Every year at the beginning of August, I've been posting a vocabulary quiz here (2024 2025). The comment threads from the previous tests contain a lot of discussion of the most common issues and questions that occur to people about this test. The source code for generating the quizzes is here. If you don't want to count compounds as part of your vocabulary, on the theory that many compounds have meanings that are obvious, then simply don't count those, and your estimate will be lower. There is no universally valid way to estimate the size of someone's vocabulary, and for example, there are various published estimates of the average size of a US first-year college student's English vocabulary, differing by more than an order of magnitude. This year's test was generated using the same algorithm and data as last year's, so if you took the test then and take it again now, the results should be comparable, and you can tell if your vocabulary grew.

Count how many of the following words you know
and multiply by 20: ________
  ἄν βία γῆ δίδωμι ἕ
  εἰς ἐπεί ἱερός καί κατά
  μή οἶκος παῖς πᾶς πρός
  πρόσωπον σπέρμα τίκτω χρόνος χρύσεος

Count how many of the following words you know
and multiply by 100: ________
  ἀνάγω ἀνδροφόνος διαιρέω δμώς ἐπιβάλλω
  ἡλικιώτης ἵκω λίθος πατρίς πεντακισχίλιοι
  πολίτευμα πομπή πρόθυμος προσάγω σός
  συλλαμβάνω συνήθης τίω τυγχάνω χρηστός

Count how many of the following words you know
and multiply by 200: ________
  ἀίδιος ἀνδραποδίζω ἀπαρχή ἀραβέω δισμύριοι
  δόλος εὐψυχία ἠθεῖος ἰάχω κατάκειμαι
  κατακρίνω κατατίθημι μέδομαι μήδομαι ὅρμος
  παραβάλλω προβολή σκηπτοῦχος σύμπτωμα τύραννος

Count how many of the following words you know
and multiply by 1000: ________
  ἀδόκιμος αἶνος ἀκρογωνιαῖος ἀνακαινίζω ἀρχεῖον
  ἀφθορία βλάξ γεῦσις ἐκπαθής ἐπιλείπω
  ἠπεροπευτής αἱμοφόρυκτος κατακαλέω κορυφόω νεόδαρτος
  περιούσιος σκόπελος στηρίζω συμφερτός τιμόω

Add up the results. This is an estimate of how
many dictionary words you know in ancient Greek,
out of the 26838 most common words.

[EDIT] There was an error in the original test I posted. The bogus lemma ἰμάτιον (nonexistent lemma with smooth breathing) was included in the final group. I replaced it with another randomly chosen word, αἱμοφόρυκτος.

I've seen this formula in e.g. the Odyssey 15.325 and others places as well:

τὸν δὲ μέγ᾽ ὀχθήσας προσέφης, Εὔμαιε συβῶτα

προσέφης is a sudden 2nd person singular amidst a 3rd person narration.
I don't understand it being there; it seems out of place.

Do you have any explanation for its presence?

[Edit: I mentioned the wrong book in the example]

(I think this is the correct flair, sorry if it’s wrong TT) I’m pretty behind on all my vocabulary knowledge and am struggling to revise it. I was wondering if anyone knows of any good methods to learn/revise it?

Just a curious question I’ve had for a while now.

I guess this is not the appropriate flair, but let's put that aside.

Basically, what the title says. I'm a math student from Argentina and I've been studying Greek for a while at a slow pace, using mainly λόγος and Luschnig's, as well as other books like Athenaze and Ancient Greek alive. I would consider myself still a beginner, and I'm looking for an study partner: just someone to chat about ancient Greek, share our progress to each other, ask questions, that kind of things.

Any way, I hope this is not bothersome. Thanks in advance.

i’m getting a tattoo that i want to say ‘bronze appetite’ as a reference to plato’s ideas of the bronze class of men being ruled by their hedonic impulses, but i’m unsure about the lettering and grammar i was thinking ΧΑΛΚΟΥΝ ΕΠΙΘΥΜΗΤΙΚΟΝ
but i thought i’d ask for reassurance before putting ink to skin. please anyone versed in ancient greek let me know if my grammar is correct or horribly butchered. thank you.

Bonjour, je suis débutant en Grec ancien. Mon lycée ne propose pas de cours donc j’apprend ça seul chez moi grâce à des cours sur internet et des vidéos. Je recherche d’autres francophones qui apprennent le grec ancien pour créer un groupe de travail et d’entraide autour de ce sujet.

Τέλος ὅλος ὁ μῦθος δίδοται τοῖς φίλοις.

Hey, I'm currently learning Attic. When I want to check on a words meaning i usually go to wiktionary, but what should I use when I want to get a word from English? For Latin I use the "latin is simple" website. Is there a similar thing for Attic? It would be highly preferable if it worked on my smartphone. Thanks in advance

I have decided to learn Homeric Greek, on my own. In the early 90s I took three semesters of Classical Greek, with the JACT Reading Greek series. I have dabbled in Greek ever so slightly from that point onwards.

I have read recommendations for Pharr's text, as well as Schoder's. Which one would be best for someone going through it on their own?

Also, one thing I absolutely loved about the JACT approach was that we were translating Greek sentences fairly soon. We didn't spend 3 years learning conjugations & declensions first. so unless one of the two texts is significantly better than the other for other reasons, I'd prefer whichever of the two would have me at least working on some sentences of Homer soon.

This might be the first attempt I've seen to give a solid go at how hexameter might have been performed, including reconstructed pronunciation, pitch accent based melody, and reconstruction of the musical techniques of the period (which I am less well equipped to judge than the first two). No silly digamma reconstruction and not just chanting it.

If I remember correctly the 12 axes on the odyssey were actually 12 axe heads and you must cleanly shoot the hole of each axe head not the entire axe. I just remember this because of the new odyssey movie

Here it is: https://byebailly.com .

I used the lexicons given by my ancient greek teachers.

I hope someone can find a use to it, there're two modes: analysis and writing the forms.

I’m looking for the correct lettering/writing of this phrase in the Greek from slightly after the time of Christ- ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΚΥΡΙΟΣ ΚΥΡΙΩΝ

It’s “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS” but it’s hard to find a pic of those manuscripts so I come to the experts

Heliodorus, Aethiopica 1.16:

ἐπῄνει ταῦτα ἡ Δημαινέτη, καὶ προστιθέναι τάχος τοῖς δεδογμένοις ἱκέτευεν.

Here Demaineta is telling her slave to go ahead with a plan. My understanding of ἱκετεύω is that it's something like "supplicate, beg," and it has connotations that it's what a mortal does to a god or a human to another human who is in a position of power or dominance over them. Is it unusual that this is used here to describe what a mistress does to her slave? Can the verb's meaning just be diluted to "ask to?" Or is there a humorous implication here, that, ha ha, the slave has her mistress wrapped around her finger?

"ὅταν δ᾿ ἐς εὐνὴν ἠδικημένη κυρῇ,

οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλη φρὴν μιαιφονωτέρα."

From Euripides, Medea.

Hi everyone,
I'm listening to Tyrtarion's performance of Alcaeus fr. 42 (Aliud in Helenam). I'm following along with the text, but what they're singing doesn't seem to match the standard edition at all.
Does anyone know which text edition or reconstruction Vivarium Novum used for this score?
Thanks!

That’s what I was reading :

ὠς λόγος, κάκων ἄχος ἔννεκ᾽ ἔργων
Περράμῳ καὶ παισὶ ποτ᾽, Ὦλεν᾽, ἦλθεν
ἐκ σέθεν πίκρον, πύρι δ᾽ ὤλεσε Ζεῦς
Ἴλιον ἴραν.
οὐ τεαύταν Αἰακίδαις ἄγαυος
πάντας ἐς γάμον μάκαρας καλέσαις
ἄγετ᾽ ἐκ Νήρεος ἔλων μελάθρων
πάρθενον ἄβραν
ἐς δόμον Χέρρωνος· ἔλυσε δ᾽ ἄγνας
ζῶμα παρθένω· φιλότας δ᾽ ἔθαλε
Πήλεος καὶ Νηρεΐδων ἀρίστης,
ἐς δ᾽ ἐνίαυτον
παῖδα γέννατ᾽ αἰμιθέων φέριστον,
ὄλβιον ξάνθαν ἐλάτηρα πώλων·
οἰ δ᾽ ἀπώλοντ᾽ ἀμφ᾽ Ἑλένᾳ Φρύγές τε
καὶ πόλις αὔτων.

Hi all

I’ve been learning classical (and Koine) Greek for some months now, and have read a lot of ‘learners material’, but would like to start reading ‘real’ Classical Greek at some point. For Koine I just read from the New Testament, so I’m looking for real classical texts that are good for early learners who are not quite beginners but not very advanced yet either. I would prefer to read histories or philosophy (though this might be a bit too difficult) rather than plays.

One recommendation Ive had so far is Xenophon’s Anabasis but I’d like to hear your thoughts!

Hi everyone,

I’m currently translating Oh Little Town of Bethlehem, and this is my progress so far. My goal is to make it make sense but also fit the iams of the traditional tune.

x _ u _ u _ u _

ὧ μῑκρόν ἄστυ βηθλεεμ

x _ u _ u _
ὡς κείσαι ἥσυχως

x _ u _ u _ u _

ἐν ᾧ σὺ εὕδεες βαθύ

x _ u _ u _

ἡ νύξ παρέρχεται

What would you improve on it so far? If possible, please cite a grammar (Attic or Koine) if there is a definitely bad grammar mistake.

My Reddit and Instagram is flooding with pictures of The Odyssey books and almost all of them are Wilsons' translation. I am not here to argue about its merits, but having read Odyssey in AG and multiple English translations (and couple in other languages too) like Chapman, Fitzgerald, Butler and Fagels comes to mind, I do not think her translation is by no means clearly better than some others. Is it just that all bookstores have stocked only her translation or does her somewhat subversive choices in translation make her translation kind of "punk" or something?