Greek Reading & Literature (LS)

View the SRS Greek Program Curriculum Map

The purpose of the lessons in this course is to help each student grow in their listening, speaking, reading, and writing through topic-based instruction and discussions in Greek. In addition, to foster a love for God and the Church cultivating a deeper understanding of living as Orthodox Christians in the world, Studying Greek trains children in the art of grammar universal to all language, as well as giving them access to the New Testament and Septuagint, Byzantine hymnography, and Patristic writings in the original tongue.

The Greek Reading & Literature course aims to best develop skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing through purposeful and age-appropriate lessons that acquaint young learners to the illustrious Greek language used as a tool to spread The Word of God.

Students will engage with the Greek alphabet in the following ways:

• Continue to grow in their learning to read, pronounce, and write many Greek words through copy work
• Continue to build vocabulary and comprehension through the reading of literature
• Learn to sing short Orthodox hymns and recite short prayers
• Learn to read and speak words through Syllabication
• Learn to formulate words that are used into sentences
• Learn and memorize the Trisagion hymn which invokes God as the thrice holy and the Lord’s Prayer both in Greek and English
• Learn to read the Icons and Study the Lives of the Holy Persons and Historic Events depicted in Icons.

Saint Raphael’s School teaches what is often called “Koine Greek.” It is the dialect of Greek which was spoken throughout the Eastern Mediterranean following the conquests of Alexander the Great in the late 4th century BC, and persisted throughout the Roman and Byzantine periods and eventually evolved into the Modern Greek language which is currently spoken in Greece today. Koine Greek is the dialect of Greek with which the New Testament was written (which is why is Koine Greek is often called “New Testament Greek”).

Along with the New Testament, the various services of The Eastern Church, hymns, prayers, and saints lives were also composed in Koine Greek. At Saint Raphael’s School, Koine Greek is taught using the “Modern” or “Received” pronunciation. This pronunciation is identical to that used by speakers of the Modern Greek language today, and it is also the pronunciation currently used for the liturgies and services of the Orthodox Church of Greece, and most of the Orthodox Churches under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch, including The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOARCH).

Schole Academy teaches both Classical and Koine Greek. Classical Greek is slightly different from and grammatically more complex than Koine Greek. While our course at Saint Raphael’s focuses on equipping Orthodox Christians with the tools to understand the New Testament, the church fathers, and the liturgy, Scholé course exposes students to the Greek of a lengthier period, from Homer (8th century BC) through “The Golden Age of Athens” (5th century BC) and into the Hellenistic/Koine period (including the New Testament and Patristics). Whereas our course uses the modern pronunciation employed in the Orthodox Church, Scholé Academy uses a pronunciation  “reconstructed” to approximate that of the time period of 5th century Athens. We hope this description of the two sets of courses helps you decide which is more appropriate for your purposes.