Class Schedule

• When: Saturdays, 17:00–18:00 Central European Time
• Dates: October 25, 2025 – February 21, 2026
• Holiday break: December 21, 2025 – January 9, 2026 (no classes during this period)

Price

• Standard: 900 €
• Students: 850 €

Payment Options

Payment can be made via Wise or Bank Transfer. Payments via PayPal are also accepted, but an additional 5% fee applies.

Course Description

A man of the people, a peasant himself, rises before the Athenian Council (ἐκκλησία). His sole aim: to persuade his fellow citizens—by any means necessary—to make peace with their enemies. He believes peace brings more advantages than war.

But what, exactly, should strike us as comical here? That an ordinary man takes a political stand? Or that both gestures—placing peace above war, and leaving one’s private concerns to enter political life—are treated as inherently comic? What is the essence of the comedy in this comedy?

These are some of the questions we will explore in the upcoming course on Aristophanes’ Acharnians.

The protagonist is Dikaiopolis, a name familiar to many students of Ancient Greek who have worked with Athenaze. But here we will meet the original Aristophanic Dikaiopolis, who will show us what makes something comical, what defines the Greek comic outlook, and how the pursuit of peace—even at the cost of one’s own well-being—becomes a central concern: peace not only for oneself, but for the polis.

This course is designed for strong intermediate students in the “spoken Ancient Greek community”—those who have already mastered the material and vocabulary of Athenaze Book I, or who have completed the first five levels at the Polis Institute—and who are eager to build both confidence and literacy. Taught entirely in Ancient Greek, the course will focus on the first of the surviving Aristophanic comedies: Acharnians.

Why Take This Course?

A perfect bridge. Move from the simplified Greek of textbooks to the authentic, stable language of the classical authors.

Solid support. Build confidence and literacy through methods once practiced by Byzantine scholars: rhetorical exercises, composition based on the progymnasmata, memorization of short passages, and commentary drawn from manuscripts. Vocabulary will be consolidated, familiar structures reinforced, and discourse patterns from the comedy put into practice. Through imitation, students will also be encouraged to produce their own short compositions—commentaries, paraphrases, or expansions of the text.

A deeper appreciation. By engaging closely with an authentic Greek text, students will discover the unique comic genius of Aristophanes. This foundation will allow not only a richer interpretation of the play but also engagement with its central paradox: why is the desire for peace presented as comical, yet at the same time profoundly admirable and worth imitating?

About Your Instructor: Miguel

Miguel is a passionate teacher of Ancient Languages with a background in Law and Philosophy from the Universidad Libre de Colombia in Bogotá. His enthusiasm for Ancient Languages has taken him to many places, including Jerusalem, where he pursued advanced studies in Ancient Greek fluency at Polis, the Jerusalem Institute of Languages.

Refund Policy

Cancellations are accepted until October October 24 via email.

• If you cancel before the start of the course, you will receive a full refund minus a 10% administration fee.
• If you cancel after the course has begun, no refund will be issued. 

Don’t miss this opportunity to embark on your Ancient Greek adventure! Register now to secure your spot.

info@rogerusbyzantinus.com