Publisher's Synopsis
THE number of Greek Grammars published during the last few years has been so great, and so many of them seem admirably suited for the purpose they have in view-the teaching of Greek to beginners-that a great deal of an unfortunate schoolmaster's time is taken up in deciding upon their respective merits, and in making up his mind which to adopt for school use. This being the case, the author of any new grammar must expect his work to be judged, not merely with reference to the question whether the book is good in itself, but whether, tested by the standard reached by other grammars already in use, it contains special excellencies of its own. Father Kleist, in publishing his translation of Kaegi's Greek Grammar, was perfectly well aware of this fact, and claims as his justification that Kaegi's work is the successful result of a very close and accurate study of the Greek authors generally read in a school course, conducted with this special purpose of either omitting entirely or of relegating to an unimportant place in his Grammar all peculiarities or irregularities rarely met with in these authors. To have done this successfully, as we believe he has, is a strong recommendation for his book. The work met with a very favorable reception in Germany, passing through twelve editions in ten years. Such a reception in the land of grammarians speaks for itself. While, then, we have much pleasure in welcoming this translation by Father Kleist, we should like to point out what appear to us slight defects in the book. It would have been clearer, we think, to have treated the accentuation of the verb by itself without reference to the noun; nor is anything gained by leaving out the dual number in the ordinary conjugation of the verb, and giving it a place by itself; to a boy it will probably prove more difficult than the usual arrangement. Again, see page 132 to illustrate the meaning of the future perfect active, it would, perhaps, have been well to have included it among the peculiar tense forms on p. 67.
On the whole, too, we are inclined to think that the treatment of hypothetical sentences, by which they are first classified according to time, and then, if past or present, by their fulfillment or non-fulfillment; and, if future, by their greater or less vividness, will prove more intelligible to beginners than that adopted in this grammar; still, it is but fair to add that the treatment given here is clearer than that to be met with in most Greek grammars. The usages of the infinitive and of the negatives might, with advantage, have been explained a little more fully; nothing, for example, is said of the use by dramatic poets... with the second person singular of the future indicative to denote a strong prohibition. The accusative of the agent after verbals... although not a common construction, might have been mentioned, as it is found in Plato, Thucydides and Xenophon. We venture to think, too, that two pages at the beginning of the book, giving a brief account of the Greek language and its dialects, and a short chapter at the end on Greek metres, would have enhanced its value. Apart from these slight defects, we can thoroughly recommend this grammar for its clearness, its orderly arrangement, and its judicious repression of irrelevant matter. There is also published a translation of an exercise book by the same author, to be used pari passu with the grammar, adding very greatly to the value of the latter.
-The Dublin Review, Part 1
