Greek [antikvár]

PREFACE Many people who would welcome an opportunity to get on nodding terms with Greek are repelled by the austerity of the traditional Greek Course. They want to be able to read, not to write, Greek. The long apprenticeship of translating sentences from English into Greek is for them a tedious irrelevance that stands between them and their limited objective. Many, it is to be feared, turn away sorrowfully from the prospect, and are the poorer in consequence. It is primarily for this class that the authors of this book have endeavoured to cater. They believe that it is possible to introduce simple pieces of actual Greek from the very beginning. They provide no translation from English into Greek. They expect no previous knowledge of Latin or any other inflected language. On the other hand, no attempt has been made to include the whole of the grammar; the Dual, for instance, is omitted; the syntax is but sketchily outlined. It is not, indeed, a book for the scholar or the specialist. One of the most familiar experiences of the teacher of Greek is the delight and surprise of pupils upon discovering that they have actually been using Greek words in the English language without being aware of it. M. Jourdain's pleasure on learning that he had been talking prose all his Hfe without knowing it is only faintly comparable. The authors have tried IX