Research Guides: CSTS 398 Senior Seminar (HC/BMC): Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias (print and online)

Oxford Classical Dictionary
Find brief scholarly entries/description on topics on Greek and Roman history, literature, myth, religion, linguistics, philosophy, law, science, art, and archaeology. Covers additional topics in Near Eastern studies and Late Antiquity. 5th edition continuously updated.

Brill's New Pauly and Supplements
Updated and translated version of the standard encyclopedia for Antiquity, Paulys Real-Encyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft. Articles are extensive and often address the topic by analyzing the issues in Greece and in Rome specifically. Bibliographies list books, essays, and journal articles for further reading. All Pauly volumes available in print at Lutnick Library (HC).
There are also additional series published with the encyclopedia, including a five-volume set on the classical tradition and an ongoing series of supplements:
1) Chronologies of the Ancient World
2) Dictionary of Greek and Latin Authors and Texts
3) Historical Atlas of the Ancient World
4) Reception of Myth and Mythology
5) Reception of Classical Literature
6) History of Classical Scholarship - A Biographical Dictionary
7) Figures of Antiquity and Their Reception in Art, Literature and Music
8) The Reception of antiquity in Renaissance Humanism
9) The Early Mediterranean World, 1200-600 BC
10) History and Culture of Byzantium
12) The Reception of Antiquity in the Age of Enlightenment

Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece & Rome
Offers a comprehensive overview of the literature, history, archaeology, art, philosophy, science, and religion of the Greek and Roman world from the Bronze Age to the fifth century CE. It also covers the legacy of the classical world and its interpretation and influence in subsequent centuries.

Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae
Known as LIMC; compiled by an international team in English, French, and German. Use this encyclopedia for finding images of and bibliography on classical mythology.
An online database from the French LIMC team can be found at http://www.limc-france.fr/presentation (Note as of 9/2024 the digital version is not fully functional and is under development)
Thesaurus cultus et rituum antiquorum (ThesCRA)
Like LIMC, for ancient religion; also an international encyclopedia in many languages. Multivolume reference on all known aspects of Greek, Etruscan, and Roman cults and rituals.
Brill's Encyclopaedia of the Neo-Latin World
Traces the enduring history and wide-ranging cultural influence of Neo-Latin, the form of Latin that originated in the Italian Renaissance and persists to the modern era. Featuring original contributions by distinguished international scholars, this reference work explores aspects of the civilized world from literature and law to philosophy and the sciences.

Cambridge Histories Online
Searchable collection of e-books; useful starting point for exploring topics in history. Cambridge Histories are available to HC students in print copies in Tripod.
Encyclopedia of Ancient History
A comprehensive collection of twenty-first century scholarship available on the entire ancient Mediterranean world. The board of internationally diverse editors has collected over 5,000 original entries spanning the late Bronze Age through the seventh century CE. Entries extend to all Mediterranean civilizations, including the Near East and Egypt.
Encyclopedia of Greek Tragedy
Covers all facets of the distinct form of dramatic theater that flourished in ancient Greece and reached its apex in Athens of the 5th century BCE in order to facilitate a better understanding and appreciation of the great surviving works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and their contemporaries.
Encyclopedia of Ancient Greek Language and Linguistics
Brings together research from across a range of disciplines which contribute to our knowledge of Ancient Greek.
Encyclopedia of War
Covers the history of warfare from ancient times to the present day across the globe. The encyclopedia provides an overview of the most important events, people, and terms associated with warfare, from the Punic Wars to the Mongol conquest of China and the War on Terror; from the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman ‘the Magnificent’ to the Soviet Military Commander Georgi Konstantinovich Zhukov; and from the crossbow to chemical warfare.

Homer Encyclopedia
This work addresses the world and artistry of Homer, the historical and cultural background of the Iliad and the Odyssey, Homeric scholarship, and Homeric reception from antiquity to the present. There are 1360 entries supplying information and suggestions for further reading.

Oxford Art Online
Oxford Art Online is an art reference library that includes Grove Art Online, The Oxford Companion to Western Art, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms, The Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, and the Benezit Dictionary of Artists. Subject entries, biographies, images, biographies, and thematic timelines (antiquity to present).

Oxford Companion to Classical Literature
This is the complete and authoritative reference guide to the classical world and its literary heritage. It not only presents the reader with all the essential facts about the authors, tales, and characters from ancient myth and literature, but it also places these details in the wider contexts of the history and society of the Greek and Roman worlds. Published in 2011.
Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium
Contains more than 5,000 searchable entries covering all aspects of Byzantine history and civilization from the 4th through the 15th centuries, with special depth in subjects such as bureaucratic titles and fiscal terms, urban life, and rural economy.
Paulys Real-Encyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft: neue Bearbeitung
The original multi-volume German encyclopedia. See Brill's New Pauly for the English translations of the new editions.

Virgil Encyclopedia
The Virgil Encyclopedia is the first comprehensive reference volume to be published in English on Publius Vergilius Maro, the classical Roman poet whose works and thoughts have been at the center of Western literary, cultural, artistic, and pedagogical traditions for more than two millennia. Through more than 2,200 carefully researched entries, scholars and students alike are provided with an in-depth treatment of all aspects of Virgil’s poetry and his immeasurable influence that continues to the present day.