An Introduction to Ancient Greek [Paperback]

Alfred Mollin (Author), Robert Williamson (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0761808531 | ISBN-13: 978-0761808534 | Publication Date: September 25, 1997 | Edition: Third Edition

A self-contained instructional system for an introduction to ancient Greek, this volume includes a supplementary selection of readings from Plato's Meno and Republic and Aristotle's Physics and Nicomachean Ethics. The appendix has sections on phonology, syntax, morphology, and word formation. This text was developed over 20 years in the language program of St. John's College, Annapolis, Maryland.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Greek (translation)

About the Author

Alfred Mollin began developing this textbook while teaching Greek at St. John's College. He is a senior Appellate Counsel with the U.S. Department of Justice.
Robert Williamson is an Andrew W. Mellon Tutor at St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland.

Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: University Press Of America; Third Edition edition (September 25, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761808531
• ISBN-13: 978-0761808534
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,435,771 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #65 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction > Ancient Greek

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Differing Opinion, February 13, 2001

By 

"lmanningvines" (Annapolis, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Introduction to Ancient Greek (Paperback)

I was surprised to read Mr. Baldwin's review. I, too, am a current student at Saint John's College (a freshman in Annapolis) and I like Mollin and Williamson's book a great deal. I agree with Mr. Baldwin's claim that the vocabulary listing in the back is unsatisfactory, but I cannot agree with the rest of his review. I find both the layout and the content to be very helpful and the book is, to my estimation, a very good one. I am also compelled to point out that I know nothing about a change in the curriculum at Saint John's to exclude this Greek text or to include another one and I imagine Mr. Baldwin is speaking only of the Santa Fe campus; as of this writing, Mollin and Williamson is still in use by freshmen in Annapolis. Learning a language can be difficult, Ancient Greek perhaps moreso than most, and no book will make it easy. But I have spent a fair bit of time looking at the various introductory texts which are available and I have encountered none which I would prefer to this one. I recommend Mollin and Williamson very highly.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Just a second here. . ., March 10, 2005

By 

Greg (Cincinnati, Ohio, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Introduction to Ancient Greek (Paperback)

While this is NOT the text I used primarily in learning the Ancient Greek language, I have surveyed and own this text. The text referred to at the bottom of this page as of my writing this is, I am almost certain, written by a Dr. Luschnig. I studied Ancient Greek by that text at St. John's in Santa Fe and agree that it is by far the worst, most counterintuitive language textbook I have seen. The wrath for that book is deserved, but this is not that book.
Please do not be misled by the first comment at the bottom of this page. This really is about the best you can hope for in studying Ancient Greek, a legendarily difficult task. Those involved in the learning process for such an academic language are likely to be people with such strong opinions that a work like this simply can't please everyone. It does an excellent job of bridging the gap between a primer and a rudimentary grammar, and aside from occasionally wishing I didn't have to consult my lexicon as often, I have no complaints, and certainly not after comparison to the Luschnig.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Save your money, November 16, 2000

By 

Eric Baldwin (Santa Fe, NM United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Introduction to Ancient Greek (Paperback)

I am, at the time of this writing, a Sophomore at St. John's college, where Al & Bob's Introduction to Ancient Greek was the required textbook for Freshman Language class. I spent a little over a year living with their textbook and translating the passages that they included and I cannot in good faith reccomend it to any other student of Greek. The layout of the basic chapters is somewhat eccentric and the appendix of vocabulary in the back is woefully lacking in words needed to translate even the example sentences and usually provide one English word for each Greek word. The footnotes for words used in the original passages, when they exist, are similar. This year St. John's College switched to a different Greek textbook for incoming Freshman, despite the close ties between the authors of this one and the college. I reccomend another textbook.