This online resource provides details of a wide range of software which is available in the Internet for those studying or teaching classical subjects. Included are the following: instructional software for Latin, Greek, classical civilisation and etymology; productivity tools such as fonts and utilities; bibliographies; dictionaries; e-textbooks; and images. Where resources are available for free online, links are provided to the relevant websites; in the case of those which require payment of a fee, contact details for publishers are given. There is also on this website an archive of Rob Latousek’s 'Random Access' column in The Classical Outlook journal (1989-2008), updating teachers about computer-based tools with educational applications. Users may browse the topic and coverage of each column, then hyperlinks lead to the full-text of each article. There is a also resource guide to additional websites for the classics, which supplements the Directory.
The "Actas y Comunicaciones" (ISSN 1669-7286) from the University of Buenos Aires' Instituto de Historia Antigua y Medieval present research papers from the Institute in electronic format, in PDF files. The first issue of this electronic peer reviewed publication appeared in 2005, bringing together papers presented at a conference held at the Institute entitled 'Cuestiones historiográficas y representaciones históricas. Europa, ayer y hoy' (Historiographic Questions and Historical Representations. Europe, Yesterday and Today'). The articles are written in either Spanish or Italian and focus on such themes as: political power and intellectual development in the Middle Ages; the university as 'hammer and chisel' of medieval society, using 15th century Salamanca University as a case study; and, in a move away from medieval history, a study of Italian intellectuals and the fascist movement in Italy. The editors hope that the electronic format will permit greater dissemination of research output from the Institute, but they also welcome contributions from international scholars for future issues. At the time of review (2009) the PDF files three (2005-2007) of all four volumes posted online were not downloading properly.
Akropolis World News (AKWN) is a regularly updated website which promotes the study of the ancient Greek language by offering to its readers translations of current news stories into Greek (two similar sites, Nuntii Latini and Ephemeris, do the same thing for the Latin language). Most articles are composed by the site's author, although he also asks for Greek prose compositions from his readers. As well as the news articles featured (dating back to 2002), the site also offers: a page listing modern words (e.g. car, electricity) which do not have ancient Greek equivalents, along with the author's own suggestions for translation (based on modern Greek); a selection of ancient Greek prose translations by other authors on a range of topics (including, for example, a section of Descartes' Meditations and Hamlet's 'To be or not to be' soliloquy); and an annotated page of links to other sites relating to the Greek language. AKWN will benefit a wide range of classical scholars, particularly those who are learning the language for the first time, but also academics who want to expand the parameters of classical Greek composition.
The Etymological Dictionary of Classical Mythology is a website concerned with word origins, in particular with the etymology of English words which have their roots in ancient Greek and Roman mythology. Its main feature is a searchable etymological dictionary which lists proper names and other words originating in classical myth, along with brief definitions. The site also has sections devoted to ancient Greek and Latin words as used in astronomy, the calendar, personal names and conversational phrases, and a page on classical myth as found in popular culture (cinema, literature, brand names and song lyrics). A bibliography of secondary material is also provided. Whilst the site is an easily accessible quick reference tool for looking up unfamiliar terms, it is limited in its application as the definitions do not give references to the original ancient sources where the words and names can be found.
This website offers excellent free online tutorials in Ancient Greek. The site was developed by Donald Mastronarde based on his book and CD-ROM 'Introduction to Attic Greek', and features audio recordings to assist pronunciation, as well as interactive tests and exercises. The tutorials are divided into the following sections: a pronunciation guide; pronunciation practice; an accentuation tutorial; accentuation practice; principal parts; vocabulary; verb drill; noun drill; paradigms; and an English-Greek drill. The full tutorial consists of forty-two units, and, with appropriate commitment, should lead to a competent grasp of Ancient Greek. Anyone wishing to learn Greek would do well to have a look at this resource.
On the website of the classics scholar Andreas U. Schmidhauser there is a page on Apollonius Dyscolus, containing an introduction, a complete bibliography, works (in Greek) to download including the 1495 Aldina edition of Apollonius's Syntax and a list of Apollonius scholars. Apollonius was an influential Greek author of the second century AD, considered to be the founding father of European reflection on language. He wrote texts on morphology, syntax, prosody, semantics, orthography, and dialectology. The bibliography consists of around 340 items arranged alphabetically. Its compiler claims comprehensiveness for works written in English, French, German, Italian, or Latin. Review articles in the bibliography are hyperlinked to the entry they describe. The Aldina edition of the syntax is a very large file (17MB). The text is in Greek. The bibliography is not at present searchable, although it is possible to restrict the display to editions of Apollonius's works, or to translations of his primary texts. There is the option to subscribe to bibliography updates through an RSS feed.
This website is the home page for the Association of Latin Teaching (ARLT), an organisation which exists to promote the teaching of Classics and to give practical help to Classics teachers in secondary schools. Although the organisation's name suggests that it is concerned exclusively with the teaching of Latin, it promotes the study of all classical subjects in schools, including Greek and Classical Civilisation. The website features details of the Association's activities, which include residential training and refresher courses for teachers of Classics. The site also provides syllabus information and some useful worksheets which could be used for examination preparation. There is also a bulletin board for the discussion of teaching-related topics, a blog, and a list of links to sites of interest to classics teachers and classicists in general. These include some helpful teaching resources available on the Internet, information about forthcoming productions of Greek drama, and links to Classics departments at major universities. Many classics teachers would find this a useful site to bookmark. Some resources are only accessible to those who are teachers and who have registered with the site (this is free).
This clear and easy-to-use interactive website, 'Athenaze: Greek exercises', enables the user to test their knowledge of the ancient Greek language, with exercises for practising grammar, vocabulary and reading. Although the site is organised according to the chapter divisions of the Athenaze textbook, the user unfamiliar with the book will still be able to use this resource. The site features a wide range of exercises varying in level of difficulty from beginner to more advanced. Vocabulary tests are arranged according to word type (within the chapter divisions) or by random selection, and these exercises are generally multiple-choice, with either a drag-and-drop format to match ancient Greek with its English translation, or with drop-down menus for the user to select the correct answers. Grammar practice is similarly divided into sections on different forms of words and covers all of the key aspects of the language (including, for example: definite articles and noun endings; adjectives; all regular and irregular verb forms; pronouns; and adjectives). Some of the grammar exercises require Greek to be translated into English; others ask for the correct Greek text to be built from a clickable menu of Greek letters. The section on reading Greek features short passages of Greek text accompanied by multiple-choice questions to test the reader's understanding. This is an excellent resource which will be of use to anyone interested in improving their skills in ancient Greek.
This excellent online resource, from the BBC, is an accessible and vibrant introduction to various aspects of the ancient Greek world. The site consists of a series of articles contributed by respected UK academics but pitched at the general user or student with an interest in ancient history. Topics which are covered include: the Olympics, ancient and modern (with illustrated sub-sections on religion and the Olympics; prizes; women at the games; and victory statues); Athenian democracy; Lord Elgin and the Acropolis marbles; Alexander the Great; Minoan civilisation; the lost city of Atlantis; and Jason and the Golden Fleece. Articles are clearly set out and accompanied by images from ancient art and architecture. Links are given to relevant BBC radio and television programmes, along with links to other related articles on the BBC website and selected external sites.
Maintained by Michel Buijs of the University of Utrecht, this up-to-date online bibliography lists books and articles which will be of use to those working on various aspects of ancient Greek linguistics. The list is divided thematically into the following topics: clause types (participial clauses and subclauses); particles; pragmatics and word order; tense/aspect; reference works; and a miscellaneous section. There is also a list of links to other web resources for linguistics. The works which are featured on the list are written in a wide range of European languages. Most were written in the last twenty years, although reference is made to key texts from as far back as the late nineteenth century.
The Center for Epigraphical and Palaeological Studies site includes information about forthcoming events and courses (some of which are open to the general public) and offers several short-term post-doctoral fellowships in Greek and Latin epigraphy. The site (which is part of the Department of Greek and Latin at the Ohio State University) contains links to other related web-sites as well as images of inscriptions and manuscripts (ranging from Attic inscriptions to mediaeval Latin manuscripts). Unfortunately, as the site is still under construction most of these images are as yet unavailable, and so when one clicks on the images for Greek or Roman 'squeezes' (a plaster cast representation of an inscription) one is simply presented with a list of reference numbers. The dated Attic inscriptions do have pictures, but the images come without even the most basic commentary of what this inscription is, a reproduction of the text or translation, or the context in which it was found (all of which are essential). Reference numbers are provided so that one can look these inscriptions up in the relevant books which have all this pertinent information (but this defies the point of putting it on the web-site in the first place).
The checklist presented in this website is prepared by academic papyrologists from a variety of universities; its primary aim is to provide for papyrologists and librarians a complete bibliography of monographs, current and past, on documentary papyri written in Greek, Latin, Coptic and Demotic, and preserved on papyrus, ostraca, or wooden tablets. The site is published under the auspices of Duke University and achieves its aims admirably, providing a very full resource organised into a variety of sub-headings which are conveniently hot-linked at the side of every page. The site, which is frequently updated, is based on the fifth printed edition of the checklist (March 2001). Users should note that the site confines itself to documentary papyri, and no literary material is cited. Moreover, there are neither any actual papyri or texts available for viewing, nor any links to sites providing them. That said, the site should prove a useful bibliographic resource for scholars and graduate students working in this field.
The Claros website is a computerised concordance of the editions of ancient Greek inscriptions aimed at making it easier for specialist epigraphers and more general linguists, archaeologists and classicists to locate new editions of epigraphic texts published in the last 100 years. The database, published by the Diccionario Griego-Espanõl at the Instituto de Filologia in Madrid, assembles all the concordances found at the end of epigraphical publications as well as providing some new concordances for volumes of the Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum and other corpora which were originally published without them. While not exhaustive, the selection of material in the database is impressive and, along with the large bibliography which is also included, will be a major resource for researchers in classics, archaeologists and related. The website is available in Spanish, English and French.
The Classical Greek Fonts and Utilities website offers PC users several free downloadable fonts, keyboard utilities, and macros. There is a selection of both 'WinGreek' and Unicode fonts to choose from, some of which require that a particular utility be installed on the user's computer. Such utilities are necessary for typing using the font, in order to access all the required breathings and accents, and are available on the website. An example of such a utility is 'Son of WinGreek', which may be downloaded from the site. A more recent program, 'Antioch', takes advantage of the Unicode format that is offered by the more up-to-date word processors. This may also be obtained from the site. The site also offers help in deciding which font to choose, as well as explanations of how the different encoding systems work. There is also a help page with FAQs to assist with the installation and use of the fonts.
Provided by Princeton University, the website of the Classical Language Instruction Project (CLIP) makes available online recordings of extracts from classical Greek and Latin texts read by various scholars; the resource is designed to familiarise students with the sound of the ancient languages as they would have been spoken. A variety of styles of writing is presented, and both prose and poetry are featured. Extracts from works by the following authors can be found here: Homer; Plato; Pindar; Virgil; Tacitus; Horace; Ovid; Seneca; and Propertius. The sound recording of each extract is accompanied by the text in the original language; in most cases the user may also view an English translation if required. The site is clear and easy to navigate, and will be a valuable tool for those who are learning the ancient languages.
Hosted by the University of Liverpool's School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, Classics 08 is a website aimed at non-classicists as well as at those already involved in studying the ancient world. Its primary focus is on events hosted by a variety of classical clubs which encourage and support the study of the ancient Latin and Greek languages and classical society. In particular, these clubs aim to provide help for schools wishing to introduce classical subjects into their curricula. Of special interest to those involved in the teaching or study of ancient Greek, whether at school or university, will be a series of downloadable documents (in PDF format) which introduce clearly and concisely the basic aspects of the language. These provide a structured approach to the teaching of Greek to GCSE level and include: information on key aspects of grammar; translation exercises; and important vocabulary. The website also provides details of events hosted by the project, including: study days; summer schools; theatre workshops; guided tours of museums and classical sites; and social events. There is also a page of links to other websites of interest to classicists.
The Classics Technology Center is a website which provides a wealth of free electronic resources for the teaching and learning of Classics-based subjects. These range from school to university level and cover Greek and Latin languages, ancient history, archaeology and literature, as well as more general material and teaching tools to help with the use of web-based Classics resources. Also featured are pedagogical guidelines for teachers of Latin and Greek, and advice from classicists relating to the teaching of a range of topics based on personal teaching experience (themes covered include: classical literature; the Olympics; Alexander the Great; Latin mottoes; Roman gladiators; Plato; Troy; the Greek gods; Latin and Greek languages). There is also a 'showcase' of academic papers on teaching Classics, an extensive glossary of Greek and Latin terms, and a variety of word games and trivia quizzes, including a classical crossword. There is so much material here that the site can be difficult to navigate but teachers of classical topics will find that it is certainly worth spending time exploring what is available.
CPL Online is an e-journal produced by the Classical Association of the Middle West and South (Committee for the Promotion of Latin) and is written by, and aimed primarily at, those who are involved in teaching the Latin language at all levels. The journal is published twice a year and provides insights into and advice on teaching and pedagogical theory relevant to ancient language studies. Via the website users may access back issues of the journal dating from 2004. Articles cover Latin teaching at both school and university level and topics featured include: prose composition; Latin hexameter; grammar; epigraphy; and translation. Although the primary emphasis is on Latin there are also some articles on teaching ancient Greek. Articles may all be downloaded in PDF format. The website also provides details of the journal's editorial board.
The Diccionario Griego-Español (DGE) is a project based in the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (Madrid) which aspires to use modern lexicographical methods to provide a complete and up-to-date bilingual dictionary of ancient Greek and Spanish, with reference to all texts and papyri from Mycenean times to the end of antiquity. This website gives full details of the project, its authors and the current publication situation: information is given relating to the volumes and supplements published so far, along with details of how to order copies. There is a section on bibliography related to the DGE, including articles written both by its authors and its readers. The website provides other bibliographical tools too, including the Supplement to the Bibliographical Repertorium of Greek Lexicography (PBLG), which lists new publications in this field. Also found here is the Claros database, which offers a searchable concordance of Greek inscriptions designed to make it easier for those interested in epigraphy to locate new editions of the inscriptions.
The basis of the website "Die Sprache Alkmans : Textgeschichte und Sprachgeschichte" is the PhD thesis of George Hinge, written at the University of Aarhus and completed in 2001. The thesis is based upon the dialect and language used by Alcman of Sparta, the archaic Greek lyric poet (seventh century BC). Whilst the main text of the thesis is given in German, there are also summaries in English and Danish. Individual sections of the thesis focus on the following themes: the performance of Alcman's poems in antiquity; phonetics; morphology; phraseology; and metrical forms. There are also discussions of pronunciation of the Doric dialect. The overall argument of the thesis is that Alcman's dialect was fundamentally the same language as that used in other archaic poetry, but that the poetry which has been transmitted to us looks more like the Laconian vernacular because of local performance in Sparta. The site includes an extensive bibliography. The text is available either in HTML or as a PDF.
Enchiridion is online teaching guide by Elaine Woodward and Marianne Pagos of the Boston Latin School for those who want to learn ancient Greek. This e-book is available to download here in PDF format. Individual chapters cover the following topics relating to Greek grammar: the Greek alphabet and pronunciation; cases (nominative, accusative etc), number, and gender; nouns and their forms; verb forms and tenses; participles; pronouns. Each chapter provides both explanatory text and grammatical/translation exercises. Other pages of the website offer further exploration of the Greek language, and include: readings from Homer's Iliad for translation; a section listing prepositions; a list of irregular verbs; a 'glossary' (which is in fact a dictionary of transliterated Greek words); and an appendix of the various charts which appear in the main text. The site is easy to navigate and the text is clear.
Epidoc Aphrodisias Project (EPAPP) is the website which reports on a pilot collaborative scheme to develop and apply tools for publishing ancient Greek and Latin inscriptions on the Internet based on the principles of the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI). The Aphrodisias pilot scheme is concentrating on the digital publication of some 1000 inscriptions from the archaeologically rich site of Aphrodisias in Caria (south-western Turkey). The website includes a brief project description and four sample inscriptions and full critical apparatus based on the text of Charlotte Roueché's book Aphrodisias in Late Antiquity (1989). Background information and an extensive bibliography on the city and a history of past excavations are also provided within an efficient hypertext medium. In addition this website provides a searchable guide and links to the 93 projects currently using the TEI.
The project, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, is led by King's College London and includes the participation of: the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; the Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents, Oxford University; and the Institute of Classical Studies, University of London. While the substantive content of this website will chiefly be of value to specialist researchers in classical archaeology and epigraphy, this project has important implications for electronic publication in general and thus will interest a much wider audience in the humanities.
This is the home page of the Eton Greek Software Project, an excellent free online language tool for anyone who is learning classical Greek. On offer is a variety of programs which allow the user to test their knowledge of grammar and vocabulary (some require a Java-enabled browser or use Flash). This covers material from the course text 'Reading Greek' (one of the most popular Greek courses in higher education) as well as from AS level and GCSE syllabi. Tests can be customised to suit the user's requirements, according to level of difficulty, English to Greek or vice versa, length of time allowed, or types of words required. The tests are divided into the following sections: vocabulary; verbs; nouns; and adjectives. Copies of the Eton Greek word lists (with translations) for OCR GCSE and AS level are available to download in PDF format too; these contain key vocabulary which all Greek learners should know.
This Web page, created and maintained by Marc Huys, a professor of Ancient Greek at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium), provides detailed comments on all kinds of online resources on the ancient Greek language. It is divided into the following sections or subpages (note that some of the reviewed websites may be listed in more than one section): Greek fonts; the alphabet, numerals, accentuation and pronunciation; introductory language courses; elementary training; dictionaries and lexica; systematic grammar - morphology and syntax; history of the Greek language; advanced study of the language; the reading of ancient Greek texts; other online surveys and bibliographies. There is also a section which links to material for the promotion of the study of the Greek language. This website intends to support anyone teaching or learning ancient Greek, and to show the relevance of this language in today's world.
This website is primarily a well-annotated gateway providing links to and information about online resources which are specifically related to the study of the Greek language (covering ancient, New Testament and modern Greek). It features sections on: online bibliographies for works on Greek language and linguistics; web-based reference grammars and tutorials; details of lexica (both online and in print); ancient Greek manuscripts on the web; research projects on the Greek language; software links for learning and using Greek; downloadable Greek fonts. Resource links are accompanied by informative and concise evaluative descriptions. The site also contains short articles on the history of the Greek language, Linear B script and the Greek alphabet, along with a pronunciation guide.
Greek Prose Style is an informative and easy-to-use website which accompanies a course on Greek prose writing run by the Classics Department at the City University of New York. The course comprises an insight into the prose writings of various ancient Greek authors (from the fifth and fourth centuries BC) as well as the composition of Greek prose as translated from English. Authors who feature as part of the course include orators, historians and philosophers: Lysias; Anaxagoras; Plato; Gorgias; Antiphon; Isocrates; Thucydides; and Demosthenes. Introductory sketches of the work of each author are given here, along with links to online texts of their writing, analyses of some key passages and extracts from ancient commentators on their works. There is also: an extensive bibliography of secondary material (although unfortunately this is unannotated); a lengthy essay on Greek sentence structure; and a checklist highlighting the stylistic features used by each of the featured authors. Finally, users may also access here (under the link entitled 'Syllabus') assignments which were set for students on the course in 2007 - this may be useful for teachers planning to run a similar course.
Designed for both students and teachers of Classics, this is the website for the Joint Association of Classical Teachers (JACT), an organisation which promotes the teaching and learning of classics in schools and universities. JACT provides an information service for classicists, offering details of forthcoming events, productions of Greek plays and JACT summer schools for intensive study in Greek and Latin. The website also features: details of how to join or contact JACT; a range of teaching resources for Latin, Greek, Classical Civilisation and Ancient History in schools; information for teachers (including examination syllabi, announcements of job vacancies, school trips related to Classics, and specialist book stores); details of JACT's journals, 'Omnibus' and 'Journal of Classics Teaching' (with sample articles available online); information on projects supported by JACT; links to other Classics-related websites. Also featured is 'The Good Text Guide', a searchable guide to recommended editions of ancient texts.
The website of the Laboratorio Informatico per le Lingue Antiche (LILA) provides information about their software 'SNS - Greek and Latin'. The software is for Macintosh computers, and enables the user to search two important data banks of classical writing: the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae; and parts of the Packard Humanities Institute's bank. The Thesaurus Linguae Graecae contains ancient Greek texts ranging from Homer to authors in the fifteenth century A.D. The Packard data banks available to users are PHI #5.3, containing classic Latin texts, and PHI #7, containing Greek documentary papyri and inscriptions. The software provides the user with a fairly sophisticated search engine, catering for Boolean logic operators, special characters, and restrictions by various bibliographic factors. Results may be exported in different text formats.A single-user licence costs around 150 Euros. A free demonstration version of the software may be ordered from the site, although this allows access to a limited selection of the texts. The site also allows users to subscribe to the SNS mailing list.
Learn Greek Online provides free online courses in both Modern and Ancient Greek, from beginner to advanced levels. User registration is required to access the materials (in a Moodle learning environment), which consist of audio files and complementary lecture notes which illustrate and practice particular grammatical structures and develop vocabulary. An online Greek-English and English-Greek dictionary, and a Greek spell checker are also available here. Updates to the site are listed, and feedback is invited. The site also features a user discussion forum, where difficulties with the Greek language, as well as using the website, are discussed. All in all, this site should provide learners of Greek with useful practice material.
Let's Review Greek! is a website from Cornell College which brings together a range of useful resources designed to help the student of ancient Greek to revise their knowledge of the language independently. It states that it is aimed primarily at students who have been learning Greek for one or two years. Although much of its content is drawn from external websites (such as Perseus) the site is organised in such a way as to make it much easier for users to access manageable and relevant chunks of information quickly. A section on Greek grammar, language and culture gives links to pages on the alphabet, syntax and grammatical forms, as well as background information on Greek society. Further sections are entitled 'Easy Readings' and 'Intermediate Readings' and contain links to bite-sized extracts from original Greek texts (including New Testament works) which are selected in order to encourage students to practise reading the ancient language. Each extract is designed to take between fifteen and thirty minutes.
This is the website of the Lexicon of Greek Personal Names (LGPN) which is an ongoing project based at Oxford University, but using the expertise of scholars from several institutions across the world. It is an onomastic project, dealing with the study of ancient proper names and their origins. Its aim is to collect and publish all known ancient Greek personal names, drawn from all available sources; it encompasses all names recorded in Greek, and all Greek names recorded in Latin, from the beginnings of Greek writing to approximately the 6th century AD. Volumes are organised geographically, covering all regions in which Greek names were used, from Italy to Southern Russia to Asia Minor. The website offers: bibliographic data, reviews, statistics, and state-of-completion information for all current and forthcoming volumes of the LGPN; an introductory section on Greek names, including information on name formation and meaning, and also some details on modern Greek names; and an extensive archive of images of material objects with inscribed names (for example, tombstones, vases, inscriptions, ostraka and coins). The website does have a search tool which allows the user to ascertain how many times a particular name occurs in each of the LGPN's published volumes; however, only the statistics rather than the entries themselves can be viewed by those accessing the site from outside Oxford University.
This website describes the University of Cambridge’s Museum of Classical Archaeology. Located within the Faculty of Classics (although open to the public) the Museum is formed from a collection of some 450 plaster casts of ancient Greek and Roman sculpture, including many well known pieces, and is one of the few remaining of this (once common) type of study collection. Additionally, the Museum’s reserve research collection (consultation by appointment) includes a further 200 plaster casts, Greek vases, pottery sherds and epigraphic squeezes. Full lists of the casts and sherds are available in PDF documents, although a database is promised. The website explains the Collection’s history and highlights, such as The Peplos Kore a cast of an ancient Greek statue of a young girl which is as brightly painted as the original would have been when it was created. Other noted highlights include casts of the Lysikrates Monument, Sounion Kouros, Olympia Pediment and Farnese Heracles. The website also includes details of the museums services for schools and family activities. The museum is closed until spring 2010.
This is the website of the National Committee for Latin and Greek (NCLG), a North American organisation which promotes the study of Classics and raises public awareness of classical subjects. The site is also a useful source of support and information for those who teach classical subjects in schools and universities. Much of the material found here is aimed at justifying the study of Classics in the twenty-first century: various articles on the value of teaching Latin, Greek and the classical world are featured, along with links to articles in the media which may help to promote classical subjects by highlighting their relevance in the modern world. The site also gives details of useful teaching materials, books on the history of teaching Classics and information on curricula. Inevitably some of these are more relevant to colleagues in the US, although classicists elsewhere will find much that is of interest too. Other features include: details of North America's annual national Latin Teacher Recruitment Week; extracts from the NCLG's newsletter, Pro Bono; and pages of links to external classical sites.
This website gives access to a range of useful resources for teaching ancient Greek which were compiled by the site's author, Helma Dik of the University of Chicago. These handouts may be downloaded as PDFs and printed by the user. Grammatical topics covered include: verb endings and stems (regular and irregular verb forms in all tenses); a guide to the use of the subjunctive and optative; conditional sentences; declension of nouns and adjectives; pronouns and the definite article. There is also an introduction to breathings and accents, and a list of principal parts.
The Perseus Greek anthology is an online selection of popular passages from ancient Greek texts which feature in the Perseus digital library. Users may access either the passages in either the original language or in English translation. The following authors are featured: Euripides; Herodotus; Homer; Lysias; Plato; Sophocles; Thucydides; Xenophon; and the New Testament. The sections of text are also hyperlinked to other pages of the Perseus website, providing access to linguistic help and relevant secondary reading (including modern commentaries on the texts). This resource, providing as it does quick access to manageable chunks of texts, would be particularly useful for those involved in setting translation exercises for students.
This Web page provides access to a range of useful tools for searching and browsing the Perseus digital library, and is a good starting point for anyone who is unfamiliar with the Perseus online resource. There is a wide range of Latin and ancient Greek linguistic tools, including: word searches from English into Greek or Latin (using LSJ and Lewis and Short as their basis); morphological analyses for Greek and Latin words; tools which generate vocabulary lists for Greek and Latin texts; and a search which allows the user to find Greek or Latin words in context in the original texts. Other resources on classical topics include the following: the Perseus art and archaeology browser (catalogued elsewhere on Intute); a summary of information about all collections in the digital library, grouped by subject; an index for searching all English texts (primary and secondary) found on Perseus; the Perseus table of contents; an interactive atlas; and a variety of search tools. Links are also provided here to important documents giving further information about the Perseus resource, including: FAQs; information on displaying Greek fonts; help pages for the various tools listed above; and details of the website's policies.
This is the website of the Philoponia Project, a research group which is based at the Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge and which was formed with the aim of investigating the use of 'unseen' translations in the teaching of ancient Greek and Latin. In 2003 the project produced a report, entitled 'Rethinking Unseen Translation', which detailed the results of a survey of language instructors; this report may be viewed via the site. The website also offers a facility by which language teachers may share passages set for unseen translation; users may upload their own contributions or download those submitted by others. Each extract from an ancient text is assigned a level of difficulty and accompanied by brief notes detailing the thematic content of and syntactical topics covered by the passage. The original language text is also accompanied by background information. The site also offers an interactive document, in the form of a Microsoft Word template, which can be used by instructors as the basis of their own unseen translation exercises. This online resource will be of interest to those involved in the teaching of ancient Greek and Latin at all levels.
This regularly updated online resource, produced by Dr Marc Huys of the Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven, provides an annotated list of links to bibliographical sites for Classics. As well as listing general bibliographies, there are also links to bibliographies grouped by theme, including those on: literature; linguistics and grammar; mythology and religion; history; and archaeology. A further list details bibliographies arranged alphabetically according to the ancient author to whom they relate. This is a useful resource which will be a good starting point to those studying or teaching Classics and seeking details of secondary source material on specific topics.
Quasillum is an excellent resource for those involved in the study of ancient languages; it is a website which hosts online Latin and Greek study groups. These are in the form of mailing lists, to which users subscribe (at no cost); each consists of several smaller study groups, led by a co-ordinator who sets a study agenda, collects and collates assignments and then leads an online discussion about the assignments. The Latin and Greek lists each provide something for a range of abilities, from the beginner to the more experienced linguist. Anyone may join or leave a study group at any time. This is a good way for those studying the ancient languages independently to feel part of a wider learning community.
The LatinStudy list looks at classical, medieval and Neo-Latin authors. It uses Wheelock's Latin Reader as a textbook but also has at any one time several groups devoted to reading various ancient texts (for example, Cicero, Livy or Tacitus) in the original language.
The GreekStudy list has fewer active sub-groups: these look at Biblical (New Testament Greek) as well as Homeric and classical (Attic) Greek. Information is also provided about using Greek fonts (in Unicode and Betacode).
As well as the study lists, the site also provides access to Unicorn, a simple text editor and dictionary program for use with Latin, Hebrew and ancient Greek. This is freeware which requires that users have Java software in order to download it.
Written by William Harris, Professor Emeritus at Middlebury College, this web page consists of the text of an article designed to encourage independent study of Homeric poetry by those who already have a basic knowledge of the ancient Greek language. Harris puts forward some of the reasons why Homer is a good author with which to begin reading original texts (although many courses favour beginning with other authors), and also looks at some of the problems which may be encountered by the student reader of his epic poems. The text contains links to articles on other relevant topics, also written by William Harris (Greek musical pitch, and the Homeric tradition in the modern world). The paper also gives a detailed summary of some of the key texts and resources available to the student of Homeric Greek, as well as annotated bibliography on scholarly works providing background information.
The website of the School of History, Classics, and Archaeology at Birkbeck College, University of London, essentially provides information for those considering courses at Birkbeck, or who are already on one of the courses. However, the website also has a excellent set of resources aimed at its students which can be used by any interested party. The sections Undergraduate, Classics, and Medieval resources point the student towards useful websites and other resources in the field. There is also information on forthcoming conferences and projects within the School, as well as links to pertinent lecture and seminar lists at IHR and ICS. Each individual department has listings of its staff, their research interests, and contact details.
This is the website of the Society for the Oral Reading of Greek and Latin Literature (SORGLL), which adheres to the principle that literature written in the classical Greek and Latin languages was intended primarily for oral performance and that therefore the sounds of these languages are crucial for our understanding. As well as giving general information relating to the Society and its officers, this website contains downloadable recordings of spoken Latin and Greek accompanied by extracts of texts in both the original language and English translation. Greek authors who feature are: Homer; Archilochus; Alcman; Sappho; Sophocles; Pindar; Aristophanes; and Demosthenes; these are accompanied by a written and spoken guide to Greek pronunciation. Extracts in Latin are taken from works of: Terence; Cicero; Virgil; Catullus; Horace; Seneca; and Martial. Users will need to download RealPlayer in order to listen to the recordings.
This is the website of the Hellenic Society, one of the foremost organisations in the British Isles promoting the study of ancient Greek and Byzantine culture. Included here are: information on membership; details of publications (including the Journal of Hellenic Studies, Archaeological Reports and numerous supplementary volumes); details of available grants, prizes and support for schools; listings of events such as lectures and meetings; a list of the Society's current officers. Via the publications section users may also view contents lists for the Journal of Hellenic Studies from 1999-2008, along wiith abstracts for the volumes from 2001 onwards.
The SP Fonts Home Page (formerly the 'Scholars Press') contains several TrueType fonts that may be downloaded and used free of charge. The alphabets available are Greek, Hebrew, Coptic, and Syriac. The site includes two Greek fonts: SPDoric and SPIonic. Three Hebrew fonts are featured: SPTiberian; SPDamascus; and SPEzra. SPEdessa is a Syriac Estrangela font. SPAchmim is a Coptic font. Finally, SPAtlantis is a transliteration font that includes diacriticals and other special characters that allow the representation of numerous Indo-European, Semitic, and other languages. SPAtlantis is available in both Roman and Italic type. The Greek and Coptic fonts are largely based on the 'Thesaurus Linguae Graecae' encoding, with additional codes for Coptic characters not represented in the Greek encoding. The Hebrew and Syriac fonts follow the Michigan-Claremont encoding scheme.The fonts may be individually downloaded, and are compatible with PC and Mac computers. Each font has a .readme file explaining the standard keyboard mapping used by the font. Although the fonts are free to use, the website requests that permission be sought from the copyright holder before including the typefaces in commercial electronic products.
Studia Humaniora Tartuensia (SHT) is a peer-reviewed scholarly electronic journal which publishes research articles and notes in any area of the humanities, but some emphasis on classical studies, ancient history, neo-Latin studies, classical tradition, and the history of scholarship and philosophy. Published by the University of Tartu in Estonia, and online since 2000, SHT is a well-established and diverse journal which is sure to contain material of interest to scholars of classical studies and ancient history. Articles may be written in English, French, German and Latin. The journal provides a free mailing list to users wishing to keep informed of developments in the journal, and a news section for further information. Full article submission details are also provided.
This website has been designed to accompany Gavin Betts and Alan Henry's book, Ancient Greek (Teach Yourself Books), but will be of use to anyone who is learning the ancient Greek language. The main feature of the resource is a series of links providing online texts and English translations of the reading exercises from the book (short pieces of made-up prose or poetic text with key vocabulary, useful for unseen reading practice). Also given are the test exercises set in the textbook, with answers. The site also provides: a detailed glossary of grammatical terms; a table of the main prepositions used in Greek prose writing, along with meanings and the cases which they take; and a suggested list of books for further study of ancient Greek. The site would most be useful for those who already have a clear grasp of the language and wish to test their skills; it does not provide tuition in the basics of Greek for beginners.
Textkit is a free online learning resource for the study of Ancient Greek and Latin. Textkit's core site content is Greek and Latin public domain grammar books. These include classics such as North and Hillard's Greek Prose Composition, complete with keys to the exercises. These can be downloaded in PDF format. Featured language-related works include dictionaries, guides to prose composition and Greek and Latin language courses. Textkit also provides an extensive collection of classical ebooks by ancient Greek and Latin authors such as Aristotle, Herodotus, Plutarch, Lucretius, Cicero, Tacitus and Sophocles. Some of the texts are available in the original language, others only in translation. It is possible to search by author or by title of work. In addition to these features, the site provides links to tutorials and other online resources (including supported e-study groups, which are free to use, but which require the user to register with the site) for the study of Greek and Latin.
This is the website of the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (TLG), a research centre at the University of California, Irvine, which has digitized the majority of the corpus of extant Greek texts from Homer to fall of Byzantium in AD 1453. The main feature of the website is the search facility which allows users access to these texts online. Only subscribers (or those from subscribing institutions) may access the full database here; however, an abridged version is available for non-subscribers. This in itself is extensive and features texts by several key Greek authors including; Thucydides; Aeschylus; Euripides; Plutarch; Plato; and the Athenian orators. Users may browse the full texts or search for keywords. (It is necessary to have Greek fonts installed in order to view the Greek texts.) The website also includes details about the project itself, as well as details about how to subscribe.
This is an online version of S C Woodhouse's English-Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language, which was originally published in 1910. Woodhouse's original introduction, cited here, states that he based his lexicon on vocabulary found in the fifth-and fourth-century BC prose writers Thucydides, Plato, Xenophon, Demosthenes and the orators, and in the poets Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes. The user enters a search term in English and is then taken to an image of the page on which the term and its possible ancient Greek translations features. The site, produced by the University of Chicago Library, is both a useful tool for assistance with Greek prose or verse composition and an insight into the history of lexicography.
Worldwide Ancient Greek is a free-to-access website designed to complement Cecelia Luschnig's 'An Introduction to Ancient Greek: A Literary Approach'. It contains a wide range of materials designed to assist the student of the ancient language. Files are downloadable in PDF format and include: a selection of study guide with detailed introductions to grammar and syntax; reading aids which provide the user with passages of ancient Greek and translation help; a series of selections from original texts, including Homer, Sappho, Herodotus, Thucydides and Plutarch. These are manageable chunks of text which could all help to provide translation practice. A page of links useful to the student of Greek is also given, and there is a bibliography (entitled 'Read More About It') listing works about the Greek language and writing.
This is the website of the Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, an international journal of Greek and Roman antiquity focusing on research into epigraphic and papyrological material. This resource provides a guide to the contents of the journal from 1967 to the present together with the digitised texts of articles from 2001-2004 which are available free of charge for private study (free volumes made available might vary from year to year). The indexes of most volumes can be browsed in PDF format. The reproduced articles are in German, English, French and Italian.Information on the print version of the journal is also provided, such as editorial advice for authors and subscription details.This website provides useful a bibliographic guide to publications in an important classics and ancient history journal for university students and researchers, particularly for those competent in European languages.