Lingua Graeca // ἡ Ἑλληνικὴ Γλῶττα

​χαίρετε, ὦ μαθηταί! Greetings, dear students!

We may call ourselves the Gubernatoris Latina Academia, but Latin won't be the only language you see in Ashland. Get ready to dive in to Ancient Greek! Following the examples of great Romans such as Cicero, Vergil, Augustus, and Marcus Aurelius, we will learn to read and love the language of the Ancient Greeks!

The alphabet will be our first step to master: it may seem like a daunting hurdle, but I assure you that after our first day you’ll be reading Greek words like a pro - and you *might* have a new alphabet song stuck in your head. Okay, you definitely will. Our exploration will blossom into nouns, verbs, adjectives, and the like. We will aim to read short stories and some sentences - and even write in Greek ourselves!

I have always found that the most rewarding part of learning ancient languages is getting to read authors in their original words - and the skills you pick up in Greek class will help you to do just that. We'll be looking at authors who talk about traveling and seeing new peoples and places - including Homer, Herodotus, Strabo, and Pausanias. By the way, have you ever seen maps based on the ancient geographers' descriptions of the world? Check out this one based on the geography of Strabo:

As you may already know, we'll all be exploring provinces of the Roman Empire during Academy. You and your province-mates will have a chance to read some Strabo - in his original Greek words - and learn something special about your province.

​This may all sound like a lot, but in the end you will find you have a greater familiarity with Ancient Greek. Soon you'll stop saying "it's all Greek to me" and start saying "τὰ πάντα μοι Ἑλληνικά." Get ready for our journey through Ancient Greek!

- Magister Jefferson // Διδάσκαλος Ἰέπφερσον