Ancient Greek

This course offers an introduction to ancient Greek, focusing on the Attic dialect of the 5th century BCE (the language of Plato, Aristotle, Sophocles, Euripides, etc.). Consisting of two semesters, students in this course will learn basic elements of ancient Greek orthography, morphology, syntax, and vocabulary as we proceed through a reading-based textbook (Athenaze: An Introduction to Ancient Greek) in which themes including daily life, mythology, ancient history and more will be discussed. Course work primarily focuses on reading and writing ancient Greek, and students will practice pronunciation and basic question-and-answering in ancient Greek via oral drills and reading exercises. Although the course will focus on Attic Greek, the course will also be valuable to those interested in Koine (Biblical) Greek as well as Homeric Greek, both of which will be discussed in comparison to Attic Greek.

We will meet as a class weekly on Zoom to discuss readings, participate in small group work and to give short presentations. Your presence and robust participation in our virtual meetings is an essential component of the course and will help foster a sense of intellectual community that is essential to doing the rigorous scholarly work of thinking deeply and critically about our topic. We will also meet in-person 3-5 times throughout the course to build class community, for field trips, and to engage with guest speakers.

  UC Approved: LOTE   

About the Instructor

Evan Ward (they/them) – SF University High School
Evan Ward has been teaching at San Francisco University High School since 2022 and has been teaching Latin, Ancient Greek, and Classics courses generally since 2014. Evan earned a BA in Classics from Xavier University and a MA in Classics from Vanderbilt University. Evan also did PhD work in both Classics (Cornell) and Applied Linguistics (Ball State University). Evan’s graduate school work focused in Classics on ancient philosophy and medicine and on LGBTQ+/Queer language use in Applied Linguistics. As a teacher of Classical languages Evan is aligned with a student-centered, humanistic, multimodal approach to learning which incorporates insights from linguistics and language-acquisition research. Outside of the classroom Evan is an accomplished bluegrass musician (banjo, guitar) and singer, performing regularly at venues in the Bay Area and beyond. Evan identifies as gay/queer, uses they/he pronouns, and lives at home with Andres, a 12 year-old Yorkie.