Ancient Greek

Overview

Ancient Greek is an Indo-European language that by itself constitutes the Hellenic branch, attested continuously from Mycenaean (14th-13th c. BCE, in Linear B) to the end of Antiquity, when it evolved into Byzantine and then Modern Greek. As the language of literature (Homer, the tragedians, historians, philosophers), of philosophy, of science, and later of the New Testament, it is one of the best-documented classical languages in the world. Several major dialects are distinguished (Attic-Ionic, Doric, Aeolic, Arcado-Cypriot) and, after the conquests of Alexander, the Koine, a supra-dialectal common language. Greek was never a "dead" language in the strict sense: it forms an unbroken continuum down to the Modern Greek spoken today. "Ancient Greek" conventionally designates the stages of the language predating the Byzantine period.

History of the people

The speakers of Greek, the Hellenes, carried one of the most influential civilizations in history. The Mycenaean civilization (c. 1600-1100 BCE), a Bronze Age palatial society, precedes a dark age and then the Archaic revival (8th c.): city-states (poleis), Mediterranean colonization, adoption of alphabetic writing, and the committing of Homeric poetry to writing. The Classical period (5th-4th c.), dominated by Athens and Sparta (the Persian Wars against Persia, then the Peloponnesian War), sees the rise of Athenian democracy, of theatre, history, philosophy (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle), the sciences, and the arts. The conquests of Alexander the Great (4th c.) spread the Greek language and culture from Egypt to Central Asia (the Hellenistic period). Integrated into the Roman Empire, the Greek world remained its eastern cultural heartland; Greek became the language of nascent Christianity (the NT, the Greek Fathers) and then of the Byzantine Empire (until 1453). The Greek legacy — scientific vocabulary, philosophy, literature, the alphabet — permeates all of Western civilization.

History of the language

Greek forms an autonomous branch of Indo-European. Stages: (1) Mycenaean (14th-13th c. BCE), attested in Linear B (palatial accounting). (2) After the collapse of the Mycenaean palaces and a "dark age" (c. 11th-9th c.), the reappearance of writing with the alphabet (8th c.). (3) Archaic and Classical Greek (8th-4th c.): the age of the dialects (Attic-Ionic, Doric, Aeolic, Arcado-Cypriot) and of the great literature. (4) Koine (from the late 4th c., after Alexander): a common language based on Attic-Ionic, a lingua franca throughout the Hellenistic and Eastern Roman world; the language of the Septuagint and the New Testament. (5) Byzantine (medieval) Greek, (6) Modern Greek. Greek is therefore not "extinct": it is spoken today (Greece, Cyprus). "Ancient Greek" is a set of historical stages, and its phonological evolution (iotacism, spirantization of the aspirates, loss of vowel quantities and of the pitch accent in favor of a stress accent) is already observable in late Antiquity.

The script

The Greek alphabet derives from the (consonantal) Phoenician alphabet at the beginning of the first millennium BCE (probably 9th-8th c.). Major innovation: the Greeks reassigned Phoenician consonantal signs with no Greek equivalent to notate the VOWELS (aleph→alpha A, he→epsilon E, yod→iota I, ayin→omicron O, waw→upsilon Y), creating the first alphabet to systematically notate vowels. Formerly written at times boustrophedon (alternating direction line by line) on archaic inscriptions, it became fixed from left to right. Local epichoric variants (grouped into "blue," "red," and "green" alphabets according to Adolf Kirchhoff's classification, 1867) coexisted. In 403/402 BCE, under the archonship of Eucleides, Athens officially adopted the 24-letter Ionic alphabet (of Miletus), which became standard throughout the Greek world during the 4th c. The minuscules and the diacritics (breathings, accents) are Hellenistic and above all medieval (Byzantine) developments; ancient texts (inscriptions, papyri) are in majuscules (capitals/uncials), without spaces or accents (scriptio continua).

Sign system

A 24-letter alphabet (classical order and value): Α α alpha /a/; Β β beta /b/; Γ γ gamma /g/ (nasal /ŋ/ before a guttural); Δ δ delta /d/; Ε ε epsilon /e/ short; Ζ ζ zeta /zd/ (later /zː/); Η η eta /ɛː/ long (in Ionic-Attic; notes /h/ in certain archaic alphabets with a rough breathing); Θ θ theta /tʰ/ aspirated; Ι ι iota /i/; Κ κ kappa /k/; Λ λ lambda /l/; Μ μ mu /m/; Ν ν nu /n/; Ξ ξ xi /ks/; Ο ο omicron /o/ short; Π π pi /p/; Ρ ρ rho /r/ (initial ῥ aspirated); Σ σ/ς sigma /s/ (ς word-finally); Τ τ tau /t/; Υ υ upsilon /y/ (formerly /u/); Φ φ phi /pʰ/; Χ χ khi /kʰ/; Ψ ψ psi /ps/; Ω ω omega /ɔː/ long. Signs outside the standard alphabet (numerals/archaic): digamma Ϝ /w/, koppa Ϙ, sampi Ϡ. Diacritics: rough breathing (῾ /h/), smooth breathing (᾿), acute ´ grave ` circumflex ῀ accents (melodic in origin), diaeresis, iota subscript. The letters also serve as numerals (the so-called Milesian/Ionic alphabetic system).

Phonology

The classical Attic system (5th-4th c. BCE). Vowels: phonological quantity oppositions (short ε ο / long η ω; α ι υ short or long). Timbres: /a e ɛː o ɔː i iː y yː/. Diphthongs: αι /ai/, ει /eː/ (monophthongized early, a "spurious" diphthong), οι /oi/, υι, αυ /au/, ευ /eu/, ου /uː/ (monophthongized). Consonants: stops in three series — voiceless (π τ κ), voiced (β δ γ), aspirated (φ θ χ = /pʰ tʰ kʰ/, NOT fricatives in Classical Greek, unlike Modern Greek). Fricatives: only /s/ (σ); /h/ notated by the rough breathing, only word-initially (and in certain clusters). Sonorants: λ μ ν ρ. A MELODIC (pitch) accent, not a stress accent: acute = high tone, circumflex = rise-fall over a long vowel, grave = an acute lowered in context. The placement of the accent is constrained (the law of limitation: at most on the antepenult, depending on the quantity of the final syllable). The aspiration of the stops and the pitch accent clearly distinguish the reconstructed classical pronunciation from Modern Greek (where φ θ χ = fricatives, η ει οι υ = /i/ "iotacism," and there is a stress accent).

Grammar — essentials

An inflectional language with rich morphology. NOUN/ADJECTIVE: 5 cases (nominative subject; genitive possession/origin, often partitive; dative attribution/instrument/place, absorbing the old IE dative-locative-instrumental; accusative object/direction; vocative address), 3 genders (masc./fem./neuter), 3 numbers (singular, plural, dual — residual). Three "declensions": in -α/-η (1st), in -ος/-ον (2nd, thematic), various athematic types (3rd, on a consonant or vowel). The declined definite article ὁ/ἡ/τό is essential to the syntax (substantivization, attributive/predicative position). VERB: categories of person (1/2/3), number, VOICE (active, middle — the subject's interest/reflexivity —, passive; middle and passive often formally merged, except in the future and the aorist), TENSE-ASPECT (present and imperfect = imperfective; aorist = punctual/global aspect; perfect = resultant state; future; pluperfect), MOODS (indicative real; subjunctive eventuality/will; optative wish, potential, indirect speech in past tenses; imperative), plus infinitive and participle (heavily used: infinitive clauses, genitive absolute, circumstantial participles). The augment (ε- prefix) marks the past in the indicative; reduplication marks the perfect. SYNTAX: free word order (inflection carries the functions); a rich system of particles (μέν...δέ contrast, γάρ cause, οὖν consequence, δή, τε, ἄρα) articulating the argument; distinct negations οὐ (fact) / μή (will, prohibition, conditional).

Reading tips

A working method for reading. 1) Identify the stage of language/dialect: Homer (epic Greek, a mixed language predominantly Ionic with Aeolic elements and archaisms), classical prose (Attic), NT and papyri (Koine), inscriptions (local dialects). This governs morphology and vocabulary. 2) Locate the declined definite article: it gives the gender, case, and number of the noun phrase and signals substantivizations. 3) Analyze each verb form by its markers: augment (ε-) = past indicative; reduplication = perfect; thematic vowel and endings = person/voice; suffixes -σα- (sigmatic aorist), -θη- (passive aorist), -κα- (perfect). 4) Translate ASPECT as much as tense: aorist = an action viewed globally (not necessarily "simple past"), present/imperfect = ongoing process, perfect = a present resultant state. 5) Render the MIDDLE with the nuance of the subject's own interest, not as a mere passive. 6) Exploit the cases: genitive (of/from/whose), dative (to/with/by/in), accusative (object/toward). 7) Treat participles and infinitives as subordinate clauses (temporal, causal, genitive absolute, indirect speech). 8) Read the particles as logical markers (μέν...δέ, γάρ, οὖν). 9) Watch the breathings/accents: they distinguish words (e.g. εἰ "if" / εἶ "you are"; ἦ / ἤ). 10) With raw ancient texts (majuscule scriptio continua), mentally restore words, breathings, and accents — this is already an editorial operation.

Pitfalls

1) "Ancient Greek" is not monolithic: dialect and stage of language (epic, Attic, Koine) alter morphology and meaning — do not apply Attic grammar to Homer or the NT without adjustment. 2) Aspect and tense: the aorist is not systematically a "simple past"; outside the indicative it expresses punctual aspect with no temporal value of its own. 3) The middle voice has a meaning of its own (the subject's interest) and reduces neither to the active nor to the passive. 4) Breathings and accents carry meaning: their omission or confusion (e.g. ὁ "the" / ὅ "that which," εἰ/εἶ, ἦ/ἤ) distorts the reading. 5) Pronunciation: in CLASSICAL Greek φ θ χ are aspirated stops (not fricatives), the accent is melodic, and vowel quantities are distinctive — do not project Modern Greek phonology. 6) Raw ancient texts (inscriptions, papyri) are in majuscules, without accents or word separation (scriptio continua): the segmentation and accentuation of editions are editorial. 7) Beware of false friends with Modern Greek and with learned borrowings. 8) Watch out for crases, elisions, and the ν ephelcystic, which modify the surface form of words.

Decipherment history

Greek in the Greek alphabet has never ceased to be read: its transmission is unbroken from Antiquity to the present day, and it therefore was not the object of a "decipherment." The oldest form of Greek, MYCENAEAN, on the other hand, was written in Linear B, an unread syllabary. This system was deciphered in 1952 by the British architect Michael Ventris (the first public announcement was on 1 July 1952 on BBC radio), with the collaboration of the philologist John Chadwick, demonstrating — to general surprise — that the language recorded was an archaic form of Greek and not a pre-Greek language. The first joint scholarly publication appeared in the Journal of Hellenic Studies in 1953. Ventris relied in particular on combinatorial grids developed from the work of Alice Kober and on the tablets from Knossos and Pylos (excavations of Arthur Evans and Carl Blegen). Linear A, the related Minoan system, remains UNdeciphered (the underlying language is unknown). The decipherment of Linear B pushed the documentation of Greek back by several centuries and confirmed its continuity.

Common formulae & expressions

χαῖρε / χαίρετε

"Rejoice" = hello, greetings (sing./plur.); a formula of greeting and of letter-opening

ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος

"In the beginning was the Word" (John 1:1, NT Koine)

γνῶθι σεαυτόν

"Know thyself" (Delphic maxim)

μηδὲν ἄγαν

"Nothing in excess" (Delphic maxim)

ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, Μοῦσα

"Tell me, O Muse, of the man..." (the opening of the Odyssey, Homer)

μῆνιν ἄειδε θεά

"Sing, goddess, of the wrath..." (the opening of the Iliad, Homer)

ἓν οἶδα ὅτι οὐδὲν οἶδα

"I know one thing: that I know nothing" (a popularized form summarizing the Socratic stance; not a verbatim quotation from any particular dialogue)

ὁ δεῖνα τῷ δεῖνι χαίρειν

An epistolary formula: "So-and-so to So-and-so, greetings" (nominative sender, dative addressee, infinitive χαίρειν)

κύριε ἐλέησον

"Lord, have mercy" (Christian liturgy, Koine)

Corpora & reference editions

• TLG — Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (digital corpus of Greek literature, Univ. of California, Irvine)
• Perseus Digital Library (Tufts University) — texts, lexica, morphological analysis
• PHI Greek Inscriptions (Packard Humanities Institute)
• Papyri.info / Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri — documentary papyri
• Oxford Classical Texts (OCT, Scriptorum Classicorum Bibliotheca Oxoniensis)
• Bibliotheca Teubneriana (critical editions, today De Gruyter)
• Collection des Universités de France ("Budé"), Les Belles Lettres
• Loeb Classical Library (Harvard University Press, Greek text + English translation)

Bibliographic references

• Herbert Weir Smyth, Greek Grammar, 1920 (ed. revised by Gordon M. Messing, 1956) — The standard reference grammar of Ancient Greek in English, highly detailed, widely available online
• Eduard Schwyzer, Griechische Grammatik, 1939-1971 (several vols., completed by A. Debrunner et al.) — The standard scholarly reference grammar in German (phonology, morphology, syntax)
• Pierre Chantraine, Grammaire homérique, 1942-1953 (2 vols.; later revisions) — The reference work for the language of Homer
• Pierre Chantraine, Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque, 1968-1980 — Etymology of the Greek lexicon ("le Chantraine," DELG)
• Henry George Liddell & Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, rev. H. S. Jones, 9th ed. 1940 — The great standard Greek-English dictionary, known as "LSJ"
• Anatole Bailly, Dictionnaire grec-français, 1895 — The standard Greek-French dictionary ("le Bailly")
• Leonard R. Palmer, The Greek Language, 1980 — A history of the Greek language, accessible and reliable
• Geoffrey Horrocks, Greek: A History of the Language and its Speakers, 2nd ed. 2010 — A history of Greek from Mycenaean to Modern Greek (the continuum)
• W. Sidney Allen, Vox Graeca, 3rd ed. 1987 — The reference work on the reconstructed pronunciation of Classical (Attic) Ancient Greek
• John Chadwick, The Decipherment of Linear B, 1958 — The account of the decipherment of Mycenaean (Linear B) by Ventris and Chadwick
• Michael Ventris & John Chadwick, Documents in Mycenaean Greek, 1956 (2nd ed. 1973) — The foundational work establishing Mycenaean as a form of Greek