Classical Studies

Aristophanes's classic send-up of rivalry within the ultra-competitive world of fifth-century Athenian theatre wins a new lease on life in this fresh line-for-line translation by Peter Meineck. Premiered in 2021 by Aquila Theatre and accompanied here by Meineck’s notes and wide-ranging Introduction, this Frogs offers the best view yet of a high-stakes afterlife contest between two of Athens's late great playwrights. Both are undisputed masters of tragedy. But only one can win and return to save the city.

"Peter Meineck draws on his vast experience as both theatre producer and classical scholar in this lively and thoroughly contemporary translation of Aristophanes's rambunctious but heady Frogs. In highlighting Aristophanes's own concern for spectacle, stage action, and musicality, Meineck offers flexible guidance not only for modern producers of this comedy but also for readers eager to visualize an Aristophanic play in its original setting and to marvel at its enduring comic brilliance." —Ralph M. Rosen, Vartan Gregorian Professor of the Humanities and Classical Studies, University of Pennsylvania

This new translation of On Coming to Be and Passing Away and Meteorology 1 and 4 fits seamlessly with the other volumes in the New Hackett Aristotle Series, enabling Anglophone readers to study these works in a way previously not possible. The Introduction describes the book that lies ahead, explaining what it is about, what it is trying to do, how it goes about doing it, and what sort of audience it presupposes. Sequentially numbered, cross-referenced endnotes provide the information most needed at each juncture, while a detailed Index indicates the places where focused discussion of key notions occurs.

"Reading Aristotle isn’t easy, and Reeve doesn’t pretend to make it so. But his uncluttered translation, extensive annotation, and supplementary materials go a long way toward lightening the burden; this is another gem to add to his very useful collection."
—Russell Dancy, Professor Emeritus, Florida State University

Forthcoming - May 2024

Aristotle's Dialectic fits seamlessly with the other volumes in the New Hackett Aristotle Series, enabling Anglophone readers to study these works in a way previously not possible. The Introduction describes the book that lies ahead, explaining what it is about, what it is trying to do, and how it goes about doing it. Sequentially numbered, cross-referenced endnotes provide the information most needed at each juncture, while a detailed Index indicates the places where focused discussion of key notions occurs.

"The Topics and the Sophistical Refutations are the workshop in which the argumentative armory of Aristotle's philosophy is forged. They are not an easy read, but for this very reason Reeve's masterly translation, which achieves fluidity without sacrificing rigor and lexical consistency, is a most essential tool."
—Paolo Fait, Tutorial Fellow in Classical Philosophy, New College, University of Oxford

"Even those already familiar with Aristotle may be surprised to learn that discussions of theological topics can be found in so many of his works. Reeve's idea of packaging these texts sequentially along with commentary and notes is brilliant. This book will be essential reading for anyone interested in Aristotle's theology."
—S. Marc Cohen, Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, University of Washington

“Based on comprehensive knowledge of the Aristotelian corpus, Reeve’s book is a transformative addition to the literature.”
—David Sedley, Emeritus Laurence Professor of Ancient Philosophy, University of Cambridge

Drawn from the translations and editorial aids of Irwin and Fine's Aristotle, Selections (Hackett Publishing Co., 1995), this anthology will be most useful to instructors who must try to do justice to Aristotle in a semester-long ancient-philosophy survey, but it will also be appropriate for a variety of introductory-level courses. Introductory Readings provides accurate, readable, and integrated translations that allow the reader to follow Aristotle's use of crucial technical terms and to grasp the details of his argument. Included are adaptations of the glossary and notes that helped make its parent volume a singularly useful aid to the study of Aristotle.

Selections seeks to provide an accurate and readable translation that will allow the reader to follow Aristotle's use of crucial technical terms and to grasp the details of his argument. Unlike anthologies that combine translations by many hands, this volume includes a fully integrated set of translations by a two-person team. The glossary—the most detailed in any edition—explains Aristotle's vocabulary and indicates the correspondences between Greek and English words. Brief notes supply alternative translations and elucidate difficult passages.

This volume collects all of the surviving state funeral orations from Athens, including Thucydides, Gorgias, Lysias, Plato Menexenus, Demosthenes, and Hyperides. To stimulate student discussion and comparison, Lincoln's address at Gettysburg is included in an appendix. Translations are in English, including introduction and notes, as well as literary and historical commentary.

This play is a unique text for students in their first semester of Latin. Each scene uses new forms and vocabulary, thus reinforcing the students' grasp of grammar by placing it in a living context. At the same time it provides an enticing introduction to Roman comedy and elegy. First published in 1981, Auricula was greeted with enthusiasm by students and teachers, and is currently used in many classics departments in the US and elsewhere. This substantially revised edition includes new scenes and characters while reducing the overall quantity of unfamiliar vocabulary.

English translation, with introductory material, notes, glossary and essay by Stephen Esposito, of Euripides' tragedy based on the mythological story of King Pentheus of Thebes.

"[Woodruff’s translation] is clear, fluent, and vigorous, well thought out, readable and forceful. The rhythms are right, ever-present but not too insistent or obvious. It can be spoken instead of read and so is viable as an acting version; and it keeps the lines of the plot well focused. The Introduction offers a good survey of critical approaches. The notes at the foot of the page are suitably brief and nonintrusive and give basic information for the non-specialist."
     —Charles Segal, Harvard University

By Roman Hands, Second Edition takes Latin out of the textbook and allows students to see and translate Latin as it actually appeared on Roman monuments, walls, and tombs. The first collection of entirely authentic and un-adapted inscriptions and graffiti accessible to beginning and intermediate students of Latin, By Roman Hands unites the study of language and culture in a novel and compelling way and at a level that the Latin can be grasped and discussed by early Latin learners. Ranging from a love letter hastily scratched on a Pompeian wall to the proclamation of an emperor's achievements formally inscribed on a monumental arch, these carefully selected texts afford fascinating glimpses into the lives and minds of the Romans, even as they illustrate and reinforce the basic elements of the Latin language.

"Moore and Raymond's Charmides is very impressive. The translation is excellent, and the Introduction and notes guide the reader into thorny problems in a way that renders them understandable: e.g., how to translate sôphrosunê, why we should care about self-knowledge, or how to seek to clarify important ethico-political concepts. The result provides almost all of what an instructor will need to introduce this unjustly neglected dialogue into a syllabus. Moreover, the volume is a wide-ranging resource for specialists. Students of the 'Socratic Dialogues' will profit greatly from this admirable contribution." —David J. Murphy is co-editor of Antiphontis et Andocidis Orationes (Oxford) and author of "The Basis of the Text of Plato's Charmides" (Mnemosyne) and many other contributions on the Charmides. He lives in New York City.

A literal translation, allowing the simplicity and vigor of the Greek diction to shine through.

"Brian Walters has given us what too few translators of classical poetry do—an authorial presence. Here is Lucan himself in all his drastic modes—everything from his enraged indignation to his paradoxical aphorisms—recreating the ruptured Neronian world he lived in as he recounts the nefarious civil war that destroyed the Roman Republic."
     —Stanley Lombardo, University of Kansas

Companion Website: A free Classical Latin companion website with exercises, audio, flashcards, and more is available here.

"To all my Latin colleagues: switch to this book! I have taught from half a dozen different Latin texts over the years, and have always wished there was something else I could be using. Finally that something else has arrived! I was pleasantly surprised at its accessibility, liveliness, and clarity. I have used it for two years now at the University of Delaware with great results. It fits extremely well into a two-semester elementary program. Each chapter features clear explanations of a manageable amount of material, with a variety of exercises ranging from simple to difficult, so the instructor can select what to give the students. The most capable students can do more difficult exercises, the average student is challenged but not overwhelmed, and the students with weaker language abilities are able to make it through the language requirement successfully. I have told all my friends in the field to try this book!" —Lynn Sawlivich, University of Delaware

Companion Website: A free Classical Latin companion website with exercises, audio, flashcards, and more is available here.

Designed to reinforce JC McKeown's Classical Latin: An Introductory Course, this innovative workbook offers a wide range of exercises, accommodating a wide range of learning styles, to help students master Latin morphology and vocabulary. Included are exercises involving parsing, correcting mistakes, completing sentences by providing the correct inflected word ending, distinguishing words within an unbroken series of letters, recognizing word forms, unscrambling anagrams, and more. A superb supplement to a brilliant Introductory Latin textbook.

Companion Website: A free Classical Latin companion website with exercises, audio, flashcards, and more is available here.

"The publication of McKeown's Classical Latin is very exciting. It is going to be fun to teach from! It is thorough yet not pedantic; it covers all the important material in a logical fashion, and it does not have the silliness that is found in some elementary Latin texts. I am planning to adopt it for Elementary Latin (a year course, in which I think McKeown will fit very nicely) the next time I teach the class. It will be a great improvement over the text I have used for years and years."
     —Jane Crawford, Professor of Classics, University of Virginia

Originally published in the 1960s, this standard illustrated work covers the gods and heroes of the Classical world, with special emphasis on the influence Classical mythology has had on literature, art and music in Western civilization.

Jeffrey Henderson, noted Greek scholar, has translated into English one of Aristophanes' greatest comedies. Offered with detailed notes and an enlightening introduction, this modern translation brings to life the wit and elegance of the language while putting the text in historical and cultural context.

"Since the appearance of Sommerstein’s very successful literal translation less than twenty years ago, there have been at least five further new published attempts at rendering the play into English. It is certainly a bold enterprise to introduce yet one more translation onto the scene, but Peter Meineck has risen well to the challenge. The translation is straightforward and idiomatic, as well as well-paced and funny. . . Ian Storey’s Introduction is perfect for undergraduates.” —Max Nelson, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"In this expanded edition of his distinguished Sappho: Poems and Fragments (2002), Stanley Lombardo offers over 100 fragments not included in the original edition, as well as the new poems discovered in 2004 and 2014. His translation of this latter material yields fresh insights into Sappho’s representations of old age, two of her brothers, and her special relationship with Aphrodite. Pamela Gordon’s engaging, balanced, and informative Introduction has been revised to incorporate discussion of the new fragments, which subtly alter our previous understanding of the archaic poet’s corpus. Complete Poems and Fragments also offers a useful updated bibliography, as well as a section on ‘Elegiac Sappho’ that presents the reception of the Lesbian poet in later Greek and Latin elegiac poems. A wonderful find for any Greekless reader searching for a complete and up-to-date Sappho."
     —Patricia A. Rosenmeyer, Department of Classics, University of Wisconsin-Madison

"This translation is already a classic. It is the translation that has guided three generations of students and readers into a renewed appreciation of the beauty and urgency of a masterpiece of Christian autobiography. This is largely because the translator has caught not only the meaning of Augustine’s Confessions, but a large measure of its poetry.  It makes the Latin sing in English as it did when it came from the pen of Augustine, some sixteen hundred years ago. Deeply rooted in the tradition of which Augustine was himself a principal founder, this translation is not only modern: it is a faithful echo, in a language that has carried throughout the ages, of its author’s original passion and disquiet."  —Peter Brown

"To my ears, Sheed’s translation is the most beautiful English translation available. The same electric current that runs through Augustine’s original can be felt in this translation, which combines a slightly elevated style (more elevated in direct prayers) combined with the immediacy and transparency of a street preacher (not that different from Augustine’s own style). The latest edition includes an introduction by Peter Brown, the best biographer of Augustine, and notes and commentary by Michael Foley, a truly excellent reader of Augustine." —Jared Ortiz, Hope College, in Catholic World Report

"Entirely faithful to Boethius' Latin; Relihan's translation makes the philosophy of the Consolation intelligible to readers; it gives equal weight to the poetry—in fact, Relihan's metrical translation of Boethius' metra are themselves contributions of the first moment to Boethian studies. Boethius finally has a translator equal to his prodigious talents and his manifold vision."
     —Joseph Pucci, Brown University

“It is. . . remarkable that Reeve’s is the first new English translation since Fowler’s Loeb edition of 1926. Fortunately, Reeve has done an excellent job. His version is not slavishly literal but is in general very accurate. It is also very clear and readable. Reeve is particularly to be congratulated for having produced versions of some of the more torturous passages, which are not only faithful to the text but also make good sense in English. The long and detailed introduction is worth reading in its own right.”
     —R. F. Stalley, The Classical Review

Significantly expanded and updated in light of the most recent scholarship, the second edition of Garland's engaging introduction to ancient Greek society brings this world vividly to life—and, in doing so, explores the perspectives and morals of typical ancient Greek citizens across a wide range of societal levels. Food and drink, literacy, the plight of the elderly, the treatment of slaves, and many more aspects of daily life in ancient Greece also come into sharp focus. More than sixty illustrations are included, as are maps, a chronology, a glossary of Greek terms, and suggestions for further reading.

Series: The New Hackett Aristotle

"This is C. D. C. Reeve's entirely new version of Aristotle's fascinating, and at the same time superbly difficult, text. The translation is faithful, concise, and extraordinarily thoughtful. Any student of the De Anima will no doubt greatly profit from it. Reeve's Introduction focuses on the place of the study of the soul in Aristotle's biology and—controversially—theology. With this he provides a refreshing and highly instructive counterpoint to an idea still very powerful in the secondary literature. This is the thought that the De Anima pertains to the province of 'the philosophy of mind.' Reeve shows that the De Anima is much more than this. A remarkable contribution." —Klaus Corcilius, University of California, Berkeley and The University of Tübingen

"Shiffman's fidelity both to Aristotle's text and to opening the complex thought contained therein to the contemporary reader is evident throughout this translation. It neither attempts to resolve difficulty nor drown the reader in obscurity; instead, it invites the reader to puzzle through this magnificent and difficult text herself. The wonderful introduction supplies any number of tools to do so and is a model of the rigorous and restrained articulation of essential themes and contemporary resonances. The glossary contains an indispensable and illuminating discussion of terms. Readable and thought-provoking, this translation is particularly well-suited for the classroom. Students at all levels will benefit from its lucidity and provocation to thought." —Sara Brill, Fairfield University

Series: The New Hackett Aristotle

"The De Caelo can be quite difficult for a first-time reader. C. D. C. Reeve's fluid and accurate translation, along with his superb Introduction and 560 endnotes (in effect functioning as a commentary), are bound to make this work much more accessible, while at the same time being a highly useful tool for seasoned Aristotle scholars." —Robert Mayhew, Professor of Philosophy, Seton Hall University

"Reeve's lucid and accurate translation of this difficult work will be of great value both to historians of philosophy and to philosophers interested in the topics Aristotle addresses for their own sake. The generous Introduction and notes provide the reader without Greek with full access to Aristotle's thinking." —William Charlton, author of many works on Aristotle's philosophy of nature and contributor of five volumes to the Ancient Commentators on Aristotle series

This is an English translation of Sophocles' tragedy of Electra, and the vengeance that she and her brother Orestes take on their mother and step father for the murder of their father. This edition also includes an "afterlife" essay that discusses adaptations of the play, as well as touches on other ways Electra has had influence (Jung's identification of the Electra Complex, O'Neill's Mourning Becomes Electra). Focus Classical Library provides close translations with notes and essays to provide access to understanding Greek culture.

The four late plays of Euripides collected here, in beautifully crafted translations by Cecelia Eaton Luschnig and Paul Woodruff, offer a faithful and dynamic representation of the playwright’s mature vision.

Designed as an introduction to North and Hillard's Latin Prose Composition. Presents the beginner with the simplest vocabulary and the most elementary forms of sentence construction. Includes both English-Latin and Latin-English exercises.

This text brings together for the first time two complete key works from classical antiquity on the politics of Athens: Plato's Menexenus and Pericles' Funeral Oration (from Thucydides' history of the Peloponnesian War).

The print edition of Erasmus Stultitiae Laus (by John F. Collins) in the Bryn Mawr Latin Commentaries series is now out of print and available only as a free PDF download. Click the learn more link below to visit the title page and download the free eBook.

Includes updated sections on the Indo-European language family and on Latin meter, addition of a brief bibliography, and a reorganized index of sources. Suitable for intermediate-level students.