Classical Greek / Levels 7 and 8 / Understanding / The powerful influence of language and culture
Content description
Understand that Greek spread with the expansion of the ancient Greek world, and developed over time, influencing English and other languages
Elaborations
recognising that Greek is a member of the Indo-European family of languages, related to other ancient languages, such as Latin, Sanskrit and Old Persian
recognising that Greek has been spoken in various forms uninterruptedly from the 3rd millennium BCE to the present day and has been documented in writing since about 1450 BCE
recognising that Classical Greek is a specific form of the language, evolved from earlier forms such as Mycenaean Greek and the Archaic Greek used in the epics of Homer
identifying Classical Greek as the Attic/Ionic dialect of the language spoken in the 5th and 4th centuries BCE in Athens, many Aegean islands and the coast of Asia Minor
recognising that Classical Greek was the form of the language used by significant ancient Greek authors, such as Thucydides, Sophocles, Plato, Lysias
locating on a map the places where Greek was spoken in antiquity around the Mediterranean basin from Spain to the coast of Turkey and across the Black Sea
investigating how the geography of mainland Greece influenced the development of independent city-states such as Athens, Sparta, Corinth and Thebes
exploring the spread of Greek colonies across the Mediterranean and Black Sea coastlines, such as Syracuse (Sicily), Naples (Italy), Marseilles (France), Cyrene (Libya), Miletus (Turkey), Emporion (Spain)
identifying and using Classical Greek derivatives to expand own English vocabulary, for example, sceptic, cynic, antithesis
recognising connections between the spelling of Classical Greek and English words and applying understanding to improve own spelling in English, for example, psychology, rhythm, seismology
identifying expressions in Classical Greek that are commonly used in English, for example, hoi polloi, eureka
identifying words of Classical Greek origin that are used as school subjects, for example, mathematics, history, geography, music, drama, biology, chemistry, physics, philosophy, psychology, economics
identifying and collecting word families in which the same Classical Greek root is used with different prefixes or suffixes, for example, calligraphy, biography, biology, technology, paralysis, analysis, Palaeolithic, palaeontology
applying knowledge of Classical Greek to understand words and expressions in Modern Greek, such as signs in shops and public places, for example ΚΙΝΔΥΝΟΣ, ΠΡΟΣΟΧΗ, ΙΧΘΥΟΠΩΛΕΙΟΝ, ΦΑΡΜΑΚΕΙΟΝ, έντάξει, κλειστόν
identifying similarities between Classical Greek and other Indo-European languages by comparing cognate words, such as ἕξ: sex (Latin), sechs (German), six; πατήρ: pater (Latin), Vater (German), father
