The Oxford Classical Dictionary [Hardcover]

Simon Hornblower (Editor), Antony Spawforth (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 019866172X | ISBN-13: 978-0198661726 | Publication Date: December 12, 1996 | Edition: 3

For almost half a century, the Oxford Classical Dictionary has been the unrivaled one-volume reference work on the Greco-Roman world. Whether one is interested in literature or art, philosophy or law, mythology or science, intimate details of daily life or broad cultural and historical trends, the OCD is the first place to turn for clear, authoritative information on all aspects of ancient culture. Now comes the Third Edition of this redoubtable resource, 20 per cent larger than the previous edition, with virtually every entry rewritten to bring it up to date with current scholarship, and with over 800 new entries that reflect the greatly expanded scope of classical studies.
Here, in over six thousand entries ranging from long articles to brief identifications, readers can find information on virtually any topic of interest--athletics, bee-keeping, botany, magic, Roman law, religious rites, postal service, slavery, navigation, and the reckoning of time. The Dictionary profiles every major figure of Greece and Rome, from Homer and Virgil, to Plato and Aristotle, to Tacitus and Thucydides, to Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great. (The OCD also covers many important but lesser known figures who will not be found in other reference works.) Readers will find entries on mythological and legendary figures, on major cities, famous buildings, and important geographical landmarks, and on legal, rhetorical, literary, and political terms and concepts. Equally important, the OCD features extensive thematic articles that offer superb coverage of topics of interest to both scholars and general readers, exploring everything from medicine and mathematics to music, law, and marriage.
In addition, there are over 800 completely new entries in the Third Edition, additions that reflect the insights and interests of a new generation of classical scholars. Readers will now find substantial coverage of women in the ancient world (with entries on abortion, breast-feeding, childbirth, housework, midwives, menopause, and motherhood, among many others), sexuality (homosexuality, love and friendship, contraception, pornography), the Far East (with entries ranging from Gandhara to the Persian Gulf), Jews (Dead Sea Scrolls, Pharisees, rabbis, Talmud), and early Christians (churches, pilgrimages, St. Paul). In addition, there are many more thematic articles than in previous editions, some of which reflect the new emphasis on multidisciplinary approaches to classical studies (such as Anthropology and the Classics, Marxism and Classical Antiquity, and Literary Theory and Classical Studies), while others examine issues of general interest to modern readers (race, class struggle, ecology, ethnicity, alcoholism, incest, suicide, pollution, propaganda, literacy, and much more).
Finally, the OCD boasts contributions and guidance from some of the finest classical scholars in the world. In addition to the superb efforts of general editors Hornblower and Spawforth, there were fifteen Area Advisors, including such respected figures as Martha Nussbaum (philosophy), Tony Honore (Roman law), Patricia Easterling (Greek literature), John Matthews (late antiquity), Geoffrey Lloyd (maths and sciences), Helen King (women's studies), Ernst Badian (Roman Republican prosopography), and Emily Kearns (Greek myth and religion). And among the many eminent authorities who have offered contributions are Albert Henrichs, Fritz Graf, Gian Biagio Conte, Oswyn Murray, Elaine Fantham, Julia Annas, J.J. Pollitt, Michael Jameson, and over three hundred others--a truly international team. Indeed, the aim throughout has been to secure the best experts on the topics covered, wherever in the world they happen to be. Thus, in the area of Greek religion, for instance, contributions have come from Canada, France, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain, and the United States.
As an authoritative one-volume guide to all aspects of the ancient world--political, economic, philosophical, religious, artistic, and social--the Oxford Classical Dictionary has no equal in any language. It is the definitive summation of classical scholarship as it stands today.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Over a quarter of a century has elapsed since the last revision to the Oxford Classical Dictionary, longer even than the 21 years between the first and second editions. As noted in the introduction to the current edition, those years have seen a phenomenal growth in classical scholarship, indeed, in all the humanistic disciplines, and an awakening of interest in new theories and subjects long ignored. Evidence of these changes can be seen in the titles of some of the approximately 800 new articles: Homosexuality, Women in Philosophy, Abortion, Class Struggle, and Literary Theory and Classical Languages. Most articles show signs of revision and reworking, often extensive. Bibliographies have been updated as well, even in those articles (mostly short ones) reprinted without change. The editors have also made an effort to make the work more accessible to the layperson. Many of the new articles are thematic articles of general interest: Earthquakes; Shipwrecks, Ancient; and Fishing, for example. Contributors have been instructed to limit explanations that require knowledge of Greek or Latin, and although a number do appear, they are generally related to very specific details and do not compromise the comprehension of the articles in which they are found. As with the second edition, there is no general index, but there are rather generous cross-references as well as asterisks next to terms for which a separate article exists.

Users of the previous editions will be happy to know that the new edition continues to function well as a tool for identification and for the location of much of what factual information is known of the ancient world. Many of the new articles are for specific individuals, places, or things, from Acanthus (a Greek colony in Chalcidice) to Zeuxis Philathes (a Greek physician of the Augustan age). The level of scholarship remains uncompromising. Bibliographies, for example, consistently list relevant primary texts and often include non-English secondary sources. Certain discussions may not be clear to every reader, as in the account under Calender, Roman of how the 10-month calendar acquired extra months, which omits any explanation of how Quintilus came to be July. An effort has been made in this edition to list persons under family name and under linguistically correct forms even when other forms may be more familiar, so that Julius Caesar is under Iulius Caesar, Gaius and Scipio Africanus under Cornelius Scipio Africanus (the elder), Publius, though adequate cross-references exist. Occasionally, an effort to move the discussion of a specific term to a more general article has produced a blind reference; the reader, for example, is told under effatus to see Augures, but in that article the term effatus is not mentioned.

Still, despite occasional difficulties, this is a work that makes a fascinating world of learning accessible to a broad audience. The editor, in thanking the contributors for their generosity, notes that "the pressures of university life are now in the direction of selfish productivity at the level of pure research." This work, though thoroughly up to date, does seem like the product of another era, when the gap between what scholars wrote and the rest of us read was less stark. It should continue to be the single most heavily used book on classical studies in the reference collections of academic libraries, and it deserves a place in all but the smallest public libraries as well as in high-school libraries where classical studies are at all a part of the curriculum.

Review

"A delight for anyone with any curiosity about the roots of our Western culture, our arts, sciences, and politics. The essays are thorough, yet with an eye to the interests of the contemporary reader. A browser's paradise, and I would think a researcher's quick rescuer. As a result, the Greeks and Romans seem more than ever to be standing behind us, but just over the hill."--Arthur Miller

"I welcome with open arms a new and greatly expanded edition of that admirable classic in its own right, The Oxford Classical Dictionary. Both I myself and my husband John Bayley use the Dictionary continually, as well as browsing in it for pleasure. It has been a precious and invaluable source and reference book for me in writing my novels, and for my whole inner life in mythology and in ancient philosophy."--Iris Murdoch

"The Oxford Classical Dictionary is a treasure of information about the ancient world. The writing is interesting and authoritative, making it a pleasure to browse and an invaluable resource to consult. Major topics, such as astronomy, citizenship, and class struggle, are remarkably readable, insightful, and thorough, without being overly detailed. Abundant internal and external references point the way to further information. It's a hard book to put down."--Alan Cromer, Northeastern University

"The revision of the Oxford Classical Dictionary makes significant improvements in an already first-rate tool. Not only are the bibliographies brought up to date (which is what one would have expected), but articles have been revised, enlarged, or re-written in order to incorporate new information and interpretation. A surprisingly large number of new entries now broaden the scope of the dictionary.... Not only classicists but biblical scholars as well will find this an altogether superb one-volume encyclopedia."--Bruce M. Metzger, Professor of New Testament, Emeritus, Princeton Theological Seminary

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1704 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 3 edition (December 12, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 019866172X
• ISBN-13: 978-0198661726
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.9 x 3.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #524,843 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything you ever wanted to know about Greece & Rome!, August 31, 2000

By 

Author Bill Peschel "Writers Gone Wild" (Hershey, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Oxford Classical Dictionary (Hardcover)

As a reference work, this revised third edition of "The Oxford Classical Dictionary" merits awe. Like the Grand Canyon or Niagra Falls, the best one can do is simply stand there, mouth agape and say something like, "So, there it is."

At 1,640 pages and weighing in a five and three-quarter pounds (1.48 minas according to the Attic-Euboic standard or 1.95 Roman libras), this massive reference work summarizes all that is known about the Greek and Roman worlds. It is a detailed volume that has plenty of entries for both the specialist and general reader.

But, realistically, at $100 a throw, this dictionary will be more likely to be purchased by those who have more than a passing interest in the classical era. They in turn will be rewarded with a volume that covers nearly every conceivable aspect of Roman and Greek life, from the public deeds of emperors to the private lives of laborers.

Here, among the academic jargon and bibliographical references, one may learn that, in Athens, a popular after-dinner game was the wine-throw,' in which players would flick the dregs from their cups at a target, such as a saucer floating in water; that while incest in general was banned, siblings with the same father could marry in Athens, of the mother in Sparta; that even mimes existed in both Roman and Greek cultures, sometimes acting out on the streets stock stories that sound like the sitcoms and soap operas of our day.

Much of the 800 new entries (the editors note that the book is 20 percent larger than the previous edition) focus on the societal aspects, such as alcoholism, breast-feeding, cannibalism, cemeteries, debt, fairs, fantastic literature, homosexuality, housework, suicide and tourism, while the dictionary overall benefitted from archeological discoveries made since the previous edition. While the price may be considered steep, the diction is a treasure trove of information, well-written, thoroughly annotated, and well worth the price for those with a deep interest in the Classical world.

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Second edition is better, but this is still (mostly) a great source., October 7, 2008

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Oxford Classical Dictionary (Hardcover)

This third edition is still the go-to source for classical history. Many have elucidated its good qualities, but the Third Edition is marred by some dishonest articles. In years to come the few biased articles in this book will seem as bad a the biases in some 19th century articles look to us now. Here are a few examples:
1. Slavery article. It states that only Greeks, Romans and European colonialists in the Americas separated slaves from their native cultures and identities. Middle Easterners for many centuries carried on a large scale trade of slaves from sub-Saharan Africa and northern Europe, both groups whose cultures and religions had nothing to do with Middle Eastern ones (and both those groups were extensively stereotyped in Middle Eastern written sources.)
2. Phoenician colonialism is said to be better than Greek colonialism because the Phoenician colonies were just farming and trading colonies. For one, little is known of Phoenician colonies, and two the Greek colonies (unlike the Roman ones) were primarily farming and trading colonies.
3. Greek rule over the old Persian Empire. (Seleucid Empire) The claim that the Greeks had no influence, despite all the Greek texts, sculptures and architecture from the era of Greek rule. Not everyone was Hellenized, but to claim that nobody was makes me question the sanity of the author. In other sources I've even seem claims that cities with Greek-style buildings (like Petra in Jordan) aren't Greek influenced because the architecture displays slight differences from classical Greek architecture.

These claims are due to the emphasis on "Orientalism" developed by Edward Said. "Orientalism" has resulted in the correction of many long standing biases, but some in their enthusiasm want to take the theory to the point of history being their own fantasy of what happened. Even Edward Said thought that the younger theorists were becoming too ideological, something people should keep in mind when they invoke his name to support some of the outlandish theories out there.

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "A Gem of a Reference Book", July 14, 2002

By 

Johannes Platonicus (South Bend, Indiana) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Oxford Classical Dictionary (Hardcover)

The "Oxford Classical Dictionary" is a gem of a reference book, which far surpasses any other edition available in its class. With over six thousand entries, covering any topic imaginable in the sphere of the Greco-Roman world, this dictionary will come as a relief and a reward to the aspiring student and the accomplished scholar. This seventeen hundred-page dictionary is well worth its weight and should be on the shelves of anyone interested in the multifaceted occurrences of the classical world. This authoritative volume has no equal--nothing may be compared with it--and it is highly recommended. For a more convenient sized edition of the OCD, which treats the lives of influential men throughout antiquity, see Simon Hornblower's "Who's Who in the Classical World" (Oxford Paperback Reference).