Reading Greek
For Byzantinists, reading ancient or medieval Greek is inevitable. Here’s a list of resources for learning or refreshing Greek skills.
- Raymond van Dam’s Kingdom of Snow won’t teach you any language skills, but it is a good book about the history of Greek language and culture in Roman Cappadocia.
- Plan ahead for next summer: Wesleyan University posts a list of summer courses in classics. The University of Birmingham also has several options. I’ll be taking a reading course at CUNY.
- True confession: to learn Greek letters before class starts, I purchased a Koine Greek textbook written for home-schooled third-graders. Don’t laugh—it’s pretty effective for a true beginner.
- Attikos is a new Ancient Greek reading app for iPad by Joshua day. Read more about it on the Ancient World Online blog (AWOL) .
- Dumbarton Oaks has a Guide to Unicode Greek, and its Athena Ruby inscription font should be available for downloading soon. For more technical information on Greek Fonts and Unicode, consult Digital Classicist.
Do you have any tips for Greek reading and translations? Please share them in the comments below.