Biblical (Koine) Greek — Curriculum

Curriculum for Ancient/Koine Greek

Five-Year Program of Study

The curriculum for Ancient/Koine Greek has been designed with the aim of gradually and methodically familiarizing the student with the language of ecclesiastical texts, through the organic connection of linguistic training and liturgical life.

Throughout all the years, instruction maintains a stable axis: contact with the texts of Orthros (Matins) and the Divine Liturgy — beginning with those in continuous, everyday use, and gradually moving to those associated with specific feasts of the liturgical year. In parallel, on the occasion of major feasts — such as Christmas, Pascha (Easter), and the period of Great Lent — a specific, targeted selection of texts is made each time, so that language learning keeps pace with the rhythm of church life.

Year One

The first year marks the student's entry into the world of Ancient Greek. The primary goal is initial contact with the language, built upon three pillars: correct pronunciation, comfortable reading, and the gradual building of a first, basic vocabulary, drawn from the liturgical texts themselves and linked to the first elements of grammar.

This linguistic path is accompanied, as in the following years, by contact with the texts of Orthros and the Divine Liturgy, beginning with those in continuous use, with a gradual transition to those associated with specific feasts, as well as a targeted selection of texts on the occasion of Christmas, Pascha, and Great Lent.

Year Two

The second year focuses on systematic training in grammar, in direct and continuous connection with the vocabulary of liturgical texts. Grammar focuses primarily on the declension of nouns (first and second declension), as well as the basic elements of verb conjugation.

In this year as well, instruction continues to rest on contact with the texts of Orthros and the Divine Liturgy, beginning with those in continuous use and subsequently those associated with feasts, along with a targeted selection of texts on the occasion of Christmas, Pascha, and Great Lent.

Year Three

The third year marks a new phase: to the enrichment of grammar is now added the first steps in syntax, while at the same time a substantive engagement with Byzantine hymnography begins — one of the most demanding, yet also richest, textual genres of ecclesiastical literature.

The stable foundation of instruction remains contact with the texts of Orthros and the Divine Liturgy — beginning with those in continuous use, then those associated with feasts — along with a specific selection of texts on the occasion of Christmas, Pascha, and Great Lent.

Year Four

The fourth year of the program aims at the completion of grammatical training, so that study can now focus purely on hymnography — forming the natural culmination of the four-year linguistic journey.

As in previous years, instruction maintains contact with the texts of Orthros and the Divine Liturgy, beginning with those in continuous use and subsequently those associated with feasts, along with a targeted selection of texts on the occasion of Christmas, Pascha, and Great Lent.

Year Four

The fourth year of the program aims at the completion of grammatical training, so that study can now focus purely on hymnography — forming the natural culmination of the four-year linguistic journey.

As in previous years, instruction maintains contact with the texts of Orthros and the Divine Liturgy, beginning with those in continuous use and subsequently those associated with feasts, along with a targeted selection of texts on the occasion of Christmas, Pascha, and Great Lent.

Year Five

The fifth year sets syntax as its primary goal, systematically deepening the structure and relationships of language, so that the student can now approach the text not only morphologically but also syntactically.

At the same time, among the liturgical texts, the Ainoi (Lauds) and the Doxastika of the Eothina, as well as texts from the Pentecostarion, now come to the fore, enriching the student's textual repertoire with new, more demanding sections of the hymnographic tradition.

As in previous years, instruction maintains contact with the texts of Orthros and the Divine Liturgy, beginning with those in continuous use and subsequently those associated with feasts, along with a targeted selection of texts on the occasion of Christmas, Pascha, and Great Lent.

Historical Context

Throughout the program, and especially during the first year, references are not lacking to texts connected with the very history of the Byzantine Empire — such as, for example, the composition of the Chairetismoi (Salutations to the Theotokos). In this way, the student's linguistic and hymnographic training is accompanied by an early, experiential contact with the historical context within which the very texts being studied were born.