Ancient Greek for Philosophers
The ability to navigate Greek texts enhances our understanding of ancient philosophy and reveals its hidden treasures. Exedra’s “Greek for Philosophers” courses, organised with the Fonte Aretusa association, provide opportunities for scholars of philosophy to cultivate their language skills and engage with the ancient texts, whether they have studied Greek before or not.
Courses are held online during the academic year and culminate in two residential courses a year held at Exedra in Siracusa, Sicily; the Winter Workshop in January with a focus on Plato’s Republic and a Summer Seminar with an advanced Plato reading group, and two grammar-based courses for Beginners and Elementary/Intermediate students.
On-line courses
Academic Year 2025-2026
Online Courses are taught live on Zoom by Dr. Chiara Blanco, Dr. Jurgen Gatt, and Dr. George Gazis; classes are recorded and links are provided to students for review. Classes meet once a week for 75 minutes, totaling 10 hours of instruction per term.
- Fall: October – December
- Spring: January – April
Main Features
BEGINNING GREEK GRAMMAR
(2025- 6 on Wednesdays 6.00 – 7.15 Italian time):
This course covers the basics of the ancient Greek language, including the alphabet, simple grammar, and common vocabulary, following the text Learning Greek with Plato.
With Jurgen Gatt (University of Malta).
INTERMEDIATE GREEK (2025-6 on Mondays 4.30 – 5.45 Italian time):
This course combines lessons in grammar and vocabulary with study and translations of short selections from Plato.
Prerequisite: one year of Classical Greek or our beginner’s course.
With Chiara Blanco (Newcastle University)
PLATO READING GROUP
(2025-6 on Tuesdays 5.00 – 6.15pm Italian time): This course will read and translate Plato’s Charmides in Greek. Students typically have the option to prepare short translations before class, which are then read and discussed as a group. The emphasis is on content.
Prerequisite: two years of Classical Greek.
With George Gazis (Durham University)
For more information contact Susi Kimbell at skimbell@exedramc.com
What is the target audience?
Our Ancient Greek for Philosophers courses are designed for anyone with an interest in ancient Greek, but particularly for those who have approached Greek through an interest in ancient philosophy.
The grammar-focused courses (Beginners and Elementary/Intermediate) are for those who want to start learning from scratch or to refresh their memories of Greek learnt before.
The Plato reading group is for those with a more advanced knowledge of the langauge and who are interested in discussing the content, issues of translation and the subtleties of Plato’s language.
Course Instructors
Prof. Heather Reid
Emeritus Professor of Philosophy
Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa USA
Scholar in Residence at Exedra Mediterranean Center in Siracusa, Sicily, she is a 2015 Fellow of the American Academy in Rome, 2018 Fellow of Harvard’s Center for Hellenic Studies, and 2019 Fulbright Scholar at the Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II.
She has also published books and articles in ancient philosophy, philosophy of sport, and Olympic Studies, including Introduction to the Philosophy of Sport (2012), Athletics and Philosophy in the Ancient World (2011), and The Philosophical Athlete (2002, 2nd ed. 2019).
Dr George Gazis
Associate Professor
Department of Classics and Ancient History
Durham University
His main research interests lie in Archaic Greek Epic and Lyric in general, Plato and the Early Academy, and Athenian drama.
He is especially interested in the function of mortality and the afterlife in the Homeric Epics, early Lyric (especially Stesichorus, Pindar and Bacchylides), and the Platonic afterlife narratives. He is the editor of the volumes Aspects of Death and the Afterlife in Greek Literature (LUP, 2021), and Homer in Sicily (Parnassos Press, 2023). He is currently preparing an edition of the pseudo-epigraphic Letters of Euripides, while also working on his second monograph Ghosts on Stage: Spectres, Spectacles and Alternative Memories in Athenian Drama which focuses on a cognitive interpretation of the phenomenology of the tragic stage and the ways in which it influenced the reception of tragic plays by the early Athenian audiences.
Furthermore, George is interested in the study of the Bronze Age in the Aegean and the Near East particularly in the study of material culture alongside the Linear B records as a gateway for the reconstruction of the socio-economic system of the Mycenaean civilisation.
Dr Jurgen Gatt
Assistant Lecturer, University of Malta.
Dr Jurgen R Gatt is researching late 5th century literature, especially the Hippocratic Corpus, the orators Antiphon, Gorgias and Andocides, and the historians Herodotus and Thucydides. His interest lies in the use of evidence (especially empirical and testimonial) in the pre-paradigmatic era of scientific development represented in these texts, also logic, the philosophy of science and epistemology, particularly the philosophy of testimony.
Dr Chiara Blanco
Lecturer in Classics, Newcastle University
Dr. Chiara Blanco is a Lecturer in Classics at Newcastle University, having been a teaching fellow at the University of Edinburgh. She was a Research Lecturer in Classics at Trinity College, Oxford and previously a Lecturer in Classics at Exeter College, Oxford, at Durham University and the University of Cambridge, where she completed her PhD.
Her main research interests lie in the intersections between ancient literature (Greek tragedy in particular) and medicine, and she is also interested in the role of the senses and emotions in Greek and Roman culture.