Explore our online Ancient Greek courses
Online Ancient Greek courses: let the journey begin
Unlock the richness of Ancient Greek with Oxford Latinitas. Our Ancient Greek courses combine immersive techniques with a classical approach, fostering fluency in speaking, reading, and interpreting the language while connecting students to the culture and intellectual heritage of antiquity.
Learners can study year-round through two distinct options that can be pursued separately or combined for a full year-round learning experience. Our 9-week academic terms, held three times annually, offer twice-weekly one-hour Ancient Greek classes, providing steady, consistent progress. Besides these, we offer online intensives, held in between terms, which are ideal for rapid advancement, delivering 20 hours of instruction over two weeks with two-hour daily Ancient Greek classes from Monday to Friday.
What is the Active Method?
Our teaching method, using both volumes of Athenaze by Maurice Balme and Gilbert Lawall centres on active involvement and thorough understanding of Ancient Greek. This approach provides students with an immersive experience, allowing them to learn Greek naturally through carefully structured readings, exercises, and dialogues. Athenaze presents Greek as a language to be actively used and understood, fostering a strong foundation in vocabulary and grammar. Ancient Greek classes at Oxford Latinitas are meticulously sequenced, enabling both beginners and advanced students to gain fluency and confidence in reading, thinking, and responding in Ancient Greek. Additionally, those who complete the full course will be ready to read, without difficulty, original texts by Plato, Thucydides, Herodotus, and Aristophanes, as the second volume integrates adapted passages from these authors into its narrative, allowing students to engage with the language and ideas through the very words of the ancient writers.
Ancient Greek classes for every level
Beginner I (Logos Chapters 1–3 Athenaze Chapters 1–3)
This course is the first level of our Ancient Greek classes for beginners, using Logos and Athenaze I as the main textbooks. Students are required to be familiar with the Greek alphabet before they start, and the ability to read fluently will be acquired during the course. Students will be introduced to fundamental grammar concepts (gender, number, declension, conjugation) and will use them in their most basic forms whilst speaking and writing. By the end of this level, students will have learned the second declension, and become familiar with the first declension and some forms of the third declension. They will also have learned the present imperative, indicative, and infinitive of εἰμί and -έω verbs, as well as the periphrastic future. Lastly, students will have learned a range of prepositions: ἀνά, ἀπό, ἐκ, πρός, εἰς, ἐν, ὑπό; and particles: καί, ἀλλά, ἤ, γάρ, οὖν, οὔτε… οὔτε, μέν… δέ, εἴτε… εἴτε.
Beginner II (Athenaze Chapters 4–5)
This level of our online Ancient Greek course continues developing students’ grammatical competence with the full first and second declensions, including most exceptions. Students are guided in vocabulary acquisition skills in order to learn increasing amounts of vocabulary per class. By the end of this level they will have mastered 250 new vocabulary words. At this level we teach more prepositions (μετά, παρά, περί, ἀνά, κατά, ἅμα, ἐπί) and a thorough overview of the personal pronouns and possessive adjectives. We also teach all the present indicative, including imperatives, and infinitives of the -ω, -έω and -άω conjugations. By the end of this level, students should be able to write coherent paragraphs in the present tense.
Beginner III (Athenaze Chapters 6–7)
This level of our Ancient Greek classes for beginners focuses on expanding syntactical knowledge. We introduce the passive and middle voices, as well as contracted and uncontracted verbs in the indicative, infinitive, imperative and participial forms of the present tense. We also deepen students’ understanding of the syntax of cases and prepositions by reviewing them in more complex sentence structures. We teach the third declension, and indefinite and reflexive pronouns. By the end of this level, students should be able to narrate grammatically complex events in the present tense.
Lower Intermediate I (Athenaze Chapters 8–10)
This level is part of our intermediate Ancient Greek lessons and introduces present participles, including active and passive, as well as most of their syntax. New paradigms of the 3rd declension are presented, the declension of μήτηρ, πατήρ, ἀνήρ, as well as nouns in -εύς, πόλις and ἄστυ. A variety of cardinal and ordinal numbers as well as impersonal verbs (ἔξεστι, προσήκει, δεῖ, χρή) are expected to be learned at this level. By the end of this level, students should be familiar with many of the subordinate clauses in Greek language.
Lower Intermediate II (Athenaze Chapters 11–13)
At this level of our online Ancient Greek course, students will be introduced to the concepts of root aorists and augment, and will learn all the forms of the first and second aorist, as well as the imperfect, including the liquid roots, such as μένω, and most of its exceptions. We also introduce the stems in -s and the comparative and superlative adjectives. Students will survey the relative pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, indefinite pronouns and locative adverbs. They will also learn Homeric material, and write paraphrases of excerpts from the Odyssey and Iliad.
Lower Intermediate III (Athenaze Chapters 14–16)
In this level of our intermediate Ancient Greek lessons, students will learn the remaining forms of the third declension such as Σωκράτης, βοῦς, ναῦς, the remaining thematic verbs (-όω and δύναμαι, κεῖμαι and ἐπίσταμαι), and the remaining aorist third forms such as γιγνώσκω, βαίνω and δύνω. By the end of this level, students should be able to narrate complex stories in the perfect tense, and to read a simple narrative text, such as the Gospels. Students will also learn some Greek history as they read the chapters.
Upper Intermediate I (Athenaze Chapters 17–18)
These Upper-Intermediate Ancient Greek lessons are designed for students who have read the first volume of Athenaze and/or have thoroughly learnt the present tense and the aorist in all thematic verbs. Students should be able comfortably to read at least 2 pages per hour of Greek and should have around 1300 words of active vocabulary. At this level, students will learn the active and middle future in all their forms, and will meet verbs in -μι, such as τίθημι, εἶμι and δίδωμι. They will read about medicine and religion in Ancient Greece and paraphrase Johannes Chrisostomus, Aeschylus and Euripides.
Upper Intermediate II (Athenaze Chapters 19–21)
At this level of our online Ancient Greek course students will continue learning the verbs in -μι (ἵστημι, ἵημι), as well as constructions of verbs that take participles, such as φαίνομαι, τυγχάνω, φθάνω, λανθάνω. They will deepen their knowledge of the genitive absolute, and will start learning the subjunctive. The chapters revolve around tragedy, mysteric rites and paraphrase whole paragraphs from Greek novels such as Daphnis and Chloe.
Upper Intermediate III (Athenaze Chapters 22–24)
In these Upper-Intermediate Ancient Greek lessons, students will finish the remaining verbs in -μι (-νυμι verbs and φημί), and will develop most uses of the subjunctive, including the indefinite subjunctive with the particle ἄν. They will also explore the intricacies of indirect speech (oratio obliqua) and the complex syntax of the relative clause, including relative attraction and incorporation. They will also learn the aorist and future passive. The chapters revolve around the Peloponnesian war and Ancient Greek paideia, and include excerpts from Plato’s Gorgias and Thucydides.
Advanced I (Athenaze Chapters 25–27)
By the time they reach this Advanced Ancient Greek level — which uses Athenaze as the main textbook and Thrasymachus as an ancillary one — students should have acquired a large vocabulary (around 2,200 active words), and a fair confidence with all Greek moods and tenses except the optative and perfect. They will be taught the optative, an overview of the syntax of the cases, and an introduction to the Ionic dialect, and will also learn the perfect tense. The Athenaze texts revolve around Herodotus’s first book of Histories, and the figure of Croesus.
Advanced II (Athenaze Chapters 28–30)
This level of our online Ancient Greek course completes Athenaze and uses Thrasymachus as supplementary textbook. At this point, students will finish all Greek morphology by learning the remaining forms of the perfect active and the pronouns ἕ, σφεῖς, and they will study many uses of the optative. An overview of conditionals will be provided. The Athenaze texts include unadapted passages from Thucydides and Herodotus, revolving around the military tactics of the Peloponnesian war.
Advanced III (Attic authors and epic poetry)
These Advanced Ancient Greek lessons, the final level of our online course, covers an anthology of different topics and authors. It is designed for students who have finished Athenaze, have a very large active vocabulary (around 2,700 words), and know all the grammar, but have not yet read any complete works of ancient Greek authors. Students will be expected to cover long passages from Euripides’ Medea, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, Sophocles’ Philoctetes and Antigone, and works by Xenophon, Demosthenes, Aristotle, Menander and Plato. They will also be introduced to the art of Greek prose composition.
What are the benefits of taking Ancient Greek lessons online?
Studying Ancient Greek lessons online with Oxford Latinitas combines the best of classical teaching with the convenience of modern technology. From the very first lesson, students speak, hear, read, and write in Ancient Greek, experiencing the language as both a means of communication and a way of thinking. This active approach fosters deeper connections between learners and the language, while encouraging collaboration and engagement in our Ancient Greek classes.
Our approach is built on three pillars:
- Tailored instruction: With small classes (up to 8 people) and different schedules to choose from, our online Ancient Greek course provides a personalised and interactive learning experience, ensuring every student receives focused attention.
- Global accessibility: Being online allows you to join our Ancient Greek classes from anywhere in the world, connecting you to a global community of passionate learners.
- Expert teaching team: Our experienced tutors adapt their skills to the mode of learning. While our courses follow a shared curriculum, teachers are free to tailor their lessons to the progress and specific needs of each class, making every learning journey unique.
Oxford Latinitas offers more than just lessons—it’s a gateway to mastering Ancient Greek with the support of world-class educators and a vibrant community of fellow-students.
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