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Learn Ancient Greek

From the alphabet and accents to reading Plato, Xenophon and Homer in the original.

Free to start. Built from a single prompt. No credit card.

Ancient Greek is the language of Homer, Plato, Sophocles and the New Testament, and most courses teach Attic, the dialect of classical Athens. It is learned for reading, not conversation. Words carry accents and breathing marks, nouns change across five cases and three numbers including the dual, and verbs add the aorist, the optative mood and a middle voice where the subject acts for itself. Participles do much of the heavy lifting. Learnr builds a personalized Ancient Greek course from one prompt and teaches grammar and reading through short, interactive lessons.

How to learn Ancient Greek, step by step

Learn the alphabet and pick a pronunciation. Learn the 24 letters, the rough and smooth breathings and the acute, grave and circumflex accents. Choose reconstructed or Erasmian pronunciation and use it consistently, since reading aloud helps you remember forms.
Master the article and first two declensions. The article ὁ, ἡ, τό changes for case and number and tells you how a noun is working in the sentence. Learn it perfectly, then first and second declension nouns, because word order is free and endings do the work.
Learn verbs by their principal parts. Many verbs have six principal parts, and λύω is the classic model. Memorize them for each new verb, because the aorist and other stems are often irregular, and you cannot find forms in a dictionary otherwise.
Understand aspect, the middle voice and the aorist. The aorist presents an action as a simple whole, while the present and imperfect present it as ongoing. The middle voice often means acting for yourself. Daily short Learnr drills on these forms keep them from blurring together.
Drill participles and the small particles. Greek uses participles constantly, often where English would use a clause. Learn particles too, such as μέν and δέ for contrasts and γάρ for explanation, since they guide you through long sentences.
Move from adapted texts to real authors. Read adapted stories from a course like Athenaze or Reading Greek, then Xenophon's Anabasis, Lysias or Plato's Apology. Homer comes later because of his older epic dialect. Use the LSJ lexicon or Logeion for words.

What you'll learn

Read the Greek alphabet with accents and breathing marks
Decline nouns, adjectives and the article across five cases
Conjugate verbs in the present, imperfect, future and aorist
Recognize middle and passive forms, participles and the optative
Read adapted passages, then original prose from Xenophon or Plato

What's inside your Ancient Greek course

A sample path Learnr builds for Ancient Greek. Your real course adapts to your goal and level.

1. Alphabet, accents, breathings and pronunciation
2. First and second declension nouns and the article
3. Present and imperfect verbs in the active voice
4. Third declension, the middle voice and the aorist
5. Participles, the subjunctive and the optative
6. Reading Xenophon, Plato and an introduction to Homer

How long does it take to learn Ancient Greek?

Core grammar usually takes 1 to 2 years at 4 to 6 hours a week, roughly a typical two-year university sequence. Reading easy prose with a dictionary often comes by the end of the first year. Reading Homer or Thucydides comfortably takes several more years.

What you need before you start

No prior language is required, but comfort with grammar terms such as case, tense and participle helps. Latin or modern Greek gives a head start on vocabulary and grammar.

Common mistakes to avoid

Skipping accents and breathing marks because they look like decoration; they distinguish words and forms, so learn them from the first lesson.
Memorizing only the present stem of each verb, then failing to recognize the aorist; learn principal parts for every common verb.
Jumping straight to Homer, whose dialect differs from Attic, and getting frustrated; build a base in Attic prose first.

How Learnr builds your course

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Ancient Greek questions, answered

Is Ancient Greek harder than Latin?

Greek has more verb forms, a definite article, accents and a new alphabet, so most learners find it harder at first. The article and particles make reading clearer once you know them.

Can I learn Ancient Greek to read the New Testament?

Yes. New Testament Greek is Koine, a later and simpler form. Many learners start with a Koine course; Attic training also prepares you to read it.

Does modern Greek help with Ancient Greek?

It helps with the alphabet and some vocabulary, but grammar and pronunciation have changed a lot. Ancient Greek is best learned as its own language.