An Introduction to Ancient Greek (Third Edition) (ISBN 0761808531)

Differing Opinion:
I was surprised to read Mr. Baldwin's review. I, too, am a current student at Saint John's College (a freshman in Annapolis) and I like Mollin and Williamson's book a great deal. I agree with Mr. Baldwin's claim that the vocabulary listing in the back is unsatisfactory, but I cannot agree with the rest of his review. I find both the layout and the content to be very helpful and the book is, to my estimation, a very good one. I am also compelled to point out that I know nothing about a change in the curriculum at Saint John's to exclude this Greek text or to include another one and I imagine Mr. Baldwin is speaking only of the Santa Fe campus; as of this writing, Mollin and Williamson is still in use by freshmen in Annapolis. Learning a language can be difficult, Ancient Greek perhaps moreso than most, and no book will make it easy. But I have spent a fair bit of time looking at the various introductory texts which are available and I have encountered none which I would prefer to this one. I recommend Mollin and Williamson very highly.

Save your money:
I am, at the time of this writing, a Sophomore at St. John's college, where Al & Bob's Introduction to Ancient Greek was the required textbook for Freshman Language class. I spent a little over a year living with their textbook and translating the passages that they included and I cannot in good faith reccomend it to any other student of Greek. The layout of the basic chapters is somewhat eccentric and the appendix of vocabulary in the back is woefully lacking in words needed to translate even the example sentences and usually provide one English word for each Greek word. The footnotes for words used in the original passages, when they exist, are similar. This year St. John's College switched to a different Greek textbook for incoming Freshman, despite the close ties between the authors of this one and the college. I reccomend another textbook.

a small point:
Mollin and Williamson is perhaps the most poorly bound paperback I've ever used. Of all the students who purchased the paperback and used it throughout freshman year, I know of perhaps 5 whose book is still intact. The pages start falling out almost as soon as you open the book. If you want to purchase a copy, I suggest you go with the hardbound version. Given the price of the book, this alone is enough to merit a low rating. The text itself is satisfactory,; a bit confused at times, and with an insufficient lexicon, but altogether fairly easy to use and understand.

Just a second here. . .:
While this is NOT the text I used primarily in learning the Ancient Greek language, I have surveyed and own this text. The text referred to at the bottom of this page as of my writing this is, I am almost certain, written by a Dr. Luschnig. I studied Ancient Greek by that text at St. John's in Santa Fe and agree that it is by far the worst, most counterintuitive language textbook I have seen. The wrath for that book is deserved, but this is not that book. Please do not be misled by the first comment at the bottom of this page. This really is about the best you can hope for in studying Ancient Greek, a legendarily difficult task. Those involved in the learning process for such an academic language are likely to be people with such strong opinions that a work like this simply can't please everyone. It does an excellent job of bridging the gap between a primer and a rudimentary grammar, and aside from occasionally wishing I didn't have to consult my lexicon as often, I have no complaints, and certainly not after comparison to the Luschnig.

A Question:
Can any Johnnies out there tell me the name of the Greek text I used in Santa Fe in 1969-70? Thanks.