Reading Passages
Assignment
For each of the following Greek sentences: 1). Read it aloud; 2). Parse each verb and noun; and 3). Translate each sentence into English. To download this assignment as a pdf, click here: AGE Readings 3.
Classical Readings
1. When Euripides died in 406 BC, he left behind several scripts of plays that were never performed during his lifetime. One of these is Iphigenia at Aulis. It is set at Aulis, where the collected forces of Greece are ready to sail to Troy to start the Trojan War. Agamemnon, the leader of the Greeks in the Trojan War, is called upon to sacrifice his oldest daughter to the goddess Artemis so the Greek forces can sail to Troy. The play chronicles the controversy that ensues over whether Agamemnon’s daughter, Iphigenia, should be sacrificed.
Clytemnestra, Iphigenia’s mother, arrives. She meets the Greek warrior Achilles and introduces herself:
Λήδας μέν εἰμι παῖς, Κλυταιμήστρα δέ μοι ὄνομα, πόσις δέ μοὐστὶν Ἀγαμέμνων ἄναξ.
Ἀγαμέμνων –ονος ὁ Agamemnon
ἄναξ –ακτος ὁ chief
Λήδας (gen sg) ἡ Leda
μοι (dat sg) me
μοὐστίν = μοι ἐστίν
πόσις (nom sg) ὁ husband
Euripides Iphigenia at Aulis 828
2. In another play, another member of the family arrives and introduces himself:
Ἀγαμέμνονός τε καὶ Κλυταιμήστρας τόκος, ὄνομα δ’ Ὀρέστης.
Ἀγαμέμνων –ονος ὁ Agamemnon
Κλυταιμήστρας (gen sg) ἡ Clytemnestra
τόκος (nom sg) ὁ offspring
Euripides Andromache 885
3. In a lawsuit c. 323 BC about a breach of contract, a man (possibly named Darius) alleges, among other things, that the defendant has not repaid his loans:
οὔτε τὰ χρήματα ἀποδίδωσιν οὔτε τὸ ἐνέχυρον καθίστησιν εἰς τὸ ἐμφανές.
εἰς into
ἐμφανές (nom/acc sg) τό plain view
ἐνέχυρον (nom/acc pl) τό security (for a loan)
καθίστημι set up
χρῆμα –ατος τό thing; (pl) money
Demosthenes 56.3
4. Having just made an uneasy alliance with Seuthes II, King of Thrace, the Greeks prepare for the night:
ὥρα νυκτοφύλακας καθιστάναι καὶ σύνθημα παραδιδόναι.
καθίστημι set up
νυκτοφύλαξ -ακος ὁ night watchman
σύνθημα –ατος τό password
ὥρα (ἐστίν) (nom sg) ἡ hour
Xenophon Anabasis 7.3.34
5. Aristotle is studying the problem of growth and decay and gives an example of how bodies can be susceptible to change from forces through an intermediate agent:
τὸν μὲν γὰρ ἀέρα τὸ πῦρ, ὁ δ’ ἀὴρ τὸ σῶμα θερμαίνει.
ἀήρ, ἀέρος ὁ air
θερμαίνει (3rd sg) heats
πῦρ, πυρός τό fire
Aristotle On Generation and Corruption 327a5
6. Aristotle is preparing to analyze the parts of the bodies of animals. He discusses the theory that the physics of basic substances governed the growth and form of animals:
ὁ δ’ ἀὴρ καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ ὕλη τῶν σωμάτων ἐστίν.
ἀήρ, ἀέρος ὁ air
ὕδωρ, ὕδατος τό water
ὕλη (nom sg) ἡ wood, material, matter
Aristotle Parts of Animals 640b16
7. This is from an ancient collection of problems that intellectuals and philosophers tried to solve. This particular one asks why the sound of crying is shrill (ὀξύ) but laughing is a lower sound (βαρύ). In part, the explanation is:
γελῶντες θερμὸν τὸ πνεῦμα ἀφιᾶσιν, οἱ δὲ κλαίοντες…τὸ πνεῦμα ψυχρότερον ἀφιᾶσιν.
γελῶν -ῶντος ὁ laughing person
θερμόν (nom/acc sg) τό hot
κλαίων -οντος ὁ crying person
ψυχρότερον (nom/acc sg) τό colder
ps-Aristotle Problems 900a26-28
8. Aristotle here is trying to establish the First Principle of everything (τῶν πρώτων ἡ ἀρχή) in the cosmos. He discusses a number of earlier philosophers, all of whom reckon this Principle as corporeal (σωματική):
ὕδωρ γὰρ καὶ πῦρ καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα σώματά ἐστιν.
πῦρ, πυρός τό fire
τοιαῦτα (nom/acc pl) τό this kind
ὕδωρ, ὕδατος τό water
Aristotle Metaphysics 987a5
9. Aristotle explains the distribution of power in a democracy:
οὐ γὰρ ὁ δικαστὴς οὐδ’ ὁ βουλευτὴς οὐδ’ ὁ ἐκκλησιαστὴς ἄρχων ἐστίν, ἀλλὰ τὸ δικαστήριον καὶ ἡ βουλὴ καὶ ὁ δῆμος.
βουλή (nom sg) ἡ council
βουλευτής (nom sg) ὁ council member
δῆμος (nom sg) ὁ Demos (the democratic citizen body of the city)
δικαστήριον (nom/acc sg) τό court
δικαστής (nom sg) ὁ juror
ἐκκλησιαστής (nom sg) ὁ assembly member
Aristotle Politics 1282a35
Biblical Readings
1. Isaiah quotes God on monotheism:
ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ θεός, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλος.
ἄλλος (nom sg) ὁ other
ἐγώ (nom sg) I
θεός (nom sg) ὁ god
LXX Is. 45:22
2. The Pharisees question the blind man after Jesus has restored his sight, and at one point say:
Σὺ μαθητὴς εἶ ἐκείνου, ἡμεῖς δὲ τοῦ Μωϋσέως ἐσμὲν μαθηταί.
ἐκείνου (gen sg) ὁ that man (Jesus)
ἡμεῖς (nom pl) we
μαθητής (nom sg) μαθηταί (nom. pl.) ὁ student
Μωϋσέως (gen sg) ὁ Moses
σύ (nom. sg.) you
Κατὰ Ἰωάννην 9:28
3. The names of the Apostles:
τῶν δὲ δώδεκα ἀποστόλων τὰ ὀνόματά ἐστιν ταῦτα· πρῶτος Σίμων ὁ λεγόμενος Πέτρος καὶ Ἀνδρέας ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ, καὶ Ἰάκωβος ὁ τοῦ Ζεβεδαίου καὶ Ἰωάννης ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ,
ἀδελφός (nom sg) ὁ brother
ἀποστόλων (gen pl) apostle
αὐτοῦ his
δώδεκα twelve
λεγόμενος (nom sg) ὁ called
πρῶτος (nom sg) ὁ first
ταῦτα (nom/acc pl) τό these
Κατὰ Μαθθαῖον 10:2
4. The names of the Apostles continued:
Φίλιππος καὶ Βαρθολομαῖος, Θωμᾶς καὶ Μαθθαῖος ὁ τελώνης, Ἰάκωβος ὁ τοῦ Ἁλφαίου καὶ Θαδδαῖος, Σίμων ὁ Καναναῖος καὶ Ἰούδας ὁ Ἰσκαριώτης ὁ καὶ παραδοὺς αὐτόν.
αὐτόν him
παραδούς (nom sg) ὁ who betrayed
τελώνης (nom sg) ὁ tax collector
Κατὰ Μαθθαῖον 10:3-4
5. Paul likens the individual members of a church to the limbs of a body and concludes:
ὑμεῖς δέ ἐστε σῶμα Χριστοῦ καὶ μέλη…
μέλη (nom/acc pl) τό limb
ὑμεῖς (nom pl) y’all
Χριστοῦ (gen sg) ὁ Christ
Πρὸς Κορινθίους α’ 12:27
6. Paul is discussing the Resurrection Body:
ὁ δὲ θεὸς δίδωσιν αὐτῷ σῶμα καθὼς ἠθέλησεν, καὶ ἑκάστῳ τῶν σπερμάτων ἴδιον σῶμα.
αὐτῷ (dat sg) ὁ him, τό it
ἑκάστῳ (dat sg) ὁ, τό each
ἠθέλησεν (3rd sg) wishes
θεός (nom sg) ὁ god
ἴδιον (nom/acc sg) τό their own
καθώς as
σπέρμα –ατος τό seed
Πρὸς Κορινθίους α’ 15:38
7. From the first letter of John:
καὶ τὸ πνεῦμά ἐστιν τὸ μαρτυροῦν, ὅτι τὸ πνεῦμά ἐστιν ἡ ἀλήθεια. ὅτι τρεῖς εἰσιν οἱ μαρτυροῦντες, τὸ πνεῦμα καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ τὸ αἷμα, καὶ οἱ τρεῖς εἰς τὸ ἕν εἰσιν.
ἀλήθεια (nom sg) ἡ truth
ἕν (nom/acc) τό one
εἰς into
μαρτυροῦν (nom/acc sg) τό bearing witness
μαρτυρῶν -οῦντος ὁ bearing witness
τρεῖς (nom) ὁ three
ὕδωρ, ὕδατος τό water
Ἰωάννου α’ 5: 6-8
