Thanks to Catalonian professor Dr. Juan Coderch, ancient Greek has been given new life in the digital age. The senior language tutor of Greek and Latin and the University of St. Andrews in the U.K. created a news website, Acropolis World News, that provides the latest in current affairs to speakers of ancient Greek.

While nobody actually speaks the language, it isn’t as “dead” as the world would think as there are many scholars around the globe who are interested in reading and writing in the ancient Greek language. They may have read all there is to read of ancient Greek texts and the website is an interesting way for them to explore “new material” that continues where Euripides, Sophocles and Homer left off.

“It is possible that a lot of people who at the beginning feel the desire of studying the language of Pericles give up because of the fear that an original Greek text from a classical author inspires, maybe too sudden a collision, and because of the sensation that, outside of these texts, it is not going to be useful for anything else. If we remember that for several centuries Greek was the ‘lingua franca’ around all eastern Mediterranean (and in the western Mediterranean it was the ‘lingua docta’), maybe the claim that it can be used, within its possibilities, as a present cultivated way of communication (as Latin) is not too far,” writes Dr. Coderch on his website.

The website is also a great tool for students of ancient Greek as it helps them refresh their knowledge in an entertaining way and read current news in the language used by great figures of ancient history. Greek teens pondering over the value of learning ancient Greek, part of their high school curriculum finally can find an a way to make it more relevant to them.

To visit Acropolis World News, CLICK HERE. 

* Dr. Juan Coderch was born in the city of Barcelona in Spain, and lived there for 40 years  before moving to the UK. He graduated from the University of Barcelona with a degree in Classics and went on to study for a Master’s degree at the University of Sheffield in 1986. During 2003-2007 he taught Greek and Latin at the University of Oxford and at the moment he holds the position of Senior Language Tutor in Greek and Latin at the University of St. Andrews in the UK.