Living Greek in Greece

"There's nothing like this program. It's two weeks in a garden from paradise, access to the sea at any time, and a challenging and stimulating work load surrounded by the most interesting people I have met. We don't just read and translate ancient Greek with our heads in the book. We discuss these wonderful works and form new ideas, using our bodies and looking at each to communicate as our brains grapple with thinking, listening, and speaking in Greek. The text comes to life and so do we. I hope to come back to this paradise soon."

Luby Kiriakidi '16 
Cornell University

"Living Greek in Greece made me want to become a Hellenist. I was surprised that a two-week program could achieve such an effect, but the program was incredibly enlightening. Every staff member was extremely helpful, refreshingly enthusiastic, and inspired me greatly in my studies of Greek. It made me remember, or maybe even realize to a much greater extent, why I am studying Classics."

Sarah Gianakon '15
Princeton University

"I'm really surprised by how much I grew personally and intellectually in just two weeks. It was unlike anything I'd ever done before - I left feeling invigorated about Greek and knowing I made formative personal relationships with my peers. I will be reading another Euripides play next semester - Medea - and now feel very confident going into this seminar. I wish I could do this program every summer!"

Zoe Adams '14
Vassar College

"We began the program apprehensive about whether we could speak in ancient Greek and by the end of the two weeks were conducting a seminar on Heraclitus in Ancient Greek. It's truly extraordinary how much progress we made in such a short time. Students arrive with only two years of Greek and no experience speaking the language and after only a week of classes are able to summarize the action in a passage of Homer's Odyssey and pose and answer questions about the text, all in Ancient Greek!"

Curtis Dozier '13
Professor of Classics at Vassar College

"If Classics seems inaccessible—an esoteric subject that only the most privileged students and university professors can master—then it will remain so. Yet Living Greek in Greece is proof that this need not be the case. The program opened my eyes to ways in which even rigorous grammatical and vocabulary training can be a dynamic and interactive experience. I remember an introductory Latin class in which my classmates and I were surprised to find that ludusmeans both game and school. The Paideia Institute provided a space in which students and staff, unencumbered by the formalities and pressures of 'school,' were able to play with language and literature, and to unabashedly reflect on the personal experiences, passions, and questions that drew us to classics in the first place."

Elizabeth Butterworth '13
Oxford University

"The program was wonderful and enlightening, the staff were gracious and friendly, and I agree completely with the philosophy of the institute."

Paul Antony '12
Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University

"As a relative newcomer to Greek, I was extremely nervous about speaking it in an environment filled with so many linguistically talented people. However, the laid-back atmosphere of LGiG instantly put me at ease, and thanks to the immersive environment my linguistic ability advanced a lot in such a short time. Reading Homer in the original for the first time sent chills down my spine--particularly in such evocative surroundings! If you want to know why ancient Greek still matters, you need look no further than this community of Hellenists who take such delight in paideia both in and out of the classroom."

Emily Rutherford '12
Princeton University