#000651
Introduction to Attic Greek
Donald J. Mastronarde
A rigorous, self-contained course in the Greek of classical Athens, Introduction to Attic Greek is built on the conviction that beginners deserve full exposure to the language's grammar and morphology from the start rather than a simplified subset. Across forty-two chapters, Donald J. Mastronarde presents forms, syntax, and vocabulary in careful sequence, with exercises, readings, and abundant reference apparatus, and a separate answer key supports self-study. Thorough and demanding, it is favored by programs that want students reading real Greek prose, Plato, Xenophon, the orators, as soon as the grammar allows. The second edition revised and expanded the text and improved its layout. It speaks to college students and disciplined independent learners who want a complete, scholarly foundation in Attic Greek and are willing to work for it.
more…less ▴
The author
Donald J. Mastronarde is a distinguished professor of classics (emeritus) at the University of California, Berkeley, and a specialist in Greek tragedy, particularly Euripides. He brings a scholar's precision to the textbook, which grew out of decades of teaching beginning Greek at the university level.
The book
Introduction to Attic Greek (University of California Press; first edition 1993, thoroughly revised second edition 2013) is a complete beginning course in forty-two chapters, presenting the full grammar and morphology of classical Attic with graded exercises and readings. It is supported by a separate answer key and by extensive online drilling materials.
How to read it
Reviewers and instructors regard it as one of the most complete and intellectually honest introductory Greek texts, precisely because it refuses to hide difficulty. That thoroughness is also its demand: it moves briskly and expects real effort, which suits a structured classroom or a determined self-learner better than a casual dabbler. The second edition's clearer layout and the companion answer key make independent study genuinely feasible. For readers who finish it, the payoff is the ability to tackle unadapted classical prose.
For more context
Compare with Hansen and Quinn's Greek: An Intensive Course and the gentler Athenaze.
Sources - UC Press: Introduction to Attic Greek - Bryn Mawr Classical Review
- Type
- Book
- Author / Maker
- Donald J. Mastronarde
- Publisher
- University of California Press
- Place of publication
- Berkeley
- Year
- 1993
- ISBN
- None
- Shelf
- Reference
- Location
- Colorado