Homeric Vocabularies: Greek and English Word List for the Study of Homer

Rating:
Summary: Homeric Vocabularies is an excellent resource!
Review: I found "Homeric Vocabularies" to be very useful while I was learning to read Homer in Greek. Using this book as a reference, I have been able to learn a fair number of vocabulary words used in the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey." The most helpful aspect of this book is that the vocabulary words are ordered in groups according to its frequency of occurence in the Epic Poems. By learning the vocabulary words from this book, I have been able to read through more of the Greek text without pausing to look up a word. Overall, the book is practical, easy to use, and an excellent reference for anyone learning to read Homeric Greek. (Finally, it's a great companion to "Homeric Greek" by Clyde Pharr et al.)

Rating:
Summary: A must-do for reading Homer
Review: If you build your vocabulary, the lexicons/dictionaries will become your friends instead of your taskmasters as you read Homer. Use this handy, helpful little gem (making your own flashcards) while you go through Pharr's primer.

Rating:
Summary: Good for Beginners, But Could Be Better
Review: The greatest obstacle to reading Homer in Greek is the sheer density of the vocabulary. That is to say, Homer's vocabulary is
enormous. As an attempt to help the student of Homeric Greek acquire a good grasp on Homer's vocabulary, this little book is useful yet not as useful as it could have been.

The book contains word lists covering words that occur up to ten times in the Iliad and Odyssey. Unfortunately, there are serious faults with the word lists. As one reviewer has already mentioned, the verbs give only the present indicative active; with a verb such as audao (to speak, say, utter (something)(to someone)), this is no problem, since the verb only appears in a few tenses in which context and form always guarantee one's recognition of it. However, there are countless verbs which undergo such dramatic changes in form from one tense to the next
that knowing the present indicative active alone is well-nigh useless. Thus, principal parts should have been provided for such words.

Also, there are many words whose meaning changes from one context to the next. The definitions provided for such words in the word lists are almost useless, since they only equip the reader with an understanding of them in certain contexts.

One last criticism: There are a number of words which really do not need to be included in these word lists. Words like kai, de, and alla are so common and so basic that only the most intellectually challenged of Greek students would need to practice them.

So the book is useful for the absolute beginner in Homeric Greek, but its defects become more and more obvious the more
one progresses in one's learning. It's a shame that no one has come up with a better alternative to these word lists. Personally, I would love to see a full vocabulary guide to Homeric Greek such as one can find for the vocabulary of the Greek New Testament, in which principal parts and variant meanings are included, and in which all of Homer's vocabulary is covered down to those pesky hapax legomena (words used only once).

Rating:
Summary: Simple but effective
Review: This wordlist is of inestimable value to all those few yet thrice-blessed who still learn to read Homer in Greek. By the time you finish it, you will have at least a nodding acquaintance with every word that appears ten times or more in the Iliad and Odyssey. That may indeed leave a trireme of unknown words, but trust me, knowing the most frequent ones makes it much easier to get the gist of a passage before running to the lexicon. If you are learning Homer from Pharr--as nearly everyone does--this is a good reference to consult to see which words in his chapter vocabularies are worth committing to your active memory. (I wish that Pharr had marked the words of infrequent occurrence. Wright should have done this in his "revision" but he didn't really revise Pharr much at all.)

There is only one shortcoming, though I do consider it a serious one: the list of verbs does not include principal parts, and the noun list does not give genders or stems. You could easily write in the article and genitive forms for the nouns, but good luck trying to fit the five remaining principal parts of a verb on the same line as its entry. So no matter how you solve this problem, you will still need to look up nearly every word. That's an onerous task to inflict on a beginner. With a class of students, though, I suppose the teacher could divide up the drudge-work.

Rating:
Summary: Buy It Now!
Review: You will never again find as easy, portable, inexpensive or invaluable a tool for learning the vocabulary of a single author. And since Homer was used as the foundation of Greek education, understanding Homer wil enlighten and enlarge your understanding of other authors immeausurably. What are you waiting for?