Resources for Ancient Greek - any recommendations?

[microcosmia]

My DS with Aspergers is obsessed with all things greek and has been nagging me for some time to organise classes for him in Ancient Greek (Percy Jackson has much to answer for). There's nothing available locally that he can attend there's only extra mural uni courses for over 16's (he's 12). I think our best hope is online kid friendly resources but I'm finding it hard to find any. I found brilliant you tube videos for Latin alright with Star Wars and South Park characters. I've been googling like mad but can't find much for Ancient Greek that has kid appeal. It's not the kind of language that I can just pick up a book and try to wing it. In his world this is urgent (!!) Has anyone any recommendations or suggestions as to where I might start to look. Much obliged.

Google Galore Park because they provide lots of study books for kids doing the top private school options including ancient Greek, and they are quite helpful.

I had a pretty dire textbook about an idiot boy called Thrasymachus which got you through the early stages. It might be finale through Abe books.

Also why not write to the Saturday Telegraph? It's the sort of question they would prob love to answer.

The easiest original text is, oddly, the
New Testament, basically I think because it was not written by scholars or poets. So although it's not the PJ gods (Ds is also a fan) it's a good way in and you can easily get a modern translation.

But write to that professor , is his name also Jackson, who is trying with some success to shore up classical languages.

This Greek project may or may not help - have a look here.

The professor mentioned by Spendthrift is Peter Jones of Friends of Classics: www.friends-classics.demon.co.uk/
You could contact Peter or Jeannie Cohen - they are very helpful. There are also some useful links on the website.
The Galore Park beginners book (which my older son has used) is:
www.galorepark.co.uk/product/parents/1785/classical-greek-for-beginners.html
The Joint Association of Classical Teachers website usually lists tutors, but the link appears to be broken:
www.jact.org/studying.html
Spendthrift - I too started with Thrasymachus - oimoi, blepe tous nekrous!

If you go to the Cambridge Schools Classics Project website www.cambridgescp.com you will find amazing resources for Latin and a link to the Eton School Ancient Greek resources website too.

Thrasymachus is the best text book ever! I still sing 'pheu pheu ti pote gegone' to the tune of 'Oh dear what can the matter be?'

notnowImreading hahaha - hadn't thought about that since 1976.

Omg nor had I. 1975.

Did you also sing Horace's odes? O fons bandusiae etc.

Peter Jones is a bit of a god himself! Do contact him and ask for advice via the link given by sicutlilium.

Ps sicut, love the name!

Spendthrift - we didn't sing them, but I'm a member of the Horatian Society (less intellectually demanding than it sounds) and they sang one before dinner once.

It used to be customary at Swedish funerals of young men to sing that one about a young man cut off in his prime.

As Horace is my hero delighted to hear about the sweet singing.

OP, there are two copies of Thrasymachus available on Amazon. There also appears to be supplementary grammatical material, at which it was poor.

But there is also clearly a need for you to get together with Eton's best and get them to produce the star wars equivalent.

Peternas, couldn't you suggest it? A combo of the maths, IT and classics side. Their resources looked good but not quite to hit that spot. Now a Greek Homer Simpson..

What a fun thread. I hope he pursues thus, OP.

These are really helpful suggestions - keep them coming! You're all mines of information! I haven't managed to chase up much yet though I did look at Eton site but couldn't open the links (but that could be just this laptop being awkward.) I was checking out the AG syllabus (in Ireland) and spoke with an acquaintance whose child did AG in school (only a handful of those here in Dublin). She told me they used the Athenaze series and some book called Reading through Greek. The rest of their resources are supplied in house. Is anyone familiar with these books - are they hard going or gentle introductions ? The only other person I ever knew who did AG "in my day" actually did it through Irish which to me would be just beyond endurance.

DS's school dont offer it, he will probably do Classical Studies, but I hadn't realised Classical Studies can't be combined with either AG or Latin. I don't know how far he'll take AG but if he enjoys it I'll support him all I can. Also ther are plans to revise the Junior Cert syllabus here completely and reduce numbers of subjects studied from 12/13 to 8. So many lower demand subjects could be at risk or be absorbed into others which is a concern. So if he wants to try it just for it's own sake that's not a problem but if he decides to try the exam well he would need to do that before it's no longer an option.

I used this [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reading-Greek-Grammar-Vocabulary-Exercises/dp/0521219779 Reading Greek] when I studied Ancient Greek 25 years ago - my Latin teacher & I got me an A at GCSE after a few weeks of intensive work, mostly in order to aggravate my Headmistress who had flatly refused to let her teach me in school time on the grounds that I was a monumental PITA who didn't deserve extras...

I've still got my copy - would your ds like it? PM your address if so - it's only gathering dust & you can always post it back if he doesn't take to it.

Buggered up the link! www.amazon.co.uk/Reading-Greek-Grammar-Vocabulary-Exercises/dp/0521219779

I don't think much of Reading Greek from a grammatical point of view: I learned with it and it's quite 'bitty'; would need to be supplemented with lots of extras.

John Taylor's 'Greek to GCSE' is brilliant - a bit dry but very clear grammatically and includes loads of exercises and translations. If anything, the translations in book 2 are too long, but otherwise it's very good. Book 1 goes from complete beginner's level (introduces alphabet etc); book 2 extends up to (post-)GCSE level.

DS is teaching himself AG from the John Taylor books - he is enjoying it. He likes the way the grammar is explained clearly. The books don't come with answers but we emailed the publisher and JohnTaylor sent us a copy of the key and a note wishing us success!

Microcosmia - I assume you're not London-based? If you are, and for anyone else on here who might be interested, there is the Classics Academy, which provides GCSE and A Level teaching: www.classicsacademy.com/index.html

I liked Reading Greek because it moved my language on very quickly, but I didn't use it until I'd finished GCSE - it was a good refresher course. Grammar wise, you can't really do better than Abbott and Mansfield, although this is a primer rather than an explanatory text book.

Ooh, this thread has made me so nostalgic. I think I've forgotten all my Greek now, but I remember the days when it felt as though I'd been given the keys to the secrets of the universe. Oimoi o poppoi, lost youth!

Abbott & Mansfield - blue remembered hills!
For nostalgic adults, the City Lit does courses in Greek: www.citylit.ac.uk/
as does Madingley Hall: www.ice.cam.ac.uk/

This is brilliant, thanks Micro, because I am now going to brush mine up. Dh has reminded me that the death of socrates

O poppoi indeed. But it was that conversation with Charon about obols that got me (predictive text has tried three times to make that Sharon).

Blast end of second sentence.

..is pretty easy.

Well this has been an education in itself!

Sicitlilium, no I'm not in London I am in Dublin. I went on the Classical Academy site you recommended and they do some interesting looking courses. While there I found a link to an Irish site and there is a classical academy in Dublin as it turns out. Imagine I had to come on mumsnet to find that out !

Raven thank you so much for your very kind offer - as it happens the friend I spoke with whose son did AG has now kindly offered us a box of their old AG books so who knows it may be one of them - if not I may well pm you yet.

I'm impressed that so many of you have such good memories of doing AG - very encouraging - that alone should be enough to recommend it!

For those with an interest in Latin there's a lovely kids/beginners visually attractive intro to Virgil by Anthony Gibbins on You Tube. The channel is called Tutubus and the Series of 25 short videos is called Learning Latin wih Virgil. We love it here - unfortunately though no AG equivalent with cartoons etc.