A short course reading papyrus documents will be offered by Dr John Lee via zoom this semester, based at the University of Sydney in the discipline of Classics and Ancient History. It is open to all. Some previous knowledge of ancient Greek will be expected. The content will not be at an advanced level, but at least one year of learning Classical or New Testament Greek will be needed and more would be desirable.
A selection of documents will be read and commented on from the point of view of language. Papyrus documents, of which there are many thousands, are one of the best sources we have of everyday Greek of the whole Koine period (300 BCE–600 CE), as Greek underwent significant developments on its way to the modern language. The aim is to introduce participants to the main characteristics of this everyday Greek and the changes that were occurring. The content of the texts will also be found interesting in itself. It is hoped that students will participate in the class by being ready to read aloud, translate, and answer questions (no pressure).
John Lee was a member of the teaching staff in the Department of Greek, later Classics, at the University of Sydney from 1973 to 2001 when he retired (a little early). He has continued to engage in research and publication and extend his knowledge of Greek. His special interest is the post-Classical Greek language in all its varieties, including the Greek of the Septuagint and New Testament. His Cambridge PhD dissertation was on the vocabulary of the LXX Pentateuch compared with that of contemporary documents. He has been reading documentary texts since 1964 for their language but is not a papyrologist as such. For his publications see his page in academia.edu.
Time and dates:
Wednesday at 4:00pm (Sydney Time UTC+11), for 6 weeks
First session Wed 14th August, 2024
Length of session approx. 1 hour
Texts and other material will be supplied by email. A zoom link will be sent in due course to participants, who are kindly asked to register in advance.
REGISTRATION: to register send an email to: [email protected]
John Lee DD FAHA
Honorary Associate, Classics and Ancient History, School of Humanities, University of Sydney
