After my Latin post below, I got an email asking why we study Greek, and for encouragement in the pursuit. Seeing as I have a bazillion things to do today, it seemed like a good time to write about it. (And Hubby says I have no time management skills. ;-) )
Many of the advantages to the study of Greek are similar to those of studying Latin. I'll repeat the immediate benefits:
The immediate benefits I've seen with Mary are increased focus when working, wider vocabulary understanding, better spelling and reading skills, an increased capacity for memorization, more interest in foreign languages overall, more interest in Ancient History, more order and a better flow to our school day, and less work on my part, since we cover all of our grammar topics via Greek and Latin and we are able to move more slowly, with more depth, and with a better understanding of grammar than I think we would have otherwise.
Now, Greek is a little different than Latin. While it is logical, it is not as precise. Latin is the language of the largest
bureaucracy the world has ever known (excepting, perhaps, the IRS), the Roman empire, and, more specifically, its military. The Romans are known for their feats of engineering (all roads lead to Rome), but the beauty in their society is largely borrowed from the Greeks. Where the Romans are
efficient, the Greeks are elegant. Where the Romans are precise, the Greeks are nuanced. Roman rhetoric is more about persuading the listener to agreement, while Greek rhetoric is more about exploring the nature of reality. (Compare
Caesar and Herodotus, for example.)
The Greeks balance the Romans. If we confine our studies to Latin and the Roman world, we come away with a stodgy, rigid notion of the nature of things. If we confine our studies to Greek and the
Aegean world, we come away with a fluid, abstract notion of the nature of things. But, if we study both together, we get a more balanced, and consequently more realistic, approach.
This is as true in writing as it is in formation of worldview. Latin teaches economy of words, logic of thought, and precision of language. Greek teaches elegance of expression, fluidity in writing, nuanced use of wording, and variety in language.
Also, I find it useful to study both languages, because it is a cheap and easy review. We hit the noun cases from two angles, applying both in English. We can translate words from Greek, to Latin, to English. We can look at the
similarities and the differences, and we get a better idea of how English and the other modern languages formed. We can move from memorization of grammar to an intimate understanding of language as a concept with few bumps.
Just as with Latin, the study of Greek is necessary if we wish to truly understand the ancient world. One needs to be able to read Euclid, Herodotus, Plato,
et al. as they intended, in the original language if one wishes to truly understand the interconnectedness between metaphysics and the mundane sciences that a true Classical education presupposes.
Pythagoras isn't just geometry and arithmetic, he's
philosophy.
Another reason the study of Greek is important is because it is the language through which the Bible comes to us. Even for the non-Christian this is a concern. Hebrew copies of the Scriptures simply were not available throughout much of the Middle Ages, right up to the early modern period. Even the Apostles themselves largely studied Scripture in the Greek (the Septuagint). You will see slight difference in how verses are rendered in the Old Testament and how they are quoted in the New Testament in modern Bibles. This is because the OT verse was likely translated from the Hebrew, while the NT version comes to us through the Greek or Aramaic that is drawing on the Septuagint.
Finally, it is useful to remember that Greek is the language that the Romans applied their Trivium to. Roman school children did not learn Latin at school, they learned Greek. They cut their mental teeth on Aesop. When the concept of the trivium and quadrivium were born, Greek was the language they were born from and for.
