The five books
Maronitis is coordinator of the team which comprises Fanis Kakridis (professor emeritus of ancient Greek language), Anastasios Fivos Christidis (professor of linguistics) Gerasimos Vokos (professor of philosophy) Theodoros Papangelis (professor of Latin) and Lambros Polkas (lecturer in language teaching and high school teacher). The books do not cover all the material taught in schools, since the goal is not to replace the existing system as yet but to attempt to improve certain areas. The team chose what they considered the most important areas and is soon to add another, ancient Greek history. The five currently being produced are: – «History of the Ancient Greek Language,» edited by Professor Christidis; follows the development of the Greek language. Pupils become familiar with the grammar and syntax of ancient Greek in examples of texts; an initial, indirect contact with ancient Greek letters. – «Ancient Poetry,» edited by Maronitis and Polkas. «Because (the work of) Homer was the foundation for all the literature that followed, and not only in Europe, we believe that there should be a book on the Homeric epics,» said Maronitis. Divided into three sections, the book first of all presents the elements comprising the Homeric epic and the narrative technique. The second section is devoted to anthropomorphic theology, the main characteristic of ancient Greek culture, attempting to clarify whether the gods gave the heroes margin to act freely. In the final section, the question of glory is examined, how heroes achieve it and what it actually meant. – «Ancient Greek Literature,» edited by Kakridis, explains the fact that there is not only a dialogue but conflicting views, during the same period and the same literary generation; for example, between epic and lyric poetry, poetry and philosophy, philosophy and rhetoric – but also between Homer and Hesiod, Herodotus and Thucydides, Dimosthenes and Isocrates. – «Ancient Greek Philosophy,» edited by Vokos, relates the lives of the philosophers, placing them within their times so that children will realize, when talking about Plato, Thales or Heraclitus, just who these people were. – «Roman World and Culture,» edited by Papangelis, records the broader environment of ancient Greek culture. Knowledge of the Greek-Roman civilization is presented through a dialogue between a child and a teacher.
