The Pocket Oxford Classical Greek Dictionary

Rating:
Summary: Nothing to replace Liddell-Scott abridged
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: An okay dictionary, but inferior to the Langenscheidt
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: A Good, Little "Pocket" Dictionary
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: A Good, Little "Pocket" Dictionary
Review: 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.