Finding Old Greek-Latin Lexicons

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Bernd Strauss
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Finding Old Greek-Latin Lexicons

Post by Bernd Strauss »

There are many ancient and medieval monolingual Greek lexicons, such as those attributed to Hesychius, Harpocration, Pollux, Moeris, Aelius Dionysius, Orus, and Orion. There is also a big old lexicon called Suda.

https://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/201 ... antiquity/

There must also be bilingual lexicons, such as Greek-Latin. Where can I find a list of ancient and medieval Greek-Latin or Latin-Greek lexicons? What lexicons are you aware of?
Jonathan Robie
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Re: Finding Old Greek-Latin Lexicons

Post by Jonathan Robie »

Here's one starting point:

https://charlesasullivan.com/tag/google-books/
https://charlesasullivan.com/2179/ancie ... tionaries/

Stephanus is really worth looking at, and it has significantly influenced many later lexicons.
ἐξίσταντο δὲ πάντες καὶ διηποροῦντο, ἄλλος πρὸς ἄλλον λέγοντες, τί θέλει τοῦτο εἶναι;
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Bernd Strauss
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Re: Finding Old Greek-Latin Lexicons

Post by Bernd Strauss »

Thank you for the references. The lexicons mentioned in the links are from the modern period (16th century onward).

In the study which I am doing, I want to quote Latin definitions of certain Greek words from lexicons produced at the time when the Koine Greek language was still in use. A Wikipedia article gives the period of the Koine Greek language: “300 BC – 300 AD (Byzantine official use until 1453)”

Is there a list of Greek-Latin lexicons from ancient and medieval times (before the 15th century)?
Jonathan Robie
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Re: Finding Old Greek-Latin Lexicons

Post by Jonathan Robie »

Bernd Strauss wrote: August 6th, 2018, 1:27 pm Thank you for the references. The lexicons mentioned in the links are from the modern period (16th century onward).

In the study which I am doing, I want to quote Latin definitions of certain Greek words from lexicons produced at the time when the Koine Greek language was still in use. A Wikipedia article gives the period of the Koine Greek language: “300 BC – 300 AD (Byzantine official use until 1453)”

Is there a list of Greek-Latin lexicons from ancient and medieval times (before the 15th century)?
Hmmm, I imagine they exist. I don't read Latin, but I bet the introduction to Stephanus would mention them, perhaps you can find them by reading his intro here?

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id= ... =1up;seq=7
ἐξίσταντο δὲ πάντες καὶ διηποροῦντο, ἄλλος πρὸς ἄλλον λέγοντες, τί θέλει τοῦτο εἶναι;
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Jonathan Robie
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Re: Finding Old Greek-Latin Lexicons

Post by Jonathan Robie »

Micheal Palmer lists these ancient Greek lexica, but none seem to be Greek / Latin. There are links in his original post.
Ancient Greek Lexicographers: Writers in the ancient world who produced dictionaries or word lists to help readers and orators

Ἀμερίας (3rd century BC)

Amerias was a Macedonian lexicographer. He is known for a work entitled Γλῶσσαι that included Homeric vocabulary as well as vocabulary from later Greek. Little of the work seems to have been specifically Macedonian.

Ἀριστοφάνης of Byzantium (c. 257 BC – c. 185–180 BC)

Inventor of one of the first systems of punctuation, quite unlike modern punctuation, and used only in poetry, Aristophanes of Byzantium also compiled collections of archaic and unusual words with explanations. His 'punctuation' system used medial (·) lower (.) and higher (·) dots as indicators of pauses and breathing when reading poetry aloud. The segments of text after which these dots were used gave us our modern English words comma, colon, and period. Aristophanes dots did not indicate anything about the linguistic structure of the texts in which they appeared. They only indicated pauses and breathing for oral recitation.

Δίδυμος Χαλκέντερος (c. 63 BCE to 10 CE)

A prolific writer of commentaries on literary works, Didymos chalkenteros also wrote a treatise on words of ambiguous or uncertain meaning (at least seven volumes) and one on corrupt or 'false' expressions. Both are now lost.

Ἡσύχιος ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς (late 5th century CE)

Hesychius of Alexandria was a Greek grammarian who flourished near the end of the 5th century CE. He compiled the most thorough lexicon of unusual and obscure Greek words that has survived. It exists now in a single 15th century manuscript.

Φιλίτας/Φιλήτας of Cos (Κως) (c. 340 – c. 285 BC)

Philitas wrote a vocabulary entitled Ἄτακτοι γλῶσσαι (Disorderly words) explaining the meanings of rare literary words, words from local dialects, and technical terms. This work, now lost, may have taken the form of a lexicon.

Φίλων of Byblos (c. 64-141 CE)

Philo of Byblos wrote, among his many works, a dictionary of Greek synonyms.

Σιμμίας ὁ Ῥόδιος (before 300 BCE)

A tenth-century manuscript—the Σοῦδα—attributes three γλῶσσαι (lists of unusual words with explanations) to Simmias of Rhodes.

Στέφανος Βυζάντιος (6th century CE)

Stephanus of Byzantium wrote a geographic dictionary entitled Ἐθνικά. Only small fragments remain, though an epitome compiled by Hermelaus has survived.
ἐξίσταντο δὲ πάντες καὶ διηποροῦντο, ἄλλος πρὸς ἄλλον λέγοντες, τί θέλει τοῦτο εἶναι;
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Bernd Strauss
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Re: Finding Old Greek-Latin Lexicons

Post by Bernd Strauss »

Yes, the link does not list Greek-Latin lexicons but deals with monolingual Greek lexicons. Ancient and medieval monolingual Greek lexicons are discussed in Eleanor Dickey’s book Ancient Greek Scholarship, pp. 87-105:
3.2 Lexica 87
3.2.1 Hesychius 88
3.2.2 Suda 90
3.2.3 Etymologica 91
3.2.4 Aristophanes of Byzantium 92
3.2.5 Harpocration 94
3.2.6 Ammonius / Herennius Philo 94
3.2.7 Pollux 96
3.2.8 Phrynichus 96
3.2.9 Antiatticista 97
3.2.10 Moeris 98
3.2.11 Philemon 98
3.2.12 Aelius Dionysius and Pausanias 99
3.2.13 Oros and Orion 99
3.2.14 Cyrillus 100
3.2.15 Stephanus 101
3.2.16 Photius’ Lexicon 101
3.2.17 Sunagwgh; levxewn crhsivmwn 102
3.2.18 Lexicon aiJmwdei÷n 102
3.2.19 Zonaras 102
3.2.20 Other lexica 102
3.3 Other types of work 103
3.3.1 Photius’ Bibliotheca 103
3.3.2 Hephaestion 104
3.3.3 Stobaeus 105

A list of bilingual Greek-Latin Lexicons may be discussed in the book Classical Dictionaries: Past, Present and Future, but I do not have access to it.

https://books.google.com/books?id=7vgwQ ... dir_esc=y

The review states: "This is the first book to be devoted to its subject, offering a wide-ranging introduction to dictionaries of Latin and Greek from the ancient world to the present. "
MAubrey
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Re: Finding Old Greek-Latin Lexicons

Post by MAubrey »

I don't know whether Ryan has included Latin, but the best online source for ancient lexica is Ryan Baumann's:

https://dcthree.github.io/ancient-greek-lexica/
Mike Aubrey, Linguist
SIL International
Koine-Greek.com
Bernd Strauss
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Re: Finding Old Greek-Latin Lexicons

Post by Bernd Strauss »

I don't know whether Ryan has included Latin, but the best online source for ancient lexica is Ryan Baumann's:

https://dcthree.github.io/ancient-greek-lexica/
The lexical works on the page are in the Greek language, and search results refer to TLG, which contains only Greek texts.

Very old Greek-Latin lexicons are apparently less known than the monolingual Greek lexicons, so that it is more difficult to find information about them.
Barry Hofstetter
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Re: Finding Old Greek-Latin Lexicons

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

Bernd Strauss wrote: August 9th, 2018, 11:45 am
I don't know whether Ryan has included Latin, but the best online source for ancient lexica is Ryan Baumann's:

https://dcthree.github.io/ancient-greek-lexica/
The lexical works on the page are in the Greek language, and search results refer to TLG, which contains only Greek texts.

Very old Greek-Latin lexicons are apparently less known than the monolingual Greek lexicons, so that it is more difficult to find information about them.
The go to expert on these issues these days is Eleanor Dickey, and you might want to email her and ask your question. Her published email:

e.dickey@reading.ac.uk

Found on this website:

https://www.reading.ac.uk/classics/abou ... ickey.aspx
N.E. Barry Hofstetter, M.A., Th.M.
Ph.D. Student U of FL
Instructor of Latin
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
καὶ σὺ τὸ σὸν ποιήσεις κἀγὼ τὸ ἐμόν. ἆρον τὸ σὸν καὶ ὕπαγε.
Bernd Strauss
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Joined: May 20th, 2017, 11:23 am

Re: Finding Old Greek-Latin Lexicons

Post by Bernd Strauss »

Thank you for the information. Since Eleanor Dickey has written a book in which she discusses monolingual Greek lexicons, she may also know about the bilingual lexicons.
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