海角社区

Language

If you are a beginner in Modern Greek, you are strongly advised to familiarize yourself with the alphabet and pronunciation system, and to study at least the first few chapters of a good coursebook before the start of the academic year. There are several acceptable courses for beginners, some of which we list below. The Dimitra-Papacheimona book is the one we shall be using in class in 2023-24听as our basic textbook. Copies can be borrowed from the Italian/Modern Greek office, on payment of a deposit.

• D. Dimitra & M. Papacheimona, 螘位位畏谓喂魏维 韦蠋蟻伪 1 + 1 (Nostos, 5th ed. Athens 2002). (Grammatical notes in English, but the main text is entirely in Greek. Cassettes and workbook available.) The second volume, 螘位位畏谓喂魏维 韦蠋蟻伪 2 + 2, will be used in the Lent and Easter Terms.
• K. Arnanitakis & F. Arnavitaki, Communicate in Greek 1 (textbook and workbook) (Deltos Publishing, 2002).
• S. Vogiatzidou, Learning Modern Greek as a foreign/second language: a communicative approach. University Studio Press, Thessaloniki 2002. (A well-illustrated course, with workbook and three cassettes.)
• Greek language and people (BBC Books, London 2006). (New updated edition, with 2 x 75-minute CDs. Attractively presented material but short on grammar. Can be used for private study.)
• Niki Watts, Colloquial Greek: a complete language course (Routledge, 1994). (Two 60-minute cassettes available.)
• Learn Greek - Word Power 101 [Kindle Edition]
• Hara Garafoulia-Middle & Howard Middle, Build Your Greek Vocabulary, (GW Publishing, Chinnor 2009)

You will also find it useful to equip yourself with a dictionary and a reference grammar:

• * D.N. Stavropoulos, Oxford Greek-English Learner's Dictionary (Oxford University Press, 1988)
• D.N. Stavropoulos & A.S. Hornby, Oxford English-Greek Learner's Dictionary (Oxford University Press, 1977). (The two Stavropoulos volumes are probably the best English/Greek dictionary available at present.)
• J.T. Pring, The Pocket Oxford Greek Dictionary (Oxford University Press, 1995). (Compact and pretty reliable.)
• * D. Holton, P. Mackridge & I. Philippaki-Warburton, Greek: An essential grammar of the modern language (Routledge, 2004)

Background reading

In addition to making a start on the language, you should also read some introductory works on Modern Greek history and culture. You are also welcome to read the prescribed texts in advance if you want to.

Here is a selection of introductory works:

• Eleni Bast茅a, The creation of modern Athens: planning the myth (海角社区 University Press, 2000)
• * R. Beaton, An Introduction to Modern Greek Culture听(Clarendon Press, Oxford, 2nd ed. 1999)
• C. P. Cavafy,听The collected poems [with parallel Greek text]听Translated by E. Sachperoglou; Greek text edited by A. Hirst; introduction by P. Mackridge (Oxford University Press, 2007) [also available online on the library website]. (There are several other serviceable translations of Cavafy鈥檚 poetry into English.)听
• R. Clogg,听A concise history of Greece听(海角社区 University Press, 2nd ed. 2002)
• T. W. Gallant,听Modern Greece听(Arnold, London 2001)
• Y. Hamilakis, The nation and its ruins: antiquity, archaeology, and national imagination in Greece (Oxford University Press, 2007)
• Herzfeld, M.听Ours Once More. Folklore, Ideology,听 and the Making of Modern Greece听(Austin 1982).
• Stathis N. Kalyvas,听Modern Greece: what everyone needs to know听(OUP 2015) [also available online on the library website].
• Edmund Keeley, Inventing Paradise: The Greek Journey, 1937-47 (Northwestern University Press; 2002)
• * J. Koliopoulos & T. Veremis, Modern Greece: a history since 1821 (Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester 2010)
• Artemis Leontis (ed.),听Greece: a Traveler's Literary Companion听(Whereabouts Press, San Francisco 1997). (Translations of short stories and other texts referring to particular parts of Greece.)
• M. Llewellyn Smith, Athens: a cultural and literary history (Signal Books, Oxford 2004)
• * P. Mackridge, Language and national identity in Greece, 1766-1976 (Oxford University Press, 2009)
• M. Mazower, The Balkans (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London 2000)
• Henry Miller, The Colossus of Maroussi (Penguin, many reprints)
• L. Papadimitriou & Y. Tzioumakis, Greek Cinema: texts, histories, identities (Intellect, Bristol, 2012)
• D. Ricks (ed.),听Modern Greek writing: an anthology in English translation听(Peter Owen, 2003)
• Ricks, D and Magdalino, P.听Byzantium and the Modern Greek Identity听(London: Centre for Hellenic Studies, Ashgate, 1998)
• G. Seferis,听Complete poems. Translated, edited and introduced by听E. Keeley and P. Sherrard (Anvil Press Poetry, London 1995). (An older edition, with Greek text en face, was published by Anvil in 1982. A bilingual edition of Seferis鈥� complete poetry may be accessed online on the library website).
• *Tziovas, D. 'Beyond the Acropolis: Rethinking Neohellenism',听Journal of Modern Greek Studies听19 (2001).
• Katerina Zacharia (ed.), Hellenisms: culture, identity and ethnicity from Antiquity to Modernity (Ashgate, Aldershot 2008)
• Sofka Zinovieff, Eurydice Street: a place in Athens (Granta Books, London 2004)

And if you get a chance to watch any Greek films, even better!

Greek bookshop in London:

The Hellenic Bookservice, 91 Fortess Road, Kentish Town, London NW5 1AG (tel. 0207-267 9499). Website:

听

*These books, which it will be useful to have access to during the course, are recommended for purchase by college libraries.