A Greek Boy at Home — William Rouse
A Greek Boy at Home is an Ancient Greek reader by William Rouse, designed to accompany an associated textbook. It’s purpose is to provide reading practice using the vocabulary provided in the textbook.
Introduction
This Greek reader is intended to provide a way to practice and re-enforce the vocabulary found in the corresponding textbook.
A small but noticeable amount of the vocabulary is better considered to be attic rather than Koine. Readers familiar with the Koine Greek of the New Testament will find some unfamiliar vocabulary, but most of this unfamiliar vocabulary is found in LXX texts. So becoming familiar with this vocabulary is well worth the effort.
II ΟΣΤΙΣ ΕΙΜΙ ΕΓΩ
In this section we read about a farmer who has several children. It is written from the perspective of a young Greek boy. The boy will ask you (the reader) direct questions, so several second person verbs appear, allowing us to practice a few verbs not common in basic New Testament readers.
ἐγὼ μέν εἰμι παιδίον Ἑλληνικόν, οἰκῶ δ᾽ ἐν ἀγροῖς. ἐνταῦθα γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ἀγροῖς γεωργός τις Θράσυλλός ἐστιν, ὃς γεωργεῖ καὶ ἔχει χωρίον. ἆρ᾽ ἐρωτᾷς, τίς μὲν ἐγώ, τίς δ᾽ ὁ Θράσυλλος; λέγω δή. τέκνον γάρ εἶμι, ἐγὼ τοῦ Θρασύλλου. καὶ μὴν ἄλλα γε ἔχει τέκνα ὁ Θράσυλλος· καὶ γὰρ ἐγώ εἰμι τέκνον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἔχω ἀδελφόν τε καὶ ἀδελφήν· ὀνομάζουσι δ’ ἐμὲ μὲν Θρασύμαχον, τὸν δ᾽ ἀδελφὸν ὀνομάζουσιν Θρασύστομον, τὴν δ᾽ ἀδελφὴν Ἑλένην ὀνομάζουσιν. ἐσμὲν οὖν τέκνα τοῦ Θρασύλλου, ἐσμὲν δὲ καὶ τῆς Εὐρυδίκης τέκνα.
ποῦ δ’ οἰκοῦμεν; ὅπου; ἔστι δὴ χωρίον ἐν ἀγροῖς, καὶ ἐν τῷ χωρίῳ οἰκία· ἡμεῖς μὲν οἰκοῦμεν ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ, ὁ δὲ Θράσυλλος γεωργεῖ ἐν τῷ χωρίῳ. ἆρ’ ἐρωτᾷς, τί ἐστι χωρίον; ἆρ’ οὐ δῆλον; ὁ γεωργὸς γὰρ ἔχει χωρίον, τὸ δὲ χωρίον τόπος ἐστὶν ἐν ᾧ γεωργεῖ γεωργός. χώρα μὲν γάρ ἐστι τόπος, καὶ χωρίον ἐστὶ χώρα μικρά· λέγω δὲ οὕτως, ἐπειδὴ οὐκ εἶ σὺ Ἑλληνικὸν παιδίον. ἆρα δῆλόν σοι νῦν ἐστιν ὃ λέγω; τὸ δὲ χωρίον ἔχει ἀγροὺς οὐκ ὀλίγους.
I am a Greek boy, but I live in the countryside. For here in the fields, is a certain farmer, Thrasullos, who farms and has a farm. So, you ask, “Who am I?” and “Who is Thrasullos?” I will say. For I am a child, I am of Thrasullos. And indeed Thrasullos has other children. For I am his child, and I have both a brother and a sister. They call me Thrasumachos, and they call my brother Thrasustomon, and they call my sister Helen. We, therefore, are the children of Thrasullos, we are also the children of Eurudikes.
But where do we live? Where? There is a farm in the countryside, and in the farm is a house. We live in the house, but Thrasullos ‘farms’ in the farm. So, you ask, what is a farm? Is it not clear? For the farmer has a farm, and the farm is in which a farmer farms. A ‘χώρα’ is a place, and and a ‘χωρίον’ is a small ‘χώρα’. I’m saying this, since you are not a Greek boy.
So, is it clear to you now what I’m saying? The farm has fields, not small.