HSC Classical Greek Extension cheat sheet

Identify the main verb of each clause first; Greek prose word order delays the finite verb, so bracket subordinate clauses before translating.

The article ho/hē/to functions as (a) definite article, (b) demonstrative 'this/that', (c) relative pronoun in older prose, (d) substantiviser with adjective or participle (ho sophos = 'the wise man').

Genitive absolute: a genitive noun/pronoun plus genitive participle with no grammatical link to the main clause, translated 'when/while/since X did Y'.

Accusative plus infinitive reports speech or thought after verbs of saying, thinking, believing; the infinitive's tense marks aspect (present = same time, aorist = prior, future = later).

Future infinitive and future participle are usually formed from the future stem without the augment; aorist and imperfect carry the augment (or reduplication) as past-tense marker.

Indirect questions keep the interrogative word but use optative in secondary sequence (after a past main verb) and indicative in primary sequence.

Particles carry argument structure: men...de marks contrast, gar gives reason, oun marks inference, ge adds emphasis, an with optative marks potential.

Middle voice is often transitive-reflexive or subject-interested ('I got X done for myself'); deponent verbs look middle/passive but are active in meaning.

Check connectives for logical relations before rendering: epei, epeidē (when/since), hina, hopōs (purpose), hōste (result), ei (condition), kaiper (concession).

Scan before translating: identify the metre (dactylic hexameter for epic, iambic trimeter for drama, lyric cola in choral odes) to locate word boundaries and resolve elision.

Dactylic hexameter: six feet of dactyls (long-short-short) or spondees (long-long); the fifth foot is normally a dactyl and the sixth a spondee.

Iambic trimeter: three metra of x - u - ; the final foot is usually a spondee, and resolution (one long replaced by two shorts) is possible in any position except the last.

Elision removes a short final vowel before a following vowel; hiatus (no elision) is often deliberate and can mark emphasis or pause.

Hyperbaton (separation of words that belong together, e.g. adjective from noun) is a stylistic signal, not a translation puzzle to flatten.

Tragic and lyric vocabulary: distinguish active, middle and passive forms of verbs like tithēmi, histēmi, didōmi, whose aorists are athematic (ethēka, estēn, edōka).

Enclitics (tis, ge, pote, pou) throw their accent back onto the preceding word; this affects word division and sometimes meaning (tis 'someone' vs tis 'who?').

Choral odes mix Doric and Aeolic forms (e.g. -oisi for -ois, alpha for eta); recognise dialect forms rather than assuming corruption.

Translate verse word-by-word first, then reorder; Greek verse often front-loads the emphatic word and delays the verb to the clause end.

Identify the genre conventions first: Homeric epic (formulaic epithets, similes, ring composition), Attic tragedy (stichomythia, messenger speech, kommos), historiography (speeches, digressions, programmatic preface).

Ring composition: a topic is opened, developed, and closed by returning to the opening phrase; this is a structural marker, not mere repetition.

Homeric simile: extended comparison introduced by hōs/hōsper, developed over several lines, then closed by a houtōs clause returning to the narrative.

Stichomythia: line-for-line exchange in tragedy, used to sharpen conflict; note who speaks first and who wins the exchange.

Messenger speech: reports offstage violence in vivid narrative; analyse its rhetorical structure (narrative, direct speech, reaction) rather than treating it as mere plot delivery.

Programmatic statements in historiography (e.g. a preface stating subject and method) signal authorial stance and should be quoted when discussing technique.

Enjambment and caesura in verse control pace; a word placed first in the line or after the caesura is often emphatic.

Direct speech within narrative (historiography, epic) is a technique for characterisation and for staging debate; count how many speeches and who is given voice.

Greek values cluster around timē (honour), kleos (fame), aretē (excellence), aidōs (shame/modesty), and xenia (guest-host obligation); track which value a character invokes and whether it is honoured or violated.

Hubris (outrageous arrogance) is typically followed by atē (blindness/ruin) and nemesis (retribution); this pattern is a diagnostic for plot structure.

The oikos (household) versus polis (city) tension structures much tragedy and historiography; note which loyalty a character prioritises.

Fate (moira) versus human responsibility: characters often act freely yet fulfil what was foretold; discuss both levels rather than choosing one.

Supplication and asylum (hikesia) create binding obligations; a suppliant's reception or rejection is a value-laden plot point.

Athenian democratic ideology (isēgoria, equality of speech; isonomia, equality before law) is contrasted with tyranny and oligarchy in fifth-century texts.

Reciprocity (charis) governs gift-exchange and obligation; a favour creates a debt that must be repaid, and refusal is a moral failing.

Death and glory: a choice of a short glorious life over a long obscure one is a recurring heroic value, often voiced in direct speech before battle.

Fifth-century Athens: Cleisthenic tribes (10), Council of 500 (boule), Assembly (ekklēsia), and jury courts (dikastēria) with pay introduced in the 450s for jurors.

Persian Wars: Marathon 490, Salamis 480, Plataea 479; these dates anchor references in tragedy and historiography.

Peloponnesian War 431-404 BCE; the plague at Athens (430), the Sicilian Expedition (415-413), and the fall of Athens (404) are frequent reference points.

Athenian tragedy was performed at the City Dionysia in a tetralogy (three tragedies plus a satyr play) funded by a choregos through liturgy.

Slavery was central to the economy; metics (resident foreigners) paid a tax and lacked citizenship; women's legal status was mediated by a kyrios.

Religion: sacrifice, oath, and oracle (Delphi) are public acts; impiety (asebeia) could be prosecuted, as in the trials of Anaxagoras and Socrates.

Homer's epics were performed at the Panathenaea by rhapsodes; Attic vase painting and the scholia show continuous reception of Homeric epic.

Greek warfare: hoplite phalanx, the shield (aspis) and spear; naval power (trireme) was decisive for Athens' empire and its tribute system.