Madrid PAU Greek II (Griego II) key terms

Noun meaning word, speech, account, or reason. In prose texts it often introduces reported speech or marks the rational principle behind something. Recognize the stem λογο- in derivatives such as lógica and lógico.

Neuter noun for a spoken word, saying, or statement, and in grammar a verb. Distinguish it from λόγος, which covers connected speech or argument rather than a single utterance.

Feminine noun for cause, reason, or responsibility. In Thucydides and Herodotus it often names the stated pretext or the real cause of a conflict; the accusative αἰτίαν ἔχειν means to be blamed.

Third-declension feminine noun meaning pretext, alleged reason, or outward excuse. Historians contrast it with the true cause (αἰτία), so watch for the pair in narrative openings.

Feminine noun for city or city-state, and by extension its citizen body and constitution. Its i-stem declension shows accusative πόλιν and dative plural πόλεσιν; the root survives in política and policía.

Abstract noun for citizenship, the constitution, or the way a state is governed. Plato's dialogue of that name and Aristotle's Politics both use it as a technical term for regime type.

Masculine noun for the common people, the citizen assembly, or a district. In democratic Athens it denotes the sovereign body of citizens; the compound δημοκρατία builds directly on it.

Feminine compound of δῆμος and κράτος meaning rule by the people. Athenian practice was direct, not representative, so translate it as democracy while noting the restricted citizen franchise.

Feminine noun for excellence, virtue, or merit, applied to warriors, citizens, and things alike. In ethical prose it names the quality that makes something perform its function well.

Neuter s-stem noun for character, habitual disposition, or custom. It underlies the rhetorical appeal called ethos and the modern word ética through Latin adaptation.

Neuter noun for suffering, emotion, or an experience undergone. Aristotle uses it for affections of the soul; the verb πάσχω shares the root and yields pasión and patético.

Masculine noun for a story, tale, or traditional narrative, and in Plato sometimes a fabricated account. It contrasts with λόγος as argument, a distinction central to literary commentary.

Feminine noun from ποιέω meaning making or composition, hence poetry. Aristotle's Poetics treats it as the crafted imitation of action, so translate according to context as composition or poetry.

Feminine noun for imitation or representation, a key concept in Plato and Aristotle for how art and language relate to reality. The verb μιμέομαι shares the root.

Feminine noun for tragedy, literally goat-song, one of the two major Athenian dramatic genres. Its formal parts include prologue, parodos, episodes, stasima, and exodos, useful for genre commentary.

Feminine noun for comedy, the dramatic genre associated with Aristophanes and later Menander. Old Comedy uses political satire and choral parabasis; New Comedy focuses on domestic plots.

Feminine noun for outrage, insolence, or arrogant transgression of limits, often against the gods. It typically triggers divine punishment in tragedy and historiography; the verb ὑβρίζω is related.

Feminine noun for righteous indignation or the retribution that answers excess. In myth and tragedy it names the divine response to ὕβρις, and it survives in the Spanish némesis.

Paired heroic values: excellence in action and the undying fame won by it. Epic characters act to secure κλέος, so recognizing the pair helps interpret speeches in Homer and later prose.

Feminine noun for the assembly place or marketplace, the civic center where speeches, trials, and trade occurred. The verb ἀγορεύω means to speak in public, and ἀγοράζω means to buy.

Feminine noun for the assembly of citizens summoned to vote, in Athens the sovereign body of the democracy. The compound comes from ἐκ and καλέω, to call out.

Feminine noun for council or deliberative body, in Athens the Council of Five Hundred preparing business for the assembly. Distinguish it from ἐκκλησία, the full citizen assembly.

Masculine noun for general or commander, literally leader of an army. In Athens generals were elected annually and could be re-elected, unlike most offices filled by lot.

Feminine noun for leadership or hegemony, the acknowledged primacy of one state over others. Thucydides uses it for Athenian and Spartan alliance leadership before the Peloponnesian War.

Feminine noun for a colony or settlement founded abroad, from ἀπό and οἶκος. Greek colonization spread cults, dialect, and institutions around the Mediterranean and Black Sea.

Irregular copula and existence verb, present εἰμί, εἶ, ἐστί, plural ἐσμέν, ἐστέ, εἰσί. Its imperfect ἦν and future ἔσομαι are frequent; note enclitic ἐστι in the sense there is.

Verb meaning to have or hold, with future ἕξω and aorist ἔσχον. The idiom ἔχειν with an adverb, as in καλῶς ἔχει, means to be in a certain state, a common translation trap.

Deponent verb meaning to become, happen, or be born, with aorist ἐγενόμην and perfect γέγονα. It often replaces εἰμί in narrative and takes a predicate nominative.

Defective verb meaning to say or assert, present φημί, φῄς, φησί, plural φαμέν, φατέ, φασί. The participle φάμενος and infinitive φάναι appear in reported speech; ἔφη is the common imperfect.

Subordinating conjunction introducing a clause, translated that or because. With indicative it marks a factual statement; with optative after a past main verb it shows indirect discourse in oblique mood.

Multifunctional particle: as, that, because, in order that, or with participles and numbers approximately. Identify its function from the mood of the verb it introduces before translating.

Postpositive particle marking potential, conditional, or indefinite constructions. With optative it expresses possibility; with subjunctive after εἰ or relative words it creates general conditions; never translate it alone.

Conjunction meaning if, introducing conditions. With indicative it states a real or logical condition; with optative a remote one; εἰ plus ἄν forms a potential or past general protasis.

Correlative pair contrasting two ideas, translated on the one hand and on the other. μέν is never translated as indeed when it merely anticipates a following δέ; track the pairing across clauses.

Postpositive causal particle meaning for or because, giving the reason for the preceding statement. In questions it asks why and expects confirmation; do not confuse it with the conjunction ὅτι.

Model verb for the thematic or omega conjugation, meaning to loose or release. Learn its principal parts λύσω, ἔλυσα, λέλυκα, λέλυμαι, ἐλύθην as the paradigm for regular verbs.

Athematic or mi-verb meaning to place or set, with aorist ἔθηκα and passive ἐτέθην. Its reduplicated present and mixed aorist endings illustrate the μι-conjugation group.

Reduplicated mi-verb meaning to give, with aorist ἔδωκα and future δώσω. The stem δο- appears in δόσις and δῶρον, and the verb is a standard model for athematic endings.

The participle (μετοχή) shares features of verb and adjective: it has tense and voice but declines like an adjective. Recognize the article plus participle construction, which often translates as a relative clause.

The aorist tense, which presents an action as a simple whole without specifying duration. Its augment and sigma endings mark past narrative; the infinitive and participle forms are frequent in prose.

The imperfect tense, which presents a past action as ongoing, repeated, or attempted. Its augment plus present stem distinguishes it from the aorist in narrative; translate with was doing or used to do.

Adverb meaning immediately or straightway, frequent in narrative to mark rapid sequence. Do not confuse it with the adjective εὐθύς, straight, which has different accentuation in some forms.