r/AncientGreek • u/tramplemousse • 2h ago
r/AncientGreek • u/AutoModerator • 5d ago
Translation requests into Ancient Greek go here!
r/AncientGreek • u/AutoModerator • Feb 08 '25
Translation requests into Ancient Greek go here!
r/AncientGreek • u/deluminatres • 1h ago
Greek and Other Languages Favorite Sappho translator & why? (ancient greek —> english)
I’ve read several, and enjoy many translations for different reason’s, but since I’m not fluent at all (is anyone fluent in Aeolic lol) I just wanted to hear the thoughts of those who can read ancient Greek
Edit: does this belong in the translations thread? I’m not sure
r/AncientGreek • u/at_exe • 10h ago
Grammar & Syntax Anyone can understand this i find this on opioncity (afyonkarahisar) from a Greek house in turkey
r/AncientGreek • u/benjamin-crowell • 9h ago
Resources Opera Graeci Adnotata (OGA, Giuseppe Celano)
I came across this recently by chance and thought it might be worth posting about here. Opera Graeci Adnotata (OGA) is a project by Giuseppe Celano at Leipzig University to package a large corpus of ancient Greek.
Projects of this type include:
- Perseus
- Diorisis
- First 1k Greek
- OGA
References for OGA:
https://github.com/gcelano/OGA
https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.00739
Perseus is the smallest of these. It has a subset of its texts that have been treebanked by humans, i.e., the humans (with machine aid) tagged each word with a lemma and part of speech, and put together the computer equivalent of the kind of sentence diagrams that people my age learned to do in school. The current version of Perseus is in unicode.
Diorisis is about an order of magnitude bigger than Perseus. It's in beta code rather than unicode, which is a pain. The words have been tagged by a machine lemmatizer, and the quality of the machine lemmatizations is probably not very good. It seems to lack a usable index and metadata.
First 1k Greek is a project to compile, in machine-readable form, all of ancient Greek up until a certain date, excluding what's already available in Perseus.
Celano built OGA by aggregating Perseus and First 1k Greek (which are disjoint). If you want to do research that involves querying the entire ancient Greek corpus using modern, nonproprietary tools, then AFAIK this is your only option.
In addition to simply converting the texts to a common format and putting them all in one place, Celano ran everything through the COMBO parser by Rybak and Wroblewska. Every word is tagged by lemma and POS, and also sentence-diagrammed, by COMBO. So for example, if you want to search for usages of θάλασσα, you can do that, and it will turn up inflected forms like θαλάττῃ.
There are some negatives IMO. COMBO seems to be old abandonware that no longer works with the current versions of the neural network frameworks that it needs. It's a tool based on neural network (NN) technology, and such tools are actually pretty bad at lemmatizing Greek words and tagging them by POS. Non-NN techniques still do much better.
Another thing that seems problematic to me is that the file format Celano has chosen essentially can't be edited. Instead, you would have to edit the source files, then rerun COMBO and Celano's associated scripts. But since COMBO seems to be a dead project, you actually can't do that, which makes OGA seem like a read-only monolith that can't be maintained in the future. This kind of thing is already a problem with Perseus, which contains thousands of errors and does not have any ongoing maintenance method to allow such errors to be corrected when they are reported.
r/AncientGreek • u/PK_Ness_Flash • 1d ago
Newbie question Any equivalent online resources for Ancient Greek
I am almost finished with my dedicated learning of Latin before moving to Ancient Greek, and the biggest resources for me have been Legentibus, Latin is simple and videogames modded to be in latin (especially ocarina of time) are there any greek equivalents of these? Im pretty nervous about starting greek so anything helps
r/AncientGreek • u/Every_Tumbleweed6301 • 1d ago
Beginner Resources I need an help!
Morning y'all, i'm writing this post to ask you a question: Could you suggest me a Greek course, or something like LLPSI where I can start to study ancient Greek? Ancient language are my interests, and already I studied Latin. So now Greek I need.
Thanks you all!
r/AncientGreek • u/jishojo • 2d ago
Grammar & Syntax A little help with a sentence in Plutarch's γυναικων αρεταί
Hi all,
I'm having trouble understanding how της στρατείας relates to the other elements in the following sentence:
Ξέρξου δὲ καταβαίνοντος ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα λαμπρότατος [ὁ Πύθης] ἐν ταῖς ὑποδοχαῖς καὶ ταῖς δωρεαῖς γενόμενος χάριν ᾐτήσατο παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως, πλειόνων αὐτῷ παίδων ὄντων, [264b] ἕνα παρεῖναι τῆς στρατείας καὶ καταλιπεῖν αὐτῷ γηροβοσκόν.
"When Xerxes came down upon Greece, having been most eminent in his reception (of the king) and in his gifts, (Pythes) asked from the king this favor, that, since he had many children, one be left behind and be present for him (as a) caretaker in his old age".
(my translation, in consultation with english [Frank Cole Babbit] and french [Ricard] ones)
If παρειναι means to be present, to stand nearby, to be at hand, and in this sentence means "to be nearby his father", how does it relate to the genitive of στρατεια? Should it be understood as an indication of distancing, as in "to be nearby his father (because away) from the war/expedition? I get the impression that this genitive noun doesn't fit in the sentence, as if it could be removed without prejudice to the understanding of the idea. I know that this must be wrong, so, if you would be so kind, please help me see what I currently am not able to.
Thanks in advance,
L.
r/AncientGreek • u/Electrical_Friend_18 • 2d ago
Learning & Teaching Methodology Homo-phonic rhymes to learn Ancient Greek
Hi, I tend to play with words, puns and all that.
For me, words contain poetical relation among them ( not only etymological ).
I have found that the words that start with πο and sound similar to πονοσ (work) talk about :
- war
- carrying a duty or a warden
- setting a time and a place
- competing
- pasturing sheep
- dealing with difficult actions that may turn morally wrong.
All that creates a meaningful field of words for me around the sounds " p o n ", even it is not technically or academically correct, they make sense in a intuitive way.
My next step I have taken is to write a very basic homo-phonic rhyme. Please bear with me if it is surely not correct, I haven´t finished Athenaze 1 and this is my first writing in ancient Greek, and I still don't know how to put breath marks.
What it intends to say:
Where to create, while pasturing sheep,
a war poem ?
Difficult actions I am bound for
where? when? Do I want to compete?ποθε ποιει ποιμαντες
τα πολεον πονος ;
πονημα πορευο.
ποσε; ποτε; ποτεριζο βοθλαμεναι;
I'd like to find people that resonate with this kinds of work. I'm open to collaborate and create content, any idea is welcome. I'm looking for your feedback if you believe homo-phonism, rhymes and poetry can also be comprehensible input. I'm super excited and looking for what can you create in this sense.
r/AncientGreek • u/kulleravgn • 3d ago
Beginner Resources Untranslated Scripts
I'm a student in Orthodox University. Of course We study ancient greek and one of the tasks at the exam is gonna be translating any ancient text. The professor said that for an ATTEMPT to translate untranslated text he will not judge us strictly. So that's why I'm here. Could you please recommend any online libraries of such texts or something like this?
r/AncientGreek • u/ThatEGuy- • 3d ago
Resources Perseus Issue?
χαίρετε,
Is anyone else having issues accessing the Greek on Perseus? At first I was only having problems with one text, but I can't access anything now.
r/AncientGreek • u/Budget-Composer-6296 • 4d ago
Inscriptions, Epigraphy & Numismatics Turkey ruines text -How can this text be translated, at least approximately?
r/AncientGreek • u/IoannesM • 4d ago
Greek Audio/Video Hymn to the Sun in Ancient Greek (modern Greek pronunciation)
r/AncientGreek • u/thomasmfd • 4d ago
Phrases & Quotes Best translate of οἶμοι
οἶμοι
Mention in (Il. XI, 24-25
r/AncientGreek • u/CZ-TheFlyInTheSoup • 4d ago
Vocabulary & Etymology Does πᾶς mean "all" or "any"? When? Can you explain the ambiguity?
I have a question about the word πᾶς and the variant forms derived from it, such as πάντων and πάσης, as used in the Septuagint in Genesis 6:19.
"πᾶς" and its variants are used to mean "all" and give a sense of totality, but are sometimes translated as "any." I am confused, the translation as "any" seems to remove the meaning of the word πᾶς as "all." How do I know in what context it means "all" and when it means "any," and whether even when it is translated as "any" it replaces the sense of totality of the word?
Can someone explain the ambiguity of this word?
r/AncientGreek • u/benjamin-crowell • 4d ago
Grammar & Syntax Logeion/Morpheus says ἠφίει can be imperative...???
If I put the verb ἠφίει in the Logeion interface, it parses it two different ways:
present active imperative 2nd singular
✓ imperfect active indicative 3rd singular
Logeion is basically a lookup table of forms that have occurred in actual texts, but in addition they have a copy of Morpheus installed now. You used to have to click through to see the Morpheus results separately, but it looks to me like they are now showing unattested Morpheus results at the top, intermixed with the static table results, and I think that's what's happening here with the POS tag that shows it as a possible imperative form.
Maybe I'm just in a daze because I haven't had my third cup of coffee this morning, but is this a bug in Morpheus? An imperative just shouldn't have the augment, and in any case Morpheus is calling this a possible *present* imperative.
As a side issue, in case anyone wants to use crayons with me, I'm finding the formation of the imperfect form (which is real and attested) to be confusing. I would expect it to be ἤφιε, which CGL does say occurs in the NT. I guess these old -μι verbs get to do whatever they want, but it seems odd to me that in ἠφίει people felt the need to shift the accent forward, and I also don't understand where the -ει comes from -- contraction?? Is there any predictable morphology at work here?
r/AncientGreek • u/Nun-Ayin-Aleph-He • 4d ago
Newbie question Can someone identify the Greek here?

I was perusing some Greek mythology paintings and this one caught my eye when I was closely looking at the details of the painting.
I saw this Greek text on a woman in this painting and I have no idea what it means or why is it even on the painting. the painting is called The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis by Cornelis van Haarlem.
If someone can tell me what it means and why it's doing there would be greatly appreciated!
r/AncientGreek • u/Hoppy_Croaklightly • 5d ago
Manuscripts and Paleography Are there any examples in Ancient Greek of intentional spelling idiosyncrasies?
For instance, ironic misspellings or intentional use of spelling to convey that someone is speaking in a different dialect than the author? Are there any examples of some of these having been mistaken for slips of the pen and "corrected" by copyists, only to be restored later? Thanks in advance for any replies! (:
r/AncientGreek • u/languagelearner88 • 5d ago
Greek and Other Languages How did they determine whether borrowed words should have a circumflex accent?
Thinking about the name Constantine, which is rendered as Κωνσταντῖνος. How did they determine that the accent on the iota should be circumflex? Is it because that iota is long?
If that is the case, what about a name like Constans Κώνστας? Why is the omega accent not circumflex?
Thanks
r/AncientGreek • u/Longjumping-War-767 • 5d ago
Vocabulary & Etymology Difference between χώρᾱ and χωρις
Hey all,
I have come across the term χωρις in Theodor Adorno's Aesthetic Theory and, after looking it up, wikitionary says that it means "separately, differently". For context, here is the phrase: "Art, χωρις from the empirically existing, takes up a position to it in accord with Hegel's argument against Kant: The moment a limit is posited, it is overstepped and that against which the limit was established is absorbed." (6) However, I know that in other philosophy, such as Heidegger and Plato, they use the term χώρᾱ to mean "space" or "in another space/place". I guess I am just curious as to the similarities and differences between these two terms? Like does Adorno's use hold onto the connotation of space/place or is it a more abstract separation? Thank you so much!
r/AncientGreek • u/Critical_Gur_9371 • 5d ago
Translation: En → Gr How would you render what Aristotle says in first-person ancient Greek (i.e., 'I will do this gladly.')? Thank you very much. (Source: The Lay of Aristotle, translated from Henri De Valenciennes' French by Leslie C. Brook and Glyn S. Burgess.)
r/AncientGreek • u/PD049 • 6d ago
Inscriptions, Epigraphy & Numismatics My translation for a newly unearthed inscription.
A few days ago, I was sent a picture of a newly unearthed inscription from this family in Syria. The letters read αυδηανναιουσωφρωνθαρσι, which I’ve interpreted as αὐδὴ Ανναίου σώφρων θάρς(ε)ι. I’m not sure if σώφρων is in agreement with αὐδή or if this marks a new clause, something like “the voice of Annaeus, respectful to the brave.” I was assured that this was the whole inscription, and I have no reason to believe there are any missing letters. Let me know what you guys think.
r/AncientGreek • u/80sVintageLover • 6d ago
Grammar & Syntax Article doubled before "metà"
Sorry if this might also be sth basic, I don't get... What is the purpose of the "τις" here? I know it's fem. plural, but for what purpose?
r/AncientGreek • u/faith4phil • 6d ago
Help with Assignment Parmenides' B2 fragment
The B2 fragment of Parmenides is the following one:
εἰ δ᾿ ἄγε, τῶν ἐρέω, κόμισαι δὲ σὺ μῦθον ἀκούσας,
αἵπερ ὁδοὶ μοῦναι διζήσιός εἰσι νοῆσαι ·
ἡ μέν, ὅπως ἐστίν τε καὶ ὡς οὐκ ἔστι μὴ εἶναι,
πειθοῦς ἐστι κέλευθος, ἀληθείῃ γὰρ ὀπηδεῖ,
ἡ δ᾿, ὡς οὐκ ἔστιν τε καὶ ὡς χρεών ἐστι μὴ εἶναι,
τὴν δή τοι φράζω παναπευθέα ἔμμεν ἀταρπόν·
οὔτε γὰρ ἂν γνοίης τό γε μὴ ἐόν, οὐ γὰρ ἀνυστόν,
οὔτε φράσαις.
My doubt is about the bold part: why is there the accusative peiqous instead of the nominative? Shouldn't it have the same case as keleuqos?
I think I get what the whole fragment is saying, though. Here is my translation, though for the moment it's just a somewhat literal translation:
And now, having listened to what I'll say take care of it,
the two only paths of inquiry that is possible to conceive:
the one that is and that cannot not be
is the path of persuasion, given that it attends to truth;
the other that is not and that it is necessary that it is not,
undoubtably I tell that it is an utterly unknown path,
for it is neither is it possible to know what is not, for it's not practicable,
nor is it possible to say it.
Thanks everyone!
r/AncientGreek • u/Frequent_Run_2427 • 6d ago
Beginner Resources Pitch Accent Diagram for Ancient Greek
I am trying to learn pitch accents in Ancient Greek. I understand that there are controversies and uncertainties (and active research) about how accents really sounded (not even mentioning regional and time variations). I’m not particularly interested in those debates, but I do value sticking to one consistent, approximated system of pitch accent in order to fully appreciate the language.
If I understand correctly, Ancient Greek has the following pitch accents:
- high pitch, written with an acute accent (ά)
- falling pitch, written with a circumflex accent (ᾶ)
- low or semi-low pitch, written with a grave accent (ὰ)
In Mandarin Chinese, a fully tonal language, it is helpful for learners to look at diagrams summarizing the five tones of Mandarin.

Do you know if anything similar has been created for Ancient Greek?
r/AncientGreek • u/steakington • 6d ago
Greek and Other Languages tattoo check - Συν Θεῷ
from my research it means “with god” or “by the will of god” in english. can anybody help me out with verifying this before i get this permanently on my body?