Homeric Dictionary - is it worth it?

[JauneFlammee]

I'm reading the Iliad using the LSJ lexicon, however I read on Amazon about the homeric dictionary and some people reported you can read Homer about twice as fast compared to using a regular lexicon. Has anybody used it and can recommend it? Does it have help with odd,unusual forms?

[annis]

Which Homeric dictionary? There are two for English that I know of currently in print. One by Cunliffe, A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, and one by Autenrieth, A Homeric Dictionary.

I have both, but very much prefer Cunliffe. It is better with unusual verb forms, and it has fuller grammatical information. However the full listing of many verb forms, both in the main listing and also within word articles, as well as the tendency to cite book and verse examples of particular usages makes Cunliffe a rather larger work. The definition of [face=spionic]i(kne/omai[/face] takes up two full columns.

Autenrieth is smaller, has pictures for things like sailing terminology, but omits the gender of nouns which is occasionally annoying. A.'s definition of [face=spionic]i(kne/omai[/face] takes up 10 lines.

[Homerus]

I think LSJ is the most useful lexicon we can read. But if you read Homer, you can also use the lexicon-in-progress published (showly) by Madrid University (Diccionario Griego-Espanol, DGE). It is particularly useful for etymology: but there are only six fascicles, form alfa to half epsilon.

[JauneFlammee]

Sorry, I didn't realize there was more than one, the specific one I'm referencing is Autenrieth, A Homeric Dictionary.

I'm not doing any scholarly work, just reading for sheer pleasure. As such, the quicker I can look things up the better.

Thanks

[annis]

Sorry, I didn't realize there was more than one, the specific one I'm referencing is Autenrieth, A Homeric Dictionary.

I'm not doing any scholarly work, just reading for sheer pleasure. As such, the quicker I can look things up the better.

If you can't immediately recognize a form like [face=spionic]e)/san[/face] you might find Cunliffe, though bigger, much more help with the Epic dialect surprises.

[chad]

the perseus website has the autenrieth dictionary online for free... click any word in the iliad and it will give you the option of seeing the lsj, middle lsj or autenrieth articles on the word. using the online dictionaries like that is quite a quick way to pick up the iliad's vocab. cheers, chad.

[annis]

But if you read Homer, you can also use the lexicon-in-progress published (showly) by Madrid University (Diccionario Griego-Espanol, DGE). It is particularly useful for etymology: but there are only six fascicles, form alfa to half epsilon.

Oh my, oh my, oh my. 90 euros a volume!

I wish they gave more example pages. It looks like an impressive undertaking, and inspires covetousness.

[swiftnicholas]

I know this reply is late, but perhaps it will serve someone who discovers this site late--like myself. The LSI is a wonderful dictionary, but the Cuncliffe Lexion of the Homeric Dialect is indispensible for reading that author. It offers more forms than the Autenrieth, which makes referencing, and therefore reading, much quicker, not more complicated. It also serves as a substantial concordance, so you can often find the exact reference from the Iliad or Odyssey listed for the several definitions. The edition I have is a paperback, and was worth a hundred times what I paid for it--but perhaps it is somewhere online for free??

[GlottalGreekGeek]

There are sample pages of Cunliffe (Amazon.com "Look Inside" feature), but I doubt that the whole thing is availible for free online. Autenrieth [face=spionic]me/n[/face] is at Perseus because it's public domain, and Perseus didn't have to spent a cent to get permission to post it. Cunliffe [face=spionic]de/[/face] is copyright some time in the 1970's I believe, and therefore either Cunliffe himself or some heir still collects royalties on sales (if Cunliffe himself, he deserves it), and anyone who wanted to post it online would have to pay them money, and probably charge the users money in turn.

[Snakeblack]

Somebody can help me?I need know what is the differences of greck Homeric and dialet Koine.Tanks.

[Adelheid]

Hi Snakeblack,

Perhaps the info about Greek dialects under the forum 'Learning Greek' will give you some idea?

Regards,
Adelheid