The notes in this book are designed to help teachers to use RG in such a way that their students may be able to read fluently and competently some of the finest works of one of the greatest literatures the world has produced.
Throughout this Course we encourage the student to learn through reading in preparation for learning through drills and memorizing. Intelligent, inquisitive reading encourages students to deduce the forms or rules for themselves and to learn to apply them by analogy, while the teacher acts as guide or mid-wife. This is an ideal, admittedly, but one that is of enormous value to any student. If they can work out the rule themselves, they are much more likely to absorb it.
Some preliminary recommendations: (1) Underline the first occurrences of examples illustrating new grammatical points in your own text and encourage students to look for the rules behind them. (2) In the early stages (a) stress that endings, not word order, determine sense; (b) watch for a tendency to look at the first few letters and guess the rest. (3) Practise reading aloud and writing, espe¬cially in the first month.
All these imperatives are a shorthand way of saying ‘this is what I do or have done’. In a sense, these notes are counterproductive: the aim throughout is to allow the thoughts to arise from the text, not to stipulate what you should do. Many other and better thoughts may occur to you as you use the Course.
James Neville
Section One A
Background (all references to WOA)
Survival of Greek literature 8.5 Greek alphabet 8.2-3 Ships and sailing 2.4, 19 Rhapsode and festivals 3.42-5
Grain trade 1.61, 105; 1.20; political importance of 6.65-9 Trade 5.55-60; 6.60
Loans on ships and source of this story 5.59
Peiraieus 1.32, 41; 2.12, 21-5, 32
Parthenon 1.51; 2.7; history of 2.26-78; art and 8.87; temples and sanctuaries 3.37-8
It is, of course, possible for the teacher to mediate the background material to the students. But if possible, get individual students to prepare this beforehand and be responsible for reporting to the class on cue from the teacher. Two or three copies of WoA in the library are a minimum requirement for this.
Grammar Section 1a-g
Present indicative active -ra, -ara, -era Present imperative active -ra, -ara, -era The definite article o ^ TO (nom., acc.)
Ka^-oc;, -^, -ov (n^ETEpoc;) (nom., acc.) avBprarcoc;, epyov (nom., acc.)
Some prepositions (EI;, npoc, ano, EK, ev)
^ev ... 5e
Adverbs in -ra;, -era;
Discussion
Make sure that the Greek alphabet and pronunciation have been revised or reviewed with many simple Greek-English and English-Greek examples on the board. Tell a well-known Greek myth, e.g. the story of Odysseus, or an incident from Greek history, writing the names of the participants on the board in Greek, and demanding their recognition.
For suggestions on pronunciation and writing, see p. 4 of these Notes.
Preliminary material
Use the map and the pictures on p. 3 of the Text and WOA (see references above) to supply some background material to the first episodes in the story. For example, the map is useful for talking about the grain trade: the poor quality of the soil in many parts of Greece and its unsuitability for cereal crops, the necessity for importing grain and the main grain-supply routes. The map can also be used to talk about ancient ships, sea-routes and the universal practice of sailors staying in sight of land as much as possible (the lack of the compass is worth noting, as is the notoriously unpredictable weather in the Aegean). Make sure the Greek names on the map can be written correctly in English.
The picture of the Acropolis gives the opportunity of talking about Athens and the port of Peiraieus, and how the Acropolis and the Parthenon can still be seen by the traveller arriving at the port by sea (Pausanias reported that in his day one could see the spear on the famous statue of Athene Promakhos glinting in the sun).
CD
The whole of Section 1 a-j (Text pp. 4-21) is recorded with melodic accent on the Speaking Greek CD tracks 9-19.
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