LibGuides: Classics: Background information

Encyclopedias and dictionaries

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Use this selection of online encyclopedias and dictionaries to find background information, overviews and key resources from articles' bibliographies. Useful for comps.

The Oxford classical dictionary, 4th edition, 2012, edited by Simon Hornblower and Anthony Spawforth.
First choice for new and experienced scholars, this updated edition remains essential as a starting point for research in ancient Greek and Roman cultures, and now reception studies.
The Oxford encyclopedia of ancient Greece and Rome, 2010, edited by Michael Gagarin and Elaine Fantham.
500 essays, covering the ancient world from the Bronze Age to post-Justinian era (600 CE). Index recommended.
The encyclopedia of ancient history, 2012, edited by R. Bagnall et al.

Continuously updated. Focus on ancient Mediterranean civilizations, from the Bronze Age to the 7th Century CE.

Screenshot of search within The Encyclopedia of Ancient History
Step 1: Click Search in the Book

Step 2: Type search terms in SEARCH FOR box

The encyclopedia of ancient Greek language and linguistics, EAGLL, Brill 2012- .

Credo Reference
Over 3 million full-text authoritative dictionary/encyclopedia entries alongside thousands of easily searchable images, audio files, and videos. Credo provides access to hundreds of in-depth titles covering major subjects from current Social Issues to Ancient History and Shakespeare to Einstein. Includes "Mind Maps", keyword visualization tools.

Over 3 million full-text authoritative dictionary/encyclopedia-like entries alongside thousands of easily searchable images, audio files, and videos. Credo provides access to hundreds of in-depth titles covering major subjects from current Social Issues to Ancient History and Shakespeare to Einstein. Includes "Mind Maps", keyword visualization tools.
Gale Virtual Reference Library
100s of Encyclopedias and dictionaries with extensive and brief articles on all different topics.

Updated regularly. A database of encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources. Fully searchable across all files. A list of sources included in our subscription is available.
For more information on ebooks see the Ebook Guide
Literary Reference Center
Wide ranging collection of background information about authors and literary topics across the centuries. Search the "Subject/Author" and "Subject" box for an individual, then look for reference or biographies articles using the "faceting" (limiting) at left.

Provides users with a broad spectrum of information on thousands of authors and their works across literary disciplines and timeframes. Includes plot summaries, literary criticism, author biographies, book reviews, poems, short stories, classic texts, author interviews, and more.
Cambridge Histories Online
Includes Cambridge Ancient History, Cambridge Prehistory of the Bronze and Iron Age Mediterranean, Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Warfare, Cambridge History of Egypt, Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Political Thought, Cambridge History of Literature: Greek and Latin, and others.

Updated regularly. Provides instant access to the renowned texts of the Cambridge Histories series. All the available volumes are grouped into broad topics for quick and easy browsing (see the list below), or the entire series can be searched using the basic or advanced search features. Specific histories consist of either one volume or a numered series and cover all major regions of the world (i.e. Cambridge History of Africa, Cambridge History of Latin America).

Brill's New Pauly : encyclopaedia of the ancient world : Antiquity
Call Number: PCL Stacks DE 5 N3513 2002 Lib Use Only
ISBN: 9004122591
Publication Date: 2002-2010

English translation of Neue Pauly
Paulys real-encyclopädie der classischen altertumswissenschaft by Pauly, August Friedrich von, 1796-1845 et al
Call Number: Classics Library Ref. DE 5 P33
Publication Date: 1894-

Advanced. Massive, fundamental in dense German. All aspects of classical civilization for its time, including people, places, topics, and Greek and Latin terms.
Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classicae (LIMC)
Call Number: Classics Lib Ref NX 650 M9 L48 Lib Use Only
ISBN: 3760887511
Publication Date: 1981-2009

Extended articles on the iconography, images of Greek, Etruscan and Roman mythology.