Teaching Beginning Greek through Culture

John C. Gruber-Miller (Cornell College)

One of the reasons our students want to study ancient Greek is because they are attracted to the cultural richness of ancient Greece.  Yet traditional Greek textbooks tend to focus on language to the exclusion of culture while reading approach textbooks include a variety of discrete essays about ancient Greece and provide cultural settings for their stories, but rarely ask students to ponder the bigger picture of important attitudes that shape Greek culture.  In this presentation, I will consider why culture should be included in beginning Greek courses, what are some appropriate goals for culture in beginning Greek, and finally, how culture can be integrated into beginning Greek courses without taking too much time away from language learning.

Why include culture in beginning Greek?  First of all, students want it and expect it.  They have heard about the Parthenon, Socrates, Athenian democracy, the Olympics, the Trojan War, and the wars with Persia.  Moreover, they might never have another opportunity to learn more about these and other important people, places, and events.  And topics such as these offer an opportunity to explore these people, places, and events in the larger context of Greek society.  Second, a basic introduction to ancient Greek culture in beginning Greek courses is crucial for students who plan to continue to study Greek texts and Greek society.  Our students will read texts better if they understand the cultural values and attitudes that are embedded in the words and actions of the texts they read.  Third, our students live in a multicultural world and need to learn to become responsible global citizens.  By exploring a different culture through the lens of the Greeks, they can learn to understand and appreciate different cultural attitudes and perhaps learn to empathize with those different from themselves.

Second, culture is more than just a set of interesting facts, stories, and tidbits.  Patrick Moran (Teaching Culture. Heinle & Heinle, 2001) offers a framework for understanding culture that consists of four components.  The first, Knowing About, consists of learning cultural information--the facts and data that allow us to describe the culture to an outsider.  The second, Knowing How, involves the acquisition of various cultural practices—the processes, customs, and interactions of everyday life.  Third, Knowing Why is essential for acquiring cultural perspectives, that is, Greek beliefs, values, and attitudes.  It is the process that leads learners to question, explain, and interpret the cultural facts and practices they encounter.  Fourth, Knowing Oneself, focuses on individual learners’ values, ideas, beliefs, and feelings, ideally leads to self-awareness. 

Since a beginning Greek sequence is not intended to replace a civilization course, how can instructors integrate culture into an elementary language course?  First, it is important for instructors to create a list of what cultural topics they deem important for students to be introduced to and how these topics might fit into the book that they use.  Then, in order to fit culture into a busy schedule, it is crucial to integrate culture into as many language activities as possible.  Thus, the last half of the presentation will offer examples of how to integrate culture into reading, writing, and other activities using the resources I have created at Ariadne: Resources for Athenaze (http://cornellcollege.edu/classical_studies/ariadne/).