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Praecepta
The first two of the sayings above were collected by Miriam Schüttler and others are taken from Athenaze (see below). If anyone would like to offer additions they can send email them to me here.
ΟΥΔΕΙΣ ΓΡΑΜΜΑΤΙΚΩΝ ΔΥΝΑΤΑΙ ΠΟΤΕ ΟΛΒΙΟΣ ΕΙΝΑΙ (Anthologia Graeca XI 279 - cited (not very seriously!) by Thomas Coloniensis)
ΟΥΔΕΙΣ ΓΡΑΜΜΑΤΙΚΩΝ ΔΥΝΑΤΑΙ ΠΟΤΕ ΟΛΒΙΟΣ ΕΙΝΑΙ (Anthologia Graeca XI 279 - cited (not very seriously!) by Thomas Coloniensis)
The Temple of Apollo at Delphi (August 2019)
The PowerPoint below provides an introduction to the history of the Greek language and its writing system:
The PowerPoint below provides an introduction to the history of the Greek language and its writing system:
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The presentations below are still under construction. At the moment (March 2020 ) GREEK NOUNS covers only the 1st and 2nd. declensions and consonant stems in the 3rd., while GREEK VERBS IΝ Ω includes the present and imperefect tenses, active and medio-passive, of λύω and of contact verbs in -ε and -α, and GREEK ADJECTIVES only the forms of καλός, -ή, -όν, μέγας, -μεγάλη, μέγα, πολύς, πολλή, πολύ and of σώφρων, -ον and GREEK ARTICLE AND PRONOUNS the definite article, ἐγώ, σύ, αὐτός/ἑαυτός and τίς / τις
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Useful links
Two very useful resources for the basics are:
For classical Greek Mastronarde's Ancient Greek Tutorials covers alphabet and pronunciation (with sound files added but these were not working when accessed in February 2019), accentuation and the main grammatical paradigms, including both tables and drills.
The Institute of Biblical Greek, which, while focusing on the language of the New Testament, also includes details of
the pronunciation used by most students of the classical language, as well as that of modern Greek (for a Greek
scholar's quick demonstration of how we know the modern pronunciation was very different from the modern, see the `Greek Alphabet' site ). The Institute provide clear grammatical charts of their own plus multiple links to other sites
on the same topic. There are also details of their own on-line course, which uses Athenaze (see below) as textbook.
There are links to many other resources on the Greek Language and Linguistics site and, for those who read German, Gerhard Salomon's 1933 course has been made available on-line by E. Gottwein. This course is rather old-fashioned in approach but well set out and with a large number of sentences and passages presented both in Greek and in German translation. Also available in German is guidance on writing Greek letters in electronic formats on Thomas Ihnken's site..
Most of the standard ancient texts are available both on the Perseus site and in the Bibliotheca Augustana, which, whilst not providing the hyper-linked help offered on Perseus, has a much more attractive typeface. Compared with Latin, there is relatively little contemporary writing in classical Greek but Acropolis World News, run by Catalan scholar Juan Coderch from St. Andrew's University in Scotland, provides news bulletins in the language on similar lines to Finnish Radio's Nuntii Latini, though without any recordings. His site also has a short list of suggested translations for modern concepts, whilst Woodhouse's English-Classical Greek dictionary (restricted to words and phrases attested in ancient authors) is also available on-line.
Coderch has also produced a comprehensive Greek grammar which can be downloaded from his site as a PDF file or purchased on Amazon
For classical Greek Mastronarde's Ancient Greek Tutorials covers alphabet and pronunciation (with sound files added but these were not working when accessed in February 2019), accentuation and the main grammatical paradigms, including both tables and drills.
The Institute of Biblical Greek, which, while focusing on the language of the New Testament, also includes details of
the pronunciation used by most students of the classical language, as well as that of modern Greek (for a Greek
scholar's quick demonstration of how we know the modern pronunciation was very different from the modern, see the `Greek Alphabet' site ). The Institute provide clear grammatical charts of their own plus multiple links to other sites
on the same topic. There are also details of their own on-line course, which uses Athenaze (see below) as textbook.
There are links to many other resources on the Greek Language and Linguistics site and, for those who read German, Gerhard Salomon's 1933 course has been made available on-line by E. Gottwein. This course is rather old-fashioned in approach but well set out and with a large number of sentences and passages presented both in Greek and in German translation. Also available in German is guidance on writing Greek letters in electronic formats on Thomas Ihnken's site..
Most of the standard ancient texts are available both on the Perseus site and in the Bibliotheca Augustana, which, whilst not providing the hyper-linked help offered on Perseus, has a much more attractive typeface. Compared with Latin, there is relatively little contemporary writing in classical Greek but Acropolis World News, run by Catalan scholar Juan Coderch from St. Andrew's University in Scotland, provides news bulletins in the language on similar lines to Finnish Radio's Nuntii Latini, though without any recordings. His site also has a short list of suggested translations for modern concepts, whilst Woodhouse's English-Classical Greek dictionary (restricted to words and phrases attested in ancient authors) is also available on-line.
Coderch has also produced a comprehensive Greek grammar which can be downloaded from his site as a PDF file or purchased on Amazon
A good overview of ancient Greek culture and its relationship to the modern world is provided by Cambridge professor Paul Cartledge in a November 2010 article in the Guardian newspaper.
There is conversational material in the books by W. H. D. Rouse and Anne Mahoney discussed in the `Introductory courses' section below. A phrasebook for ancient Greek is also currently being uploaded by Louis Sorenson and others. This is based on the 1902 2nd. edition of a German-Attic phrasebook, to which English is now being added. The first few phrases are given below:
There is conversational material in the books by W. H. D. Rouse and Anne Mahoney discussed in the `Introductory courses' section below. A phrasebook for ancient Greek is also currently being uploaded by Louis Sorenson and others. This is based on the 1902 2nd. edition of a German-Attic phrasebook, to which English is now being added. The first few phrases are given below:
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Ah, Guten Tag! Guten Morgen, Karl! Guten Morgen, Gustav! (Erwiderung).
Seien Sie mir schön willkommen! Ah! freue mich außerordentlich! Freue mich außerordentlich, Herr Müller! Ganz auf meiner Seite! |
Well, Hello there! Good morning, Charles! Good morning, Gustav!
(in response) I’m delighted to see you! Well, I welcome you heartily! I welcome you warmly, Mr. Miller! The pleasure’s all mine! |
ὦ χαῖρε!
χαῖρ’ ὦ Κάρολε! καὶ σύγε, ὦ Γούσταβε! ὦ χαῖρε, φίλτατε! ἀσπάζομαι! Μύλλερον ἀσπάζομαι! κἄγωγέ σε! |
Another aid to conversation, published in 1871 and written by a Scottish university professor, John Blackie, can be read on the Archive.org site and also downloaded in various formats (the pdf version is provided by Google books and not available to users in Hong Kong).
There is further onversatinal material in the `Oral Scripts' section of the Ariadne site. (see below)
Greek pronunciation
Although modern Greek is much closer to the ancient language than modern English is to Old English, there have been major shifts in pronunciation. In Greece itself, it is customary to read the ancient texts with modern pronunciation whilst elswhere students are taught to make the sounds of the ancient language as scholars have been able to reconstruct them. The evidence for the older system includes the use in a fifth century B.C. drama of the onomatopoeic phrase βη βη for the sound made by a sheep. This would be read as `vī vī' on the modern Greek system, but as the much more plausible `bē bē' on the reconstructed one. Other evidence is presented in detail in Sydney Allen's Vox Graeca and the timing of subsequent changes discussed in David Horrocks' Greek: a History of the Language and its Speakers. The speech of writers of the New Testament (1st/2nd. cent. A.D.) probably already incorporated some of the featurs of modern Greek (e.g. the fricative proununciation of β, θ, χ and φ ) but by no means all.
Ancient Greek had a pitch accent whose exact nature is still disputed by scholars but which by the early centuries A.D. had turned into the stress accent which modern Greek retains on the same syllables. Luke Ranieri makes an interesting attempt to recreate the original pitch system in his Athenaze recording (the second YouTube video embedded below). Sean Gabbs of Guildhall University provides a useful survey of the different ways in which the accentuation markings introduced in the Hellenistic period and still retained in modern printed texts are pronounced - or not pronounced - by classicists today (see download at the bottom of the page). Students in Holland, the UK and Commonwealth countries, if given any guidance on the topic, have traditionally been told to stress Greek words as if they were Latin ones (!) whilst in the USA and many other countries the stress is put on syllables bearing an acute or circumflex accent. For a robust defence of the latter method, which is both more authentic and facilitates the leaning of modern Greek also, see Vox Graeca.
Here are the opening lines of Homer's Odyssey read by a Greek native speaker but in the ancient style, with a rather less prominent pitch accent than Ranieri's:
Ancient Greek had a pitch accent whose exact nature is still disputed by scholars but which by the early centuries A.D. had turned into the stress accent which modern Greek retains on the same syllables. Luke Ranieri makes an interesting attempt to recreate the original pitch system in his Athenaze recording (the second YouTube video embedded below). Sean Gabbs of Guildhall University provides a useful survey of the different ways in which the accentuation markings introduced in the Hellenistic period and still retained in modern printed texts are pronounced - or not pronounced - by classicists today (see download at the bottom of the page). Students in Holland, the UK and Commonwealth countries, if given any guidance on the topic, have traditionally been told to stress Greek words as if they were Latin ones (!) whilst in the USA and many other countries the stress is put on syllables bearing an acute or circumflex accent. For a robust defence of the latter method, which is both more authentic and facilitates the leaning of modern Greek also, see Vox Graeca.
Here are the opening lines of Homer's Odyssey read by a Greek native speaker but in the ancient style, with a rather less prominent pitch accent than Ranieri's:
A longer extract (lines 1-48) can be heard here but only the Greek text, with no English translation, is providedand a recording of the whole of book 1 is available for purchase.
Introductory courses
The best known beginners' course in the UK was formerly Athenaze, featuring the story of an Attic farmer and his family in the 5th century A. D. and with the emphasis on reading rather than rapid presentation of grammar. The latter is nevertheless treated thoroughly and, in contrast to many other courses, the learner is expected to master from the start the system of accents developed in the Hellenistic period and still normally used in modern editions of the ancient Greek texts. The Teacher's Handbook for Book I and for Book II (1st edition?) can be read on-line or downloaded to your computer. `Ariadne: resources for Athenaze', a collection of pages on the Cornell College site, includes background information and suggestions for activities, including scripts for oral practice, as well as recordings of the vocabulary - up to chapter 12 in June 2011. To read the Greek on this site is is necessary to install the SPIonic font, which can be downloaded from here The font site also provides a keyboard map for anyone wishing to type as well as read Greek. The 3rd edition of the textbook is supported on OUP's website, where`Student Resources', including flashcards and suplementary grammar exercises, can be accessed freely but the instructors' section requires prior registration, normally with proof of teacher status.
The reading passages in Athenaze can be sampled from the Italian edition on the Viarium Novum site. The Italian version ha been modified to make the presentation more similar to that in Orberg's direct method Lingua Latina per se Illustrata, with key vocabulary and phrseas often explained by pictures and diagrams in the margins. There are also some additional reading materials This edition, however, does however use Italian for grammatical explanations and translation exercises. The entire text of Book I can be downloaded from the Scribd site, The passages in chapters one and two have been recorded and uploaded to YouTube by American polymath Luke Ranieri (`ScorpioMartianus') who attempts to recreate the original pitch accent of ancient Greek (see also below).
The reading passages in Athenaze can be sampled from the Italian edition on the Viarium Novum site. The Italian version ha been modified to make the presentation more similar to that in Orberg's direct method Lingua Latina per se Illustrata, with key vocabulary and phrseas often explained by pictures and diagrams in the margins. There are also some additional reading materials This edition, however, does however use Italian for grammatical explanations and translation exercises. The entire text of Book I can be downloaded from the Scribd site, The passages in chapters one and two have been recorded and uploaded to YouTube by American polymath Luke Ranieri (`ScorpioMartianus') who attempts to recreate the original pitch accent of ancient Greek (see also below).
Perhaps unortunately, Athenaze has now (2019) been supplanted as the most commonly used textbook in Britain by John Taylor's Greek to GCSE , which is specifically geared to the OCR Classical Greek GCSE curriculum introduced in 2016 and focussed on direct learning of the grammar and vocabulary required for the exam rather than on extensive reading. Although students are told in the middle of the book that they can chose whether to stress Greek words according to the printed accents or to the Latinate system traditional in the UK, the accents themselves are not shown from the start. An answer key is available on-line after registration on the publisher(Bloomsbury)'s website. Flashcards for the vocabulary in each chapterare being linked to the Flashcards page on my site.
Another course book well established in the UK but also available on the American Amazon site is the Joint Association of Classical Teachers' Reading Greek, which is intended for learners in the upper forms of schools or in universities as well as for independent adult learners. The student has to use both the Text and Vocabulary and the Grammar and Exercises volumes and, if working alone, will also require the Independent Study Guide.
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Ancient Greek Alive starts with lessons introducing both the Greek alphabet and simple dialogues, with the teacher, for example, getting students to ask each other's names in Greek. Subsequent lessons use reading passages drawn from folk tales around the world, as well as covering the basic grammar and emphasising vocabulary review. An extensive preview is available on Amazon and a comprehensive account in the Bryn Mawr Classical Review.
Here is one of the stories reproduced from the downloadable sample on Paula Saffire's own website:
Another introductory course, relying on a reading approach but also covering all the basic grammar, is C. Peckett and A.D. Munday's Thrasymachus: Greek through Reading (not to be confused with Rouse's reader, discussed below, whose central character is also called Thrasymachus!). Because this textbook, written in the 1960s, assumes a familiarity with Latin and the basic categories of an inflected language which many beginners in Greek now lack, school teachers, Alison Barker and Ann Thomas Wilkins, have provided additional explanations on a companion website, `Greek with Thrasymachus'. Their approach is outlined in an article in the 2001 issue of the on-line CALICO Journal
W.H.D. Rouse wrote a beginners' reader, A Greek Boy at Home, which can be freely downloaded from the Internet (see sample pages below) and is narrated in the person of a a Greek boy, Thrasymachus, living on a farm with his parents. brother, sister and nurse. The book, published in 1909, includes dialogues easily adaptable as comprehension exercises and intended to promote active use of the language by both teacher and students. The reader was meant to be used together with the author's First Greek Course (also downloadable as a pdf but with the text on its side and so only easily readable if printed out). The vocabulary for the reader is given in a second volume which can also be downloaded.
Anne Mahoney has recently (February 2011) brought out a substantially revised edition of First Greek Course adapted for college courses (extracts viewable on the Focus site), and also a slightly modified version of the reader, with both passages and vocabulary in a single volume - Rouse's Greek Boy (2010) . There is an online review of the re-issued reader in the Bryn Mawr Classical Review.
W.H.D. Rouse wrote a beginners' reader, A Greek Boy at Home, which can be freely downloaded from the Internet (see sample pages below) and is narrated in the person of a a Greek boy, Thrasymachus, living on a farm with his parents. brother, sister and nurse. The book, published in 1909, includes dialogues easily adaptable as comprehension exercises and intended to promote active use of the language by both teacher and students. The reader was meant to be used together with the author's First Greek Course (also downloadable as a pdf but with the text on its side and so only easily readable if printed out). The vocabulary for the reader is given in a second volume which can also be downloaded.
Anne Mahoney has recently (February 2011) brought out a substantially revised edition of First Greek Course adapted for college courses (extracts viewable on the Focus site), and also a slightly modified version of the reader, with both passages and vocabulary in a single volume - Rouse's Greek Boy (2010) . There is an online review of the re-issued reader in the Bryn Mawr Classical Review.
Anne Mahoney has also brought out a revised edition of Francis Morice's Stories in Attic Greek, which was originally published in 1879 and intended to serve as a transitional reader for intermediate students who had already covered basic grammar but might still find unadapted Greek authors difficult. The stories themselves are, however, often based on ancient materials.
Another reader is Charles Chamber's 1906 publication, The Greek War of Independence, which relates some of the events between 1821 and 1827 in the revolt against Turkish rule, which led to the establishment of the modern Greek state. The book, which can be downloaded freely from the Internet Archive. includes a fully detailed vocabuulary and a set of English-Greek exercises illustrating aspects of grammar.
Kendrick's 1851 textbook, Greek Ollendorff, which includes some conversational material with a systematic presentation of grammar, in a somewhat similar fashion to Adler's Practical Grammar of the Latin Language, can be read on-line or down-loaded in various formats from archiv.com Evan Millner is currently recording and uploading the exercises and vocabulary t0 his Ancient Greek podcast site. Kendrick's text can also be ordered as a facsimile reprint from Amazon.
Schroder and Horrigan's A Reading Course in Homeric Greek, Book 1 of which a 3rd edition, revised by Leslie Collins Edwards, was issued in 2004, introduces the student to Greek as used by its best-known poet, who probably wrote in the 8th century B.C., employing rather simpler syntax than the classical language of the 5th and 4th centuries on which most introductory courses are based. The student is reading short extracts of genuine Homer from lesson 11 onwards and the book concludes with the stories of the Lotus Eaters and the Cyclops from Book 9 of the Odyssey. A sample of the actual text is available in the preview on Amazon and the whole book can now (December 2019) be downloaded as a freepdf file from here, while timothy Johnson has provided an on-line answer key (only covering up to the start of chapter 95 in the 120-chapter volume), There is a largely favourable evaluation of the volume in the Bryn Mawr Classical Review. Edward's 2005 edition of Book 2 is considerably shorter than Schroder and Horrigan's original, providing the complete texts of Books 6 and 12 of the Odyssey with commentary, vocabulary and further information on grammar but no extracts from the Iliad (despite what is stated on the Amazon page)! There is finally a shorter volume, Transition to Attic Greek to aid those who have completed the Homeric course and wish to move on to read texts by later authors. Those wishing to focus on Homer should certainly listen also to the first 27 lines of the Odyssey recited in reconstructed ancient pronunciation by a native speaker of Greek in the video embodies above.
Another reader is Charles Chamber's 1906 publication, The Greek War of Independence, which relates some of the events between 1821 and 1827 in the revolt against Turkish rule, which led to the establishment of the modern Greek state. The book, which can be downloaded freely from the Internet Archive. includes a fully detailed vocabuulary and a set of English-Greek exercises illustrating aspects of grammar.
Kendrick's 1851 textbook, Greek Ollendorff, which includes some conversational material with a systematic presentation of grammar, in a somewhat similar fashion to Adler's Practical Grammar of the Latin Language, can be read on-line or down-loaded in various formats from archiv.com Evan Millner is currently recording and uploading the exercises and vocabulary t0 his Ancient Greek podcast site. Kendrick's text can also be ordered as a facsimile reprint from Amazon.
Schroder and Horrigan's A Reading Course in Homeric Greek, Book 1 of which a 3rd edition, revised by Leslie Collins Edwards, was issued in 2004, introduces the student to Greek as used by its best-known poet, who probably wrote in the 8th century B.C., employing rather simpler syntax than the classical language of the 5th and 4th centuries on which most introductory courses are based. The student is reading short extracts of genuine Homer from lesson 11 onwards and the book concludes with the stories of the Lotus Eaters and the Cyclops from Book 9 of the Odyssey. A sample of the actual text is available in the preview on Amazon and the whole book can now (December 2019) be downloaded as a freepdf file from here, while timothy Johnson has provided an on-line answer key (only covering up to the start of chapter 95 in the 120-chapter volume), There is a largely favourable evaluation of the volume in the Bryn Mawr Classical Review. Edward's 2005 edition of Book 2 is considerably shorter than Schroder and Horrigan's original, providing the complete texts of Books 6 and 12 of the Odyssey with commentary, vocabulary and further information on grammar but no extracts from the Iliad (despite what is stated on the Amazon page)! There is finally a shorter volume, Transition to Attic Greek to aid those who have completed the Homeric course and wish to move on to read texts by later authors. Those wishing to focus on Homer should certainly listen also to the first 27 lines of the Odyssey recited in reconstructed ancient pronunciation by a native speaker of Greek in the video embodies above.
Cynthia Sheldermine's Introduction to Greek, based on Wilding's Greek for Beginners, uses adaptated texts from Herodotus, the 5th century historian (see sample below), as well as from Xenophon, Thucydides and Plato. There is an evaluation in the Bryn Mawr Classical Review. The approach is traditional, with presentation of grammar followed by practice sentences for translation into as well as from Greek, a reading passage and a vocabulary list for memorisation. The same publisher has also brought out Anne Groton's From Alpha to Omega: a Beginning Course in Classical Greek.
Texts for intermediate learners
There are many readers available to ease the learner's task in beginning to tackle authentic Greek texts. Geoffrey Steadman's self-published Wordpress series supplies vocabulary and grammatical commentary on a facing page or below the text and also a list of the commonest words for the student to study before he or she begins reading. Works available include Books 6-12 of Homer's Odyssey, Book 1 of Herodotus's Histories, and the Symposium and first book of The Republic by Plato. His site provides free downloads of Powerpoint flashcards for the core vocabularies and also the complete texts of Odyssey 6-8 and Lysias 1. Previews are also available on Amazon.com
Another series of texts with similar extensive support for the learner is being produced by Evan Hayes and Stephen Nimis formerly of the University of Miami. The first volume is Lucian's Ἀληθῆ Διηγήματα (`A True Story'), written in the 2nd. century A.D. and telling the story of a ship swept up to the moon is the first in a series of editions of Greek and Latin texts by Evan Hayes and Stephen Nimis. A preview of the book is available on Amazon and details of other texts in the series are on Stephen Nimis's author page. The books are very reasonably priced as they are being self-published on a `print-on-demand' basis.
Ancient Greek poetry and music
We do not know for certain what ancient Greek music sounded like but an interesting attempt at reconstruction is available on the CD `Musique de la Grèce antique' by Atrium Musicae de Madrid. This recording is currently (February 2013) also available on YouTube, which also has a number of other versions of what is claimed to be ancient Greek music, including in particular performances of the `Song of Seikilos', believed to have been composed somewhere between 200 B.C and 200 A.D. and an album lasting almost an hour posted by `ThoughtTraveller'. Michael Levy provides what he describes as a combination of ancient Freek elements with his own ideas in his Ancient Greek Music - the Lyre of Classical Antiquity.
Martin West, the most distinguished British classical scholar of his generation, wrote a comprehensive survey, Ancient Greek Music, intended to be accessible to to those without musical training, and also co-edited a collection of all extant fragments, Documents of Ancient Greek Music . Stefan Hagel, author of the most recent comprehensive study of the topic (Ancient Greek Music. A New Technical History, Cambridge 2009) has electronic renditions of the main surviving melodies on his Ancient Greek Music site. An episode in RTHK Radio 4's `Early Music' series features recordings from the Atrium Musicae CD and elsewhere - make sure you are downloading the 3 July 2011 episode, which appears from the site description to be part of the `Oratorio' series but is not!
The leading researcher in this field at the moment is probably Oxford musician and classicist Armand d'Angour, some of whose reconstructions were performed in concert at the Ashmolean Museum in November 2017. He explains his work and presents some performance extracts on YouTube and has most recently (July 2018) described his research in an article for The Conversation. This essay can also be found on the GREEK MUSIC page on this site, together with an account of his work at an earlier stage (What Song the Sirens Sang) and some additional links,
As well as being used in the chorus sections of Greek plays, music may also often have accompanied the recitation of other poetry. Φαίνεταί μοι κῆνος ἴσος θέοισιν (`He seems to me the equal of the gods'), the most famous of the lyric poems by Sappho of Lesbos, who was writing around the beginning of the 6th century B.C., has been set to modern music and can be heard on YouTube with the original text with English and German translations shown on the video The singer in this performance adds the words alla pan tolmaton (``everything must be taken') at the end of the song . Sappho describes her intense feelings as she watches a girl with whom she is herself in love talking with a boyfriend.
In the transcription given below, `h' is written after long vowels, `ou' is similar to the English `oo' in `soon', ` ü' is the rounded high front vowel in French `tu' and `ch' should be pronounced as in Scottish `loch' or German `auch'. The trans-
lation has been adapted from that of Constantine Trypanis in The Penguin Book of Greek Verse, a bilingual anthology, which covers the whole period from Homer to the 2oth century :
Martin West, the most distinguished British classical scholar of his generation, wrote a comprehensive survey, Ancient Greek Music, intended to be accessible to to those without musical training, and also co-edited a collection of all extant fragments, Documents of Ancient Greek Music . Stefan Hagel, author of the most recent comprehensive study of the topic (Ancient Greek Music. A New Technical History, Cambridge 2009) has electronic renditions of the main surviving melodies on his Ancient Greek Music site. An episode in RTHK Radio 4's `Early Music' series features recordings from the Atrium Musicae CD and elsewhere - make sure you are downloading the 3 July 2011 episode, which appears from the site description to be part of the `Oratorio' series but is not!
The leading researcher in this field at the moment is probably Oxford musician and classicist Armand d'Angour, some of whose reconstructions were performed in concert at the Ashmolean Museum in November 2017. He explains his work and presents some performance extracts on YouTube and has most recently (July 2018) described his research in an article for The Conversation. This essay can also be found on the GREEK MUSIC page on this site, together with an account of his work at an earlier stage (What Song the Sirens Sang) and some additional links,
As well as being used in the chorus sections of Greek plays, music may also often have accompanied the recitation of other poetry. Φαίνεταί μοι κῆνος ἴσος θέοισιν (`He seems to me the equal of the gods'), the most famous of the lyric poems by Sappho of Lesbos, who was writing around the beginning of the 6th century B.C., has been set to modern music and can be heard on YouTube with the original text with English and German translations shown on the video The singer in this performance adds the words alla pan tolmaton (``everything must be taken') at the end of the song . Sappho describes her intense feelings as she watches a girl with whom she is herself in love talking with a boyfriend.
In the transcription given below, `h' is written after long vowels, `ou' is similar to the English `oo' in `soon', ` ü' is the rounded high front vowel in French `tu' and `ch' should be pronounced as in Scottish `loch' or German `auch'. The trans-
lation has been adapted from that of Constantine Trypanis in The Penguin Book of Greek Verse, a bilingual anthology, which covers the whole period from Homer to the 2oth century :
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Φαίνεταί μοι κῆνος ἴσος θέοισιν
ἔμμεν᾽ ὤνηρ, ὄττις ἐνάντιός τοι ἰσδάνει καὶ πλάσιον ἆδυ φωνεί- σας ὐπακούει καὶ γελαίσ‹ας› ἰμέροεν, τό μ᾽ ἦ μάν καρδίαν ἐν στήθεσιν ἐπτόαισεν. ὢς γὰρ ἔς σ᾽ ἴδω βρόχε᾽, ὤς με φώνη σ᾽ οὖδεν ἔτ᾽ εἴκει, ἀλλὰ κὰμ μὲν γλῶσσα ἔαγε, λέπτον δ᾽ αὔτικα χρῶι πῦρ ὐπαδεδρόμακεν, ὀππάτεσσι δ᾽ οὖδεν ὄρημμ᾽, ἐπιρρόμ βεισι δ᾽ ἄκουαι, ἀ δέ μ᾽ ἴδρως κακχέεται, τρόμος δέ παῖσαν ἄγρει, χλωροτέρα δὲ ποίας ἔμμι, τεθνάκην δ᾽ ὀλίγω ᾽πιδεύης φαίνομ᾽ ἔμ᾽ αὔται· |
Phainetai moi kehnos isos theoisin
emmen'ohnehr, hottis enantios toi isdanei kai plasion adü phohnei- sas upakouei kai gelaisas himeroen, to m'eh man kardian en stehthesin eptoaisen ohs gar es s'idoh broche', ohs me phohnes'ouden et'eikei, alla kam men glohssa eage, lepton d'autika chrohi pür üpadedromaken, oppatessi d'ouden orehmm', eporrom beisi d'akouai a de m'idrohs kakcheetai, tromos de paisan agrei, chlohrotera de poias emmi, tethnakehn d'oligoh 'pideuehs phainom'em'autai |
He seems to me the equal of the gods
that man who opposite you sits and close up your sweet speech hears and lovely laughter, which my heart in my breast has set pounding. For when I see you just for an instant it's as if I've lost my voice, but while my tongue is frozen, a delicate fire has at once run under my skin, I see nothing with my eyes and my ears are ringing sweat pours down me and trembling seizes me all over, paler than grass I am, and little short of dead I seem to myself |
A very different, more modern musical interpretation of this poem has been recorded by the group Trinovox.
A musical setting of another of Sappho's poems (or rather of an expansion of a surviving fragment) is also available on YouTube, sung by Nena Venetsanou:
A musical setting of another of Sappho's poems (or rather of an expansion of a surviving fragment) is also available on YouTube, sung by Nena Venetsanou:
Hymn to the Muse - Mesomedes of Crete
A short appeal for inspiration to Calliope, muse of epic poetry, and to Apollo, son of Latona, by Mesomedes of Crete, a freedman of the emperor Hadrian (reigned 117-138 A.D.), sung here by Daphne Panourgia with orchestration by Petros Tabouris. The lyrics are given below in the original Ionic Greek with translations into Standard Modern Greek and English as uploaded by `Lynkeas' with the YouTube video in January 2009.
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Άειδε Μούσά μοι φίλη,
μολπής δ' εμής κατάρχου, αύρη δε σων απ' άλσεων εμάς φρένας δονείτω. Καλλιόπεια σοφά, Μουσών προκαθαγέτι τερπνών, και σοφέ Μυστοδότα, Λατούς γόνε, Δήλιε, Παιάν, ευμενείς πάρεστέ μοι. |
Ψάλλε, αγαπητή σε μένα, Μούσα,
κι αρχή δώσε στο τραγούδι μου, αύρα ας έλθει από τα άλση σου να δονήσει τις φρένες μου! Σοφή Καλλιόπη, ηγήτειρα των αγαπημένων Μουσών, και Συ σοφέ Μυστοδότη, τέκνο της Λητούς, Δήλιε, Παιάν, ευμενείς, παρασταθήτε μου! |
Sing, dearest Muse, and
help me start my song. Let the breeze from your forests make my soul vibrate! Oh, wise Calliope, you the leader of the gracious Muses, and You wise Initiator of Mysteries, Latona's son, Delian, Paean, offer your help, favorable to me! |
Agni Parthene
`Agni Parthene' is a hymn to the Virgin Mary written around the beginning of the 20th century by the Greek Orthodox bishop St. Nektarios of Aegina. though the transcription given here represents the Byzantine pronunciation, word forms are almost all identical to those used in classical Greek and the phrasing echoes a long tradition of chant going back to the cult of the Mother Goddess of the Mediterranean region. Note that the couplets below were written as single lines in the source from which the text is taken (Wikipedia) as were the second and third lines of the quadrains; the alteration was purely to facilitate displaying the text, transcription and translation in parallel columns. The translation has been modified to make it more literal. The hymn can be heard with accompanying slides on YouTube and the video is also embodied below. For more information on pre-classical Greek religion see volume 22 of Aegaeum, downloadable as a series of PDF files.
There are a number of other performances available on Youtube including one by the monks of Simonopetra Monastery.
Αγνή Παρθένε Δέσποινα, Agni parthene Despoina, Holy Virgin, Lady
Άχραντε Θεοτόκε, ahrante theotoke Spotless Bearer of God
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Παρθένε Μήτηρ Άνασσα, Parthene mitir anasa, Virgin Mother Queen
Πανένδροσέ τε πόκε. panedrοse te poke and all-dewy fleece
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Υψηλοτέρα Ουρανών, Ipsilotera ouranon, Higher than the Heavens
ακτίνων λαμπροτέρα aktinon lamprotera Brighter than the sunbeams
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Χαρά παρθενικών χορών, hara parthenikon horon, Delight of the virginal choirs
αγγέλων υπερτέρα, aggelon ipertera loftier than the angels
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Εκλαμπροτέρα ουρανών Eklamprotera ouranon More radiant than the heavens
φωτός καθαροτέρα, fotos katharotera Purer than light
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Των Ουρανίων στρατιών ton ouranion stration than the Heavenly armies
πασών αγιωτέρα pason ayiotera all holier
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Μαρία Αειπάρθενε Maria aeiparthene Maria Ever-virgin
κόσμου παντός Κυρία kosmou pantos kiria Mistress of all the world
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Άχραντε Νύμφη Πάναγνε ahrante numfi panagne Spotless Bride Immaculate
Δέσποινα Παναγία, Despoina Panagia Lady All-holy
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Μαρία Νύμφη Άνασσα, Maria nimfi anassa Maria Bride Queen
χαράς ημών αιτία. haras imon etia cause of our delight
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Κορή σεμνή Βασίλισσα, kori semni vasilissa maiden sacred Queen
Μήτηρ υπεραγία, mitir iperagia Mother all-holy
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte
Τιμιώτερα Χερουβείμ Timiotera herouvim More worthy than the Cherubim
υπερενδοξοτέρα iperendoxotera and more glorious
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Των ασωμάτων Σεραφείμ ton asomaton serafim Than the non-material Seraphim
των Θρόνων υπερτέρα, ton thronon ipertera Than the Thrones higher
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Χαίρε το άσμα Χερουβείμ Here to asma herouvim Rejoice song of the Cherubim
χαίρε ύμνος Αγγέλων here imnos aggelon Rejoice hymn of the angels
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Χαίρε ωδή των Σεραφείμ here odi ton serafim Rejoice chant of the Seraphim
Χαρά των Αρχαγγέλων hara ton arhaggelon Delight of the archangels
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte
Χαίρε ειρήνη και χαρά Here irini kai hara Rejoice peace and delight
λιμήν της σωτηρίας limin tis sotirias harbour of salvation
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Παστάς του Λόγου pastas tou logou Salt of the Word
ιερά άνθος της αφθαρσίας iera anthos tis aftharsias sacred flower of immortality
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Χαίρε Παράδεισε τρυφής, Here paradise trifis Rejoice Paradise of luxury
ζωής τε αιωνίας, zois te eoinias and of life eternal
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Χαίρε το ξύλον της ζωής, Here to xilon tis zois Rejoice tree of life
πηγή αθανασίας, pihi athanasias fountain of immortality
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride unwed
Σε ικετεύω Δέσποινα, Se iketevo Despina I beseech you Lady
Σε, νυν, επικαλούμαι, se nin epikaloume I now call upon you
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Σε δυσωπώ Παντάνασσα, Se disopo pantanassa I look to you Queen of all
Σην χάριν εξαιτούμαι. sin harin exetoume I beg your favour
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice bride unwed
Κορή σεμνή και άσπιλε, Kori semni kai aspile Maiden sacred and unstained
Δεσποίνα Παναγία Despina Panagia Lady All-holy
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Θερμώς επικαλούμαι Σε, Thermos epikaloume se , fervently I call upon you
Ναέ ηγιασμένε, nae igiasmene See [me], sanctified-one
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Αντιλαβού μου, ρύσαι με antilavou mou, rise me Take hold of me, save me
από τού πολεμίου, apo tou polemiou from the enemy
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Και κλήρονομον δείξον με, Ke klironomon deixon me and receive me as a sharer
ζωής της αιωνίου, zois tis eoniou in life eternal
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride unwed
There are a number of other performances available on Youtube including one by the monks of Simonopetra Monastery.
Αγνή Παρθένε Δέσποινα, Agni parthene Despoina, Holy Virgin, Lady
Άχραντε Θεοτόκε, ahrante theotoke Spotless Bearer of God
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Παρθένε Μήτηρ Άνασσα, Parthene mitir anasa, Virgin Mother Queen
Πανένδροσέ τε πόκε. panedrοse te poke and all-dewy fleece
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Υψηλοτέρα Ουρανών, Ipsilotera ouranon, Higher than the Heavens
ακτίνων λαμπροτέρα aktinon lamprotera Brighter than the sunbeams
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Χαρά παρθενικών χορών, hara parthenikon horon, Delight of the virginal choirs
αγγέλων υπερτέρα, aggelon ipertera loftier than the angels
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Εκλαμπροτέρα ουρανών Eklamprotera ouranon More radiant than the heavens
φωτός καθαροτέρα, fotos katharotera Purer than light
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Των Ουρανίων στρατιών ton ouranion stration than the Heavenly armies
πασών αγιωτέρα pason ayiotera all holier
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Μαρία Αειπάρθενε Maria aeiparthene Maria Ever-virgin
κόσμου παντός Κυρία kosmou pantos kiria Mistress of all the world
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Άχραντε Νύμφη Πάναγνε ahrante numfi panagne Spotless Bride Immaculate
Δέσποινα Παναγία, Despoina Panagia Lady All-holy
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Μαρία Νύμφη Άνασσα, Maria nimfi anassa Maria Bride Queen
χαράς ημών αιτία. haras imon etia cause of our delight
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Κορή σεμνή Βασίλισσα, kori semni vasilissa maiden sacred Queen
Μήτηρ υπεραγία, mitir iperagia Mother all-holy
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte
Τιμιώτερα Χερουβείμ Timiotera herouvim More worthy than the Cherubim
υπερενδοξοτέρα iperendoxotera and more glorious
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Των ασωμάτων Σεραφείμ ton asomaton serafim Than the non-material Seraphim
των Θρόνων υπερτέρα, ton thronon ipertera Than the Thrones higher
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Χαίρε το άσμα Χερουβείμ Here to asma herouvim Rejoice song of the Cherubim
χαίρε ύμνος Αγγέλων here imnos aggelon Rejoice hymn of the angels
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Χαίρε ωδή των Σεραφείμ here odi ton serafim Rejoice chant of the Seraphim
Χαρά των Αρχαγγέλων hara ton arhaggelon Delight of the archangels
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte
Χαίρε ειρήνη και χαρά Here irini kai hara Rejoice peace and delight
λιμήν της σωτηρίας limin tis sotirias harbour of salvation
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Παστάς του Λόγου pastas tou logou Salt of the Word
ιερά άνθος της αφθαρσίας iera anthos tis aftharsias sacred flower of immortality
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Χαίρε Παράδεισε τρυφής, Here paradise trifis Rejoice Paradise of luxury
ζωής τε αιωνίας, zois te eoinias and of life eternal
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Χαίρε το ξύλον της ζωής, Here to xilon tis zois Rejoice tree of life
πηγή αθανασίας, pihi athanasias fountain of immortality
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride unwed
Σε ικετεύω Δέσποινα, Se iketevo Despina I beseech you Lady
Σε, νυν, επικαλούμαι, se nin epikaloume I now call upon you
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Σε δυσωπώ Παντάνασσα, Se disopo pantanassa I look to you Queen of all
Σην χάριν εξαιτούμαι. sin harin exetoume I beg your favour
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice bride unwed
Κορή σεμνή και άσπιλε, Kori semni kai aspile Maiden sacred and unstained
Δεσποίνα Παναγία Despina Panagia Lady All-holy
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Θερμώς επικαλούμαι Σε, Thermos epikaloume se , fervently I call upon you
Ναέ ηγιασμένε, nae igiasmene See [me], sanctified-one
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Αντιλαβού μου, ρύσαι με antilavou mou, rise me Take hold of me, save me
από τού πολεμίου, apo tou polemiou from the enemy
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride Unwed
Και κλήρονομον δείξον με, Ke klironomon deixon me and receive me as a sharer
ζωής της αιωνίου, zois tis eoniou in life eternal
Χαίρε Νύμφη Ανύμφευτε. Here nimfi animfefte Rejoice Bride unwed
Greek accentuation
Ancient Greek had a pitch accent whose exact nature is still disputed by scholars but which by the early centuries A.D. had turned into the stress accent which modern Greek retains. Luke Ranieri makes an interesting attempt to recreate the original p[itch system in the YouTube video embedded above. Sean Gabbs of Guildhall University provides a useful survey of the different ways in which the accentuation markings introduced in the Hellenistic period and still retained in modern printed texts are pronounced - or not pronounced - by classicists today. Students in Holland, the UK and Commonwealth countries, if given any guidance on the topic, have traditionally been told to stress Greek words as if they were Latin ones (!) whilst in the USA and many other countries the stress is put on syllables bearing an acute or circumflex accent. For a robust defence of the latter method, see Sydeny Allen's Vox Graeca.
| accents_(sean_gabb).pdf |
