MATSEC SEC Greek cheat sheet

Unseen prose passages are normally Attic (occasionally koine or Herodotean Ionic); identify dialect first from forms such as -σσι for -ττι (Lesbian), -ης/-εω genitives (Ionic), or ν movable and -ουσι without ν.

Translate main clauses first: locate the finite verb, then nominative subject, then accusative/genitive/dative objects; subordinate clauses (ὅτι, ἵνα, ἐπεί, εἰ, ὡς) translate after the main clause is secured.

Read particles as signposts: μέν…δέ marks contrast, γάρ gives reason, οὖν draws inference, ἄρα marks consequence, δή emphasises, καί can mean 'even' or 'and'.

The article functions as pronoun (ὁ δέ = 'and he'), as substantiviser (οἱ ἀγαθοί = 'the good'), and in attributive position; check position before translating as 'the'.

Optative in a main clause expresses wish (εἴθε + optative) or potential (with ἄν); both are usually rendered with 'may/would/could'.

Genitive absolute (noun + participle in genitive, grammatically unconnected to the main clause) is translated 'when/since/although X did…'.

Indirect statement after verbs of saying/thinking uses ὅτι or ὡς + indicative, or accusative + infinitive; keep the tense of the original in indirect discourse.

Render historical presents as past tense in English unless the vividness is meaningful; render aorist participles as preceding the main verb, present participles as simultaneous.

Attic contract verbs: -έω → -ῶ (φιλέω → φιλῶ, φιλεῖς, φιλεῖ); -άω → -ῶ (τιμάω → τιμῶ); -όω → -ῶ (δηλόω → δηλῶ); infinitive -εῖν, -ᾶν, -οῦν.

First aorist endings: -α, -ας, -ε(ν), -αμεν, -ατε, -αν; add σ before the ending (ἔλυσα); second aorist uses the unaugmented present stem with thematic endings (ἔλιπον, ἔλαβον).

Middle voice usually marks the subject's own interest or a reflexive action; passive in the aorist is marked by -θη- (ἐλύθη) or -η- (ἐγράφη).

Third declension: genitive singular reveals the stem (φύλαξ, φύλακος; πόλις, πόλεως; βασιλεύς, βασιλέως; σῶμα, σώματος).

ἵνα, ὅπως, ὡς + subjunctive = purpose (after primary tense); after a past main verb purpose may take the optative (oblique optative) or the aorist subjunctive.

Conditions: εἰ + present/perfect indicative = simple or vivid future (with future apodosis); εἰ + optative = future less vivid; εἰ + past indicative (with ἄν in apodosis) = contrary to fact.

Indirect questions use the same interrogative word as direct speech but the verb goes into the optative after a past main verb (or stays indicative in koine usage).

Middle/passive endings: -μαι, -σαι/-ῃ, -ται, -μεθα, -σθε, -νται; imperfect of εἰμί is ἦν, ἦσθα, ἦν, ἦμεν, ἦτε, ἦσαν.

Preposition + case: διά + genitive = 'through', + accusative = 'because of'; κατά + genitive = 'against/down from', + accusative = 'according to'; μετά + genitive = 'with', + accusative = 'after'.

Verbs of ruling, commanding, and beginning take the genitive (ἄρχω, ἡγέομαι); verbs of helping, trusting, and using take the dative (βοηθέω, πιστεύω, χράομαι).

Compound verbs keep the case of the simple verb unless the preposition changes the meaning (e.g. ἐπιβουλεύω + dative = 'plot against').

Idioms to recognise: ἐν χερσίν ('in hand'), κατὰ γῆν καὶ θάλατταν ('by land and sea'), οὐδὲν δεινόν ('nothing terrible'), πρὸς ὀλίγον ('for a short time').

Common abstract nouns: ἀρετή (excellence/virtue), δικαιοσύνη (justice), σωφροσύνη (self-control), ἀνδρεία (courage), τύχη (chance/fortune).

Particle combinations: μὲν οὖν ('rather/indeed'), καὶ μήν ('and yet'), οὐ μὴν ἀλλά ('nevertheless'), γε μήν ('certainly'), ἆρα μή ('perhaps…?').

Distinguish ὁ/ἡ/τό as article vs. relative pronoun ὅς/ἥ/ὅ; relative pronoun always has a rough breathing and takes its case from its own clause.

Time expressions: ἡμέρᾳ (dative = 'on a day'), ἐνιαυτόν (accusative = 'for a year'), τριῶν ἐτῶν (genitive = 'within three years').

Homer's Iliad and Odyssey are dactylic hexameter; epic dialect mixes Ionic and Aeolic forms (e.g. -οιο genitive, τοῖο, ἐγών).

Tragic metre is iambic trimeter for speech and lyric metres for choral odes; the three tragedians are Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.

Herodotus wrote the Histories in Ionic prose, framing the Persian Wars; Thucydides wrote the History of the Peloponnesian War in Attic with speeches and a stated method in Book 1.

Plato's dialogues (e.g. Apology, Republic, Symposium) use Socratic elenchus; Aristotle's surviving works are largely lecture notes (Nicomachean Ethics, Politics, Poetics).

Attic oratory: Lysias (forensic, plain style), Isocrates (panegyric, periodic style), Demosthenes (political, Philippics, On the Crown).

The Athenian festival context: Great Dionysia (tragedy and comedy), Lenaea (comedy), Panathenaea (recitations of Homer); rhapsodes performed at festivals.

Key cultural terms: polis (city-state), oikos (household), arete (excellence), sophrosyne (self-control), hubris (outrage), nemesis (retribution), moira (fate).

Hesiod's Theogony and Works and Days supply the Greek creation myth and the ages of man; the Homeric Hymns are hexameter poems to individual gods.

When a passage contains an unfamiliar word, use the context of the clause and the case ending to narrow meaning before reaching for a dictionary.

Check for elision and crasis: ἀπ' ἐμοῦ = ἀπὸ ἐμοῦ; κἀγώ = καὶ ἐγώ; τοὔνομα = τὸ ὄνομα.

Recognise indirect command: ἐκέλευσεν αὐτοὺς ἀπιέναι (accusative + infinitive) vs. ἐκέλευσεν ἵνα ἀπίωσιν (ἵνα + subjunctive).

Negatives: οὐ negates statements, μή negates wishes, conditions, and imperatives; μηδέ and οὐδέ mean 'and not' accordingly.

Temporal clauses: ἐπεί/ὡς + aorist = 'after'; ἕως + present = 'while'; πρὶν + infinitive = 'before'.

Recognise the historic infinitive (infinitive used as a finite verb in narrative, common in Herodotus and Thucydides).

Beware of false friends: λόγος = 'word/account/reason', not 'logic'; σοφία = 'wisdom/skill', not 'sophistry'.

Translation order: subject, main verb, objects, then subordinate clauses; add English articles and pronouns the Greek leaves implied.

Accent rules: acute on the antepenult only when the final syllable is short; circumflex on the penult when the final is short and the penult is long; final -αι and -οι count as short for accent purposes.

Elision drops a short final vowel before a vowel: ἀλλὰ ἐγώ → ἀλλ' ἐγώ; ἀπό + ὧν → ἀφ' ὧν.

The aorist passive often has active meaning for deponent verbs: ἐβουλήθην ('I wished'), ἐφοβήθην ('I feared').

Participles agree with their noun in gender, number and case; attributive participles sit inside the article (ὁ λέγων ἀνήρ), circumstantial ones outside it.

The articular infinitive (τὸ λέγειν, τοῦ λέγειν, τῷ λέγειν) functions as a noun; translate with 'speaking', 'of speaking', 'by speaking'.

Optative of wish may be introduced by εἴθε or εἰ γάρ; negative wish uses μή.

Dual number is rare but appears in Homer and early Attic (e.g. τώ, τοῖν, -ετον, -εσθον).

Indirect discourse after a past main verb may show optative for the original indicative (optative of oblique narration).

Verbs of perception and knowing take the genitive or accusative: ἀκούω + genitive ('hear from') vs. ἀκούω + accusative ('hear a thing').

Verbs of remembering and forgetting take the genitive (μιμνῄσκομαι, ἐπιλανθάνομαι); verbs of meeting take the dative (ἐντυγχάνω).

Common idioms with ἔχω: εὖ ἔχειν ('to be well'), κακῶς ἔχειν ('to be ill'), ἔχειν + adverb = 'to be in a state'.

Idioms with ποιέω: ποιεῖσθαι λόγον ('to make a speech'), ποιεῖσθαι εἰρήνην ('to make peace'), εὖ ποιεῖν ('to do good to').

Numbers: εἷς, δύο, τρεῖς; τέτταρες, πέντε, ἕξ, ἑπτά, ὀκτώ, ἐννέα, δέκα; ordinal πρῶτος, δεύτερος, τρίτος.

Common verbs with irregular principal parts: φέρω (οἴσω, ἤνεγκα, ἐνήνοχα), λέγω (ἐρῶ, εἶπον, εἴρηκα), ὁράω (ὄψομαι, εἶδον, ἑώρακα).

Adjectives of quantity: πολύς, πολλή, πολύ (much); ὀλίγος, ὀλίγη, ὀλίγον (little); μέγας, μεγάλη, μέγα (great) - all decline irregularly.

Distinguish πότε (when?) from ποτέ (once/ever); ποῦ (where?) from που (somewhere); πῶς (how?) from πως (somehow) - accent changes meaning.

Presocratic philosophers: Thales (water as arche), Heraclitus (flux, logos), Parmenides (being), Democritus (atoms), Pythagoras (number and metempsychosis).

The Sophists (Protagoras, Gorgias, Hippias) taught rhetoric and relativism; Plato's dialogues often stage Socrates against them.

Hellenistic poetry: Callimachus (Aetia, Hymns), Apollonius of Rhodes (Argonautica), Theocritus (Idylls) - learned, allusive style.

The Greek novel (Chariton, Longus, Heliodorus) postdates the classical period and features separated lovers and travel.

Athenian democracy: Cleisthenes' reforms (508/7 BCE), Ephialtes' reforms (462/1), Pericles' leadership; institutions included the Assembly (ekklesia), Council of 500 (boule), and law courts (dikasteria).

Greek religion: the twelve Olympians, chthonic vs. Olympian cult, sacrifice (thysia), libation (sponde), and the Eleusinian Mysteries for Demeter and Kore.

The Delphic oracle at Apollo's sanctuary pronounced in hexameter; the Pythia's responses were often ambiguous.

Key literary terms: mimesis (imitation), catharsis (purgation of emotion, Aristotle Poetics), hamartia (tragic error), peripeteia (reversal), anagnorisis (recognition).