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LSJ Great Scott

Great Scott!

About

The Liddell Scott Jones (LSJ) lexicon is a comprehensive Greek-English dictionary for ancient Greek, considered an indispensable reference work for scholars, students, and translators. It provides detailed definitions, irregular inflections, and examples of words in context from a vast range of ancient Greek texts, from the Homeric period to the 6th century AD, and includes both classical and New Testament Greek.

Cons

For general use it's a pain in the ass. Especially when compared to online LSJ lexicons.

  • heavy - hard to hold. hard to transport.,
  • hard to find words - finding your word is much harder than just typing it in (have to turn lots of pages and look for it),
  • hard to find related words - finding related words are so oppressive you usually avoid it (more page turning? dayammmmm.....)
    • pro: keeps you focused on the word, no rabbitholes 🙃🤣 ---- if you think this is a "pro" i recommend developing discipline instead 💪
  • no color coding makes it hard to see what's important (visually parse)
  • no links in the definitions - so it's harder to find / follow to relevant words or authors.
  • no links - Harder to "share" with friends on the internet, have to send a picture instead.
  • it's only LSJ (one lexicon only): There is no "middle liddel", "autenrieth" or "slater", or others.
  • it's only LSJ (not literature): There is no literature links (like to homer's odysey, bible, etc). Compare with Perseus Tufts alice.
  • expensive! Can cost > $209 USD, used copies can be > $100 USD

It's a much shittier experience than using alice.

Pros

But.

These things are what's good about it:

  • random discovery: random access means the muse can guide (random is fun),
  • random discovery: finding adjacent words can be fun (more random "muse" guidance),
  • immersion: leaving it open reminds me to think about greek in my own home,
  • social learning: leaving it open to a word like porphura is a way to "share" with the family... in turn they can leave it open to another word they find and I can learn something else from them. (social!),
  • will work after government collapse: if the internet is deleted, or if our country is detached from the internet, or censored, then I still have access to the information!,
  • impress your friends: Looks impressive on a bookshelf or podium.

Buy it