Notice: texts in Latin and other languagesLinks for texts in Latin or other languages are not available here. Please make use of the excellent set of links available on David Camden's Corpus Scriptorum Latinorum. Introduction to LATOThe Library of Ancient Texts Online aims to be the internet's most thorough catalogue of online copies of ancient Greek texts, both in Greek and in translation. This is a site for all with an interest in the Classics. Very many texts from Ancient Greece are available on the world-wide web, at a variety of sites, in a variety of formats, and in a variety of languages. Some of the richest sites are massive endeavours such as The Perseus Project at Tufts University, or Project Gutenberg. Some visitors will already be familiar with these sites and others. (For links to some other sites, see the Abbreviations page.) However, even these sites lack many texts: some sites contain some comparatively obscure texts, others contain others. LATO helps to repair this situation by gathering a comprehensive set of links to those texts that are available free of charge. No texts are actually hosted on this site. Links in LATO are organised by author, or, where authorship is uncertain, by the titles of texts. The aim is to make online copies of ancient Greek texts easily accessible to both scholars and to those with a general interest in ancient literature, to ancient historians and archaeologists, teachers and students. How to find a textLinks are in alphabetical order by author. In some cases (for a variety of possible reasons) cross-references are given to another location: e.g. for Eugamon, Telegony, a cross-reference is given to Epic Cycle, Telegony; for Xenophon, De Vectigalibus, a cross-reference is given to Xenophon, Poroi. On the index pages, links for editions in Greek are given in the left-hand column, translations (at this stage almost entirely English) in the right-hand column. Each link is given with an indication of the site that hosts the text, and, where I have been able to ascertain them, the editor and date of the hardcopy edition from which the e-text was taken. Greek names and Greek textTransliteration of Greek is not always consistent on this site. Where possible, transliterations or Latinised spellings are indicated by hovering the mouse cursor over text that is marked like this: e.g. Tyrtaios, Parthenios' ἐρωτικὰ παθήματα, etc. Where I have thought it useful to do so, Latinised forms of names are cross-referenced (e.g. Alcaeus to Alkaios). Which texts are listed?LATO prioritises texts earlier than 500 CE. As time passes I hope to include at least some writers of the Byzantine period (there are a few odd links already for writers like Malalas, Photios, and Proklos Diadochos). In the meantime the most useful resources are sites devoted to Church fathers, in particular the following:
Past a certain point, it becomes senseless to provide another twelve links to identical copies of Jowett's translation of the Symposium. Priority is given to:
Disadvantages of online editionsAll electronic versions of ancient texts (such as the TLG, and all the texts listed on this site) suffer from some important disadvantages in comparison with the texts you will find in up-to-date hardcopy editions. It may be wise to be aware of these issues.
Note that critical editions available from Gallica or Google Books do not suffer from this last weakness, as they are very close replicas of printed critical editions that include an apparatus. They are still very out of date, however, and often assume knowledge of at least Latin, if not ancient Greek. Contact me |
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