Course Syllabus

Prof. Alexander Hollmann

M-F 1.30-2.20 Smith 107

Office hours (in-person or via Zoom): T 3-4 and by appointment

Denny Hall M (= Mezzanine) 262E

 

Welcome to the first course in a year-long sequence designed to introduce students to Ancient Greek (Classical and koine).

By the end of the course you will be able to:

-read and translate simple selections from ancient Greek authors and compose simple sentences in Greek.

-think more about literary, historical, and cultural context of ancient Greek texts

-analyze and explain ancient Greek grammar and syntax

-analyze and explain ancient Greek’s influence on and connection to other languages and literatures

By the end of the sequence (Greek 101, 102, 103 or Greek 300, Greek 103) you equip yourself to read any Greek author. In our second-year courses (Greek 304, 305, 306, 307) students read selections of Xenophon (306), Plato (307), Homer (307), and biblical texts (304).

 

Required textbooks:

Anne Groton, From Alpha to Omega (4^th ed.)

Anne Groton and James May, 46 Stories in Classical Greek

Recommended for extra practice:

Jennifer Starkey and John Bruss, From Alpha to Omega: Ancillary Exercises

 

Course grade components:

Homework: 35% (Submit via Canvas. Note course policies below)

Quizzes: 35% (Submit via Canvas. Note course policies below)

Final exam: 20% (Submit via Canvas, due 12/15. Note course policies below)

Participation: 10% (Note course policies below)

Course policies:

Homework: On days homework is due, please come to class having completed this to the best of your abilities and with questions about parts you didn’t understand or found difficult. We will generally go through most of the work together in class. You should make any necessary corrections to your work in class and then submit this via the provided link on Canvas by the end of the following day. If you are unable to do so, please let me know. I’m generally happy to grant extensions for illness or personal reasons but you need to request this in a timely fashion. I assign homework a grade based on satisfactory completion and performance.

Quizzes: These generally occur every two weeks on a Friday and are take home, open book style. You are allowed to consult your notes, Powerpoint presentations, and the textbook but should not discuss or share your answers with other students in the class. All the information you will need to complete the quiz is in the Powerpoint presentations and your textbook. Please do not attempt to find answers online. Quizzes are generally released on Canvas on Friday morning at 9am (sometimes earlier) and are due by 5 pm the following Monday. Submission is via Canvas. If you are unable to submit on time, please let me know. I’m generally happy to grant extensions for illness or personal reasons, but you need to request this in a timely fashion.

Participation: This assumes regular attendance in class but is assessed rather in terms of engagement with the class. This might be shown through interactions (constructive involvement in discussion, translation, questions, comments, curiosity about the material) both inside and outside of class. I try to call on all students in class and create an open and supportive atmosphere where students are comfortable responding even if they feel they do not have an answer or the “right” answer. If you experience anxiety feel free to say “Can I pass on that one, please?” or let me know outside class.

 

Chart used to convert percentages to GPA here.

 

Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/).

 

Schedule (NB subject to change with notice: this version 9/27/2023)

 

Reading and homework is meant to be completed on the day assigned: e.g. “M Oct. 3 Read pp. 9-11, Homework Ex A.1-8” means you should come to class on that day having read pp. 9-11 and having attempted Ex A.1-8. You only need to submit homework if that is specifically requested and a submission link included. Submission can be made with corrections after class.

 

Week 1: Lessons 1,2

Before start of classes, please try to send me this information about yourself.

W Sept. 27  Introduction. Alphabet. Read pp. 1-6. Powerpoint here.

Th Sept. 28  HW: A.1-24 (just copy the names to practice writing in Greek and then rewrite the names with English letters, e.g. Ποσειδῶν Poseidōn, don't worry about dividing into syllables). Submit here.

F Sept. 29  Further work on reading and writing in Greek. Introduction to Accent (pp. 9-11, but don’t attempt to absorb all of this, and don’t panic, we will work on this gradually over the term!).

 

Week 2: Lessons 3,4

M Oct. 2 ω-verbs. Read pp. 13-19, concentrate on sections 20-24. HW: take any two verbs other than παιδεύω and generate and write down in Greek all possible forms introduced in this lesson (pres. indic. act. in all persons, s. and pl.; imperatives 2^nd and 3^rd person s. and pl.; infinitive). Submit here. Powerpoint shown in class is here.

T Oct. 3 ω-verbs cont’d. HW: G to E p. 20 nos 1,4,6,7,10; E to G nos 1,4. Submit here.  We may look at this handout of Greek passages using forms of ἐθέλω, θύω, κλέπτω, γράφω.

W Oct. 4 1^st declension fem. nouns, part 1. Read pp. 21-25. Powerpoint shown in class is here.

Th Oct. 5 HW: take noun ἐπιστολή and give all possible forms, s. and pl.; p. 26 G to E nos 6,7,8,9; E to G no. 1. Submit here.

F Oct. 6 Quiz 1 (on quiz days class will not meet. Quiz is released here on Friday morning, students submit by the following Monday, 5 pm)

 

Week 3: Lessons 5,6

M Oct. 9 Lesson 5. First declension fem. nouns, part 2. Read pp. 27–29. Handout of Greek passages with forms of ἀγορά here. Powerpoint summarizing what we did in class here.

T Oct. 10 Lesson 6. Ω-verbs: future active indicative and infinitive. Read pp. 31–34. Homework: take nouns θεράπαινα and κλίνη from p.28 and give all forms. Lesson 5 p. 29 G to E sentences 5-10. E to G: 4. Submit here.

W Oct. 11 Lesson 6. Homework: take any verb (except παιδεύω) from the list on p. 32 or introduced on p. 33 and give all forms of future active indicative plus future active infinitive. Lesson 6 p. 34 Gr.-Eng. sentences 1–5, Eng.-Gr. sentence  3. Bring to class, but no submission needed. Powerpoint about future active indicative here.

Th Oct. 12 Prepare reading Lesson 5 p. 30 "A Fowl Plan Backfires". 

F Oct. 13 Prepare reading Lesson 6 p. 35 "Old Habits Never Die". Submit a translation here. We looked at a passage from Aelian (On the nature of animals, 15.11).

 

Week 4: Lessons 7,8

M Oct. 16 Lesson 7. Second declension masc. nouns. Read pp. 37–39. Powerpoint here.

Note: T-Th classes this week will be taught by Prof. Olga Levaniouk while I am out of town - you'll like her!

T Oct. 17 Homework: choose any 2^nd decl. noun on p. 39 (except ἄνθρωπος  or θεός) and produce all possible forms. p. 40 Gr.-Eng. sentences 1–5, Eng.-Gr. sentence 2. Submit here.

W Oct. 18 Lesson 8. Second declension neuter nouns, 1^st/2^nd decl. adjectives. Read pp. 43–48. Powerpoint here.

Th Oct. 19 Homework: translate Lesson 7 reading “Fleeting Joys and Fleeing Fish”, p. 40. English translation here. Lesson 8 Gr.-Eng. sentences p. 48 1,2,5,7,9,10, Eng.-Gr. sentence 1. Answers here. No submission required.

F Oct. 20 Quiz 2 here. Reminder: we do not meet on quiz days.

 

Week 5: Lessons 9,10,11

M Oct. 23  Lesson 9 First declension masc. nouns., substantives. Read pp. 51–54. Powerpoint here.

T Oct. 24 Homework: Gr.-Eng. sentences p. 54 1,5,6,7,10. Eng.-Gr. sentence 1. Submit here. We looked at this epitaph for Plato.

W Oct. 25 Lesson 10 Ω-verbs imperfect active indicative. Read pp. 57–60. Powerpoint here.

Th Oct. 26 Homework: Prepare a translation of “Asinine Behavior” p. 55. In class: Worksheet on this passage here and handout here on particles μέν and δέ and οὖν. 

F Oct. 27 Lesson 11 Ω-verbs middle and passive, prepositions. Read §18 in Lesson 3, p. 13-16, esp. “Voice” (p. 14). Powerpoint here. We may look at some readings here.

 

Week 6: Lesson 11 cont'd, Lesson 12

M Oct. 30 Homework:  Gr.-Eng. sentences p. 68–69 1–10 (pay special attention to vocab. notes on p. 68 for special meanings some of these verbs have in the middle voice), p. 69 Eng.-Gr. sentences 2. Submit here.

T Oct. 31 Homework: Prepare a translation of “An Ill-Fated Frog” p. 70. Worksheet on this reading plus passage from Aristophanes Frogs here.

W Nov. 1 Lesson 12 εἰμί, enclitics. Read pp. 71–74 (don’t panic re enclitics on pp. 73–74, we will take this gradually). Powerpoint here.

Th Nov. 2 Homework: Gr.-Eng. p.75 1,2,3,4,7,8,9. Submit here.

F Nov. 3 Quiz 3 here. We do not meet on quiz days.

 

Week 7: Lesson 13

M Nov. 6 Demonstratives. Read pp. 77–79. Powerpoint here.

T Nov. 7 Homework: p. 80 1,4,5,6,7,9,10. Submit here.

W Nov. 8 Homework: prepare reading p. 76 “A Sheepish Mistake”

Th Nov. 9 Homework: prepare reading p. 81 “Sticking Together”. Submit here. Here is the text broken up into sentences. Here is the Plutarch passage on the Roman ῥάβδοι or fasces.

F Nov. 10 NO CLASS: Veterans Day

 

Week 8: Lessons 14,15

M Nov. 13 Personal Pronouns. Read pp. 83–85. Powerpoint here.

T Nov. 14 Homework: Gr.-Eng. p. 85 1–8; Eng.-Gr. p. 86 2. Submit here. To work on pronouns and αὐτός we will look at some cool passages from Homer and Plato.

W Nov. 15 Contract Verbs. Read pp. 87–92. Powerpoint here.

Th Nov. 16 Homework:  prepare p. 93 Gr.–Eng. 2–7, 9 for class.

F Nov. 17 Quiz 4. Submit here.

 

Week 9: Lessons 16

M Nov. 20 Third Declension: Stop, Liquid, and Nasal Stems. Read pp. 95–98. Powerpoint presentation here.

T Nov. 21 Homework: take the nouns νύξ, νυκτός (f.) ‘night’ and ἐλπίς, ἐλπίδος (f.) ‘hope’ and produce all possible forms. Gr.-Eng. p. 98 sentences 1,2,6,7,8,9. Submit here.

W Nov. 22 There will be no class today in anticipation of holiday departures

Th Nov. 23 NO CLASS: Thanksgiving Day

F Nov. 24 NO CLASS: Thanksgiving Break

 

Week 10: Lesson 17

M Nov. 27 Third declension cont’d: sigma stems and adjectives. Read pp. 101-104. Powerpoint here.

T Nov. 28 Decline fully the noun γένος, γένους (n.) “class, type”. Homework: p.104 1,3,4,7,9. Submit here.

W Nov. 29 Prepare reading p.99 “Where To Draw the Lion”. We looked at some additional material here.

Th Nov. 30 Prepare reading p.106 “Outfoxed”. Submit here.

F Dec. 1 Quiz 5 here.

 

Week 11: Review and reading

M Dec. 4 Review of lessons 3-7. Worksheet here. Answers here. Handout of some poems by Sappho.

T Dec. 5 Review of lessons 8-10. Worksheet here. Answers here.

W Dec. 6 Review of lessons 11-13. Worksheet here. We looked at a Delphic Hymn to Apollo.

Th Dec. 7 Review of lessons 14-17. Worksheet here.

Fr. Dec. 8 Reading.

 

Exam Week

M Dec. 11 Take-home final here

F Dec. 15  Submit take-home final by 5.00pm