Monro?

[Lex]

At what point in a Homeric Greek student's "career" does Monro come in most handy, and why?

[jk0592]

I would say as soon as possible. But it might be a good idea to go through quite a few Lessons in Pharr before, or whatever book you are using for Homeric studies. This is to make sure you are having fun with learning Greek, and then when you wish for more details than Pharr provides, you have Monro to rely on.

By the way, Monro is available as a pdf file freely distributed.

[Lex]

Thanks for your comment.

I have a PDF version already, but it is cumbersome to read on my computer. I'm wondering about the BCP reprint. I saw post to the effect that it was hard to read. Is that simply because of small print, or because of a poor fascimile edition? Can anybody who owns a copy give their opinion?

[annis]

I'd actually consider this secondary to Smyth, until intermediate stages.

My own copy is a reprint by William H. Allen, but I've handled the newer reprint once. It seems ok, but these things are always glorified photocopies — they depend a lot on the quality of the book they're being copied from.

[Auberon]

This is a very old thread, but I thought I would chime in anyway.

My copy of Monro's Homeric Grammar is indeed the Bristol Classical Press printing. Some of the pages have type that appears a bit faded, but at no point does it threaten to be unreadable.

If you can read French, Pierre Chantraine's Grammaire Homérique is lovely as well. I have the first volume that focuses on phonetics and morphology. I understand it has been reprinted or will be soon. (I have a somewhat weathered copy of a 1948 printing.)

Smyth's grammar is comprehensive---anyone studying any period of Greek should have it.