Greek Grammar

Rating:
Summary: Still the best Greek grammar
Review: I am sad to say that I never bought this Grammar during my four years of studying Classics while in college. If I had been smart and actually bought this when I started I could have saved myself a lot of time and prevented a lot of headaches. Now I know that Smythe is old, and some of his approaches are outdated, but that does not mean his grammar book is still effective. His work on both prepositions and moods of verbs are the best I have found and have helped me tremendously. There are some scholars who have surpassed Smythe's work in other areas of Greek grammar and syntax, but as far as a basic and comprehensive grammar goes, Smythe is still the best for your both your wallet and your studies.

Rating:
Summary: Still the best Greek grammar
Review: I am sad to say that I never bought this Grammar during my four years of studying Classics while in college. If I had been smart and actually bought this when I started I could have saved myself a lot of time and prevented a lot of headaches. Now I know that Smythe is old, and some of his approaches are outdated, but that does not mean his grammar book is still effective. His work on both prepositions and moods of verbs are the best I have found and have helped me tremendously. There are some scholars who have surpassed Smythe's work in other areas of Greek grammar and syntax, but as far as a basic and comprehensive grammar goes, Smythe is still the best for your both your wallet and your studies.

Rating:
Summary: Essential for study of Classical Greek
Review: Not for the beginner (or the fainthearted!) this nevertheless is a nonpareil of a reference for Greek grammar. While a book with chapter titles like "The Antecedent Of Relative Clauses" isn't going to hit the Barnes & Noble front window any day soon, those engaged in the lifetime study of Greek would do better to refer to this than to Goodwin, except perhaps for information on moods. There is an excellent overview of variation in dialects, and the examples given are well-chosen and helpful. I see I am the first to write a review for Mr Smythe -- now, gods, stand up for grammars!

Rating:
Summary: Need this book be praised?
Review: Smyth is the only grammar for ancient Greek worth buying (besides the advanced treatments of specialized topics like Goodwin on the moods and tenses and Denniston on the particles). Unlike Latin, where the field of grammars is much wider, Smyth is the only English grammar of ancient Greek comprehensive enough to warrant any attention from Hellenists. Goodwin and Gulick's volume is too sparse in comparison (but note they cover prosody and Smyth does not) while Kaegi's is a step below theirs in depth. Ideally all intermediate level Greek students will begin to use this text as a reference grammar. Very reasonably priced for the wealth of information it contains. The book itself is also durable and will endure years of constant thumbing.

Rating:
Summary: Need this book be praised?
Review: Smyth is the only grammar for ancient Greek worth buying (besides the advanced treatments of specialized topics like Goodwin on the moods and tenses and Denniston on the particles). Unlike Latin, where the field of grammars is much wider, Smyth is the only English grammar of ancient Greek comprehensive enough to warrant any attention from Hellenists. Goodwin and Gulick's volume is too sparse in comparison (but note they cover prosody and Smyth does not) while Kaegi's is a step below theirs in depth. Ideally all intermediate level Greek students will begin to use this text as a reference grammar. Very reasonably priced for the wealth of information it contains. The book itself is also durable and will endure years of constant thumbing.

Rating:
Summary: The best for all pre-modern Greek except Hellenistic.
Review: This is an excellent reference book! It has passed the test of heavy usage, and it has outlasted many academic fads.

Smyth does a thorough yet concise job on the known varieties of written Greek usage from the Homeric epics up to the beginning of the Hellenistic period .

Smyth does not cover Hellenistic (Koiné) Greek as much, especially not for texts that have Semitic or Egyptian "flavors:" the Septuagint, New Testament and Egyptian Greek papyri. For real grammars on those, look up these authors: Wallace, Dana, Mantey, Robertson, Blass, Debrunner, Funk, Conybeare, Stock and Zerwick.

Some writers in the centuries between the reigns of Augustus and Constantine, and the Byzantines afterward, tried to "return" to Classical Attic usage in writing, with mixed results. When reading them, use both Smyth and a Hellenistic/Koiné grammar together, carefully.

Rating:
Summary: You will thank yourself.
Review: This specific edition of the book is a joy. The brilliant oxblood leather cover, the cream-colored pages, intoxicating in their aroma. You think I'm a fool, but this book is a dream. And as a grammar, it's indispensable. Read what the other reviewers have said, then read what I have and decide: is $30 too much to spend for such a valuable reference, and so beautiful a book besides? I think not.

Rating:
Summary: You will thank yourself.
Review: This specific edition of the book is a joy. The brilliant oxblood leather cover, the cream-colored pages, intoxicating in their aroma. You think I'm a fool, but this book is a dream. And as a grammar, it's indispensable. Read what the other reviewers have said, then read what I have and decide: is $30 too much to spend for such a valuable reference, and so beautiful a book besides? I think not.