8 9&01: cf. all the philo- and phile- words; note Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love.
11 rco0€v: refer to the stage direction which follows and ask what the question must have been. Mention the -0ev suffix, comparing no-0ev and Kax®-0ev ‘where from?’, ‘below-from’. For k&x® (koto) cf. cathode, with its opposite, anode (ava in Section ie), being routes (o5oi) up and down.
Discussion
By the end of Section 1C, the present indicative and second person imperatives have been met; not all -a® forms have been encountered, but enough to summarize rules for contraction (e.g. a + o/® = ®; a + other vowels = a; iota becomes subscript). The definite article is complete but for the accusative masculine plural, and this can be added. If two hours ’ teaching per week is available, Section 1 C can be reached by the end of the first week (excluding time spent on alphabet practice). All the major linguistic points of Section 1 have been met. This is a good time to ask students to learn the regular verb endings and the nominative and accusative (with genitive and dative, if you wish) of the definite article. It may be worth revising nouns, the definite article and adjectives by constructing a comparative grid as follows:
s. pi
Nom. Acc. m. Gen. Dat. o Ka^o^ xov Ka^ov av0p®noc
av0p®nov oi
xouc
* — *P oo
KK av0p®noi
av0p®nouc
*
Nom. Kalf t ai Ka^
f. Acc.
Gen.
Dat. Tfv Kalfv Td^
* Kald^
* *
Nom. TO Kalov Spyov Td Kald Spya
n. Acc.
Gen.
Dat. TO Kalov Spyov Td
* Kald
* Spya
*
* Genitive plural to be added in Section 2, the genitive singular in Section 8, the dative in Section 9.
t Feminine nouns to be added in Section 2.
Section One D
Grammar
-£® contractions (enough occur to provide simple rules for contraction: e + e = ei; e + o = ou; e + long vowel or diphthong = e disappears). These contractions are particularly helpful when third declension nouns are met. Note that the first and second persons plural of the present indicative do not occur, neither does the singular imperative. In general in Section 1D watch out for tricky word order.
Discussion
Section 1D introduces the fraud and this can be elicited from the students. The captain and Dikaiopolis go down into the hold and find Hegestratos hacking away at the hull. What should be in the hold? If the hold is full, how can H. be hacking away at the hull? That is, the hold must be empty/low. Why attempt sabotage? Here help may be necessary. Students may be groping towards the idea of an insurance fraud but be reluctant to suggest it in the context of the ancient world. Why might a modern ship-owner/captain scuttle a vessel?
Section 1D-G is a good target to aim for in week 2. Its content is self-contained and its accidence light (vocabulary, however, is heavy).
Commentary
p. 10 line
3-4, 14: not ‘O Hegestratos’, a common error. This introduces an important principle - that, when the structure of a sentence has been misunderstood, it should be tackled word by word (or phrase by phrase) in the order in which it comes, the teacher commenting, or demanding comment, on case, form etc. as each phrase is tackled. So lines 2-3: K&T® Se - ‘and below’; TOV - indicates object; 'HyecTpaTov - ‘Hegestratos’ (hold and wait); Op®civ - ‘they see’, probably ‘they see Hegestratos’ - is there a subject?; o - subject; TS - there’s another one too; Ku^epv^Tn? Kai oi vafiTai - problem solved. Now translate the whole sentence. This is an important and constructive analytical technique to be used on all occasions when a sentence causes difficulty, and encourages students to ‘hold’ problems until they can be solved - an important skill. Challenge students to carry out this exercise in class on difficult sentences.
18 rc£X^KUv: cf. pelican, probably so called from its action in eating, a slow, dipping motion.
19 av0prono^: as well as mentioning ‘man = mankind’, note the derogatory usage. With complimentary adjectives, av^p is used; cf. homo scelestus but vir optimus.
20 KaTa8foi: stressing the KaTa- element should give the meaning.
26 piftTW £pauTov: students may need help in deducing what is going on in the picture! Once the meaning is established, give the literal meaning (ceauTov, eauTovq occur later).
Section One E
Commentary
p. 12 line
12 noi: refer back to noGev, after establishing nov as an interrogative.
13 Xippo<;: Greek ‘lifeboats’ were towed behind the vessel.
14 OM^E: stress the c®- stem (several other examples of this stem occur soon). Draw a Christian fish and explain the acronym: IXOYZ (’Incofiq XpicTO? Oeofi
Yioq £®rnp). It may help to fix the c®- stem as ‘save’. Cf. creosote (‘flesh- preserver’).
OEauTov: compare with E^auTov.
Section One F
Background
Value of human life 4.25-7 Friends and enemies 4.1-2, 14-15
Commentary
p. 14 line
2 £auTov<;: should pose no problem if E^auTov, ceauTov have already been mentioned.
8 This is a good moment to review nov, not, no0ev.
8 arco0v^oKw: accept ‘drown’ (a frequent guess), but add ‘die’ as the more correct meaning.
15 KaKou cf. cacophony/euphony.
Discussion
This section is a useful introduction to some Greek moral values. A Greek tended to judge a man’s worth by his value to the community, not by any inherent, automatic worth in the eyes of God. In the speech which is the source for this passage, the speaker says the men met an evil end as they deserved. He says this because he expected the jury to respond favourably to that judgement. It is unlikely that in a modern court of law such a thing would be said in quite that way.
Section One G
Background
Sacrifice 3.28-32 Prayers 3.34; 8.13
Commentary
p. 16 line
2 oraov: what part of speech? Where has ara- stem occurred? IX0YZ ...
3 rapioKorcra: nepi- (perimeter, periphery) + -scope suffix in English (micro¬scope, telescope etc.) will elicit the exact meaning better than the direct derivation ‘periscope’. Cf. kal-eido-scope = ‘beautiful shape/pattern-examiner’.
aKpipra^: note -ra; as the usual ending for adverbs, e.g. aa^ra; (cf. the English adverbial ending -ly).
5 owTnp^a: establish the correct part of speech, pointing if necessary to the definite article. Refer again to the ara- stem.
15 oirana: expressive reading or guessing from the stage direction should elicit the meaning.
16 £v Kiv8wro: if we are araoi, what are we not in?
Vocabulary
The longer vocabulary on p. 31 of GE should be consulted at this point and it is worth going through the list with students. It can be done as an oral test with students being asked to write down words they have forgotten (some may recognize words written on the board even though the sound of them is puzzling). Stress Greek-English, not English-Greek.
Discussion
The form of Dikaiopolis’ prayer is common to many religions, and typical of pagan Greek religion. There is first a form of address which identifies the proper god (essential in religions where there are many to choose from, each with their own sphere of interests: cf. Roman Catholic or Greek Orthodox saints); often a safety clause is added of the type ‘ and any other gods who may be listening and are interested’. Second, there is a review of the god’s past services. Third, there is a brief statement of the problem, and fourth, there is a reason why the god should answer favourably. Here the tit-for-tat principle is strongly in evidence in Greek religion, where gods are regarded as powerful beings who are immortal and care for men only in so far as men acknowledge (= vo^i£®) their power.
Exercises
The number of exercises done depends upon the time available and the ability of the students. Use exercises to reinforce grammar if needed, but if the students seem justifiably confident, do not feel guilty about omitting exercises - apart from the Test Exercises.
Note: There is a very useful Appendix on p. 144, where all the regular nouns, verbs and adjectives to be learnt are listed by section. These can be used when the teacher decides that a supplementary exercise is needed.
Supplementary exercises
Some teachers have felt that the exercises in RG are rather difficult, and would welcome more simple practice before they are attempted. This has been tackled in the 2nd edition by the addition of short, one-word exercises. Many of these are ‘transformation exercises’ - i.e. changing one form of the Greek word into another and asking for the translation (if possible); e.g. give a series of nominative singulars and ask for them to be changed into accusative plurals; some first person singulars for changing into second person plurals, and so on. More challenging, and no less important, is the ‘expansion’ exercise - e.g. add the appropriate form of the definite article to certain suitable words. By consulting the lists in the Appendix, the teacher can construct such exercises very quickly, and put them on the board for the students. The teacher can thus check that students understand the basic forms and constructions, in preparation for the full exercises - or for carrying on with the reading. Using these lists also helps drill the vocabulary.
A vital principle: always begin supplementary exercises with very simple examples indeed.
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