Pocket Oxford Classical Greek Dictionary

Every Greek student should own a Classic greek dictionary. Several are available, but this one The Oxford Pocket Dictionary has the advantage of being cheap, and thorough. It has an excellent section on pronunciation; a section on Proper names; a list of common irregular verbs;and best of all it alone of available dictionaries it has an English-Greek section. You will find this particularly helpful when beginning Greek, as you will often want the Greek word for a remembered English biblical phrase.

My wife's minivan fails miserably at hauling heavy loads or towing other vehicles. However, it does quite well at the specific task it was designed for. Just as there is no single all-purpose vehicle that is best for every mission, we need to be realistic and realize no single lexicon will meet every need. This compact, lightweight dictionary will not replace Liddell-Scott's Lexicon for me anytime soon. Yet, it travels well, has nicely readable text, and the English to Greek section is quite useful. It also contains proper names, numbers, and the "top 101" irregular verbs, all in a 7 1/2 x 5 x 7/8" package. When I throw Herodotus in my shoulder bag & head out, this goes with it. I'm aware of the limitations, but am still keeping mine.

Very helpful for first year greek student. This is not a comprehensive dictionary but for the price you can't beat it. You could spend the $150 for a comprehensive one but I don't reccommend it.

Finally we have a classical Ellenic dictionary that has an English to Greek section and a complete section on numerals. Exactly why every text on the classical Greek language seems to shy away from the simple matter of counting from one to ten has always been a mystery to me, but now the point is moot. I got this book in the mail a week ago and can now toss my Langenscheidt in the trash.

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.