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Spring 2002 Aristophanes, The Frogs
Step 1. Buy the book. (Dover, ed., Aristophanes Frogs. Student Edition [Oxford 1997]). Step 2. Pick up a printout of the assignment for the day. These are available in the Classical Studies Seminar Room (SC 334), which is open 24 hours. They represent the Ibycus version of the text which will not match Dover's entirely, but it's close enough. Step 3. Find a computer which allows you fast internet access. Here is a link to the locations of Wesleyan's computer labs, and there is also a computer in the Classical Studies Library (SC 340) which is available for student use during hours when the Department Office is open. Step 4. Sit down at the computer with your book and printout in hand. Access the course Syllabus, and link to the assigned lines. Step 5. If you don't see the lines in accented Greek, this is probably because the computer you are using does not have a Greek font installed. For instructions on how to remedy this, link to Perseus' Greek Font Help. (The computers in the Keck lab and in the Classical Studies Library all have Greek fonts installed.) Step 6. Start translating, with Dover's book open to the notes on the section. When you find a word you don't know, select it on Perseus and link to its morphological analysis. This will give you (1) the dictionary entry for the word; (2) the variety of possibilities for what form it is. Step 7. Enter all your notes about words or phrases on the printout (not in your text). Step 8. If you are hopelessly stuck, you can open a new window and access Perseus' English translation of the passage, and go back and forth between windows as needed. Step 9. Once you've finished your first pass through the assignment, using the notes in Dover and the aids on Perseus, then you can log off the computer and turn to review. Step 10. Review the material using the Greek text in Dover and consulting your notes. Keep on reviewing until you are reasonably comfortable translating the assigned passage without the use of any aids. Once you get used to it, I think you'll find that this method will enable you to make your first pass through the assignment faster and more efficiently than if you were using a conventional dictionary. Then you'll have more time to spend reviewing and perfecting your command of the Greek! 
Image Credits: Dorota's Frogland and Sandra Loosemore's The Froggy Page
last revised 13 February 2002 |
