Assignment for Friday, 12-23-16

Dear Intermediate Hellenists:

By 11:00 p.m. on Friday, December 23, please do the following:

(1) Complete Section D (Reading aloud) of our final exam. Call my campus voicemail with your perfected reading of the final exam passage. Before you left the exam, you were handed a sheet with full instructions and a copy of the passage to mark up.

Thanks for a great fall, and good luck next spring!

Assignment for Wednesday, 12-14-16

Dear Intermediate Hellenists,

For our last class on Wednesday, December 14, please do the following

(1) Homework (not to turn in):

• Read (or at least skim) in English the chapters "The Greek attack routs the enemy" and  "The Greek force in danger of being outflanked" (pp. 92–3). As before, use the translation on the Perseus website, if nothing else.
  
• Read and translate "Cyrus attacks the Persian center and wounds the king" and "Cyrus and many of his train fall in battle" (pp. 93–4) in our Anabasis textbook. For once, I have no additional help to give, so be sure to make use of your notes.

NOTE: I did notice that some of the translations last class closely resembled the Perseus translation. Please make sure that you are working from the Greek and not using the English as a crutch.

DC

Assignment for Friday, 12-09-16

Dear Intermediate Hellenists,

For Friday, December 9, please do the following

(1) Homework (not to turn in):

• Read (or at least skim) in English the chapters "He advises caution..." (pp. 65–6) through "The enemy appear..." (pp. 89–91). As before, use the translation on the Perseus website, if nothing else (and if you do use Perseus, the blue arrows at top left let you advance from chapter 3 to chapter 8, where our Greek reading for today begins).
  
• Read and translate "Cyrus' commands to Clearchus" (p. 91) and "A final review..." (pp. 91–2) in our Anabasis textbook..

Additional help, keyed to Groton's textbook (all on p. 64):

• p. 91 line 2: φοβούμενος μή: the introduction to a clause of fearing (Gr. 45, #264, pp. 331–2); μή, though it looks like "not," should be translated as "that."

DC

Assignment for Wednesday, 12-07-16

Dear Intermediate Hellenists,

For Wednesday, December 7, please do the following:

(1) Prepare for Vocabulary Quiz 10 by studying the lists in Groton, Lessons 41 and 42.

(2) Homework (not to turn in):

• Read and translate "Clearchus promises to stand by his troops" (pp. 64–5) in our Anabasis textbook. This is a long but important passage, and it will test your knowledge of intermediate Greek on just about every level. Give yourself time to work through it!

Additional help:

• p. 64, line 18: κατεθέμην: from κατατίθημι (see Gr. 47 for the root verb).

• line 24: ἵνα...ὠφελοίην: an example of a purpose clause (Gr. 39, #234); translate ἵνα as "so that..."

• p. 65, line 1: ἀνάγκη: as your commentators say, understand the verb ἐστί here, and then expect an infinitive or two.
  
  Note that in your commentary, the abbreviation sc. means "supply" or "understand" – it's an abbreviation of the Latin scilicet or scire licet, which means (literally), "it is permitted to understand..."

• lines 10–12: oὐκ ἄν...oὐκ ἄν...οὔτε ἄν...οὔτε ἄν: Note the parallel structuring here. In each instance the ἄν goes with an infinitive, each of which is part of an indirect statement triggered by οἶμαι.

• line 13: ὅπῃ ἄν καὶ ὑμεῖς: as your commentators say, understand (sc.) the verb ἴητε here, the present subjunctive of εἶμι.

DC

Assignment for Friday, 12-02-16

Dear Intermediate Hellenists,

NOTE: This assignment has reading, homework to turn in, and homework not to turn in. Please read this post carefully!

For Friday, December 2, please do the following

(1) Reading: Groton, Lesson 41, on the following forms and concepts. Note any questions along the way.

• The verb φημί (#243, pp. 295–6);
• Indirect discourse with infinitive (#244, pp. 297–9); and
• Vocabulary for Lesson 41 (#245, p. 299).

(2) Homework (to turn in):

• Greek-to-English Sentences 1–7 ONLY (#246, p. 300).

(3) Homework (not to turn in):

• Read (or at least skim) in English the chapters "The march begins" (p. 56) through "Cyrus and the Cilician king come to terms" (p. 63). Use the translation on the Perseus website, if nothing else (use the "load Greek" feature at right to help orient yourself in the translation).
  
• Read and translate "Mutiny at Tarsus" (p. 64) in our Anabasis textbook. This section, though brief, will test your comprehension of Gr. 41; in addition, you will want to have the forms of the verb εἶμι (Gr. 40) close at hand.

Additional help, keyed to Groton's textbook (all on p. 64):

• line 8: ἐπεὶ ἄρξαιντο: works like the protasis of a past general condition (Gr. 37, #225 C.1, p. 264); see commentary for further remarks.

• line 9–10: μὴ καταπετρωθῆναι: with ἐξέφυγε, describes what it was Clearchus narrowly escaped; translate: "(escaped) from being..."

• line 12: ἑστώς: perfect (second) active participle of ἵστημι (Gr. 46, # 269, p. 340).

DC

Assignment for Wednesday, 11-30-16

Dear Intermediate Hellenists,

For Wednesday, November 30, please do the following:

(1) Prepare for Vocabulary Quiz 9 by studying the list in Groton, Lesson 40.

(2) Homework (not to turn in):

• Read and translate the rest of "The rendezvous at Sardis" (from οἱ δὲ ἡδέως onward, line 15, p. 55) and "Artaxerxes is informed by Tissaphernes" (p. 56) in our Anabasis textbook.

Additional help (all for p. 56 — though Gr. 34 will help with the numerals on p. 55):

• line 1: μείζονα: for the irregular comparison of μέγας, see Gr. 33, #203 (pp. 229–30) and (for the declension, based on βελτίων) #204 (p. 229).

• lines 1–2: μείζονα modifies παρασκευήν; the entire construction from καί to παρασκευήν is an example of indirect discourse with infinitive: Gr 41, #244 (pp. 296–8); translate in this order, and as literally as you can: καὶ ἡγησάμενος τὴν παρασκευήν (εἶναι) μείζονα ἢ ["than"] ὡς [= ὥστε, "so as," + inf.] (εἶναι) ἐπὶ Πισίδας...

• line 3: ὡς βασιλέα = εἰς (τὸν) βασιλέα (and note that Xenophon rarely uses the article with this noun).

• line 3: ᾗ = τῇ ὁδῷ ᾗ, a compressed relative clause; ἐδύνατο τάχιστα is part of the relative clause; τάχιστα is adverbial, a neuter plural accusative adjective in the superlative degree: Gr. 32, #196 (last full paragraph, "The preferred way..." etc., p. 220).

DC

Assignment for Friday, 11-18-16

Dear Intermediate Hellenists,

For Friday, November 18, please do the following:

(1) Homework (not to turn in):

• Read and translate "His ostensible purpose" (p. 54) and "The rendezvous at Sardis" (pp. 54–5, down to ...κατάγαγοι οἴκαδε, line 15) in our Anabasis textbook.

NOTE: Additional help, keyed to Groton's textbook.

• p. 54, line 23: παραγγέλει...ἥκειν: works like κελεύει would (Gr. 5, #36, p. 28).

• line 23: ὅσον: Note the spelling (that's not a final iota, that's a nu: old plates) and see the editors' commentary.

• p. 55, line 3: προειστήκει: indicative pluperfect active 3rd sing of προ-ἵστημι (Gr. 46); see commentary for the temporal nuances.

• lines 10–1: ὑποσχόμενος...μή...πάυσασθαι: the subject of  μή...πάυσασθαι is Cyrus, whom ὑποσχόμενος modifies: "promising that he (Cyrus) would not stop..."

• line 14: πρὶν...καταγάγοι: "before restoring," "until he restored" (Gr. 43, #253, p. 316).

DC

Assignment for Wednesday, 11-16-16

Dear Intermediate Hellenists,

For Wednesday, November 16, please do the following:

(1) Prepare for Vocabulary Quiz 8 by studying the list in Groton, Lesson 37.

(2) Homework (not to turn in):

• Read and translate "Preparations in the Chersonese" (p. 53) and "Preparations in Thessaly" (p. 54) in our Anabasis textbook.

NOTE: Additional help, keyed to Groton's textbook.

• p. 54, lines 7–8: πρὶν ἄν...συμβουλεύσηται: "before consulting," "until he consulted"; see your editors' notes on this construction, as well as Gr. 43, #253.i (p. 316).

DC

Assignment for Friday, 11-11-16

Dear Intermediate Hellenists,

For Friday, November 11, please do the following:

(1) Homework (not to turn in):

• Read and translate from the middle of page 52, line 18, to page 53 (still book 1.1), line 11 (ending in ...ἐτύγχανεν ἔχων), in our Anabasis textbook.

NOTE: Additional help, keyed to Groton's textbook.

• line 20: δεδομέναι: from δίδωμι, a special class of verbs called μι-verbs (Gr. 47); this is the perfect passive participle.

• line 20: ἀφειστήκεσαν: from ἀφ-ίστημι, a special class of verbs called μι-verbs (Gr. 47); this is the indicative pluperfect active.

• line 23: ἀποστῆναι: second aorist active infinitive of ἀφ-ίστημι.

• line 4: δοθῆναι: first aorist passive infinitive of δίδωμι.

• line 10: ὧν = the relative pronoun ἅς, attracted into the case of the antecedent, πόλεμων (Gr. 50, #290, pp. 372–3).

DC

Assignment for Wednesday, 11-09-16

Dear Intermediate Hellenists,

On Wednesday, November 9, we'll continue our reading of Xenophon's Anabasis. In preparation, please do the following:

(1) Prepare for Vocabulary Quiz 7 by studying the lists in Groton, Lessons 35 and 36.

(2) Homework (not to turn in):

• Read and translate most of page 52 (book 1.1) down to lines 17–18 (ending in ...ταῖς πόλεσι) in our Anabasis textbook.

NOTE: Additional help, keyed to Groton's textbook.

• line 2: ὅπως = "that" after βουλεύεται.

• lines 2–3: ἢν δύναται: ἢν = εἰ + ἄν; δύναται you should recognize as subjunctive. See Gr. 37, #225.C.1 (p. 264 for this kind of if-clause (or conditional statement).

• line 6: διατιθηεῖς: from δια-τίθημι, a special class of verbs called μι-verbs (Gr. 47); this, contrary to appearances, is the aorist active participle.

• line 9: εἵησαν: present optative of εἰμί (as shown in #220, p. 258); here, with ὡς ("in order that...") after ἐπεμελεῖτο, it indicates the purpose (Gr. 39) for which Cyrus took heed of the foreigners.

• line 10: ὡς μάλιστα: ὡς plus the superlative adverb μάλιστα = "as much as possible" (Gr. 32, #200, p. 222).

• line 11: ὅπως ὅτι: with the optative λάβοι, like the ὡς in line 9.

• line 16: ὅτι plus a superlative adjective: see previous note and Groton reference.

DC

Assignment for Wednesday, 11-02-16

Dear Intermediate Hellenists,

On Wednesday, November 2, we'll begin our reading of Xenophon's Anabasis. In preparation, please do the following:

(1) Read the Britannica Online article on Xenophon, esp. the sections on his life ("Life") and his works ("Works > General characteristics" and the paragraph on the Anabasis).

(2) Homework (not to turn in):

• Read and translate all of page 51 (book 1.1) in our Anabasis textbook.

NOTE: All of the vocabulary is in its own section in the back of the book. Your editors, Mather and Hewitt, also provide helpful notes (a.k.a. commentary) starting on p. 227. You will NOT be able to read the assignment without these notes, so be sure to consult them.

NOTE: Even though the commentary will provide help, we have not yet covered every piece of necessary grammar. So here is some additional help, keyed to Groton's textbook. Have a look at what she says, but don't obsess over the details. Just get what you need in order to translate and move on.

• line 2: πρεσβύτερος and νεώτερος: comparatives: Groton, Lesson 32.

• line 14: ἐπιβουλεύοι: an example of the optative mood, 3rd singular: Groton, Lesson 36. We'll discuss this mood a little in class; for now, just translate the verb, with the ὡς, as "of plotting against him."

I expect that this assignment will take you some time. Do your best, and we'll see what's what in class.

DC

Assignment for Sunday, 10-30-16

Dear Intermediate Hellenists:

By 11:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 30, please do the following:

(1) Complete Section D (Reading aloud) of our second exam. Call my campus voicemail with your perfected reading of the midterm passage. Before you left the exam, you were handed a sheet with full instructions and a copy of the passage to mark up.

D

Assignment for Wednesday, 10-26-16

Dear Intermediate Hellenists,

For Wednesday morning, October 26, please do the following:

(1) Homework (not to turn in):

• Read and translate "Athens Reacts to Bad News — Part 2" (#188, pp. 208–9).

NOTE: Don't miss the Greek at the top of p. 209.

Khang will review the passage with you and award points, as per usual. The rest of class will be devoted to review before the midterm exam, so bring your questions!

DC

Assignment for Wednesday, 10-19-16

Dear Intermediate Hellenists,

For Wednesday morning, October 19, please do the following:

(1) Review vocabulary in Lesson 30 in preparation for the vocabulary quiz.

(2) Homework (not to turn in):

• Read and translate "A Pact with the Persians" (handed out last Friday).

DC

Assignment for Wednesday, 09-21-16

Dear Intermediate Hellenists,

For Wednesday morning, September 21, please do the following:

(1) Homework (not to turn in):

• Read and translate "Healing of the Man Born Blind — Part 1" (#168, p. 178).
• Review Vocabulary in Lessons 24 and 25 in preparation for the vocabulary quiz.

DC

Assignment for Friday, 09-09-16

Dear Intermediate Hellenists,

As noted in class, your assignment is to read and translate Groton's supplemental passage for Lesson 22, "A Happy Exchange." Unlike other assignments, there is nothing to turn in ahead of time; have it done by the time you come to class).

As you work through this passage, bear in mind the following:

(1) DO consult the accompanying vocabulary as well as Lesson 22 of our textbook.

(2) DO make little notes in the margins (notes on cases or tenses or other important points).

(3) DON'T write out a full translation of the passage (or DON'T bring it to class if you do), for reasons explained on the Policy page of our website.

(4) DON'T rush it, but DON'T despair if you don't finish (though DO try). Unlike other readings, I won't attach any points to this particular assignment. Rather, I want to use it as an in-class opportunity to illustrate how we can read together in a deeper, more nuanced way.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

DC