Oxford Classical Dictionary

The Oxford Classical Dictionary (OCD) is generally considered "the best one-volume dictionary on antiquity,"^[1][2] an encyclopedic work in English consisting of articles relating to classical antiquity and its civilizations. It was first published in 1949 (OCD¹ or OCD), edited by Max Cary with the assistance of H. J. Rose, H. P. Harvey, and A. Souter. A second edition followed in 1970 (OCD²), edited by Nicholas G. L. Hammond and H. H. Scullard, and a third edition in 1996 (OCD³), edited by Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth. A revised third edition was released in 2003, which is nearly identical to the previous third edition. Finally, a fourth edition was published in 2012 (OCD⁴), edited by Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth, and Esther Eidinow, which remains the current edition. This most recent edition is marked principally by three features: first, revision to the text of approximately half the entries; second, 90 new or replaced entries (19 replaced); and, third, thoroughly updated bibliographies for each entry.^[3]

The OCD's over 6,700 articles^[4] cover everything from the daily life of the ancient Greeks and Romans to their geography, religion, and their historical figures.

Digital and on-line availability

The fourth edition and the third revised edition of the OCD are available online for members of subscribed institutions and for subscribed individuals via Oxford Reference. The third edition (1996) was also available on CD-ROM, but it is partially incompatible with more recent versions of Windows and has not been revised or re-released.^[5]

Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization

The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization (OCCC), part of the Oxford Companions series of Oxford University Press, is an independent publication consisting of a selection of articles from the OCD, with accompanying illustrations. The first edition was published in 1998 (OCCC¹ or OCCC), edited by Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth, and contains over 600 articles selected from the OCD³. A paperback edition was issued in 2004. The current second edition was published in 2014 (OCCC²), edited by Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth, and Esther Eidinow, and contains over 700 articles selected from the OCD⁴.^[6]

Varia

National Latin Exam

A copy of the OCD has traditionally been offered by the National Latin Exam as a prize for students who obtain four consecutive ascending gold medals on the exam.^[7]

Forthcoming online version

As part of its Oxford Research Encyclopedia program, Oxford University Press is preparing a fully online, regularly updated version of the OCD, edited by Sander Goldberg, that will integrate multimedia content. A sample set of over 200 OCD⁴ was published in July 2015 and made freely available to the public; nearly 3000 more entries were published in December 2015, along with 8 new entries. On March 7, 2016, the remaining fourth edition entries will be made available and the site will be accessible only by institutional or individual subscription.^[8][9]

See also

• Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, the comprehensive multivolume classical encyclopedia, also known as Pauly-Wissowa and RE, published in German and English, and explained more fully on Wikipedia's German site
• Der Kleine Pauly (KlP), Der Neue Pauly (DNP), and Brill's New Pauly (BNP), subsequent versions of the RE, and generally explained more fully on Wikipedia's German site
• Dictionnaire des antiquités grecques et romaines (DAGR), an extensive multivolume classical encyclopedia published in French
• Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum (RAC), a comprehensive and still-in-production encyclopedia on late antiquity and the interactions between ancient Christians, Jews, Greeks, and Romans, published in German
• Harper's Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities

Notes

Editions and versions

Oxford Classical Dictionary

• Oxford Classical Dictionary. Edited by Max Cary, with the assistance of H. J. Rose, H. P. Harvey, and A. Souter. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1949.
• Oxford Classical Dictionary. Edited by Nicholas G. L. Hammond and H. H. Scullard. 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1970.
• Oxford Classical Dictionary. Edited by Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth. 3rd ed. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. ISBN 978-0-19-866172-6.
• Oxford Classical Dictionary. Edited by Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth. 3rd rev. ed. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. ISBN 978-0-19-860641-3.
• Oxford Classical Dictionary. Edited by Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth, and Esther Eidinow. 4th ed. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. ISBN 978-0-19-954556-8.

Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization

• Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization. Edited by Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1998, 2004. ISBN 978-0-19-860165-4 (hb), ISBN 978-0-19-860958-2 (pb).
• Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization. Edited by Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth, and Esther Eidinow. 2nd ed. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2014. ISBN 978-0-19-870677-9.

External links

• Oxford University Press USA, catalogue entry for the OCD⁴
• Oxford University Press UK, catalogue entry for the OCD⁴
• Amazon.com's catalogue entry for the OCD⁴
• Amazon.co.uk's catalogue entry for the OCD⁴
• Oxford University Press USA, catalogue entry for the OCCC²
• Amazon.com's catalogue entry for the OCCC²