on to wonder what has happened to a fourth,
unnamed companion. This scene-setting is a reminder that
philosophy in the works of Plato is not a solitary activity, but a
shared enterprise to be undertaken in conversation with others.

Back to - Part

Activity 1 Two forms of Alexander

Discussion
The letters are the same, except for the final one, which is sigma
(ς) on the inscription and upsilon (υ) on the coin.

Page 271 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Back to - Activity 1 Two forms of Alexander

Activity 2 Test your learning – genitive

case
Part
Answer
Right:

Achilles

Wrong:

mother

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

Zeus

Wrong:

daughter

Page 272 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

Athens

Wrong:

defeat

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

Sparta

Wrong:

victory

Back to - Part

Page 273 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Part
Answer
Right:

gods

Wrong:

quarrel

Back to - Part

Activity 3 Test your learning – case and

gender
Part
Answer
Right:

The genitive singular is ποταμοῦ

The nominative singular is ποταμός

The gender is masculine

Wrong:

Page 274 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

The gender is feminine

The genitive singular is ποταμός

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

The gender is feminine

The genitive singular is πυλῆς

The nominative singular is πυλή

Wrong:

The genitive singular is πυλή

The gender is masculine

Back to - Part

Activity 4 The grammar of ancestry

Part

Page 275 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Answer
Right:

Philip

Wrong:

Alexander

Back to - Part

Discussion
Φιλίππου has a genitive case ending, which makes Philip the
father:

 Alexander, [son] of Philip

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
This means:

 Alexander [son] of Alexander [son] of Philip

Page 276 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

This example shows how genitives can be linked in a chain to

represent the ancestral line of an individual. Alexander the Great
did have a posthumous and short-lived son called Alexander. The
figures in this family tree are:

 Ἀλέξανδρος: Alexander IV (323-?310 BCE), son of

 Ἀλεξάνδρου: Alexander the Great (strictly speaking,
Alexander III, 356-323 BCE), son of
 Φιλίππου: Philip II (382-336 BCE)

Back to - Part

Activity 5 Genitive genealogy

Discussion
Leonidas claimed descent from Heracles (i.e. Hercules). The
genealogy’s main purpose was to ground the king’s authority in the
distant and heroic past. Since Leonidas became king after the
mysterious death of his half-brother Cleomenes, advertising his
heroic ancestry was perhaps especially valuable. Only the more
recent names are likely to be historically accurate.

Sparta had two royal houses and therefore two kings

simultaneously. The other king at this time, Leotychidas, had a

Page 277 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

similar pedigree, also presented by Herodotus (Histories, book 8,

chapter 131).

Back to - Activity 5 Genitive genealogy

Activity 6 Reading the stones

Discussion
The inscriptions match letter for letter, although damage to the first
stone makes comparison difficult along the top. Damage, whether
deliberate or accidental, is a perennial problem in the field of Greek
epigraphy (the study of Greek inscriptions). Missing letters can
sometimes be restored with reasonable certainty. In this instance
the damage is minor and surviving boundary stones can be used
as guides. But severely damaged texts are usually beyond
recovery.

Back to - Activity 6 Reading the stones

Activity 7 A Greek vase handle

Part
Discussion
The name on the left is written ‘backwards’, although we must
remember that it is ‘backwards’ only from our perspective. It would

Page 278 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

not have been thought of as unusual in the sixth century BCE

when the vase was manufactured. The direction of the writing is
clearest from the ‘epsilon’, the fifth letter from the top, which is
inverted as it would be in a mirror. The final sigmas of each name
also face different directions. Other letters, such as the initial
alphas, look similar in either direction.

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
The names read ΑΧΙΛΕΥΣ (Achileus = Achilles) and ΑΙΑΣ (Aias is
the Greek name for the hero Ajax). In both cases, a reader would
read the names from the centre outwards, from alpha to sigma.
Ajax is carrying the body of Achilles from the battlefield at Troy, a
scene depicted frequently on Greek vases and recounted in a lost
epic poem attributed to Homer, called Aethiopis.

This detail is from a handle of the ‘François Vase’, named after the
Italian archaeologist who discovered it in the nineteenth century.
The vase stands more than two feet high and contains many other
mythological scenes. Among its interesting features are the
signatures of the potter, Ergotimos, and the painter, Kleitias.

Back to - Part

Page 279 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Activity 8 Reading boustrophedon

Discussion
The top line in the photograph runs from left to right, with the
direction alternating after that. The direction is especially clear in
the shape of letters such as epsilon (Ε), kappa (Κ) and rho (Ρ).
These are the first letters at the top left of the image (ΚΡΕ),
although the epsilon is damaged and not easy to read. Some
letters look the same in either direction, for instance alpha (Α),
delta (Δ), omicron (Ο) and tau (Τ).

You should note, however, that this photograph starts with the
second line. There was a damaged line above running from right
to left. The inscription therefore began at the top right.

Back to - Activity 8 Reading boustrophedon

Activity 1 Finding the meaning

Discussion
In English, the order of the words shows who is doing what to
whom. The noun before the verb is responsible for the chasing.
The noun after the verb is being chased. If the nouns exchange
positions, the meaning of the sentence is reversed.

Page 280 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Back to - Activity 1 Finding the meaning

Activity 2 Complete the sentence

Answer
Right:

the elephant

the kangaroo

an object

Wrong:

[a subject]

Back to - Activity 2 Complete the sentence

Discussion
An object would complete this sentence. ‘The elephant’ or ‘the
kangaroo’ could play this role. The sentence already has a subject,
and, anyway, with the arrival of the verb the moment for a subject
has now passed, at least in English.

Back to - Activity 2 Complete the sentence

Page 281 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Activity 3 Swapping subject and object

Discussion
In English the pronouns would swap positions and, in most cases,
change their shape.

1. I like her —> she likes me.

2. We like them —> they like us.
3. She likes you —> you like her.

Note that in some instances, such as ‘you’ (and ‘it’), the same
shape is used to indicate both subjects and objects.

Back to - Activity 3 Swapping subject and object

Activity 4 Flexible word order

Part
Answer
Right:

Object Verb Subject

Wrong:

Subject Verb Object

Page 282 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Verb Subject Object

Back to - Part

Discussion
The order is Object Verb Subject, i.e. the inverse of standard
English word order.

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
‘I’ is the form of the pronoun used to indicate a subject. Using the
form ‘I’ instead of ‘me’ makes it clear who is doing what to whom,
overriding any expectations raised by the order of the words.

There are other factors at work too. Knowledge of the world tells us
that it is people who write letters, not letters that write people.
Grammar and meaning work together to make the sense clear.

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion

Page 283 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

The English retains the word order of the Greek. The translators
have preserved as much as possible of a text considered to be
divinely inspired. The King James Version of 1611 drew from the
sixteenth-century translation of William Tyndale, which adopted the
same order: ‘these thynges write I unto you’.

Back to - Part

Activity 5 Test your learning – case

endings
Part
Answer
Right:

διώκει ὁ ἵππος τὸν ἄνθρωπον

τὸν ἄνθρωπον διώκει ὁ ἵππος

Wrong:

τὸν ἵππον διώκει ὁ ἄνθρωπος

τὸν ἵππον ὁ ἄνθρωπος διώκει

Back to - Part

Page 284 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Part
Answer
Right:

ὁ ἄνθρωπος διώκει τὸν ἵππον

ὁ ἄνθρωπος τὸν ἵππον διώκει

Wrong:

διώκει τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὁ ἵππος

διώκει ὁ ἵππος τὸν ἄνθρωπον

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
Both sentences are the equivalent of ‘the horse chases the man’.
There is no difference of meaning. However, the order of words in
the first sentence is, in fact, more typical of Greek. The second
order might be chosen to place the emphasis on the man. Greek
can exploit its flexible word order to direct attention to certain
words or phrases, by placing them in non-standard positions.

Page 285 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Back to - Part

Activity 6 Identify the declension

Part
Answer
Right:

second declension (like λόγος)

Wrong:

first declension (like τιμή)

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

first declension (like τιμή)

Wrong:

second declension (like λόγος)

Page 286 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

first declension (like τιμή)

Wrong:

second declension (like λόγος)

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

second declension (like λόγος)

Wrong:

first declension (like τιμή)

Back to - Part

Page 287 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Part
Answer
Right:

first declension (like τιμή)

Wrong:

second declension (like λόγος)

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

first declension (like τιμή)

Wrong:

second declension (like λόγος)

Back to - Part

Activity 7 Case endings – first

declension
Page 288 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Part
Answer
Right:

genitive

Wrong:

nominative

accusative

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

accusative

Wrong:

nominative

genitive

Page 289 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

nominative

Wrong:

accusative

genitive

Back to - Part

Activity 8 Case endings – second

declension
Part
Answer
Right:

accusative

Wrong:

Page 290 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

nominative

genitive

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

genitive

Wrong:

nominative

accusative

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

nominative

Page 291 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Wrong:

accusative

genitive

Back to - Part

Activity 9 Subject or object?

Part
Answer
Right:

object

Wrong:

subject

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

Page 292 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

subject

Wrong:

object

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

subject

Wrong:

object

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

object

Page 293 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Wrong:

subject

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
Nouns in the nominative case will be subjects. Nouns in the
accusative case are likely to be objects. You could express the
information embodied in the word endings as follows:

1. a subject verbs the letter

2. the guest verbs [an object]
3. the land verbs [an object]
4. a subject verbs the god

Back to - Part

Activity 10 Complete the sentence

Part
Answer
Right:

Page 294 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

τὸν στρατὸν ἄγει

ἄγει τὸν στρατὸν

[an object and a verb]

Wrong:

[a subject and a verb]

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
ὁ στρατηγός is in the nominative case, i.e. it is the subject. As a
subject it raises the expectations of a verb and, potentially, an
object. All continuations are possible except the last. The first two
continuations would yield the same meaning:

 ὁ στρατηγὸς τὸν στρατὸν ἄγει

 ὁ στρατηγὸς ἄγει τὸν στρατὸν
 The general leads the army.

Back to - Part

Activity 11 Identify the case

Page 295 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Part
Answer
Right:

accusative

Wrong:

nominative

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

nominative

Wrong:

accusative

Back to - Part

Part

Page 296 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Answer
Right:

accusative

Wrong:

nominative

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

accusative

Wrong:

nominative

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

Page 297 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

nominative

Wrong:

accusative

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
The names are:

 Alexander, accusative case

 Miltiades, nominative case
 Cleopatra, accusative case
 Socrates, accusative case
 Sappho (seventh-century BCE lyric poet from the
island of Lesbos), nominative case

Ἀλέξανδρος is the only name on the list that follows a pattern

which you have met. It is second declension, like λόγος.

Back to - Part

Activity 12 Continuing to read the

inscription (1)
Page 298 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Part
Answer
Right:

subject

Wrong:

object

Back to - Part

Discussion
‘King Alexander’ in the nominative case is likely to be the subject of
the sentence.

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
At a minimum, the sentence is likely to contain a verb telling us
what Alexander is doing (or perhaps has done, or will do).
Depending on the nature of the verb, there might be an object as
well.

Page 299 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Back to - Part

Activity 13 Continuing to read the

inscription (2)
Part
Discussion
Very much so. The word ‘dedicated’ would typically be followed by
an object, answering the question ‘What was it that Alexander
dedicated?’ ἀνέθηκε is a common word on statue bases and
monuments, indicating that somebody has dedicated something,
usually to a god or goddess.

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
The break falls between two instances of the letter nu, i.e τὸν ναόν.
The letters represent a definite article and its noun.

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Page 300 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Right:

object

Wrong:

subject

Back to - Part

Discussion
The endings of τὸν ναόν indicate that the noun is in the accusative
case. It would help to know that ναόν comes from ναός, but the
definite article (τόν) is enough to show that the case is accusative.
τὸν ναόν is the object that was expected after ἀνέθηκε.

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
The first two lines can be translated:

King Alexander dedicated the temple

Page 301 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

The temple in question is the temple of Athena Polias at Priene.

These words were inscribed on one of the pillars at the temple’s
entrance.

Greek gods were worshipped in a number of guises, Athena

‘Polias’ being the guardian of cities (πόλις = city-state). Other
guises include Athena Nike (Victory) and Athena Parthenos (the
Virgin), both of whom had temples on the Athenian Acropolis. The
Temple of Athena Parthenos is better known as the Parthenon.

Back to - Part

Activity 14 Different letter forms

Part
Discussion
Theta is written in two forms. Two ostraka (the ones at the top
centre and bottom left) place a dot inside the circle. The rest are
written with a cross, a form sometimes referred to as a ‘hot cross
bun’! The ‘bun’ gave way to the dotted form in Athens during the
course of the fifth century.

Lambda, which consists of two strokes of unequal length, looks

less like the standard Λ and more like English L. The ‘François
Vase’ (seen earlier in Session 5, Section 7.1) contains an example

Page 302 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

in the name of Achilles. There were many Greek settlements in

Italy and it was this L-shaped lambda that influenced the Roman
alphabet, which is why it looks familiar.

Sigma consists of three lines rather than the four which became
standard later (Σ).

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
The ostrakon uses Ε (epsilon) as the penultimate letter instead of
Η (eta). At this time, the Athenian alphabet did not contain either
eta or omega, using epsilon and omicron instead for both the short
and long forms of ‘e’ and ‘o’ throughout much of the fifth century
BCE.

Back to - Part

Activity 15 Examining the Gortyn code

Part
Discussion
Kappa and sigma. ξένος (stranger, guest) would become κσένος.

Page 303 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
Pi and sigma. ἔγραψε (he / she / it wrote) would become ἔγραπσε.

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
In the Cretan script:

 ‘C’ is the letter pi.

 ‘W’ is mu. It looks like ‘M’ but with an extra upstroke at
the end, i.e. five strokes in total.
 ‘S’ is iota.
 ‘M’ is sigma (perhaps you can see why if you tilt your
head to the right).

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion

Page 304 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

This is ‘digamma’, a letter representing a ‘w’ sound. This sound

plays an important role in early Greek poetry, with numerous
instances in Homer, although they are not usually represented in
printed texts.

The name ‘digamma’ was chosen because F looks like two

gammas (Γ), one on top of another. Its original name seems to
have been ‘wau’. A corresponding letter ‘waw’ existed in the
Phoenician alphabet and still exists in Hebrew.

Back to - Part

Activity 1 Complete the sentence

Answer
Right:

τὴν κόρην

τὸν Ξανθίππον

[a noun in the accusative case]

Wrong:

ἡ κόρη

[a noun in the nominative case]

Page 305 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Back to - Activity 1 Complete the sentence

Discussion
The sentence starts with a noun in the nominative case, ἡ
Ἀφροδίτη. The nominative case ending shows that Aphrodite is the
subject. The sentence continues with a verb (φιλεῖ), showing what
Aphrodite is doing. The meaning of the verb prompts a question:
‘who or what does Aphrodite love?’, which raises the expectation
of an object. A noun in the accusative case would satisfy this
expectation and complete the sentence.

Back to - Activity 1 Complete the sentence

Activity 2 Linking verbs

Discussion
The list of verbs that can link subjects and complements is short. It
would include:

 seems
 looks
 appears
 becomes
 remains

Page 306 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Back to - Activity 2 Linking verbs

Activity 3 Objects or complements?

Part
Answer
Right:

complement

Wrong:

object

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

object

Wrong:

complement

Page 307 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

complement

Wrong:

object

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

complement

Wrong:

object

Back to - Part

Page 308 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Part
Answer
Right:

object

Wrong:

complement

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

complement

Wrong:

object

Back to - Part

Part

Page 309 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Discussion
The verbs ‘is’, ‘appears’ and ‘are’ are linking verbs that raise the
prospect of a complement. The complement, when it appears,
describes the subject. This is not true of objects like ‘the door’ or
‘the man’.

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

brave

cowards

[a complement]

Wrong:

[a subject]

[an object]

Back to - Part

Page 310 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Discussion
The verb ‘are’ is a linking verb, raising the expectation of a
complement. The sentence already has a subject. An object is not
possible after the verb ‘to be’.

Back to - Part

Activity 4 Forms of εἰμί

Part
Answer
Right:

ἐστί

Wrong:

εἰμί

εἰσί

Back to - Part

Part
Answer

Page 311 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Right:

ἐστί

Wrong:

εἰμί

εἰσί

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

εἰσί

Wrong:

εἰμί

ἐστί

Back to - Part

Part

Page 312 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Answer
Right:

εἰμί

Wrong:

ἐστί

εἰσί

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

δοῦλος

Wrong:

δοῦλον

Back to - Part

Part

Page 313 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Discussion
A complement is expected after ἐστί. The sentence means
‘Xanthippos is a slave’. (You may recall from Session 5 that Greek
does not have a word equivalent to ‘a’ or ‘an’.)

Back to - Part

Activity 5 Reading the boundary stones

Part
Discussion
The last four letters are ΕΙΜΙ. In standardised, lower-case Greek
the words would read:

ὅρος εἰμί

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
The words mean ‘I am a boundary’. The word ὅρος is related to
‘horizon’, the boundary-line of the visible surface of the earth. It
was also used to refer to the ‘definition’ of a word, i.e. where its
meaning begins and ends.

Page 314 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

genitive

Wrong:

nominative

accusative

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
The translation is:

I am a boundary of the agora.

Back to - Part

Activity 6 καλός inscriptions

Page 315 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Part
Answer
Right:

male

Wrong:

female

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

female

Wrong:

male

Back to - Part

Part

Page 316 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Answer
Right:

male

Wrong:

female

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

male

Wrong:

female

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

Page 317 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

female

Wrong:

male

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
The gender is clear from the adjective. The men are Hipparchos,
Leagros and Memnon (Leagros is named as καλός on as many as
80 surviving vases). The women are Korone and Rhodopis.

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

καλή

Wrong:

καλός

Page 318 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

καλός

Wrong:

καλή

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
The masculine singular nominative καλός is needed for a boy or
man, the feminine singular nominative καλή for a girl or woman.

Back to - Part

Activity 7 Examining the translation

Part
Discussion

Page 319 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

The verb ‘are’.

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

εἰσίν

Wrong:

ἐστίν

Back to - Part

Discussion
As the subject is plural, the 3rd person plural form is required.

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

Subject Verb Complement

Page 320 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Wrong:

Subject Verb Object

Back to - Part

Discussion
With two nominative cases and a linking verb, this is a Subject +
Verb + Complement sentence. To be exact, it is a Complement +
Verb + Subject pattern, as the complement appears first, creating
a repetitive, almost hypnotic arrangement of eight consecutive
lines, each starting ‘Blessed are the [or they who] …’.

Back to - Part

Activity 8 Reading the boundary stones

Part
Discussion
Gamma (Γ) on the boundary stone looks like capital lambda (Λ).
This would not have been as confusing as it sounds, because
Athenian lambda looked more like the English letter ‘L’. You might
recall examples on the Themistocles ostraka from Session 6.

Back to - Part

Page 321 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Part
Discussion
1. The symbol H begins the inscription in the word ὅρος.
In lower case, this sound is now represented by a
rough breathing.
2. The use of E for both epsilon and eta can be found in
the words εἰμί and τῆς.
3. There are three instances of the so-called ‘three-bar’
sigma, in the words ὅρος, τῆς and ἀγορᾶς.

You might also have noticed a small extra stroke on the letter rho,
which makes it resemble an English ‘R’.

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
Unlike the boundary stones, the inscription from Priene uses
separate letters for short and long ‘e’, namely epsilon and eta.
There are examples of each in the word ἀνέθηκε. Other standard
features include:

 a standard-shaped lambda

Page 322 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

 the letter ‘xi’ (the Athenian alphabet used chi followed

by sigma)
 a sigma with four strokes instead of three.

Back to - Part

Activity 1 Replace the verb

Discussion
Potential substitutes for ‘write’ include ‘give’, ‘dedicate’, ‘say’,
‘speak’, ‘teach’, ‘offer’, ‘show’, ‘hand’.

Back to - Activity 1 Replace the verb

Activity 2 Direct object case

Answer
Right:

accusative

Wrong:

nominative

genitive

Page 323 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

dative

Back to - Activity 2 Direct object case

Discussion
To refresh your memory of objects, refer to Session 6. Remember
that ‘objects’ in Session 6 are properly described as direct objects
to distinguish them from indirect objects.

Back to - Activity 2 Direct object case

Activity 3 Recall the mark

Part
Discussion
This mark is an iota subscript, ‘subscript’ being derived from the
Latin for ‘written underneath’. You are most likely to encounter it in
the dative singular of first and second declension nouns, and in a
few verb endings not covered in this course. Iota subscript is a
post-classical innovation from the Byzantine period. Originally the
iota would have been written after the alpha, eta or omega. You
can observe this on the third line of the inscription, which has
Ἀθηναίηι for Ἀθηναίῃ.

Back to - Part

Page 324 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Part
Discussion
Here is the completed translation:

βασιλεὺς Ἀλέξανδρος King Alexander

ἀνέθηκε τὸν ναὸν dedicated the temple

Ἀθηναίῃ Πολιάδι to Athena Polias

Note that the dedication contains:

1. a verb ἀνέθηκε (‘dedicated’) that prompts the

expectation of both a direct and an indirect object
2. three of the four cases introduced in this course
(nominative, accusative and dative).

Back to - Part

Activity 4 Problematic letters

Discussion
There is, of course, no single answer to this question. The
important point is to find ways to familiarise yourself with any tricky
letters, for example by writing them down or by finding examples of
words that use them.

Page 325 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Back to - Activity 4 Problematic letters

Activity 6 Unfamiliar endings

Part 1
Answer
Right:

genitive

Wrong:

nominative

accusative

Back to - Part 1

Part
Answer
Right:

nominative

Wrong:

Page 326 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

accusative

genitive

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

accusative

Wrong:

nominative

genitive

Back to - Part

Part 2
Answer
Right:

plural

Page 327 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Wrong:

singular

Back to - Part 2

Part
Answer
Right:

singular

Wrong:

plural

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

singular

Wrong:

Page 328 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

plural

Back to - Part

Part 3
Answer
Right:

feminine

Wrong:

masculine

neuter

Back to - Part 3

Part
Answer
Right:

masculine

Wrong:

Page 329 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

feminine

neuter

Back to - Part

Activity 7 Test your knowledge of

syntax
Part
Answer
Right:

Subject + Verb

Wrong:

Subject + Verb + Direct Object

Subject + Verb + Complement

Back to - Part

Discussion
The basic minimum is a Subject and a Verb. There might be other
components, but that will depend on the nature of the verb.
Remember that in Greek, the subject doesn’t need to be spelled
Page 330 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

out if it’s a personal pronoun like ‘I’ or ‘she’. It is implied by the

ending or shape of the verb, for example: εἰμί, ‘I am’; φιλεῖ,
‘he/she/it loves’.

Back to - Part

Part
Discussion
The verbs ‘happens’ and ‘is’ cannot appear with a direct object, but
‘eats’ and ‘sleeps’ contain some subtleties. It is reasonable to
expect a direct object after ‘eats’, as in ‘she eats fish and chips’.
But that expectation might not be fulfilled, for example in the
sentence: ‘She sits down and eats’. With the verb ‘sleeps’, an
object would not be expected, though even here an exception can
be devised: ‘He sleeps the sleep of the blessed’. These
observations remind us that reading cannot be reduced to a set of
rules, although knowing the rules is still of great importance;
judgement, sensitivity and a ‘feel’ for what is likely or plausible are
equally valuable.

Back to - Part

Part
Answer

Page 331 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Right:

is

Wrong:

sleeps

happens

eats

Back to - Part

Discussion
The answer here is more clear-cut than in the previous question.
Only the linking verb ‘is’ raises the expectation of a complement.

Back to - Part

Part
Answer
Right:

[a noun in the accusative case]

τὸν στρατόν

Page 332 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

τοὺς Ἀθηναίους

Wrong:

[a noun in the nominative case]

οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι

Back to - Part

Discussion
The sentence starts with a noun in the nominative case, ὁ
Περικλῆς. The nominative case ending indicates that Pericles is
the subject. The sentence continues with a verb (ἄγει), showing
what Pericles is doing. The meaning of the verb prompts a
question: ‘who or what is Pericles leading?’ raising the expectation
of a direct object. A noun in the accusative case would satisfy this
expectation and complete the sentence.

Back to - Part

Page 333 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Descriptions
Map 1: 700–350 BCE
A map of the Mediterranean. Major Greek cities of the period 700-350 BCE are
labelled. A key indicates blue shaded areas show the core areas of Greek literary
culture, and orange shaded areas indicate the general spread of literary culture.
Shaded in blue are large parts of mainland Greece, as well as the Greek islands, the
coast of modern Turkey, a very small area of the north coast of Libya, and some areas
of the south-eastern coasts of Italy and Sicily. Shaded in orange are other parts of
Greece, the Italian and Sicilian coasts, the coasts of modern Turkey and Bulgaria,
Crete, and Cyprus, as well as a small area of the north coast of Libya.

Back to - Map 1: 700–350 BCE

Map 2: 350–1 BCE

A map of the Mediterranean and Middle East. Major cities of the period 350-1 BCE
are labelled. A key indicates blue shaded areas show the core areas of Greek literary
culture, and oranged shaded areas indicate the general spread of literary culture.
Shaded in blue are most of mainland Greece, the coast of modern Turkey, Cyprus,
Egypt along the Nile, and the coasts of Italy and Sicily. Shaded in orange are more
extensive areas in Egypt and Turkey, a large area across modern Iran, Iraq, Syria,
Lebanon, and Israel, coastal areas around the Black Sea, Crete, and small areas on the
north coast of Libya and the south coast of France.

Back to - Map 2: 350–1 BCE

Map 3: 1 CE–end of the classical era

A map of the Mediterranean. Major cities of the period from 1 CE to the end of the
classical era are labelled. A key indicates blue shaded areas show the core areas of
Greek literary culture, and orange areas indicate the general spread of literary culture.
Shaded in blue are much of mainland Greece, the Greek islands, the coasts of modern
Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, and Israel, and an area of Egypt along the Nile. Shaded in

Page 334 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

orange are larger areas of Greece, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, and some
areas of the coasts of Libya, Italy, and Sicily.

Back to - Map 3: 1 CE–end of the classical era

Figure 1 An ostrakon
An image of a piece of broken terracotta pottery against a pale background. The front
surface of the pottery has a black glaze. Two ancient Greek words, forming a name,
have been incised into the glaze. These read: ΚΙΜΟΝ ΜΙΛΤΙΑΔΟ.

Back to - Figure 1 An ostrakon

Figure 1 (repeated) An ostrakon

An image of a piece of broken terracotta pottery against a pale background. The front
surface of the pottery has a black glaze. Two ancient Greek words, forming a name,
have been incised into the glaze. These read: ΚΙΜΟΝ ΜΙΛΤΙΑΔΟ.

Back to - Figure 1 (repeated) An ostrakon

Figure 2 First lines of the Priene block

inscription
An image of a piece of flat grey stone against a black background. The stone is
roughly rectangular with chipped edges. The front of the stone has been inscribed
with three lines of ancient Greek text. The text reads: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ
ΑΝΕΘΗΚΕΤΟΝΝΑΟΝ ΑΘΗΝΑΙΗΙΠΟΛΙΑΔΙ.

Back to - Figure 2 First lines of the Priene block inscription

Figure 1 Douris cup

An image showing part of a piece of ancient Greek painted pottery against a pale grey
background. The image shows half of a round vessel, decorated with a scene painted

Page 335 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

in light orange on a black background. Five figures are shown. On the far left, a seated
adult male figure with a beard faces right. He wears a draped garment on his lower
half and holds a stringed musical instrument in his lap. To his right, a seated boy faces
to the left. He is also dressed in a draped garment and holds a stringed instrument. In
the middle, an adult male bearded figure is seated facing right. He wears the same
garment and hold an open scroll in front of him. To his right, a boy stands facing left
dressed in a draped garment over his whole body. On the far right, a seated adult male
bearded figure faces the viewer and looks to the left. He wears a draped garment over
his shoulder and lower half, and holds a staff with a curved top in his right hand.
Above the figures appear two more stringed instruments as well as other objects.

Back to - Figure 1 Douris cup

Figure 2 Themistocles ostraka

An image of six circular pieces of terracotta pottery against a brown background. The
front surfaces of the pieces of pottery have been painted with black glaze, either all
over or in rings. On all of the pieces, the black glaze has been inscribed with ancient
Greek text. They either read ΘΕΜΙΣΘΟΚΛΕΣΝΕΟΚΛΕΟΣ or
ΘΕΜΙΣΘΟΚΛΕΣΝΕΟΚΛΕΟΣΙΤΟ.

Back to - Figure 2 Themistocles ostraka

Figure 1 Greek homework book

A rectangular slate tablet against a pale background. The tablet has a brown border
around the edge and a writing surface in the middle. On the writing surface, six lines
of handwritten ancient Greek text appear between guidelines.

Back to - Figure 1 Greek homework book

Figure 2 Guide to lower case letters

An image of the letters of the ancient Greek alphabet in lower case, in alphabetical
order over two rows. Arrows indicate ways to draw the letters.

Back to - Figure 2 Guide to lower case letters

Page 336 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Figure 3 First lines of the Priene block

inscription
An image of a piece of flat grey stone against a black background. The stone is
roughly rectangular with chipped edges. The front of the stone has been inscribed
with three lines of ancient Greek text. The text reads: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ
ΑΝΕΘΗΚΕΤΟΝΝΑΟΝ ΑΘΗΝΑΙΗΙΠΟΛΙΑΔΙ.

Back to - Figure 3 First lines of the Priene block inscription

Figure 4 King depicted on a coin

A close-up image of a silver-coloured coin against a white background. The coin is
roughly circulate in shape. On the coin is depicted a seated male figure facing left. In
his left hand he holds a staff, and on his right hand a bird is perched facing him. He
wears a draped garment around his lower half and has long hair and a beard. On the
left of the coin appears the ancient Greek word ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ. On the right appears the
ancient Greek word ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ.

Back to - Figure 4 King depicted on a coin

Figure 5 Alexander coin alongside Priene

block inscription
This image shows the Alexander coin (Figure 3) and Priene block inscription (Figure
4) next to each other for comparison.

Back to - Figure 5 Alexander coin alongside Priene block

inscription

Figure 6 Gospel of St. John papyrus

Page 337 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

An image of a papyrus manuscript against a red cloth background. The papyrus is

beige in colour and roughly rectangular in shape with ragged edges. The manuscript is
covered in lines of handwritten ancient Greek text.

Back to - Figure 6 Gospel of St. John papyrus

Figure 6 (repeated) Gospel of St. John

papyrus
An image of a papyrus manuscript against a red cloth background. The papyrus is
beige in colour and roughly rectangular in shape with ragged edges. The manuscript is
covered in lines of handwritten ancient Greek text.

Back to - Figure 6 (repeated) Gospel of St. John papyrus

Figure 7 Fifth-century BCE inscription (the

Callias decree)
An image of a piece of rectangular, beige stone against a black background. It is
covered in inscribed ancient Greek text, which is neatly aligned in a grid.

Back to - Figure 7 Fifth-century BCE inscription (the Callias

decree)

Figure 1 Alexander coin alongside Priene

block inscription
This image shows the Alexander coin and Priene block inscription next to each other
for comparison.

Back to - Figure 1 Alexander coin alongside Priene block

inscription

Page 338 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Figure 2 An ostrakon
An image of a piece of broken terracotta pottery against a pale background. The front
surface of the pottery has a black glaze. Two ancient Greek words, forming a name,
have been incised into the glaze. These read: ΚΙΜΟΝ ΜΙΛΤΙΑΔΟ.

Back to - Figure 2 An ostrakon

Figure 3 Athenian boundary stones

Two drawings in black on a white background. On the left, a drawing of an upright
rectangular stone. The top edge of the stone is chipped and uneven. A line of ancient
Greek text runs backwards from the top right corner of the stone, along the top and
down the left side. The text reads ΗΟΡΟΣΕΙΜΙΤΕΣΑΓΟΡΑΣ. The rest of the stone is
covered in marks indicating a rough surface. On the right, a similar but slightly taller
stone with a straight top edge. A line of ancient Greek text runs from the top left
corner, along the top and down the right side. The text reads
ΗΟΡΟΣΕΙΜΙΤΕΣΑΓΟΡΑΣ.

Back to - Figure 3 Athenian boundary stones

Figure 4 Greek vase

A black and white close-up photograph of a section of pottery. A flat vertical surface
faces the viewer. It is edged by two raised lips, painted a dark colour. On the main
surface, two scenes are painted. At the top, a female winged figure faces to the right,
wearing a decorated gown. To the right is a deer and to the left is a lion. The figure
holds the neck of each animal in her hands. Below this appears a scene of two figures,
one carrying the other. The main figure is male, faces right and wears a helmet. He
kneels down on his right knee with his left foot forward. Over his left shoulder he
carries another male figure who faces downwards, with his eyes closed and his long
hair hanging down. To the left the ancient Greek name ΑΧΙΛΕΥΣ is written
backwards. To the right the ancient Greek name ΑΙΑΣ is written.

Back to - Figure 4 Greek vase

Page 339 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Figure 5 The Gortyn code

A close-up image of a flat beige stone surface. There is a horizontal break running
through the stone, with a square hole in the stone towards the left. The stone is
inscribed with rows of ancient Greek text, which run from left to right on the first line,
right to left on the second line, and so on.

Back to - Figure 5 The Gortyn code

Figure 1 First lines of the Priene block

inscription
An image of a piece of flat grey stone against a black background. The stone is
roughly rectangular with chipped edges. The front of the stone has been inscribed
with three lines of ancient Greek text. The text reads: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ
ΑΝΕΘΗΚΕΤΟΝΝΑΟΝ ΑΘΗΝΑΙΗΙΠΟΛΙΑΔΙ.

Back to - Figure 1 First lines of the Priene block inscription

Figure 2 Themistocles ostraka

An image of six circular pieces of terracotta pottery against a brown background. The
front surfaces of the pieces of pottery have been painted with black glaze, either all
over or in rings. On all of the pieces, the black glaze has been inscribed with ancient
Greek text. They either read ΘΕΜΙΣΘΟΚΛΕΣΝΕΟΚΛΕΟΣ or
ΘΕΜΙΣΘΟΚΛΕΣΝΕΟΚΛΕΟΣΙΤΟ.

Back to - Figure 2 Themistocles ostraka

Figure 3 The Gortyn code

A close-up image of a flat beige stone surface. There is a horizontal break running
through the stone, with a square hole in the stone towards the left. The stone is
inscribed with rows of ancient Greek text, which run from left to right on the first line,
right to left on the second line, and so on.

Page 340 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Back to - Figure 3 The Gortyn code

Figure 1 Athenian boundary stones

Two drawings in black on a white background. On the left, a drawing of an upright
rectangular stone. The top edge of the stone is chipped and uneven. A line of ancient
Greek text runs backwards from the top right corner of the stone, along the top and
down the left side. The text reads ΗΟΡΟΣΕΙΜΙΤΕΣΑΓΟΡΑΣ. The rest of the stone is
covered in marks indicating a rough surface. On the right, a similar but slightly taller
stone with a straight top edge. A line of ancient Greek text runs from the top left
corner, along the top and down the right side. The text reads
ΗΟΡΟΣΕΙΜΙΤΕΣΑΓΟΡΑΣ.

Back to - Figure 1 Athenian boundary stones

Figure 1 (repeated) Athenian boundary

stones
Two drawings in black on a white background. On the left, a drawing of an upright
rectangular stone. The top edge of the stone is chipped and uneven. A line of ancient
Greek text runs backwards from the top right corner of the stone, along the top and
down the left side. The text reads ΗΟΡΟΣΕΙΜΙΤΕΣΑΓΟΡΑΣ. The rest of the stone is
covered in marks indicating a rough surface. On the right, a similar but slightly taller
stone with a straight top edge. A line of ancient Greek text runs from the top left
corner, along the top and down the right side. The text reads
ΗΟΡΟΣΕΙΜΙΤΕΣΑΓΟΡΑΣ.

Back to - Figure 1 (repeated) Athenian boundary stones

Figure 2 First lines of the Priene block

inscription
An image of a piece of flat grey stone against a black background. The stone is
roughly rectangular with chipped edges. The front of the stone has been inscribed
with three lines of ancient Greek text. The text reads: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ
ΑΝΕΘΗΚΕΤΟΝΝΑΟΝ ΑΘΗΝΑΙΗΙΠΟΛΙΑΔΙ.

Page 341 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview
Getting started on ancient Greek

Back to - Figure 2 First lines of the Priene block inscription

Figure 1 First lines of the Priene block

inscription
An image of a piece of flat grey stone against a black background. The stone is
roughly rectangular with chipped edges. The front of the stone has been inscribed
with three lines of ancient Greek text. The text reads: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ
ΑΝΕΘΗΚΕΤΟΝΝΑΟΝ ΑΘΗΝΑΙΗΙΠΟΛΙΑΔΙ.

Back to - Figure 1 First lines of the Priene block inscription

Page 342 of 342 18th October 2024

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/getting-started-on-ancient-greek/content-
section-overview