Contents Introduction 11 Chapter 1: Greek and Latin Languages 13 The Greek language: from Alpha to Omega 14 History 14 The alphabet 15 Not an iota of difference 18 A quick trip to Honolulu 19 The grammar basics (in any language) 21 Nouns: the cases 23 Latin noun declensions 26 Gender stereotypes in Latin grammar 29 Verbs 33 Everyone s speaking the same language 36 The Greek grammar basics 37 The the 37 Nouns 39 Verbs 43 Greek and Latin: quod erat demonstrandum 44 Ancient words for modern meanings 52 The roots of modern words 54 5
Chapter 2: Classical History 59 Greek and Roman history in a nutshell 60 The Bronze Age: Minoans and Mycenaeans 61 The dawn of democracy 63 The Macedonian Empire: Alexander the Great 64 The beginnings of Rome: Romulus and Remus 67 The Roman kingdom: 753 to 510 bc 68 The Roman Republic: 510 to 27 bc 69 What s in a name? 71 Roman law 72 The Romans and the Greeks 73 Slavery 75 The Roman Empire: 27 bc to ad 476 77 The fall of the Roman Empire: ad 476 to 1453 79 Greek historians: Herodotus, Thucydides, Josephus 81 Herodotus 81 Thucydides 83 Josephus 85 Chapter 3: An Introduction to Greek Literature 87 Homer 88 Background 88 Homeric Greek 89 How to recite 30,000 lines of poetry 90 6
Contents So who was he? 91 The Iliad 92 Background 92 Who s who 93 Getting ready for war 94 Greek victory 95 Achilles and Patroclus 97 What s it all about, then? 98 The Odyssey 99 Background 99 Setting up the story 100 The Cyclops 101 Odysseus returns home 102 Some useful muses 104 The Tenth Muse 105 What s it all about, then? 106 Greek tragedy: Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides 108 Background 108 Aeschylus: The Oresteia 110 Sophocles: Oedipus Rex 112 Euripides: Electra 113 Chapter 4: An Introduction to Latin Literature 115 Virgil: The Aeneid 116 Background 116 7
Aeneas s journey 117 The Trojan Horse 119 Aeneas and Dido 120 War with the Italians 121 What s it all about, then? 122 Roman poetry: Catullus, Horace, Ovid 124 Catullus 124 Horace 125 Ovid 127 Chapter 5: Philosophy 131 The Pre-Socratic philosophers: What is everything? 132 Background 132 The early philosophers 133 What the flux? 134 Zeno s paradoxes 135 What s it all about, then? 136 Socrates and Plato 137 Background 137 What is good? 139 The Republic 140 Chapter 6: Ancient Architecture 143 The Parthenon 144 What was it? 144 8
Contents Optical illusions 146 Losing your marbles 147 Knowing your columns 149 Doric order 150 Ionic order 151 Corinthian order 151 The Colosseum 152 Background 152 What was it used for? 153 Rome s biggest sports arena 154 Some very clever features 155 Chapter 7: Science and Technology 157 Pythagoras 158 Philosophy 159 Mathematics 160 Pythagoras s influence 162 Humble pi 163 Notable inventions ahead of their time 165 The death ray 166 The alarm clock 167 The vending machine 169 Automatic doors 170 Scholar and inventor 171 Construction 172 9
How did they get that up? 174 Central heating and heated swimming pools 176 The water pump 177 Flushing toilets 179 Glass 180 Urban planning 181 So was there anything the ancients couldn t do, or didn t invent? 182 One last great invention from classical times... Another humble pie... 183 Select bibliography 185 Index 187 10
The Greek language: from Alpha to Omega Ancient Greek is not an easy language to master. However, its influence over so much of our language today means that it deserves a few moments to pick up the basics at the very least so that you might be able to recognize the difference between a ταβερνα and an ακροπολις on your next holiday. HISTORY The oldest surviving form of Ancient Greek is Mycenaean Greek, which used an alphabet now known as Linear B from as early as 1600 bc. Scholars spent years trying to decipher Linear B from remnants unearthed in Crete, Mycenae and elsewhere, and it wasn t until 1952 that its syllabic letters were finally cracked. The current Greek alphabet, derived from Phoenician, didn t appear for another 800 years or so, in about 800 to 700 bc. (The Phoenicians were an ancient civilization based around the eastern Mediterranean and beyond, who had important trading and cultural influences across the whole region from around this time. Whole books could be written on them and indeed have been but we really must crack on.) The mountainous 14
Greek and Latin Languages mainland and the isolation of the country s islands meant that many dialects of the language were able to exist side by side for many centuries, until a common Greek (Koine Greek) was settled on in the fourth century bc. This was probably as a result of Alexander the Great s incredible expansion of the Greek empire during this time (all the way to India), which required tens of thousands of soldiers to come together and be coherently governed with one common language. THE ALPHABET You ll be pleased to hear that it won t take decades of research to pick up the basics of the alphabet, though, and we ll have you reading simple words in no time. In these examples, you ll see how many of the words we use today are derived from Ancient Greek words or, in some cases, straightforward transliterations of the original word. There will be no vocabulary test at the end. 15
Greek letter Closest Alphabet equivalent in symbol English Alpha Α, α a in pathetic Beta Β, β b in barbarian Gamma Γ, γ g in grammar Delta Δ, δ d in domestic Epsilon Ε, ε e in exit Zeta Ζ, ζ z in zoo Eta Η, η long eh sound as in air Theta Θ, θ th in theology Iota Ι, ι i in plinth Kappa Κ, κ c in catastrophe Lambda Λ, λ l in lamp Mu M, μ m in mathematics Nu Ν, ν n in Nike Xi Ξ, ξ x in toxic Used in a Greek word παθητικος (pathetikos) capable of feeling βαρβαρος (barbaros) foreign γραμμα (gramma) letter δομος (domos) house εξοδος (exodos) way out ζωον (zo-on) animal αηρ (aer) air θεος (theos) god πλινθος (plinthos) brick καταστροφη (catastrophe) an overturning λαμπας (lampas) torch μαθησις (mathesis) education νικη (nike) victory τοξον (toxon) (poisoned) arrow 16