"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last."
- The New Testament, "The Revelation of St. John the Divine," Chapter 22, Verse 13 (as translated by the King James Version of the Bible)
I've actually had the desire to learn Ancient Greek for a long time, but I didn't think I'd ever have the time or the opportunity to do it. I took an ethics class from NAU's philosophy department in May 2009 where we talked about the Greek philosopher Plato, and I posted on the 28th of that month that I "want[ed] to learn Ancient Greek."
Plato
But I never thought that I'd actually have the opportunity to do it. I thought: "I don't think I'll ever live near someplace where they offer a class in it. Only one university in Arizona has a Classics department, and that's U of A (which is 3 ½ hours away)."
But I recently realized that with a dead language, taking a class in the subject isn't as important, since I won't be needing to speak or listen to the language. If reading it is enough, I can learn it from a book. So it recently occurred to me to get a textbook about it, and start teaching myself Ancient Greek.
Greek helps to understand English
So why do I want to do this? Basically, I have two main reasons for wanting to learn Ancient Greek. One is that English has borrowed a lot of words from the language, and learning Ancient Greek will thus help me to understand a lot of English words ... and their origins. I already speak some French (a descendant of Latin), and so I already know a fair amount about English word origins; but this will add to my knowledge more.
The only additional language family that would help me more is the Germanic languages (the family that English is a part of). Thus I would also like to eventually learn German, and learn something about the origins of our most common English words.
The New Testament was originally written in Greek
The other main reason for wanting to learn Ancient Greek is that the New Testament was originally written in this language. In the time of Christ, Greek was the international language (much like English is today) - rather than the Latin spoken by the Romans, who dominated much of the world (including Judea) at that time. As in centuries past, the international language was Greek, and so publishing the New Testament in this language was a way of reaching a wider audience.
Thus, learning the language will help me to understand one of the two most influential books in human history (the other being the Old Testament).
My introductory textbook about Ancient Greek
When and where was "Ancient Greek" spoken?
I knew when ordering this textbook about the language that its focus was on Attic Greek, the language spoken in the Attica region of Greece (which includes Athens) during the classical era (about 500-300 BC). This was the prestige dialect of its time, comparable to the Queen's English in our language today; and it is the standard language taught in classes called "Ancient Greek."
My favorite painting of Jesus Christ
The dialect of the New Testament
After this, I will focus on a later form of the language called Koine Greek, which was spoken around the time of Christ. This is the dialect in which the New Testament was originally written. I'd like to learn the Attic Greek stuff, too, since I think that's where most English words of Greek origin come from. (Not sure on that, but that's what I'm assuming.) Plus, I'm interested in the classical age of the country.
But my eventual goal will be to learn Koine Greek, so I can start studying important parts of the Bible in the original. This is the literature in the language that I am most interested in reading.
Greek and Roman history
There will be some other benefits, too. This will help me to understand a lot about classical history, especially Ancient Greece, and give me some insight into the founders of Western Civilization. But my main two reasons are that I want to learn the origins of English words, and read the New Testament in the original.
So these are my reasons for wanting to learn Ancient Greek. Maybe I'll even read some Plato along the way.
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."
- The New Testament, "The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Galatians," Chapter 3, Verse 28 (as translated by the King James Version of the Bible)
If you liked this post, you might also like:
Some thoughts about classical education
Falling in love with Classics: How I rediscovered Ancient Greece and Rome
Learning the basics of Ancient Greek from a book
Reading about the trial of Socrates in the original Greek
How I found Plato in the original Greek
My search for the Greek New Testament
My search for the Hebrew Bible in the original
Why I am learning Biblical Hebrew
My deep and abiding love of the Bible
Part of a series about
My own experiences
Why I am learning Ancient Greek
Note: These posts do not have to be read in any particular order. Since time periods overlap, there isn’t much chronological order to observe here.
See also this series about
Modern languages
Note: These posts do not have to be read in any particular order. Since time periods overlap, there isn’t much chronological order to observe here.
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