Speaking Ancient Greek as a Living Language

This course is intended for all who wish to read ancient Greek texts without a dictionary. The Polis method is an introduction to Greek through the dialect which has yielded some of the most important works of literature: Kaine Greek. From Plutarch to the New Testament authors, from Polybius to the Septuagint translators, from Plotinus to the author of the treatise On the Sublime, a host of writers have composed their texts in the common dialect (koine dialektoi) from which Western culture has sprung. Since the literature of this dialect spans over a thousand years, we had to choose a reference point: the first century AD The Greek from this period has the advantage of lying midway between early (3rd c. BC – 2nd 1 c. BC) and late Kaine (3rd c. – 10th c. AD) and, further, allows us to read the most interesting Greek works of Antiquity and the early Middle Ages.