Χαῖρε!  (click open the mask-->)   

                    Ath. 1a introduces our protagonist and some basic grammar.

Dicaiopolis is a character borrowed from comedy. It's a long mouthful of a name meaning something like 'Just Town'. It's also an exercise in pronunciation:

 say it piece by piece Δι - και-ό-πολις.  Now altogether Δικαιόπολις.

          Verbs are introduced in 3rd person singular, to give him something to do. And nouns and adjectives are introduced in masculine singular, mostly nominative, so we have something to say about him.  Let's explore these basic concepts.

We're starting with 2 sentence types: there are sentences that say A = B, that so-and- so is a certain character or described as a certain quality,

as in 'Dikaiopolis is a farmer'  ὁ Δικαιόπολις αὐτουργός ἐστιν.

Oh by the way, Greek names, proper nouns are introduced with definite article = 'the';  that's what the ho  (ὁ) is doing in front of his name.

So, 'The man is a farmer' = ὁ ἄνθρωπος αὐτουργός ἐστιν. 

Greek often puts the 'is' (or any verb) at the end. 

Word order is variable and you canleave out the 'is' in 'equational sentences' (A=B)

Exx. Long is the work:  μακρὸς ὁ πόνος.

 Beautiful is the field:  καλὸς ὁ ἀγρός

 The house is small μικρός ὁ οἶκος.

But if you want to emphasize :'There is much grain' (=the grain is much),  you need the 'is':   πολύς ἐστιν ὁ σῖτος

Notice how most of these nouns and adjectives end in the same -os.

That is a typical marker of masculine singular, in the so called nominative case, as the subject of a sentence or the other side of the A=B equation.

The other kind of sentence says A does something to B, uses a 'transitive' verb, takes a direct object.  And this direct object, as you'll see, takes a different ending to mark that function in the sentence (after all the word order tells you next to nothing).

That object ending (which we call 'accusative') is (for now) -ον.

So, 'The farmer loves the field' is ὁ αὐτουργός τὸν ἀγρὸν φιλεῖ.

 He loves not work (=does not love work)  = οὐ πόνον φιλεῖ

Notice you almost never need a word for 'he' or 'she'

because the ending of the verb, -ei,  tells us.

So  to complete the vocabulary,'he says/she says' is just λέγει

he/she lives is just οἰκεῖ        'he/she works' is πονεῖ.

 'he/she rejoices' is χαίρει.

Our greeting,  Χαῖρε comes from the same verb.

Adverbs, conjunctions and particles are little words but very important:

No or not οὐ, οὐκ, οὐχ,  changes to suit the next word.

not to be confused with οὖν, 'then, therefore, and so' 

 ἀλλά and  δὲ both mean 'but';   ἀλλά is stronger.

 καί is 'and' also or 'even';  γάρ  is 'for/because'

Notice the name of Athens itself is plural in form and has definite article:

Greek says 'in (the) Athens'  ἐν ταῖς ᾿Αθήναις. 

A citizen, like Dicaeopolis, is  ᾿Αθηναῖος.

Before we re-read the passage, now on p. 3 , take a look at the notes.

These are not yet required vocabulary but essential to the story.