Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!news.kei.com!news.mathworks.com!gatech!howland.reston.ans.net!news.starnet.net!wupost!waikato!comp.vuw.ac.nz!news.vuw.ac.nz!jamie From: jamie@kauri.vuw.ac.nz (Jamieson Norrish) Newsgroups: sci.classics,sci.answers,news.answers Subject: Classical Studies (sci.classics) FAQ Followup-To: sci.classics Date: 01 May 1995 20:46:24 GMT Organization: Victoria Uni. of Wellington, NZ. Lines: 1009 Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU Distribution: world Message-ID: Reply-To: classics-faq@vuw.ac.nz NNTP-Posting-Host: kauri.vuw.ac.nz Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu sci.classics:7096 sci.answers:2559 news.answers:43169 Archive-name: classics-faq Maintained-by: classics-faq@unomaha.edu Version: $Revision: 1.20 $ This is the list of frequently asked questions (and their answers) for the newsgroup sci.classics. There are bibliographies for novice and knowledgable students of the classics, glossaries and compendia of mythological characters. Where possible, pointers to existing information (such as books, magazine articles, and ftp sites) are included here, rather than rehashing that information again. If you haven't already done so, now is as good a time as any to read the guide to Net etiquette which is posted to news.announce.newusers regularly. You should be familiar with acronyms like FAQ, FTP and IMHO, as well as know about smileys, followups and when to reply by email to postings. This FAQ is currently posted to sci.classics, news.answers and sci.answers on the first and fifteenth of every month. You can retrieve the latest copy of this FAQ via anonymous FTP from rtfm.mit.edu in the directory /pub/usenet/news.answers/ as the file classics-faq (remember to use ASCII mode when transferring). This FAQ was mostly written by readers of sci.classics. Credits appear at the end. Comments and indications of doubt are enclosed in []s in the text. Each section begins with forty dashes ("-") on a line of their own, then the section number. This should make searching for a specific section easy. Contributions, comments and changes should be directed to the editorial board, via classics-faq@vuw.ac.nz This FAQ has also been converted to HTML and is available on the WWW at the following URL: http://www.vuw.ac.nz/who/Jamie.Norrish/faq.html This version is still in its infancy, at least format-wise. Any suggestions on changes and improvements in format should be sent to jamie@kauri.vuw.ac.nz Recent additions: Some Roman authors have been added to the "famous classical authors" list; details on them are sketchy at best. ---------------------------------------- List of Answers 0 What Is Classics? 1 Questions 1.1 How should I pronounce Ancient Greek? 1.2 What are the best translations of ...? 1.3 Who was ...? 1.4 What are the famous classical authors? 1.5 How do I translate ...? 2 Bibliographies 2.1 Introductory Bibliography 2.2 Advanced Bibliography 2.3 Specialist Bibliography 2.4 Introductory Latin 2.4.1 Classical 2.4.2 Medieval 2.4.3 Specialised 2.5 Advanced Latin 2.6 Introductory Greek 2.7 Advanced Greek 3 Mythological Deities 4 Timeline 5 Glossary 6 Computer Readable Materials 7 Radio Programming ---------------------------------------- 0 What Is Classics? Good question. As used in academia, "Classics" or "Classical Studies" (with a capital C) or the adjective "classical" refer to the discipline described below, rather than to good books from any period. The discipline of Classics is the study of Greek and Roman civilization, from Homer to Constantine, but including study of the direct antecedents of Greece and Rome in the prehistoric period of southern Europe and their descendants in the Middle Ages. This encompasses both the Greek and Latin languages and their literature, including poetry, drama, history, philosophy, rhetoric, religion and political theory, as well as art, architecture, and archaeology. Precise chronological boundaries are difficult to establish, but the most common feature is the relevance of the period or material to Greek and/or Latin texts. An increasing number of classicists are devoting their energies to later Latin texts, including neo-Latin (relatively modern) original works, and to prehistory or linguistics, especially in archaeology. ---------------------------------------- 1 Questions And Answers Commonly asked questions appear here: ---------------------------------------- 1.1 How should I pronounce... 1.1.1 Ancient Greek? Technical Answer: Ancient Greek had dialects and regional inflections, so asking how it was pronounced is like asking how English is pronounced today. The original inhabitants of Greece were not greek-speakers, but spoke a lost non-Indo-European language (traces remain in some place-names). People who spoke what we call the greek language migrated into the Balkan peninsula during the Aegean bronze age, ~2200BCE. From about 1200BCE to 850 BCE, there were several migrations of Dorians, themselves Greek speakers, into the Peloponese, following the demise of the Mycenaean realm. There were at least five main dialects of greek spoken during this time: Ionic, Aeolic, Arcadian, Doric, and North-West Greek. Prior to the demise of Mycenae, there seems to have been a North/South split in Greek dialects, with Arcado-Cypriot and Attic-Ionic descending from South Greek, and Doric and Aeolic from North Greek. This accords better with the early inscriptions than the East/West divison usually noted on the basis of post-Mycenaean data only. Practical Answer: It depends on who you ask. Most Europeans and Americans use what's called the "Erasmian" pronounciation, which is nothing like modern Greek. Native speakers of Modern Greek use the Modern Greek pronounciation. Others use less common systems. In actuality, Ancient Greek was probably nothing like ANY of the pronounciations commonly used. It was probably a tonal language (like Chinese, but less so) and both vowel quantity and pitch accent tend to be misrepresented in all modern pronounciation systems. 1.1.2 Latin A Summary of Classical Latin Pronunciation (from Vox Latina) a short As first a in Italian amare (as vowel of English cup: not as cap) a long As second a in Italian amare ( as a in English father) ae As in English high au As in English how b (1) As English b (2) Before t or s: as English p c As English or (better) French `hard' c, or English k ch As c in emphatic pronunciation of English cat d As English or French d e short As in English pet e long As in French gai or German Beet ei As in English day eu pronounced as a quick slide from e to y (see below). f As English f g (1) As English `hard' g (2) gn: as ngn in English hangnail h As English h i short As in English dip i long As in English deep i cons (1) As English y (2) Between vowels: = [yy] k As English k l (1) Before vowels: as l in English lay (2) Before consonants and at end of word: as l in English field or hill m (1) At the beginning or in middle of word: as English m (2) At the end of word (after a vowel): as in French nasalized vowel n (1) As n in English net (2) Before c, g, qu: as n in anger (3) Before fricatives (f, s) somewhat assimilated o short As in English (R.P.) pot (not American pot) o long As in French beau or German Boot oe As in English boy p As English or (better) French p ph As p in emphatic pronunciation of English pig qu As qu in English quick r As in Scottish `rolled' r s As in English sing or ss in lesson (N.B. never as in English roses) t As English or (better) French t th As t in emphatic pronunciation of English terrible u short As in English put u long As in English fool u cons As English w ui No English equivalent but think of slurring ooi x As English x in box y As in French u or German u (umlaut) z (1) As English z (2) Between vowels: = [zz] (3) Perhaps in rendering some Greek words: = [zd] ---------------------------------------- 1.2 What are the best translations of ...? Good question :-) Translations into English of most of the popular classical authors may be found along with great authors of other periods in the Penguin Classics series. ---------------------------------------- 1.3 Who was ... ? See section 2 for references to bibliographical dictionaries or encyclopaediae. ---------------------------------------- 1.4 What are the famous classical authors? While a complete list of even important authors cannot be given here, the ones below commonly appear on reading lists of graduate departments of Classics. The format is: Author's Name dates: (approximate) language of composition: (language in which the works were written) genre: (quick & dirty encapsulation) style: (some elaboration of the above category, with notes on meter, dialect) diff : (difficulty; of course, highly subjective. Rated from 1-10, easiest to hardest :)) works: (not necessarily complete; fragmentary works excluded) fun fact: (sometimes not very much fun and often descending to the level of gossip) Note that both Greek and Latin authors are together in the same list; to distinguish between them, check the "language of composition" field. Aeschylus dates: 525-456 BCE language of composition: Greek genre: drama style: Classical Attic tragedy diff : 8 works: Persians, Seven Against Thebes, Agamemnon, Libation-Bearers, Eumenides, Supplices, Prometheus Bound fun fact: Aeschylus was accidentally killed when an eagle dropped a tortoise on his bald head, mistaking him for a stone. Definitely an urban legend, but one which has existed since classical times. Apollonius Rhodius dates: flourished 3rd century BCE language of composition: Greek genre: epic style: Homeric vocabulary with some bold new similes and anthropological/aetiological touches diff : 6 works: Argonautica fun fact: feuded with his teacher, Callimachus Aristophanes dates: 457-385 BCE language of composition: Greek genre: drama style: Old Comedy diff : 9 works: Acharnians, Knights, Clouds, Wasps, Peace, Birds, Lysistrata, Thesmophorizeusae (Female Celebrants of the Thesmophoria festival), Frogs, Ecclesiazeusae (Female Legislators), Wealth fun fact: Among his favorite targets for satire included the philosopher Socrates (in Clouds), the Tragic playwright Euripides (in Frogs), and the politician Cleon (in Knights). Aristotle dates: 384-322 BCE language of composition: Greek genre: treatises on philosophy, ethics, natural science, political science, literary criticism style: Attic prose diff : 7 works: Metaphysics, De Anima, Nichomachean Ethics, History of Animals, Physics, Politics, Rhetoric, Poetics [fragmentary] fun fact: wrote accounts of the constitutions of 158 Greek states. Caesar (Julius) dates: language of composition: Latin genre: style: diff : works: The Gallic Wars fun fact: Callimachus dates: 305-240 BCE language of composition: Greek genre: verse (epigram, narrative elegy, satiric iambic, hexameter hymn, epyllion [little epic]) style: learned, allusive diff : 7 works: Epigrams from Greek Anthology, Aetia (Causes), Iambics, Hymns, Hecale fun fact: Hecale, an epyllion, gets its name from the elderly woman who lets Theseus crash at her house while on his way to slay the bull of Marathon. Catullus dates: language of composition: Latin genre: verse style: diff : works: fun fact: Cicero dates: 106-43 BCE language of composition: Latin genre: prose style: diff : works: Pro Caelio, Letters, De oratore, De re publica fun fact: Demosthenes dates: 384-322 language of composition: Greek genre: political and legal oratory style: varied, avoids hiatus and successions of short syllables diff : 4 works: For Phormio, Olynthiacs, Philippics, On the Crown fun fact: sued his guardians for mismanagement of his inheritance at age 21. Euripides dates: 485-406 BCE language of composition: Greek genre: drama style: Classical Attic tragedy diff : 7 dialogue 10 choruses works: Medea, Hippolytus, Ion, Bacchae, Iphigenia in Tauris, Helen, Alcestis, The Suppliant Women, Electra, Hecabe, Heracles, The Women of Troy fun fact: We have more of Euripides than of any other Attic tragedian because we have not only ten plays representing "the best of Euripides" but also nine plays which seem to be from the epsilon through kappa volume of the complete works of Euripides. Herodotus dates: 484-420 BCE language of composition: Greek genre: prose history style: uses Ionian dialect lots of ethnography and anecdotes diff : 5 works: Histories fun fact: first surviving prose history in Greek Hesiod dates: flourished 700 BCE language of composition: Greek genre: creation-myth in verse, didactic poetry style: epic vocabulary diff : 6 works: Theogony, Works and Days fun fact: Works and Days is ostensibly addressed to his MEGA NHPIE (very foolish) brother Perses and consists of advice on practical skills (farming, sailing, etc). Homer dates: eighth-sixth centuries BCE language of composition: Greek genre: epic style: brief, striking similes, about half each work is dialogue diff : 5 works: Iliad, Odyssey fun fact: "Homer" is usually considered scholarly shorthand for an oral-formulaic tradition perhaps dating back to the fifteenth century BCE that was written down during the above dates. Horace dates: 65-8 BCE language of composition: Latin genre: style: diff : works: Odes, Carmen Saeculari, Satires, Ars Poetica fun fact: Livy dates: language of composition: Latin genre: history style: diff : works: Ab Urbe Condita fun fact: Lucretius dates: language of composition: Latin genre: style: diff : works: De Rerum Natura fun fact: Lysias dates: 459-380 BCE language of composition: Greek genre: political and legal oratory style: smooth, moderate diff : 6 works: Oration 1 (Against Eratosthenes), Oration 32 (Against Diogiton) fun fact: Originally from Syracuse, Lysias and his brothers Polemarchus and Euthydemus owned a shield-making workshop in the Piraeus. Menander dates: 342-289 BCE language of composition: Greek genre: drama style: New Comedy diff : 7 works: The Grouch, She Who Was Shorn, The Samian, Dis Exapaton (The Double Deceiver) fun fact: Menander was for the most part lost until this century, when numerous papyrus fragments of Menander came to light. Ovid dates: language of composition: Latin genre: style: diff : works: Metamorphoses fun fact: Pindar dates: 518-438 BCE language of composition: Greek genre: victory ode style: uses a huge variety of meters and myths diff : 9 works: Olympian, Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian Odes, all to celebrate victories in Greek athletic contests fun fact: In Olympian 1, he criticizes earlier poets for spreading lies about how the gods ate Pelops' shoulder. Plato dates: 429-347 BCE language of composition: Greek genre: philosophy style: idiosyncratic Attic prose diff : 3 works: Apology, Crito, Phaedo, Symposium, Republic fun fact: Early dialogues often show Socrates and an interlocutor wrestling with a question which neither answers, but Socrates' achievement is getting the interlocutor to admit that he does not know the answer. Plautus dates: c.200 BCE language of composition: Latin genre: comedy style: diff : works: Rudens, Aulularia, Bacchides, Menaechmi, Trinummus, Truculentus, Pseudolus, Miles Gloriosus, Curculio, Epidicus, fun fact: Pliny (the Younger) dates: 61/62-?? CE language of composition: Latin genre: style: diff : works: Letters fun fact: Plutarch dates: 50-120 CE language of composition: Greek genre: prose (especially biography) style: many metaphors diff : 2 works: Lives, Moralia (rhetorical treatises, moral essays, philosophical dialogues and treatises, antiquarian works) fun fact: For the last thirty years of his life, he was a priest at Delphi. Propertius dates: 1st century BCE language of composition: Latin genre: poetry (elegies) style: diff : works: Elegies (four books) fun fact: Seneca (the elder) dates: language of composition: Latin genre: drama, letters style: diff : works: Letter, Medea fun fact: Sophocles dates: 496-406 BCE language of composition: Greek genre: drama style: Classical Attic tragedy diff : 7 works: Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone, Ajax, Electra, Women of Trachis, Philoctetes fun fact: According to Aristotle, he introduced to Tragedy the third actor, scene-painting, and the fifteen-man (as opposed to the twelve-man) chorus. fun fact II: When he was about 90 years old, his heirs decided they couldn't wait for their inheritance any more. So they applied to the court for guardianship, explaining that Sophocles was not in his proper mind any more and needed someone to take of his finances. At that moment he was writing Oedipus at Colonus and in court he just read what he had done so far. He didn't get any guardians. Suetonius dates: language of composition: Latin genre: biography (mostly) style: diff : works: The Twelve Caesars fun fact: Tacitus dates: 56/57 - ?? CE language of composition: Latin genre: history style: very odd! diff: 8 works: Annals, Germania, Agricola, Histories, Dialogus fun fact: Terence dates: language of composition: Latin genre: comedy style: diff : works: Phormio, Andria, Eunuchus, Adelphoe fun fact: Theocritus dates: 300-260 BCE language of composition: Greek genre: bucolic lyric/mime style: polished, deceptively simple diff : 6 works: 31 short poems fun fact: Poem 11 is a love song sung by the Cyclops Polyphemus to the nymph Galatea, who has rejected him. Thucydides dates: 460-400 BCE language of composition: Greek genre: prose history style: some poeticisms, elliptical, likes antithesis diff : 10 (hardest prose author) works: Peloponnesian War fun fact: His account of Pericles' funeral oration, a wonderful piece of pro-Athenian propaganda, is followed by a harrowing account of the plague that struck Athens shortly afterward. Tibullus dates: language of composition: Latin genre: style: diff : works: fun fact: Virgil dates: language of composition: Latin genre: style: diff : works: The Aenied, Georgics, Eclogues fun fact: Xenophon dates: 428-354 BCE language of composition: Greek genre: prose (history, philosophy, treatise, etc.) style: simple diff : 1 works: Hellenica, Anabasis (March Upcountry), Household Manager fun fact: The Anabasis, about the retreat of Greek mercenaries after their employer Cyrus, brother to the Persian king Artakserksis, was deposed in a coup, features a wonderful scene in which the Greeks at last reach the sea and shout "THALATTA, THALATTA!!!" (The sea, the sea!!!). ---------------------------------------- 1.5 How do I translate ...? You can make a post, and maybe it will be answered. You can buy a pocket Latin<->English or Greek<->English dictionary, and do it yourself. If you have access to a Classics Department, asking them might prove helpful. ---------------------------------------- 1.6 On what day did the week start in Roman times? Quoting from "The Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Ephemeris and American Ephemeris and Nautical Alamanc" : "The week was not originally an integrtal part of any calendar; in its present form, it gradually became established in the Roman calendar during the one or two centuries preceding the Christian era. The Mosaic Law enjoining abstinence from work on every seventh day had established the 7-day period as a Jewish measure of time, and this Jewish week later passed into the Christian Church. Meanwhile, shortly before the Christian era, an astrological practice had arisen of attaching the names of the seven "planets", the term at that time including the Sun and Moon, in cyclic succession to successive days, in the order in which the planets were supposed to rule the days. The planetary designations of the days rapidly acquired widespread popularity, and became the predominant usage throughout the Roman Empire. The coincidence in the number of days in this astrological cycle with the number of days in the entirely independent Jewish week led to the gradual establishment of the planetary week without official recognition, either civil or ecclestical." The same source gives two references: Gandz, S. "The Origin of the Planetary Week" Proc. Amer. Acad. for Jewish Research, vol. 18, 213-254, 1949. Colson, F.H., "The week" Cambirdge University Press, 1926. Originally each *hour* of the day was governed by a different planet (the doctrine of "chronocratories"; cf. "horoscope", "to observe the hours"), and whichever planet fell on the first hour could be said to open the day. The seven planets divide the 24 hours three times with a remainder of three; hence, if you cycle through the planetary sequence: Saturn - Jupiter - Mars - Sun - Venus - Mercury - Moon By taking every third planet, you will get: Saturn - Sun - Moon - Mars - Mercury - Jupiter - Venus. ---------------------------------------- 2 Bibliographies ---------------------------------------- 2.1 Introductory Bibliography If you know nothing about the classics, some recommended books are listed here. They assume no knowledge, and will give you a sound grasp in the basics. %T The Oxford Classical Dictionary %A (ed.) H.H. Scullard %D 1970 %Z This gives solid (if unimaginative) articles on all major authors %Z and subjects in Greek and Latin, usually with good bibliographies %Z as well. %T L'Annee Philologique %Z THE bibliography of the classics -- it's not on computer yet, but %Z give them time. %T The Sound of Greek %A W. B. Stanford %T The Pronunciation and Reading of Ancient Greek: A Practical Guide %A Stephen G. Daitz %T Vox Graeca %A W. Sidney Allen %T Vox Latina %A W. Sidney Allen ---------------------------------------- 2.2 Advanced Bibliography If, having completed a preliminary reading in the subject, you decide you enjoy classics, here are books to give you more knowledge. ---------------------------------------- 2.3 Specialised Bibliography If you decide you are only interested in a narrow field of classics, here are books that will extend your knowledge in one subject. %T The Legacy of Rome: A New Appraisal %A ed. Richard Jenkyns %I Oxford University Press %D 1992 %T The Legacy of Greece: A New Appraisal %A ed. M. I. Finley %I Oxford University Press %D 1984 %Z Both these are excellent, and each article has suggestions for %Z further reading. %T L'Annee Philologique %A Marouzeau ---------------------------------------- 2.4 Introductory Latin For the reader with little or no knowledge of Latin. ---------------------------------------- 2.4.1 Classical %A Balme, Maurice. %T Oxford Latin course. %I Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press %D 1987-1988. %T Cambridge Latin course. 2nd ed %I Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press for the Schools Council, %D 1982. %A Goldman, Norma %T Latin via Ovid: a first course. %I Detroit: Wayne State University Press %D 1977. %A Griffin, Robin M %T A student's Latin grammar. %I North American 3rd ed. Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press %D 1992. %A Jenney, Charles. %T First year Latin. %I Boston: Allyn and Bacon %D <1975> %A Jenney, Charles %T Second year Latin. Boston: Allyn and Bacon %D <1975> %A Johnston, Patricia A %T Traditio: an introduction to the Latin language and its influence. %I New York: Macmillan %D c1988. %A Jones, Peter V %T Reading Latin. %I Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press %D 1986. %A Knudsvig, Glenn M %T Latin for reading: a beginner's textbook with exercises %I Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press %D c1982. %A Lawall, Gilbert %A Tafe, David %T Ecce Romani. %I White Plains, NY: Longman, Inc. %A Moreland, Floyd L. %T Latin: an intensive course. %I Berkeley: University of California Press %D c1977. %A Sinkovich, Kathryn A. %T Intermediate college Latin. %I Lanham, MD: University Press of America %D c1984. %A Wheelock, Frederic M. %T Latin: An Introductory Course Based on Ancient Authors. %I 3rd Edition. New York: Barnes & Noble %D 1963. ---------------------------------------- 2.4.2 Medieval %A Beeson, Charles Henry %T A primer of Mediaeval Latin; an anthology of prose and poetry. %I Chicago, Scott, Foresman and Company %D %A Collins, John F. %T A primer of ecclesiastical Latin. %I Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press %D c1985. %A Strecker, Karl %T Introduction to medieval Latin. %I 5. unveranderte Aufl. Dublin: Weidmann, %D ---------------------------------------- 2.4.3 Specialised %A Baranov, A. %T Basic Latin for plant taxonomists. %I Lehre, J. Cramer, %D 1971 %A Gooder, Eileen A. %T Latin for local history: an introduction. 2d ed. %I London ; New York: Longman, %D 1978. %A Howe, George %T Latin for pharmacists. %I Philadelphia, P. Blakiston's son & co. %D %A Stearn, William T. %T Botanical Latin: history, grammar, syntax, terminology, and vocabulary. %A 3rd ed., rev. Newton Abbot, Devon ; %I North Pomfret, Vt.: David & Charles, %D 1983. ---------------------------------------- 2.5 Advanced Latin For the reader with several years study of Latin. ---------------------------------------- 2.6 Introductory Greek For the reader with little or no knowledge of Greek. %A Schoder, Raymond V. & Horrigan, Vincent C. %T A Reading Course in Homeric Greek (Books I & II) %I Loyola University Press, ISBN 0-8294-0509-7 %D 1985. ---------------------------------------- 2.7 Advanced Greek For the reader with several years study of Greek. ---------------------------------------- 3 Mythological Deities Never been able to sort out Athena from Venus and remaining perpetually confused about Mercury's role in life? Look no further. %A Kravitz, David %T Who's who in Greek and Roman mythology. %I New York: C. N. Potter: distributed by Crown Publishers, %D <1976> c1975. %A Mercatante, Anthony S. %T Who's who in Egyptian mythology. %I New York: C. N. Potter: distributed by Crown Publishers, %D c1978. %A Morford, Mark P. O., and Lenardon, R. %T Classical mythology. 4th ed. %I New York: Longman, %D c1991. ---------------------------------------- 4 Timeline GREECE: Bronze Age 3000-1100 BCE Fall of Troy ~1200 Archaic Period 1100-480 Xerxes' invasion 482 Classical Period 480-323 Peloponnesian War 466-404 Alexander dies 323 Hellenistic Period 323-146 Roman Period 146 BCE - 565 CE Byzantine Period 565 - 1453 CE ROME: Regal Period 753-510 BCE Republic 509-31 Empire 31 BCE - Golden Age 1st century BCE - early 1st century CE Silver Age Late 1st Cent CE - 2nd cent CE ---------------------------------------- 5 Glossary Providing endless fodder for flamewars, here are some simple definitions of terms you will meet in classics. hapax legomenon (Gk., "said once") - a word or idiom attested (i.e., found in the body of known works) only once crasis (Gk., "mixing") - the blending of two adjacent vowels, as when a final vowel merges with the leading vowel of the following word. E.g., "to onoma" (Gk., "the name") sometimes becomes "tounoma" (since o + o = ou in Attic). asper (L., "harsh") - the rough-breathing mark in Greek, indicating (under the Erasmian system of pronunciation) a leading "h" sound on a word beginning with a vowel. Cf. *lenitus. lenitus (L., "relaxed") - the soft-breathing mark in Greek, indicating the absence of an "h" sound before a leading vowel. Cf. *asper. ---------------------------------------- 6 Computer Readable Materials There are several institutions that offer electronic versions of classics works and texts. They have varying quality and varying restrictions on their use. Those known of are listed here. Freely redistributable versions of various Latin texts, including all of Vergil, Catullus, and Tibullus, and selections from Cicero, Caesar, Horace, and others, are available from the project Libellus archive at the University of Washington, Seattle. These can be had, in TeX form, by anonymous FTP from host ftp.u.washington.edu, directory /public/libellus/texts; some commentaries and other support files (including a TeX-to-ASCII converter for the texts) are contained in the other subdirectories of /public/libellus. These texts and support files are also available, in a variety of formats (TeX, ASCII, RTF, PostScript) through an experimental E-mail server, for those who do not have Internet access; for more information about this service, send mail to libellus@u.washington.edu with "help" in the message body. Send comments, questions, etc. to perseant@u.washington.edu. The Georgetown Catalogue Project for Electronic Texts have a directory of electronic text projects in the humanities. The catalogues are available by language and subject, and are available for anonymous FTP from guvax.georgetown.edu:cpet_projects_in_electronic_text. The Library at Dartmouth have a huge database containing and concerning "La Commedia". To use it, telnet to library.dartmouth.edu and type connect dante Lectures by Robert Hollander on Dante are available for anonymous FTP in ccat.sas.upenn.edu:/pub/recentiores named BARLOW.README, BARLOW.1, BARLOW.2 and BARLOW.3. ---------------------------------------- 6.1 Oxford Text Archive The Oxford Text Archive provides texts with restrictions on redistribution, usually for cost of copying and shipping. The texts are of varying quality. The following is taken from their informational blurb: > Further details are given in the published Short List > (which includes an order form) which is printed at least > once a year. Write to: > > Oxford Text Archive > Oxford University Computing Service > 13 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 6NN, UK > > ARCHIVE@VAX.OX.AC.UK > > or FTP to black.ox.ac.uk:/ota They have recently been able to make available some public-domain texts for FTP. ---------------------------------------- 7 Radio Programming Currently there are two major shortwave services that provide Latin programming. They are: Vatican Radio (daily programming, mostly of a religious nature) Radio Finland (weekly world news reports) Times and frequencies are likely to change, so are not included in this FAQ. Schedule information may be obtained from the following: World Radio and Television Handbook (WRTH) (1993 Edition, ISBN #0-8230-5924-3) Billboard Publications 1515 Broadway New York, NY 10036 USA Usenet newsgroup rec.radio.shortwave and the shortwave FTP archives at nic.funet.fi under /pub/dx. ---------------------------------------- Credits Nathan Torkington , Tracy Monaghan , Owen Ewald , ptrourke@acs.bu.edu (Patrick Rourke), kbibb@maui.qualcomm.com (Ken Bibb), b-ogilvie@uchicago.edu (Brian W. Ogilvie), stigh@itk.unit.no (Stig Atle Haugdahl), "Jim Ruebel" , Neil Bernstein , kamorgan@athena.mit.edu (Keith Morgan), Risto Kotalampi (rko@cs.tut.fi), Konrad Schroder , pef@dcs.qmw.ac.uk, Irene Gassko , Jamieson Norrish , James F. Tims , Daan Sandee , Mark Eckenwiler , Richard Lee Winterstein (rlwinter@relleno.engr.ucdavis.edu), Rich Alderson , Andrew Gollan