Beginning Greek is an elective designed to complement whatever foreign language a student may be studying concurrently. Latin is NOT a prerequisite! In this class students will learn to read and write the Greek alphabet (it is not scary!) and meet the rudiments of grammar, e.g. declension of nouns and conjugation of verbs. Aspects of ancient Greek culture will be explored; students may handle a coin that was used to pay Alexander the Great's troops, or read a translation of Sophocles' Oedipus the King. As a one-half-credit elective, homework will be assigned, but students will not find the demands onerous.

Greek I picks up where Elementary Greek left off, and students delve more deeply into the beauty of the language: further tenses and voices of the verb are introduced, along with the truly Protean participial system. Students will practice their skills on adapted passages of ancient authors like Xenophon and Herodotus; meanwhile, another ancient tragedy or comedy will be read aloud in translation.

In their third year of Greek students continue to build their foundation of grammatical and syntactical knowledge; exposure to the subjunctive and optative moods, and to the μι conjugation, will enable them to read extracts of increasing sophistication and decreasing abridgement, from authors like Plato and Demonsthenes. As always, the nitty-gritty of grammar will be complemented and supplemented with readings in translation.