Rating: 
Summary: A useful and manageable lexicon!
Review: Although at times the type size of the "Middle Liddell" can be a bit small for tired eyes, this version of this standard work is perfect for the student of ancient Greek. It is physically much smaller and more manageable than the full size Liddell and Scott (also known as the "Big Liddell" or the "Great Scott"), yet far more complete than the smallest version of the series. I have found few words that are not in this intermediate lexicon, and those were all of a very specific and rare dialect. I would heartily recommend this particular volume, particularly in comparison with the unwieldy larger version. The intermediate lexicon is comphrensive, useful for all periods of ancient Greek, and is not too large to carry in a backpack or briefcase. Best of all, it is far cheaper than the "Great Scott"!
Rating: 
Summary: Fair as a star when only one/Is shining in the sky
Review: Dictionaries, however much we feel the need for them, always have to be handled with a certain amount of caution. Anyone involved in the compilation of such a work of reference has to be a jack of rather too many trades for total reliability. In even the best modern English dictionaries the derivation of words can often be seen to be dubious or even plain wrong by someone who has the requisite academic linguistic grounding. Such a grounding is infrequent, those working on the chain-gangs producing the dictionary are often not aware that there is anything lacking, but the general public are prone to believe that everything in so august a publication must flow directly from some fount of all wisdom and knowledge. Lewis and Short's Latin dictionary, the standard work of its kind for English-speaking readers of Latin, exhibits at one point the glaring and elementary error of stating that the feminine adjective Libyssa, Latinised from Greek, has some corresponding masculine formation Libyssus, and when I last saw the book nobody seemed to have picked the error up.
Greek itself is a bigger and more complex language than Latin, but the task of the lexicographer with Greek is in some ways easier. Greek is a much more self-contained language, although it was written in antiquity in a large variety of dialects, and the dialect that predominates in its literature, the Attic dialect of Athens, is in many ways idiosyncratic and untypical. In compiling this volume the editors have decided, very reasonably, to include all vocabulary from Homer to the end of the Attic period, and also to include some important extras, notably words used in the Koine of the New Testament. These days it is likely that the proportion of students of Greek who approach it with a view to studying scripture is higher than it was half a century and more ago, in proportion as traditional classical studies have declined. With this in mind I started with a scriptural word, and I got an unpleasant shock. The word `skarphos', the supposed `mote' in someone's eye in Matthew, is not even there. I picked this word because skarphos means a stick, not a mote, and I had wished to see how the dictionary dealt with it. Not at all was the answer I got. I had better luck with a dozen or so other words, but even in such a small set of searches I also found that the Grecised equivalent of the Latin coin a `quadrans' is not there either.
The real reason for deficiencies of this kind is that the focus is strongly on Attic, and properly so when this work was put together a century and a quarter ago. They have a brave go at Homer, but some familiar old nonsense is still here in my pristine-quality new volume. Could you be capable of supposing that Homer talked about `convoluted cows' or `crumpled cows'? I thought not. Translating `helikas bous' as `cows with crumpled horns' may save embarrassment, but the Greek says nothing about horns. The ancient scholars told us that this `helix' is a word meaning dark or black, coincidental in form with the word for a whorl. They give no further explanation, but it certainly makes better sense to think of `helikopes' when applied to the Achaeans as meaning `dark eyed' and not some ludicrous image of them characterised by rolling their eyes, which is what the dictionary would have us believe. If the expression may be forgiven, I consider these poor crumpled cows to be my betes noires. They are just black cows, the poor things. Again, the reader of book IV of the Odyssey is brought up short at the end of the very first line with the adjective `ketoessan' applied to Lacedaemon. I suppose it has to be translated as something, but in the first place the ancient commentators make no bones about it that the meaning of the word was long lost even in their time, and in the second `cavernous' is not even true.
If I seem to focus overly on shortcomings I would do the same with any other dictionary. Sometimes we know no better and have to trust the dictionary, but when we do know better there is no reason for superstitious awe. This book is an excellent practical solution to the unwieldy 2-volume format of the original Liddell and Scott. Some urges will just not be denied, and I simply have to read Greek again. I am encouraged and not a little excited at how well in general my memory has retained my Greek over nearly half a century, and I have every confidence in the basic work of reference that I have just acquired in this convenient shape and size.
Rating:
Summary: Still the best!
Review: I purchased this Greek lexicon for my beginner's Greek class during my Sophmore year of college and I would never dream of using anything else; No matter what other lexicons I have sampled or used, I still maintain that the Liddell and Scott is the definitive and best lexicon avaialable for both New Testament students and Classical Greek students alike. The entries are succinct yet informative, listing numerous uses of prepositions and naming constructions. Furthermore, word entries display where certain words are used in specific Greek texts and gives varying definitions for each different usage. Another nice aspect is that the compilers studied the usage of words all the way from Homeric Greek to New Testament Koine Greek, so you are definitely getting a full range of definitions. This is easily a must have purchase for any serious Greek student and one that you will not soon regret.
Rating:
Summary: Still the best!
Review: I purchased this Greek lexicon for my beginner's Greek class during my Sophmore year of college and I would never dream of using anything else; No matter what other lexicons I have sampled or used, I still maintain that the Liddell and Scott is the definitive and best lexicon avaialable for both New Testament students and Classical Greek students alike. The entries are succinct yet informative, listing numerous uses of prepositions and naming constructions. Furthermore, word entries display where certain words are used in specific Greek texts and gives varying definitions for each different usage. Another nice aspect is that the compilers studied the usage of words all the way from Homeric Greek to New Testament Koine Greek, so you are definitely getting a full range of definitions. This is easily a must have purchase for any serious Greek student and one that you will not soon regret.
Rating:
Summary: My studies are much easier now.
Review: I've been studying Greek for a year now and I wish I had started with this dictionary. I have both the "Giant" and the "Abridged" Liddell/Scott, but these were too big and too small. Also, neither of these is as clear as the "Intermediate".The Complete Liddell/Scott obviously has its place, but I haven't needed it more than rarely since I got this version. I guess I'm not saying anything which was not already stated in the other reviews, but I wish someone had made this clear to me a year ago.
Rating:
Summary: Not optional
Review: Some kind of Liddell-Scott Lexicon simply mandatory for any student of Greek. This middle edition is the most commonly used because the exhaustive edition is too large to carry. If you can still find the "little Liddell", though, I suggest you get that, as well. Even this edition is a little bulky to carry around. This lexicon tends to focus on the attic form of Greek mostly, but also indicates Koine, Ionic and Homeric usage. It even tells you how individual sources (such as Xenophon, Herodotus, Plato, etc) use certain words. This is indepsensible, since different authors use the same words to mean different things quite often. I cannot tell you how many times (when I was translating the Cyropaidea for a class) I looked up a word, only to find that Xenophon employed a special meaning to it. It was a lifesaver. Other lexicons/dictionaries would not have been sufficient.
Rating:
Summary: Not optional
Review: Some kind of Liddell-Scott Lexicon simply mandatory for any student of Greek. This middle edition is the most commonly used because the exhaustive edition is too large to carry. If you can still find the "little Liddell", though, I suggest you get that, as well. Even this edition is a little bulky to carry around. This lexicon tends to focus on the attic form of Greek mostly, but also indicates Koine, Ionic and Homeric usage. It even tells you how individual sources (such as Xenophon, Herodotus, Plato, etc) use certain words. This is indepsensible, since different authors use the same words to mean different things quite often. I cannot tell you how many times (when I was translating the Cyropaidea for a class) I looked up a word, only to find that Xenophon employed a special meaning to it. It was a lifesaver. Other lexicons/dictionaries would not have been sufficient.
Rating:
Summary: A must have for any student of Ancient Greek
Review: This is one of those indispensible tools that the student of the Greek language must NOT be without. While not as in-depth as the "Great Scott" the "Middle Lidell" is priced very well and is has more than enough references and is more than concise for an advanced study of the language of Ancient Greece. I would highly recommend this Lexicon over the other versions of the Lidell-Scott series due to its size and price. From the most advanced to the beginning students this lexicon will find a very useful place in any students library.
Rating:
Summary: A must have for any student of Ancient Greek
Review: This is one of those indispensible tools that the student of the Greek language must NOT be without. While not as in-depth as the "Great Scott" the "Middle Lidell" is priced very well and is has more than enough references and is more than concise for an advanced study of the language of Ancient Greece. I would highly recommend this Lexicon over the other versions of the Lidell-Scott series due to its size and price. From the most advanced to the beginning students this lexicon will find a very useful place in any students library.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: This is perfect for any Greek student no matter what the year of learning. I find that it helps even in my first year of Greek to have a comprehensive Lexicon that is affordable.
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