# Latin vs Ancient Greek



## Afterburner (Jan 8, 2013)

I'm torn between taking Latin or Ancient Greek. On the one hand, I'd like to learn Latin since it would help both my English and my (little bit of) French, as well as help me learn other Romance languages in the future. And there are plenty of Latin texts I'd like to read in their original language. On the other hand, I'd love to be able to read Ancient Greek texts, too. I can think of more Greek writers I want to read than Latin ones, but given the other advantages of learning Latin, I don't see a clear choice. Planning on doing philosophy in my double major, so both would be helpful for that.

Any helpful information, recommendations, or experiences with either of them? Or ways I might be able to clarify to myself which would be of more value to me?


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## storm chaser (Jul 12, 2016)

Latin is muuuch easier than Ancient Greek (not even talking about the specific alphabet), which you might want to take into consideration as well, since language-learning takes a lot of time and energy. Since you plan to pursue philosophy (♥), knowing Latin will be plenty helpful since not only you would be able to read philosophical texts in Latin, but you would also have an easier time with texts in German or Danish, for example.

From your post, it seems to me like you're a person that's driven by logical conclusions rather than emotions. So I find that knowing Latin has a bigger advantage.


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## Bipedal P 314 (Dec 10, 2011)

I personally chose Latin because Latin has been the language of higher learning for a longer period of time. You'll get more out of knowing Latin than you will from knowing Ancient Greek and like the previous poster noted it will improve your understanding of modern languages like contemporary Italian, Spanish, French, etc.

Latin is the language of Western Academic thought. Ancient Greek is an afterthought by comparison.


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## BlackDog (Jan 6, 2012)

Latin will be easier and more useful. I would start with Latin and down the road if you have the time and motivation, learn Greek.


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## SolonsWarning (Jan 2, 2017)

I'm just going to throw this out there. In a world where the store of knowledge is thousands of times greater than any human can ever hope to know wasting what little time and mental capacity we have on dead languages sees very wasteful. Since the most recent US election I've become very pessimistic about the state of Education. We too often send people out into a complex world without even the most basic understanding of Economics, Statistics, Psychology, Ethics etc. and then expect them to make rational decisions on these sort of complex topics. It's absurd and clearly not working. I don't know if that means we need to re-prioritize what we teach in high school or if we need to make college universal, but I know it doesn't include learning even more things that have no application to our current world.


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## Afterburner (Jan 8, 2013)

Those responses makes sense. Forgot about the difficulty factor. I have heard before from others that Ancient Greek is much harder. And although there are more Greek writers I'm currently interested in, definitely true that there are tons of interesting Latin ones too. And my interests always drift anyway. Given all the other advantages of Latin too, that sounds like the better choice. 

Latin it is. Thanks everyone!



storm chaser said:


> From your post, it seems to me like you're a person that's driven by logical conclusions rather than emotions. So I find that knowing Latin has a bigger advantage.


What's the connection between these?


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## g_w (Apr 16, 2013)

storm chaser said:


> Latin is muuuch easier than Ancient Greek (not even talking about the specific alphabet), which you might want to take into consideration as well, since language-learning takes a lot of time and energy. Since you plan to pursue philosophy (♥), knowing Latin will be plenty helpful since not only you would be able to read philosophical texts in Latin, but you would also have an easier time with texts in German or Danish, for example.
> 
> From your post, it seems to me like you're a person that's driven by logical conclusions rather than emotions. So I find that knowing Latin has a bigger advantage.


Spoken like a true INTJ. Welcome aboard!


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## He's a Superhero! (May 1, 2013)

Koine Greek is helpful if you're interested in studying the Bible.


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## CHLOELILI (May 25, 2016)

Learn Latin and ancient Greek&#55357;&#56841;
I have learned Latin and I liked it very much, but I wished I had learned Greek too.


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## He's a Superhero! (May 1, 2013)

CHLOELILI said:


> Learn Latin and ancient Greek&#55357;&#56841;
> I have learned Latin and I liked it very much, but I wished I had learned Greek too.


That's the spirit - do both!


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## Tkae (Oct 15, 2009)

He's a Superhero! said:


> Koine Greek is helpful if you're interested in studying the Bible.


This is true, but as far as I'm aware most Ancient Greek courses teach Attic Greek.

If it helps, Latin is easier and more relevant. Beyond the influences of Ancient Rome on the modern world, and the basis of scientific lingo on Latin words and phrases, there was a push in the Late-Middle English to Latinize English. Greek never saw any of that, and either (rarely) influences English directly or (usually) influences English through Latin, which adopted lots of Greek language and traditions.

Personally, I thought Greek was harder. Latin was inconvenient, but doable. Greek made me so physically sick from stress that I dropped it on the first day back after one semester :bored:


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## He's a Superhero! (May 1, 2013)

Tkae said:


> This is true, but as far as I'm aware most Ancient Greek courses teach Attic Greek.
> 
> If it helps, Latin is easier and more relevant. Beyond the influences of Ancient Rome on the modern world, and the basis of scientific lingo on Latin words and phrases, there was a push in the Late-Middle English to Latinize English. Greek never saw any of that, and either (rarely) influences English directly or (usually) influences English through Latin, which adopted lots of Greek language and traditions.
> 
> Personally, I thought Greek was harder. Latin was inconvenient, but doable. Greek made me so physically sick from stress that I dropped it on the first day back after one semester :bored:


You can find online courses for Koine Greek.

With the introduction of Latin we got new terms like "Lucifer", which gained a lot of popularity. I'm not really trusting towards Biblical Latin without referring back to Koine Greek, but it could have doctrinal insight.


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## Miss Bingley (Jun 28, 2013)

I agree that Latin is easier, but I like Ancient Greek. Less useful, yes, but just as fascinating. I've picked up a little from various Classic Civilization courses.


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## Silastar (Mar 29, 2016)

If you plan a more humanistic career you should go for AG. Expecially if you do philosophy.

If you want a more scientific career then Latin.


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## Carpe Vinum (Jan 22, 2017)

I did classical studies as a minor and am not by any means an expert on either language, but I spent more time with Latin for all the reasons others have already stated. Getting some exposure to Greek was a good experience, too. I never really did anything with it professionally, but it came in handy when I organized a school trip (I teach high school) to Greece. Altough to be honest I could have done that anyway.

I guess the question is, why do you want to learn the language? Are you learning it just to read ancient literature in its original language? If so, why? Or, are you learning the language to do something professional with it, ilike translate classic works or teach at the collegiate level? Or, maybe you just have an interest in Classics and you don't know where it's leading?

Knowing why you want to study a language is a good start. And if you're not sure, then do as others have suggested and try both. See which one you like and then set your goals.

Kudos (haha Greek) to you for embarking on this path. Whatever path you choose, I'm sure it will be an amazing experience.


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