[NB: I originally got the title of the book wrong in the headline; I've changed it but it will likely mean the post will show up twice in your news readers. Apologies, RWB]
The kind folks at Hendrickson Publishers just today sent me a copy of Rodney Whitacre's A Patristic Greek Reader (amazon.com), and I must say it looks mighty fine — if you want to improve your Greek reading skills, then you need to read large chunks of unfamiliar text. A Patristic Greek Reader (amazon.com) looks to be an excellent way to do just this.
Here's the blurb from Hendrickson:
The heart of this book is a selection of Greek texts from early Christian writers, accompanied by notes so that a person with one year of Greek can read the texts. Basic translations of the texts are also provided so that readers can check their work. A list of words used 50+ times in the New Testament and the principal parts of several verbs is included.
The Greek selections represent a variety of styles and levels of difficulty. The notes also vary, with very extensive notes provided in some cases.
Passages that have played a major role in the history of Christian thought are included, as well as passages that contribute to matters of spirituality and pastoral care. Several passages are of more purely historical interest. The author includes an introduction to the writings of the early Church to help orient readers to the writings of the Fathers in general and also give the rationale for the particular selections included in the book. Each selection also has a brief introduction discussing its historical setting and content. A brief bibliography is included for the particular selections included and for the Greek reference works cited. However, the book would also be of interest to those studying the Classics and could be used by anyone as a brief introduction to some samples of early Christian thought. This may be the only book available that provides such translation notes for selections from the Greek fathers.
The contents (full TOC here) include the following writings (either in total or in part):
- The Didache (the whole thing)
- 1 Clement (in part)
- Ignatius to the Romans (the whole thing)
- Epistle to Diognetus (in part)
- Martydom of Polycarp (in part)
- Justin Martyr's First Apology (in part)
- Melito of Sardis, On Pascha (in part)
- Clement of Alexandria's Miscellanies (partial)
- Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History and Life of Constantine (partial)
- Athanasius, On the Incarnation (partial)
- Gregory of Nazianzus, Orations (partial)
- Desert Fathers and Mothers, Apophthegmata Patrum (partial)
- John Chrysostom, Homiliae in Matthaeum (partial)
- Hesychios the Priest, On Watchfulness and Holiness (partial)
- Symeon the New Theologian, Hymns (partial)
You should really check out the sample chapter provided by Hendrickson. The text is the first five chaptes of the Didache, plus an introduction to the Didache (note I have a "phrasal interlinear" translation and some comments on the Didache available as well). You will get a good idea of how things are laid out and how the reading notes work. Everything is translated, but the translations are in a completely different section of the book, so there's no easy cribbing on the facing page.
I really like how the text notes provide the form in the text, followed by the dictionary form, followed by a short gloss and any other notes that Whitacre deemed necessary.
If you want to improve your Greek reading skills, you owe it to yourself to purchase and diligently work through this book. You'll get into non-familiar text, which means you'll stretch your reading muscle and learn a great deal along the way. The readings are even ranked and an appendix in the back (Appendix C) sorts out "Easiest", "Intermediate" and "Advanced" texts so you can pick your poison, or work up from "easy" to "advanced".