The first known form of the Greek language called “Linear B” originated in the 13th century B.C. The language evolved and many phases followed: Classical Greek, Hellenistic / Koine Greek (also known as New Testament or Biblical Greek), followed by Attic Greek, Byzantine Greek, and finally Modern Greek.
Although Ancient Greek is considered a dead language, there are many important reasons that students around the world continue to study this important language. Learning Ancient Greek provides a window into the world of Ancient Greece and Classical Antiquity, insight into legendary authors and important works of literature, and the ability to study the New Testament in depth.
We have compiled the most comprehensive list of high-quality FREE language resources to help you to learn ANCIENT GREEK. Check them out below:
Free Resources to Learn Ancient Greek
Free Learning/Studying Apps
Memrise – iTunes – Google Play – Memrise is a really fast, fun, and free language learning app/website that is sure to get you hooked. There is a visual flashcard component that also incorporates audio from a community of native speakers. Memrise uses spaced repetition and is really effective at drilling vocabulary and phrases into your memory.
Hoplite Challenge Ancient Greek Verb Conjugator – iTunes – Google Play – This app offers a verb conjugation game for intermediate to advanced students of Ancient Greek.
Biblical Greek Paradigms and Quiz App – Google Play – The app focuses on teaching the most common Biblical Greek vocabulary.
New Testament Greek Parser – Google Play – This app allows users to search for a New Testament Greek word and get the morphological parsing, lemmatization, and a short definition.
Koine Master – Google Play – This app teaches pronunciation, spelling, and vowels of the Koine Greek Alphabet to help students to read and understand the Greek New Testament.
Biblical Greek Flashcards – Google Play – This app helps users to memorize New Testament Greek vocabulary while drawing on the word sets from popular NT Greek textbooks.
Free Ancient Greek Dictionary/Translation Apps
Lumos Ancient Greek Lexicon By Liddell and Scott – iTunes – This app draws from the Liddell-Scott-Jones (LSJ) premier lexicon for Classical Greek which was first published in 1843.
Logeion Ancient Greek Dictionary by The University of Chicago – iTunes – This app can find any Greek or Latin word by accessing the entries in the many dictionaries and reference works of the Perseus Classical collection and the Perseus Digital Library at Tufts University.
Ancient Greek Lexicon – Google Play – This is a Koine Greek Lexicon of New Testament Words and simple Greek grammar lessons.
Ancient Greek Lexicon & Syntax – Google Play – This Ancient Greek Reference app offers a full, searchable copy of Liddell and Scott’s Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon and Jeffrey A. Rydberg-Cox’s Overview of Greek Syntax, and in addition to being completely free with no in-app purchases, it is also ad-free.
Video Lessons by Harvard University’s Center for Hellenic Studies – YouTube
- Introduction to Homeric Greek – YouTube – A series of 15 videos based on the tutorial by the Kosmos Society.
- Learn Ancient Greek with Professor Leonard Muellner – YouTube – In this series of 118 videos Leonard Muellner, a former professor of Classical Studies at Brandeis University, teaches the content covered in a year-long college level Introduction to Ancient Greek course.
- Just Enough Greek – YouTube – This series of six videos provides a basic introduction to Ancient Greek and suggests resources for studying the language.
NativLang Greek Alphabet Tutorials – YouTube – Learn to write the letters of the Ancient & Modern Greek alphabets and see script forms throughout history over the course of 5 videos.
NativLang Byzantine Greek Script Tutorial – YouTube – Learn to write the cursive script found in late Classical & Medieval Greek writings over the course of 4 videos which cover the alphabet, diacritics (accents & breathing) and ligatures.
Elementary Ancient Greek Video Course By James Voelz – iTunes – These audio and video clips correspond to the Elementary Greek Course taught at Concordia Seminary by James Voelz. Pronunciation Helps, an audio orientation to the Fundamental Greek Grammar textbook by James Voelz, can be found here on iTunes.
Introduction to Biblical Greek Video Podcast – iTunes – Learn New Testament (Koine) Greek with your teacher John Pappas over the course of 43 beginner lessons.
Greek Video Courses by Dallas Theological Seminary – These courses are taught by Dr. Michael H. Burer.
- Elements of Greek 1 – iTunes – Basic principals of Biblical Greek.
- Elements of Greek 2 – iTunes – Basic principles of Biblical Greek.
- Intermediate Greek – This course takes the study of Biblical Greek to the next level.
Ancient Greek Lessons by Kostas Katsouranis – YouTube – Kostas aims to teach his viewers how to speak, write, and read like a real Ancient Greek.
Manesca Serial and Oral Ancient Attic Greek Lessons – YouTube – This Attic Greek course taught by Evan de Millner contains 10 videos to teach students the basics of Attic Greek.
Pandionis Ancient Greek Audio Lessons – This collection of audio exercises is an excellent tool for students of Ancient Greek. The interactive website is designed to help learners to practice speaking Ancient Greek and improve comprehension, while also working on grammar skills and building vocabulary. You can download a transcript of the lessons and an instruction guide in both German and English here.
Elementary Ancient Greek Pronunciation Tutorial By James Voelz – iTunes – Pronunciation Helps is an audio orientation to the Fundamental Greek Grammar textbook by James Voelz.
Intermediate Biblical Greek Podcast – iTunes – Learn Intermediate New Testament (Koine) Greek with your teacher John Pappas over the course of 27 in-depth audio lessons.
Greek Club by Concordia Seminary – This extensive podcast teaches how to read the New Testament books of the Bible and translate them from Greek.
New Testament Greek Course by the University of Cambridge Language Centre – This free Greek course is a web-application developed by the University of Cambridge’s Theology and the Language Centre.
First Year Biblical Greek Course – This free advanced Greek course consists of 34 lectures by Bill Mounce and the duration is 8 hours.
New Testament Online Greek Course by Morling College – This self-paced course is offered online by Morling College (a school based in Sydney, Australia) and teaches the basics of Biblical Greek.
A Digital Tutorial For Ancient Greek – This tutorial was created by Jeff Rydberg-Cox of the Classical and Ancient Studies Program at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and is based on the First Greek Book by John William White which was published in 1896. The tutorial consists of 80 lessons with practice exercises and an incentive-based points system. Students can also consult the Morphology and Syntax Reference, General Vocabulary and Flashcard Download Area.
Elementary Biblical Greek Course – This course features 31 lessons and provides students with a basic understanding of New Testament Greek grammar.
Self Study Courses in Ancient Greek – These three Ancient Greek courses will prepare students to read New Testament Greek. The combination of the three courses is the equivalent of completing a year-long college course. Free users have access to all material except the instructional videos.
Hellenistic Greek Grammar Tutorial – This online tutorial by Michael Palmer offers an overview of Hellenistic Greek Grammar. His Alphabet tutorial is also a helpful resource that covers Modern, Classical and Hellenistic pronunciation.
The University of Texas at Austin Linguistics Research Center Greek Lessons – These high-quality and thorough courses in both Classical and New Testament Greek from UT Austin College of Liberal Arts are a phenomenal free online resource for students.
- Classical Greek – This course teaches students to read classical Greek texts. Other resources include a New Testament Greek Glossary, Dictionary and English Meanings Index, as well as a Printable Version of the Course.
- New Testament Greek – This course teaches students to read New Testament Greek and includes important passages from the New Testament. Other resources include a New Testament Greek Glossary, Dictionary and English Meanings Index, as well as a Printable Version of the Course.
Introduction To Ancient Greek by the Open University – This Open University Tutorial provides students with a nice introduction to Ancient Greek. Students can learn the letters of the Greek alphabet and sentence structure, as well as familiarize themselves with the sounds of Greek.
Omniglot – This site specializes in providing information about languages and their alphabets and writing systems.
Hello World – Hello World has created hundreds of free language learning games and activities that cater to the way children learn best. The goal is to teach languages using cognitive immersion and to keep the process fun in order to increase learning potential. Approximately 1,300 vocabulary words are introduced over 70 different categories.
Verbix – Online Ancient Greek verb conjugator.
NativLang Classical Greek Lessons – This introduction to Classical Greek for beginners, explores the early inscriptions to Byzantine texts. The lessons teach pronunciation, the alphabet and examine the differences between scripts. Students can explore the Alphabet and Scripts, Byzantine Miniscule Writing, Ancient Greek Basic Phrases and Noun Pronunciation and Article Declensions and Extra Help For Students units.
Magic Typer Greek Keyboard – This website application allows users to type in Greek using the standard Greek keyboard layout.
Teach Yourself Ancient Greek Exercises – This website features exercises and answer keys to accompany the Teach Yourself Complete Ancient Greek textbook.
Perseus Collection Greek and Roman Materials – The Tufts University Perseus project focuses on the Greco-Roman language, history, and culture. This collection of classical Greek texts allows the reader to click on any word to find out the meaning.
Perseus Greek Word Study Tool – This online tool offered by Tufts University analyzes the morphology of Greek words.
Ancient Greek With Thrasymachus – This website was created by Ann Thomas Wilkins of Duquesne University and Alison W. Barker of St. Paul’s School to help students who are using the Thrasymachus textbook by C. W. E. Peckett and A. R. Munday. They provide extensive notes and explanations that directly correspond to the 32 chapters of the book.
Ancient Greek Tutorials by Donald J. Mastronarde – These tutorials were created by Donald Mastronarde with the assistance of the Berkeley Language Center of the University of California, Berkeley. Although the tutorials correspond directly to the Introduction to Attic Greek Textbook, they will be useful for all students of Ancient Greek to use with any textbooks.
New Testament Greek Tutorial – This simple website tutorial by Corey Keating provides a basic introduction to Biblical Greek grammar.
New Testament Greek Alphabet Tutorial – In addition to this alphabet tutorial which includes audio clips, a Greek Pronunciation Guide and a Greek Bible Passage Pronunciation Guide are offered.
Study Stack Flashcards – This website hosts plenty of flashcard sets for studying both Modern and Ancient Greek.
University of Victoria Ancient Greek Learning Resources – The University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada created these Ancient Greek Learning Resources for their students and made them freely available online. Based on the reading of the Athenaze: An Introduction to Ancient Greek Textbook by Gilbert Lawall and Maurice George Balme, this site offers Vocabulary Exercises, Grammar Exercises, and Reading Exercises.
University of Chicago Nifty Greek Handouts – Helma Dik, a professor at The University of Chicago, created these handouts for her Greek classes to use as a learning supplement. The handouts are in PDf form and can be downloaded and printed. Topics covered include Verbal morphology, Nouns, Pronouns, the Definite Article, Syntax and more.
Dr. Rollinson’s Greek Tutorials – Dr. Shirley Rollinson, a professor at Eastern New Mexico University, created these tutorials for her students of Ancient Greek. She provides detailed and comprehensive coverage of important topics like Grammar, Vocabulary, and the Alphabet.
Pedalion – This online grammar focuses on syntax and helps students to learn and read Ancient Greek. Developed at the University of Leuven in Belgium, it offers a wealth of information including practice exercises.
Institute of Biblical Greek Learning Resources – This website offers a wealth of information for learning Ancient Greek grammar.
Transliterate – This free tool provides online Greek & Hebrew transliteration.
EuroNews – EuroNews is a news media company that features news from a European perspective and offers content in 12 different languages online.
Deutsche Welle – German broadcasting company DW provides news in Greek.
Google News – Read the world news in Greek with Google News.
SBS Radio Greek Program – iTunes – SBS is an Australian broadcasting company that targets non-native English speakers and creates programming in many languages. This podcast allows you to listen to interviews, features and community stories from the SBS Radio Greek program, including Australian and world news.
VOA News – Podcast – Voice of America is an American broadcasting company that creates radio and television news in Greek.
IN.GR – This is a popular Greek online news website.
Kathimerini – This is the online version of the longstanding Greek print newspaper which also features an English edition.
Tovima – This is the online version of a prominent Greek newspaper which also has an English edition.
Eleftherotypia – A well respected online news source in Greece.
Forvo – This crowd-sourced site is a great tool to help with pronunciation as it allows you to listen to words and phrases spoken by native speakers.
Tatoeba – Tatoeba is a large, crowdsourced database of sentences and translations. This free resource allows you to search for a word and get results showing that word in sentences with translations.
Talkify – This free, multilingual website is a very interesting and valuable resource that allows you to listen to text in foreign languages. Simply insert a URL into the search field on Talkify and it will automatically detect the language and read the text of that website aloud in a natural sounding voice.
Liddell-Scott-Jones Classical Greek Lexicon – This is the online version of the Liddell-Scott-Jones (LSJ) premier lexicon for classical Greek which was first published in 1843. This online lexicon is searchable and provides links to the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (TLG). A copy of the print version of the LSJ Lexicon is here.
Logeion – This online dictionary by the University of Chicago provides simultaneous lookups of entries in the Perseus Classical collection from Tufts University.
Kypros – This online Ancient Greek English dictionary allows you to search using Roman transliteration if you don’t have a Greek keyboard and Greek words are printed in both the Greek and the Roman alphabets.
Lang-8 – This free network is a nice tool to support your language learning. Native speakers are available to make corrections to your text and provide feedback. In return, you provide help to others.
HiNative – iTunes – Google Play – HiNative is an app brought to you by the creators of Lang-8 that allows you to ask questions to native speakers from around the world using your smartphone. HiNative was created to be used alongside Lang-8 and is different from Lang-8 in that it focuses on a Q&A type of learning while Lang-8 is a journal writing experience.
RhinoSpike – RhinoSpike is an interesting website that connects language learners from all over the world allowing them to exchange audio files to help improve pronunciation skills. It allows you to submit text that you would like to hear read aloud by a native speaker, and in turn, you receive the audio file. In exchange, and to speed up the process you can, in turn, provide audio files in your native language for other learners.
MyLanguageExchange.com – This online language learning community connects you with other learners so that you can practice speaking in your second language with a native speaker and vice-versa.
Italki – A community of over 2 million language learners that facilitates free language practice with native speakers. You simply exchange time teaching your native language for time learning a foreign language, making it mutually beneficial and free.
Greek Ministry of Education Ebook Portal – This is the official website of the Ministry of Education for the distribution of ebooks to students. Books for Primary, Secondary and High Schools in Greece are available in a variety of digital formats, including interactive enriched HTML books, and all current editions are in a printable pdf format.
New Testament Greek Textbook by Dr. Shirley Rollinson – Dr. Rollinson, a professor at Eastern New Mexico University, has made her extensive textbook available free online with easy to use chapter links. She has also created an unaccented version of the textbook.
A User-Friendly Guide for Reading Ancient Greek – This book by Elaine Woodward & Marianne Pagos is a guide to reading and enjoying Ancient Greek texts.
Greek Grammar by William W. Goodwin – The online version of this reference grammar can be accessed here.
First Greek Book by John Williams White – The digital tutorial created at the University of Missouri and based on this book from 1896 can be found here.
A Brief Introduction to New Testament Greek by Samuel G. Green – This textbook is a primer which provides an outline of New Testament Greek grammar for beginners.
Greek Prose Composition – The Key to the exercises found in this classic Greek textbook by North and Hillard can be found here.
Syntax of Classical Greek from Homer to Demosthenes – This is the online version of the reference grammar book by Johns Hopkins professor Basil L. Gildersleeve. A digital copy of the book can be found here.
Greek Grammar for Colleges by Herbert Weir Smyth – The online version of the grammar can be found here
A First Greek Course by Sir William Smith – This book, written in 1909, contains accidence, syntax, and exercises for the study of Attic Greek. The key to the exercises can be found here.
First Greek Grammar Syntax by W. Gunion Rutherford – This book covers Classical Greek syntax for beginners.
First Greek Grammar Accidence by W. Gunion Rutherford – This book was written in 1891 by the Headmaster of Westminster.
New Testament Greek in a Nutshell by James Strong – iTunes – This book provides an outline of New Testament Greek Grammar with Reading Lessons for beginners.
Cactus Language – This UK based language study abroad organization offers free online language level testing.
Language Trainers – This language training company offers free online language level testing.
Goethe Verlag – Free tests in 25 languages and 600 language combinations. You will find 200 Greek vocabulary tests and 20 Greek crossword puzzles.
Hellenic American Union Placement Test – Once logged in you can access a list of online tests to evaluate your level of Modern Greek.
Listen and learn Online Greek Level Test – This private language school offers a Greek language level test with 50 questions.
Lexis Greek Language and Culture Center – This website offers a concise Greek language test.
What Are Your Favorite Free Greek Language Learning Resources?
We have done a lot of research to bring you the best, free resources that the internet has to offer and we want to make sure our list is always comprehensive. Please share your favorites in the comments below.