Greek Grammar [Hardcover]

Herbert Weir Smyth (Author), Gordon M. Messing (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0674362500 | ISBN-13: 978-0674362505 | Publication Date: January 1956 | Edition: Revised

Professor H. W. Smyth's classic text on Greek Grammar -- yet to be improved on.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 784 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press; Revised edition (January 1956)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674362500
• ISBN-13: 978-0674362505
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #132,818 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #6 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Greek > Instruction

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

101 of 104 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best for all pre-modern Greek except Hellenistic., January 13, 2002

By 

S. Blackwelder "fountain pen daily user" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Greek Grammar (Hardcover)

This is an excellent reference book! It has passed the test of heavy usage, and it has outlasted many academic fads.

Smyth does a thorough yet concise job on the known varieties of written Greek usage from the Homeric epics up to the beginning of the Hellenistic period .

Smyth does not cover Hellenistic (Koiné) Greek as much, especially not for texts that have Semitic or Egyptian "flavors:" the Septuagint, New Testament and Egyptian Greek papyri. For real grammars on those, look up these authors: Wallace, Dana, Mantey, Robertson, Blass, Debrunner, Funk, Conybeare, Stock and Zerwick.

Some writers in the centuries between the reigns of Augustus and Constantine, and the Byzantines afterward, tried to "return" to Classical Attic usage in writing, with mixed results. When reading them, use both Smyth and a Hellenistic/Koiné grammar together, carefully.

97 of 100 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Need this book be praised?, June 7, 2000

By 

[e-mail] - See all my reviews

This review is from: Greek Grammar (Hardcover)

Smyth is the only grammar for ancient Greek worth buying (besides the advanced treatments of specialized topics like Goodwin on the moods and tenses and Denniston on the particles). Unlike Latin, where the field of grammars is much wider, Smyth is the only English grammar of ancient Greek comprehensive enough to warrant any attention from Hellenists. Goodwin and Gulick's volume is too sparse in comparison (but note they cover prosody and Smyth does not) while Kaegi's is a step below theirs in depth. Ideally all intermediate level Greek students will begin to use this text as a reference grammar. Very reasonably priced for the wealth of information it contains. The book itself is also durable and will endure years of constant thumbing.

87 of 93 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential for study of Classical Greek, November 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Greek Grammar (Hardcover)

Not for the beginner (or the fainthearted!) this nevertheless is a nonpareil of a reference for Greek grammar. While a book with chapter titles like "The Antecedent Of Relative Clauses" isn't going to hit the Barnes & Noble front window any day soon, those engaged in the lifetime study of Greek would do better to refer to this than to Goodwin, except perhaps for information on moods. There is an excellent overview of variation in dialects, and the examples given are well-chosen and helpful. I see I am the first to write a review for Mr Smythe -- now, gods, stand up for grammars!