Review by Choice Review
A monument to classical scholarship, this second edition (1st ed., 1998) encompasses the aims, style, and accomplishments of ancient civilizations. A thematic listing guides users to essays on institutions, mythology, literary genres, language/morphology, archaeological sites, and significant people from the Gracchi and Epicurus to Josephus and St. Paul. A system of abbreviations enables contributors to cite primary texts for further research on such topics as coinage, Orpheus, and homosexuality. A brief explanation of the second edition's plan precedes a list of 50 new or revised entries, e.g., the perusal of the Holy Lands by Helena Augusta and overviews of heresy, masculinity, and creolization. Entries on suicide, hubris, the soul, Ostia, Sophocles, and Alexander the Great exemplify excellence in definition and long-term evaluation applying current methodology. Illustrations cover details from pottery, funerary art, and portrait busts; maps of the Aegean and Hellenistic worlds; and major archaeological advances such as aerial photography and axonometric reconstructions. Cross-referencing and starred terms direct users to additional information, e.g., from orality to historiography. This edition's light editing suggests more reverence for such august authors as Carl Blegen and Jocelyn Toynbee than concern for clarity. Murky phrasing still mars the meaning on such issues as the regnal years of Cleopatra and Apollonius's use of discontinuity. The volume's ventures into the history of ballet and opera and generalities about film stray from the comprehensive examination of ancient civilizations and constitute a major fault of this edition. Rather than appending essays on Edward Said's analysis of Orientalism and the modern reception of Greek tragedy, the editors would have enhanced their material with summations of alphabets, the Pygmalion myth, the theater at Epidaurus, rhapsodists, and childhood in the classical period. Overall, this Oxford Companion remains first in its field; it is a crucial addition to collegiate and large public libraries. Summing Up: Essential. Upper-level undergraduates and above. --Mary Ellen Snodgrass, Lenoir-Rhyne University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
This second edition of The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization (OCCC) seeks to make available to a general readership authoritative information about the civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome by reprinting selected entries from the fourth edition of The Oxford Classical Dictionary (OCD), long recognized as a standard reference work in classics, along with additional changes. The result is a shorter, less expensive volume the editors hope will appeal to a wider audience. Although the text of entries is identical in both works, the OCCC omits the supplemental bibliographies for entries as found in the OCD, replacing them with one select, general bibliography. The OCCC also uses a larger font size; includes maps, a chronology, and a thematic grouping of entries; and is generous in its use of illustrations, though the color plates in the first edition are not included in this second edition. Collectively, these features do make for an attractive and approachable work.Although important persons, places, and institutions are covered in such entries as Alexander the Great, Carthage, and Senate, unexpected topics are worth noting. New to both the OCD and OCCC is an entry for Masculinity as well as the addition of a section on Males to the entry for Prostitution, secular, both reflecting the attention now given to formerly underrepresented topics such as gender, women, and sexuality in antiquity. The OCCC is no substitute for the OCD, so libraries that already own the latter will have to decide whether accessibility outweighs extensive duplication of content. Recommended for libraries that would like to add or are in need of a basic reference work for classics.--McConnell, Christopher Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
This second edition draws it entries from the fourth edition (2012) of the Oxford Classical Dictionary and focuses on the period from 800 BC to AD 300. Changes include a list of new and replacement entries, an expanded list of abbreviations, and an updated bibliography. Topics of significant importance are highlighted throughout, and differences between Greek and Roman civilizations are noted in many of the entries. Numerous illustrations and photos help readers to gain a better understanding of the Greek and Roman civilizations. A chronology, maps, and a selected bibliography are located at the end of the book. VERDICT Researchers requiring background knowledge about Greek and Roman civilizations will find this an excellent resource; it is a solid addition for school, public, and academic libraries.-Diane Fulkerson, Univ. of South Florida, Lakeland (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Library Journal Review
