Start Date
1 October, 2025
There will be 10 weekly meetings on Wednesday, 6 - 7pm, starting from 1 October.
Overview
Introduction to Ancient Greek provides students with knowledge of the basic key elements of Classical Greek grammar. The course enables students to understand how the Greek ancient language is structured and why it is structured that way, thus developing students’ linguistic skills and critical thinking in English. Students will be reading adapted texts from Classical authors, and will get acquainted with some important features of Greek culture and society.
Introduction to Ancient Greek is suitable for students of Humanities but also for enquiring minds, as making sense of an ancient text can be seen as a type of puzzle-solving game that satisfies their desire to find out what happens next. No prior knowledge of Greek is required to attend this module.
Syllabus
Week 1:
- Grammar and Language focus: alphabet; grammatical terminology; transliteration exercises.
- Cultural background and text: Reading a Classical Greek inscription.
Week 2:
- Grammar and Language focus: Definite Article; the three Genders; First and Second declension; the 5 Cases; the principle of agreement.
- Text: translation of model sentences, grammar drills.
Week 3:
- Grammar: adjectives (καλος) and the principle of agreement; present indicative of regular verbs, conjugation ending in -ω: βαινω; negation: ου, ουκ, ουχ.
- Cultural background: Athens at Sea, Peloponnesian War.
- Text: 1A-1B
Week 4:
- Grammar: Noun types intro (three declensions); imperative; verb forms and use; adverbs.
- Cultural background: Athens at Sea, Peloponnesian War.
- Text: 1C-1D
Week 5:
- Grammar: Rules of contraction and contracted verbs; prepositions; ἡμετερος; particles.
- Cultural background: Athens at Sea, Peloponnesian War.
- Text: 1E-1F
Week 6:
- Grammar: Ειμι and οιδα; more particles; adjectives as nouns.
- Cultural background: the Persian Wars.
- Text: 1F-1G
Week 7:
- Grammar: Middle verbs; type 1 nouns; contracted middle verbs; sandwich and repeated article constructions; prepositions.
- Cultural background: Socrates and philosophical inquiry; Homer and epic poetry.
- Text: 1H-I-J
Week 8:
- Grammar: Greek I review: Middle verbs; I/II declensions; contracted middle verbs; sandwich and repeated article constructions; prepositions (part 2).
- Cultural background: the Persian Wars.
- Text: 2A-B
Week 9:
- Grammar: Type 3 nouns (third declension: labial, guttural, dental stem).
- Cultural background: Fifth century BC Athens.
- Text: 2B-C
Week 10:
- Class Mock Test: grammar and vocabulary.
- Grammar and vocabulary big revision.
Please note that the ‘last date available to book’ date is only a guide. We reserve the right to close bookings earlier if courses are over- or under-subscribed. In order to avoid disappointment, please be sure enrol as soon as possible. Registrations will not be processed until the following day if received after 3pm.
Course Lecturer: Dr Guen Taietti
Guendalina D.M. Taietti is an Italian Classicists based in Greece. Her research focusses on the Greek Reception of Alexander the Great from antiquity to the present day, Macedonian History, and the study of Human-Animal relationships in Antiquity. Guen completed her PhD in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Liverpool in 2017 and taught Classics both at school and University level in Italy, Greece, the UK, and China. In 2021 she joined the Continuing Education Department of the University of Liverpool as a Classics Tutor, and since April 2025 she is the Beatriu de Pinós Postdoctoral Researcher in Ancient History at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Alongside her research, Guen is extremely enthusiastic about making Classics accessible to the wider public, travelling, and learning new languages and cultures. In her free time, she is an amateur long-distance runner and an advocate for animal rights and the environment.
Courses fees: Full fee £155/Concession £80
Back to: Continuing Education