With the soon-to-be shipping Bristol Classics Culture and History Bundle (178 vols.) I find myself asking if a student of Koine Greek can make sense of the other Greek in this bundle.
Any thoughts or advice?
From what I understand Homeric Greek is a mishmash of different Greek dialects. You may be able to read some of it but there will be many differences and stage words, forms, ect.
I was pretty comfortable with Koine when I took classical Greek. After a period of time getting comfortable with Attic, I decided to try to tackle Homeric on my own. Now, I'm not naturally gifted in languages, but I worked really hard. But I wouldn't expect too many people to be able to do much with Homeric if all they understood was Koine. You might understand a few isolated words or phrases, but I wouldn't expect you to be able to read without importing lots of grammar and vocabulary into your brain. That is, there are significant differences in both grammar and vocabulary. Some of the forms that seem to have faded by the time the NT was written (optative, for example) are in full swing in other, older Greek dialects. And since the subject matter is different, the vocabulary is very different. Additionally, many of the words have shifted in meaning, as you would expect to happen after several centuries. (The period between Homer and the NT is much greater than the period between the KJV and today, of course.) The use of particles, too, seems to me to much more fluid and nuanced, which creates a whole other set of challenges. Also, if you're reading Homer, it is poetry, so it'll be less mechanical than much of the writing in the NT. On the other hand, Homeric verse is sometimes very formulaic and there are repeating patterns which can ease some of the translation burden. One final issue is that for most NT readers, when you learn Koine, you already sort of know what a passage it talking about even before translating. That may not always be the case with Homer, unless you've spent a fair chunk of time reading it previously.
Thank you James and Lew.
[Y] I appreciated very much your comments. Thanks for taking the time. I thought you were spot on.
Ergatees
