Customer Reviews

Pocket Oxford Classical Greek Dictionary

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The POCKET OXFORD CLASSICAL GREEK DICTIONARY is one of the few compact classical Greek dictionaries available today. However, I found it an inferior offering.

The dictionary is derived from the dictionary of Karl Feyerabend, but it presents a significantly reduced version. Considering that even Feyerabend's dictionary didn't contain every word used in beginner texts such as Xenophon's ANABASIS, it is unfortunate that it has even been been slimmed down here. While called a "pocket" dictionary, the Oxford dictionary is actually the size of a trade paperback and somewhat hefty. Instead of giving a large classical Greek - English section, the editors have instead chose to include an English - Greek section, which will be of very limited use for most students. Bizarrely, while the English - Greek section contains proper names, students wondering how a Greek proper name should be rendered in English will get no assistance from this dictionary. Finally, I found the page layout poor. Oxford has issued this dictionary in the same "trendy" style as its modern language and Latin offerings, which does the student a disservice because it packs fewer words and definitions onto each page, and is difficult on the eyes.

This dictionary does have two positive features. The list of principal parts for 101 irregular verbs is a great help for first-semester university students. There is a list of numerals (cardinals, ordinals, and adverbs) which may also prove helpful to some. This might, however, result in some unnecessary duplication for students who also carry around the fine OXFORD GRAMMAR OF CLASSICAL GREEK, which has the same information.

I would recommend the LANGENSCHEIDT POCKET GREEK DICTIONARY over this Oxford dictionary. It presents Feyerabend's dictionary in its entirety, merits the title "pocket dictionary", and has a page layout that is much more usable. Furthermore, its binding is superior and will survive several years of travel in a bookbag, unlike the common paper binding of the Oxford dictionary.

While the POCKET OXFORD CLASSICAL GREEK DICTIONARY may be suitable for schools, I do not think it meets the needs of university undergraduates. Classics students looking for a pocket dictionary would be well advised to get the Langenscheidt dictionary instead. And if one is serious about classical Greek, saving's one pennies for Liddel and Scott's Greek Lexicon is a good idea in any case.

Although Pocket Oxford Classical greek dictionary claims to be ideal for anyone starting to learn Classical Greek, it definitely is not.

There is a somewhat useful irregular verb table (top 101 irregural verbs, though one might disagree on what counts as a top 101 irregular verb). This is handy for beginner, yet it renders itself useless pretty soon (as one is able to memorize more than those top 101 irregulars pretty soon).

What is the most disgusting aspect of this piece of dictionarical crap are missing themes of verbs. A decent dictionary of Classical Greek should give you at least present, future, aorist and perfect of a verb: this book generously presents you with just present, which is almost completely useless piece of information (as any beginner student of Classical Greek knows).

I recommend instead of this dictionary abridged version of Greek-English lexicon by Liddell and Scott or full featured version of same title. Do not buy this item, it definitely is not worth it.

This is a fun little book. It claims that it is the only recent Greek-English and English-Greek dictionary. The English-Greek section occupies only about the back quarter of the book, but if you are a beginning or intermediate student of Greek who often thinks "I wonder what ______ is in Greek?" this might be a worthwhile purchase considering the reasonable price. It should not be considered a substitute for a larger, more comprehensive lexicon, but its title as a "pocket" dictionary well describes its use as a highly portable and simple reference.
It is very much like small, paperback dictionaries of other languages. It is useful for beginners wondering about words outside of their textbook, and it is a quick reference for somewhat more advanced students.

This dictionary is worth something because it has English to Greek entries. The section with Greek names and proper nouns is also quite useful for pronunciation and reference.

That being said, the lack of verb principal parts makes this dictionary rather weak. For students of Ancient Greek it is essential to have access to every verb form. What could be a five star product gets only three for this "bush league" error.

Pros:
- good, easy to read format
- selection of ancient greek names
- comprehensive greek section
- map of ancient Greece
- good alphabet table in front

cons:
- the english to greek section is VERY short and not very comprehensive.
- the section on grammer/pronunciation is only three pages long

All in all, an okay buy.

Very helpful for first year greek student. This is not a comprehensive dictionary but for the price you can't beat it. You could spend the $150 for a comprehensive one but I don't reccommend it.

Finally we have a classical Ellenic dictionary that has an English to Greek section and a complete section on numerals. Exactly why every text on the classical Greek language seems to shy away from the simple matter of counting from one to ten has always been a mystery to me, but now the point is moot. I got this book in the mail a week ago and can now toss my Langenscheidt in the trash.

The book is small, so I easily hold it in one hand while writing with the other. It contains nearly all the words I try to look up. However, I am trying to read the Septuagint, and a few words I need are not in this little Morwood and Taylor. Perhaps I am being unfair: these words seem also not to be in the Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon of Liddell and Scott.

This book is concise, clearly organized ancient Greek-English dictionary. It also contains a pronunciation guide and list or irregular verb. The printing of the entry is very clear, and gives the article and genitive for the nouns--a great pocket dictionary!

Just what I expected in a Greek to English Dictionary.... Oxford books are expected to be top notch and again this one is just what I expected it to be. I would recommend this book....