"There has been strong continuity throughout the many phases of the Greek language. So much so, in fact, that modern Greek resembles ancient Greek more than the Romance languages of French, Spanish, and Italian resembles their progenitor, Latin. Whereas a literate modern Frenchman cannot read and understand classical Latin without special study, an average well-educated Greek can decipher the inscriptions cut in stone by his ancestors twenty-four centuries ago." PANATI'S BROWSER'S BOOK OF BEGINNINGS by Charles Panati © 1984 by Charles Carroll Hudson. And I've always wondered, what does Greek sound like? I don't think I've ever heard it. The ancient Romans thought it was the height of sophistication for some reason. I know liturgical Latin sounds beautiful. Classical Latin, not so much so.
I have a few good friends originally from Greece and I think their language is beautiful. Incidentally they all are stunningly gorgeous as well!
My father used to go to a Greek Orthodox church, and one of the churches in my area has a liturgy entirely in Greek. My dad's church used English for theirs, with a lot of smatterings of Greek throughout. That one had a large international community, too, so you'd also hear "Christ is Risen!" in Serbian, Arabic, etc. in addition to Greek. Beautiful language and beautiful services, although the incense always knocked me on my ass whenever I visited. Make sure to shout "Christós Anésti!" from the rooftops this Easter if you really want to get in the spirit of Greek!
