Homeric Greek: A Book for Beginners [Paperback]

Clyde Pharr (Author), John Wright (Author)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Clyde Pharr is professor of classical languages in the University of Texas and author of Homeric Greek: A Book for Beginners also published by the University of Oklahoma Press. It is his belief that Homeric Vocabularies is indispensable for those who would begin the study of Greek with Homer, as well as for those who would deepen their knowledge of Greek.

Product Details

• Paperback: 414 pages
• Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press; Rev Sub edition (January 15, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806119373
• ISBN-13: 978-0806119373
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #586,372 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #84 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Greek > Instruction

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Straight to the top, May 29, 2002

By 

B. Rogers (Phnom Penh, Cambodia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Homeric Greek: A Book for Beginners (Paperback)

This is an excellent way to learn classical Greek. It takes you straight to unsimplified Homer within a few lessons and if you tough it out you can end up able to read Homeric Greek quite well. It works fine as a teach-yourself book. I had had a semester of Greek many years ago, but I was essentially starting from scratch.
Each lesson provides the vocabulary for a few lines of Book I of the Iliad and sends you to the reference grammar at the back of the book to learn the grammar incrementally. Early on there are some prose sentences in Homeric Greek to translate, but these go away in later lessons. Once you have finished the book you will have read all of Book I and will be ready to continue through all of Homer (with a lexicon). My only gripe is that a few more prose sentences to illustrate the grammar points by repetition would have helped a bit. Overall a great teach yourself book.

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All-round excellent!, February 29, 2000

By 

kevin christopher - See all my reviews

This review is from: Homeric Greek: A Book for Beginners (Paperback)

I learned ancient greek before I bought this book, so I can't speak to how well it serves someone just learning the language. Basically, I was a few years out of school and wanted to refresh my Greek. It really served me well, and actually gave me a better mastery of Homer's language than I ever had in college. I highly recommend it to anyone. I would say to beginners that Homeric Greek is the correct approach to learning ancient Greek: first, starting with Homer is a better foundation for learning later dialects than vice versa; second the Iliad (and Odyssey) introduces a beginner to characters, themes, phrases, and other allusions that fill nearly all later Greek literature to some extent; third, the Iliad is simply a damn good story that reads even better in the original. Expand your experience.

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars there are answer keys on the internet for the autodidact, February 1, 2005

By 

Wabash52 (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Homeric Greek: A Book for Beginners (Paperback)

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