HSC Classical Greek Continuers cheat sheet

Identify the main verb of each clause first; Greek permits long hyperbaton, so bracket subject and object before translating modifiers.

The genitive absolute (noun + participle both genitive, grammatically detached) is best rendered as a subordinate clause: 'when/though/since X did...'.

Middle voice often signals subject-involvement or self-interest; check whether the verb is deponent before assigning passive force.

Temporal particles: μέν...δέ marks contrast, οὐ...ἀλλά corrects, γάρ explains, οὖν infers, ἄρα draws a conclusion.

Negatives: οὐ with indicative = factual denial; μή with subjunctive/imperative/participle = non-factual, prohibitive, or conditional.

Optative in main clause (without ἄν) = wish or potential; optative with ἄν = potential; optative in subordinate after past tense = oblique.

Render historic present as past tense in English narrative unless the vividness is deliberate and marked.

Check particles δή, γε, τοι, μέντοι for tone; they rarely translate word-for-word but shift emphasis.

Identify genre markers first: epic formulae and similes, tragic stichomythia and messenger speech, historiographic speeches and ethnography.

Track characterisation through speech-introduction verbs (ἔφη, ἠμείβετο, ἀμείβεται) and through who speaks last in a stichomythic exchange.

Note placement of similes and ekphraseis: they typically precede or follow a decision point and comment on it.

Ring composition (A...B...A') frames a unit; identify the outermost repeated element to delimit the passage.

Metaphor and personification carry thematic weight: abstract nouns (φόβος, ὕβρις, νέμεσις) often personified in choral odes.

Irony: tragic irony arises where the audience knows what the speaker does not; mark it where a character's words exceed their knowledge.

Compare the passage to the wider work's structure (prologue, parodos, episodes, stasima, exodos) before assessing its function.

Quote the Greek (short phrase) as evidence; analysis must anchor to a specific word or construction, not plot summary.

Scan for the finite verb of each clause; in prose the verb often sits at or near clause end, with particles following.

Recognise common prose openings: ἐπειδή, ἐπεί, ὡς, ὅτε introduce temporal/causal clauses; εἰ/ἐάν introduce conditions.

Genitive absolute, accusative + infinitive (indirect statement), and nominative + infinitive (after φαίνεται, λέγεται) are the three highest-yield constructions.

πρίν with infinitive = 'before'; πρίν with indicative = 'until' (factual).

ἄν + subjunctive in ἐάν/ὅταν/ἐπειδάν clauses = indefinite/general condition; translate 'whenever/if ever'.

Indirect question uses the same interrogative word with optative after secondary tense; translate as a noun clause.

Middle/passive endings -μαι, -σαι, -ται vs active -ω, -εις, -ει: check the ending before guessing voice.

If a word is unknown, use morphology: augment + stem + ending identifies tense, voice, person; compound prefix (ἀπο-, συν-, προσ-) narrows meaning.

Identify the metre from the first line: dactylic hexameter (epic), iambic trimeter (drama dialogue), lyric metres (choral odes).

In hexameter, a word ending in a vowel before a vowel-initial word may be elided; restore the vowel for translation.

Caesura and diaeresis mark phrase boundaries; a pause after the third foot trochee often separates main clause from subordinate.

Epic vocabulary: θυμός (spirit/life), ἦτορ (heart), φρήν (mind), οἶκος (house), ἀρετή (excellence); render idiomatically.

Homeric similes (ὡς ὅτε...) introduce a comparison clause; translate 'as when...' and mark the point of comparison.

Tragic lyric uses Doric forms (ᾱ for η, -τι for -σι) and unusual compounds; expect glossing difficulties and use context.

Verse allows tmesis (separation of prefix from verb, e.g. ἐκ... ἔδυ); reunite prefix and verb before translating.

Watch for enjambment: a clause may run past line-end, so read the whole sentence before assigning punctuation.

Article as pronoun: ὁ μέν... ὁ δέ = 'the one... the other'; ὁ δέ alone can mean 'and he/she'.

Indirect statement: ὅτι/ὡς + indicative (factual) vs accusative + infinitive (reported); the negative is οὐ in both.

Purpose: ἵνα/ὡς/ὅπως + subjunctive (primary) or optative (secondary); negative μή.

Result: ὥστε + infinitive (natural consequence) vs ὥστε + indicative (actual result).

Conditional: εἰ + indicative = simple; ἐάν + subjunctive = future more vivid; εἰ + optative = future less vivid; εἰ + past indicative = contrary to fact.

Verbal adjectives: -τέος = 'must be done' (passive obligation); -τός = 'done/able to be done'.

Genitive uses: possession, partitive, subjective/objective, of price/value, of separation, after verbs of ruling/remembering.

Dative uses: indirect object, means/instrument, manner, time, place, agent with perfect passive, and after certain adjectives.

Athenian dramatic festivals: City Dionysia (spring, tragedy + comedy) and Lenaia (winter, mainly comedy); choregos financed productions.

Tragic performance: three actors (hypokritai) with masks, chorus of twelve (fifteen after Sophocles), open-air theatre of Dionysus.

Homeric epic: oral-formulaic composition, dactylic hexameter, performance by rhapsodes; Iliad and Odyssey date to c. 750-700 BCE.

Historiography: Herodotus (c. 484-425 BCE) writes ethnography and cause (αἰτία); Thucydides (c. 460-400 BCE) writes contemporary history with speeches.

Athenian democracy: ekklesia, boule of 500 (Cleisthenic tribes), ostracism, liturgies; Pericles' funeral oration in Thucydides Book 2.

Slavery, gender, and metic status shape who speaks and who is silent in the texts; note civic status of each character.

The Greek concept of ὕβρις (outrage) and νέμεσις (divine retribution) underpins tragic plots; fate (μοῖρα) vs human agency.

Reception: later authors (e.g. Virgil, Seneca) rework Greek models; note the passage's afterlife when interpreting.

Relative clauses in Greek attract the case of their antecedent (attraction), e.g. genitive antecedent with genitive relative.

Indirect discourse after verbs of saying often keeps the original mood (retained subjunctive/optative) rather than shifting.

Aorist vs imperfect: aorist narrates a single event, imperfect describes ongoing/repeated action or background.

Perfect tense marks a state resulting from completed action; translate as present state where context requires.

ἄν with past indicative in main clause = past potential/unreal; with imperfect = 'would have been doing'.

Check word order for emphasis: Greek puts the emphasised element first (fronting) or last (end-focus).

Parenthetical clauses (marked by μέν, δέ, or particles) may interrupt the main clause; bracket them before translating.

Choral odes often comment on the preceding episode; identify the ode's opening gnome (general truth) and its application to the plot.

Messenger speeches report offstage violence; analyse how the messenger's language distances or heightens the horror.

A character's first words in a scene establish their stance; compare with their last words to track change.

Repetition of a word (e.g. φίλος in Sophocles) signals thematic ambiguity; note each occurrence's context.

Homeric epithets are metrically useful but also characterising; note where an epithet departs from the norm.

Stichomythia (one-line exchanges) accelerates conflict; line-by-line antithesis often reveals the core dispute.

Foreshadowing: look for proleptic statements in the prologue and verify them against the play's outcome.

Evaluate the passage's rhetoric (ethos, pathos, logos) when a character persuades or defends.

Recognise the article + infinitive as a noun: τὸ λέγειν = 'speaking'; τὸ μὴ λέγειν = 'not speaking'.

Participial phrases: present participle = same time as main verb; aorist participle = prior action; future = purpose.

Genitive of comparison after comparatives (μείζων τούτου) and after verbs of superiority.

Dative of agent with perfect passive: ὑπὸ + genitive is also common; both mean 'by'.

Indirect command uses infinitive (κελεύει + acc. + inf.) or ὅπως + future indicative.

Two negatives: οὐ...οὐ strengthens; μή...μή is prohibitive; οὐ...μή is emphatic denial.

Check for ellipsis of εἰμί: predicate nominatives and adjectives often stand without a copula.

Numbers and dates: ordinal (πρῶτος), cardinal (εἷς), and expressions of time (τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ = 'on the third day').

Iambic trimeter: three metra of iambic feet; resolution (two shorts for one long) is common in comedy.

Dactylic hexameter: six feet, dactyl (-uu) or spondee (--); the fifth foot is usually dactylic.

Lyric metres (e.g. Sapphic, Alcaic, dochmiac) are stanzaic; identify the stanza pattern before translating.

Choral odes often use 1st-person plural ('we') and address gods or the city; keep the collective voice.

Apostrophe (direct address to a character or god) shifts register; mark vocatives and imperatives.

Homeric formulae recur verbatim; recognise repeated phrases (e.g. ποδώκης δῖος Ἀχιλλεύς) as units.

Elision and crasis (κἀγώ = καὶ ἐγώ) must be resolved before parsing.

Tragic kommos: a lament shared between actor and chorus; note the antiphonal structure.

Accusative of respect: 'with respect to X' (καλὸς τὸ εἶδος = beautiful in appearance).

Genitive absolute can omit the noun if understood from context; supply 'it' or the implied subject.

Verbs of fearing: φοβοῦμαι μή = 'I fear that...'; φοβοῦμαι μὴ οὐ = 'I fear that... not'.

Verbs of preventing: κωλύω + infinitive or τοῦ + infinitive; translate 'prevent from'.

Comparative and superlative: -τερος/-τατος; irregulars (ἀγαθός, κακός, μέγας, πολύς) must be memorised.

Dual number survives in Attic for natural pairs (δύο, ἄμφω); rare but recognisable.

Prepositions: ἐν + dative (place), εἰς + accusative (motion into), ἐκ + genitive (motion out of), πρός + accusative (towards).

Optative of wish (μὴ γένοιτο) and potential optative with ἄν; distinguish from oblique optative in indirect speech.

Athenian calendar: months (Hecatombaeon, Metageitnion, etc.) and the Panathenaic festival; note seasonal references in the texts.

Greek religion: Olympian vs chthonic cults, sacrifice (θυσία), libation (σπονδή), and oath formulas.

Xenia (guest-host friendship) governs relations in Homer and tragedy; violation drives plot (e.g. Paris and Menelaus).

The polis and citizenship: Athenian male citizen rights (assembly, juries, office); women, metics, and slaves excluded.

Rhetoric and the law courts: Athenian litigation, the role of witnesses and oaths, and the rhetoric of self-defence.

Sparta vs Athens: contrasting political systems (oligarchy vs democracy) shape historiographic narrative (Thucydides Book 1).

Myth and genealogy: know the house of Atreus, house of Laius, and Trojan cycle as background to the prescribed texts.

Textual transmission: manuscripts, scholia, and papyri; variant readings sometimes affect interpretation of a crux.

Identify the speaker and addressee of each speech before translating; Greek often omits pronouns.

Check for prolepsis (anticipation): an adjective or noun may be placed in the main clause but belong to the subordinate.

Translate μὲν οὖν as 'rather' or 'indeed' correcting a previous statement, not as simple 'therefore'.

Recognise the potential optative with ἄν as 'would/could'; without ἄν in a wish as 'may'.

Watch for constructio ad sensum: a neuter plural subject may take a singular verb; translate by sense.

Assess narrative tempo: summary vs scene vs pause (description) changes emphasis; note where the text slows.

Character foil: compare two characters' responses to the same event to reveal the author's evaluation.

Divine intervention often marks a turning point; note whether the god's speech is directive or prophetic.

Intertextuality: an allusion to Homer or earlier tragedy invites comparison; identify the model and the deviation.

The prologue often sets expectations; check whether the outcome fulfils, reverses, or ironises them.

Rhetorical figures: anaphora, asyndeton, polysyndeton, chiasmus; name the figure and explain its effect.

Silence and absence (a character not speaking) can be as significant as speech; note gaps.

Assess the ending or closing lines of a passage: a sententia (gnome) often crystallises the theme.

Recognise the historic infinitive in narrative (e.g. λέγειν) as equivalent to an imperfect: 'he kept saying'.

Accusative absolute (impersonal: δέον, ἐξόν) translates as 'it being necessary/possible'.

Genitive after verbs of perception and emotion (ἀκούω, αἰσθάνομαι, θαυμάζω) marks the source.

Dative of possession with εἰμί: ἔστι μοι = 'I have'.

Future infinitive after verbs of hoping/promising (ἐλπίζω, ὑπισχνοῦμαι) indicates future time.

The negative in indirect statements is οὐ, even after a negative main verb; μή is used in non-factual contexts.

Check compound verbs for changed meaning: ἀποδίδωμι = 'give back', ἐπιτίθημι = 'set upon/attack'.

Use context to resolve ambiguous accents; the same letters with different accents are different words (e.g. τίς/τις).

In iambic trimeter, the final foot is usually a spondee or trochee; the caesura often falls after the fifth element.

Resolution in tragedy is rarer than in comedy; note resolved feet as a stylistic marker.

Homeric word order is flexible; the verb may be delayed to line-end for emphasis or metre.

Recognise formulaic line-openings (ἦ ῥα, τὸν δ' αὖ, ὣς φάτο) as structural markers.

Simile structure: ὡς... ὣς correlates; translate the protasis then the apodosis.

Tragic chorus uses Doric alpha (ᾱ) and non-Attic forms; normalise before parsing.

Metrical responsion (strophe/antistrophe) implies the same metre; use it to check uncertain readings.

Note the difference between lyric 'I' (choral voice) and spoken dialogue 'I' (character); do not conflate.

Conditional protasis with εἰ + future indicative (future more vivid) is rare; ἐάν + subjunctive is standard.

Optative in indirect discourse after a past main verb is 'oblique' and translates as indicative.

Verbs of commanding: κελεύω, ἐπιτάττω + dative of person + infinitive.

Verbs of giving/helping take the dative (δίδωμι, βοηθέω); verbs of taking/removing take the accusative or genitive.

The article with a participle functions as a relative clause: ὁ λέγων = 'the one who speaks'.

Accusative of extent (χρόνον, ὁδόν) and genitive of time within which (νυκτός).

ἄλλος and ἕτερος: ἄλλος = 'other (of a different kind)'; ἕτερος = 'the other (of two)'.

Particle combinations: καὶ δή = 'and indeed'; οὐ μήν = 'nevertheless'; ἦ που = 'surely'.

Verbal nouns in -σις and -μα derive from the verb stem; use them to guess meaning in compounds.

Homeric society: basileus (king), gerousia (council of elders), agora (assembly); reciprocity and honour (τιμή) drive conflict.

The Delian League and Athenian empire: tribute, cleruchies, and the Melian Dialogue's imperial logic.

Greek education: gymnasium, palaestra, and the role of poetry (Homer) in moral formation.

Religious festivals and oracles: Delphi's Pythia, Dodona's oak, and the role of prophecy in tragedy.

Slavery in Athens: chattel slaves, household and agricultural work, manumission; note status markers in texts.

Death and burial: funerary rites (πρόθεσις, ἐκφορά), lament, and the significance of burial in tragedy (e.g. Antigone).

Greek geography: Attica, Boeotia, Peloponnese, and the Aegean; campaigns and routes in historical texts.

Performance context: the audience's prior knowledge of myth shapes dramatic irony; note what the audience knows.

Distinguish the two uses of ὡς: 'as/like' (comparison), 'that' (indirect statement), 'in order that' (purpose).

Recognise the articular infinitive with a preposition: ἐν τῷ + inf. = 'while', πρὸς τῷ + inf. = 'in addition to'.

Check for omitted forms of εἰμί in predicate position; supply 'is/are' in English.

Translate the historical present as past unless the vividness is clearly intended.

Note the difference between the aorist imperative (single act) and present imperative (continued/repeated).

Assess the author's use of direct vs indirect speech: direct speech heightens drama and reveals character.

Note the placement of a gnome (general maxim) at the end of a speech; it often summarises the speaker's stance.

Track imagery clusters (light/dark, sea, hunting) and their thematic associations across the passage.

Identify the agōn (debate) structure: two opposing speeches followed by a verdict or chorus comment.

Analyse the messenger's narrative technique: how much detail, whose perspective, and what is omitted.

Consider the effect of apostrophe and second-person address on the audience's engagement.

Compare the passage's language to the play's recurring motifs; repetition signals theme.

Evaluate the passage's closure: does it end on a resolution, a question, or a foreboding?

Recognise the articular infinitive with τοῦ + inf. = 'of doing' (purpose or genitive of separation).

Accusative + infinitive after verbs of thinking, saying, and perceiving; the negative is οὐ.

Genitive absolute with an impersonal participle (δέον, ἐξόν, παρόν) translates as a clause.

Dative of means vs dative of agent: with perfect passive, dative = agent; otherwise means.

Recognise the future infinitive in indirect statements after verbs of promising/hoping.

Check for the 'accusative of respect' in descriptions: καλὸς τὸ σῶμα = 'beautiful in body'.

Identify the antecedent of relative pronouns; attraction may obscure the case.

Use punctuation and particles (μέν, δέ, γάρ, οὖν) as clause-boundary markers.

Scan the first line to identify the metre; then apply the same pattern throughout the passage.

In hexameter, a word-final short vowel before a consonant may lengthen by position; adjust scansion.

Recognise the bucolic diaeresis (pause after the fourth foot) as a common phrase boundary in pastoral and epic.

Tragic iambic trimeter allows a resolved first or second element; note resolutions as stylistic markers.

Lyric metres use strophic responsion; if the metre is unclear, compare with the antistrophe.

Homeric epithets may be ornamental; do not over-interpret unless the context activates them.

Note the use of τ' (τε) as a connective; it often links coordinated phrases.

Resolve crasis and elision before parsing; the underlying words determine meaning.

Middle voice of αἱρέω = 'choose' (not 'be captured'); check deponency before assigning passive.

Verbs of ruling take the genitive (ἄρχω, βασιλεύω); verbs of hitting take the accusative.

Verbs of remembering/forgetting take the genitive (μιμνῄσκομαι, ἐπιλανθάνομαι).

The infinitive can express purpose after verbs of motion (ἦλθε λέγειν = 'he came to speak').

The participle in the genitive absolute is often present or aorist; future is rare.

Comparatives with ἤ = 'than'; with the genitive alone = 'than' (genitive of comparison).

The article can function as a demonstrative (ὁ δέ = 'and he'); note the absence of a noun.

Accents distinguish homographs: τίς (who?) vs τις (someone); ὅτε (when) vs ὅ τε (and the).

Athenian legal procedure: archon, dikastai, and the two-stage trial; rhetoric of self-presentation in speeches.

Greek warfare: hoplite phalanx, trireme, and the Peloponnesian War's campaigns; note tactical references.

Religion in tragedy: the gods' role in causation and the problem of theodicy (e.g. in Euripides).

The symposium and its poetry: elegy and lyric performed at symposia; note the social context of verse.

Greek views of gender: the oikos (household) vs polis; women's speech and silence in the texts.

Mythic cycles: the Trojan War, the returns (nostoi), and the Theban cycle as background.

Reception and performance: modern productions and translations shape interpretation; note the original performance context.

Chronology: key dates (490 Marathon, 480 Salamis, 431-404 Peloponnesian War) anchor historical texts.

Recognise the potential optative with ἄν in main clauses as 'would/could'; translate with a modal.

Distinguish the two uses of εἰ: 'if' (conditional) and 'whether' (indirect question).

Watch for the 'proleptic' use of an adjective in the main clause that logically belongs with the subordinate clause.

The negative in a wish with optative is μή; in a factual statement it is οὐ.

Check the tense of the infinitive in indirect statement: present = same time, aorist = prior, future = later.

Assess the use of enjambment in verse: a clause running past line-end can create suspense or emphasis.

Note the placement of the chorus's comments: they often evaluate the preceding action.

Identify the use of antithesis in stichomythia: each speaker's line corrects the previous.

Analyse the author's choice of vocabulary: a rare word or compound often marks a key moment.

Consider the effect of the passage's position in the work: prologue, episode, or exodos.

Track the use of a recurring image (e.g. disease, hunting) across the passage and the work.

Evaluate the passage's rhetoric: how does the speaker construct authority or sympathy?

Assess the role of the divine: intervention, prophecy, or absence shapes interpretation.

Recognise the 'accusative and infinitive' after verbs of saying, thinking, and perceiving; the negative is οὐ.

Genitive absolute: noun + participle both genitive, grammatically detached; translate as a subordinate clause.

The articular infinitive with a preposition: ἐν τῷ + inf. = 'while'; πρὸς τῷ + inf. = 'in addition to'.

Recognise the historic infinitive in narrative as equivalent to an imperfect.

Check for the 'dative of agent' with perfect passive: ὑπὸ + genitive is also common.

Use particles (μέν, δέ, γάρ, οὖν) as clause-boundary markers.

Identify the antecedent of relative pronouns; attraction may obscure the case.

Use morphology to guess unknown words: augment + stem + ending identifies tense, voice, person.

Scan the first line to identify the metre; then apply the same pattern throughout the passage.

In hexameter, a word-final short vowel before a consonant may lengthen by position.

Recognise formulaic line-openings (ἦ ῥα, τὸν δ' αὖ, ὣς φάτο) as structural markers.

Simile structure: ὡς... ὣς correlates; translate the protasis then the apodosis.

Tragic chorus uses Doric alpha (ᾱ) and non-Attic forms; normalise before parsing.

Metrical responsion (strophe/antistrophe) implies the same metre; use it to check uncertain readings.

Resolve crasis and elision before parsing; the underlying words determine meaning.

Note the difference between lyric 'I' (choral voice) and spoken dialogue 'I' (character).

Middle voice of αἱρέω = 'choose'; check deponency before assigning passive force.

Verbs of ruling take the genitive (ἄρχω, βασιλεύω); verbs of hitting take the accusative.

Verbs of remembering/forgetting take the genitive (μιμνῄσκομαι, ἐπιλανθάνομαι).

The infinitive can express purpose after verbs of motion (ἦλθε λέγειν = 'he came to speak').

Comparatives with ἤ = 'than'; with the genitive alone = 'than' (genitive of comparison).

The article can function as a demonstrative (ὁ δέ = 'and he'); note the absence of a noun.

Accents distinguish homographs: τίς (who?) vs τις (someone); ὅτε (when) vs ὅ τε (and the).

Verbal nouns in -σις and -μα derive from the verb stem; use them to guess meaning in compounds.

Athenian legal procedure: archon, dikastai, and the two-stage trial; rhetoric of self-presentation in speeches.

Greek warfare: hoplite phalanx, trireme, and the Peloponnesian War's campaigns; note tactical references.

Religion in tragedy: the gods' role in causation and the problem of theodicy (e.g. in Euripides).

The symposium and its poetry: elegy and lyric performed at symposia; note the social context of verse.

Greek views of gender: the oikos (household) vs polis; women's speech and silence in the texts.

Mythic cycles: the Trojan War, the returns (nostoi), and the Theban cycle as background.

Reception and performance: modern productions and translations shape interpretation; note the original performance context.

Chronology: key dates (490 Marathon, 480 Salamis, 431-404 Peloponnesian War) anchor historical texts.