“It is to the Greeks that we turn when we are sick of the vagueness, of the confusion [...] of our own age”

Virginia Wolf

Every language captures the world in a unique way: the stranger the vision, the more interesting the language. This is the idea behind Andrea Marcolongo’s captivating book on the mysteries of ancient Greek. 

Far from being a grammar primer, Andrea Marcolongo’s book is a declaration of love for a language and its ability to alter the senses. Ancient Greek, whether you are familiar with it or not, is a wine you have never tasted before, a unique vintage not unlike the one Ulysses used to outwit the Cyclops: each sip will leave you craving more. 

This book will convince you that ancient Greek is as alive and important as ever: its power lies in the ability to express complex issues through simple, true, honest words. 

A few reasons to love ancient Greek: 

It is a peculiar language, which classifies verbs based on the nature of the action rather than their tense

In addition to singular and plural, it has a third grammatical number, the dual, used to indicate a couple (lovers, for instance)

We don’t know how words were pronounced, so it is a mute language 

As a language, it is extremely succinct and precise

It has a specific mood, the optative, to express desire

It classifies colours based on their luminosity rather than their hue

It acts as a gateway to a lost world