{"id":348,"date":"2020-10-07T17:40:32","date_gmt":"2020-10-07T17:40:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/classicalstudies\/?p=348"},"modified":"2020-10-07T18:00:29","modified_gmt":"2020-10-07T18:00:29","slug":"citing-ancient-authors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/classicalstudies\/2020\/10\/07\/citing-ancient-authors\/","title":{"rendered":"Citing Ancient Authors"},"content":{"rendered":"

When citing classical texts scholars employ a specialized, precise method that does not use page numbers<\/strong>. In outline, the proper format for citing classical texts is as follows:<\/p>\n

Author, Title<\/em> Book#.Section#.Line#<\/p>\n

Different texts have different structures that might alter this schema slightly. Using this method ensures the reader can find the exact passage no matter what translation or edition he or she is using<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

EXAMPLES<\/h1>\n

Verse<\/h2>\n

Homer, Iliad<\/em> 18.141\u2013143.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s Book 18 of the Iliad<\/em>, lines 141 to 143. A \u201cbook\u201d for classical works represents what once fit on a single scroll of papyrus. When referring to books of classical texts, the word is capitalized (\u201csee Iliad<\/em>, Book 18\u201d or \u201cin the eighteenth Book of the Iliad<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Sophocles, Antigone<\/em> 904\u2013922.<\/p>\n

Antigone<\/em> is a play, with one continuous sequence of line numbers, so there is no \u201cBook\u201d number.<\/p>\n

Horace, Odes<\/em> 4.1.1-4.<\/p>\n

Book 4 of Horace\u2019s Odes<\/em>, poem 1, lines 1 to 4. The individual Odes<\/em> have numbers, rather than titles.<\/p>\n

Catullus 85.2<\/p>\n

Poem 85 of Catullus, line 2. Catullus\u2019 poetry exists in a single collection, with poems numbered sequentially. There are no \u201cBook\u201d numbers, and no title, since it\u2019s just Catullus\u2019 surviving poems, one after another. Note that when there is no title, no comma is needed after the author\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

Prose<\/h2>\n

Pausanias, Description of Greece <\/em>9.11.6.<\/p>\n

Book 9, section 11, paragraph 6 of Pausanias\u2019 Description of Greece<\/em>. Since Pausanias has only one work surviving, the title is actually optional. There would be no ambiguity if it were omitted.<\/p>\n

Apollodorus 2.5.4<\/p>\n

Book 2, section 5, paragraph 4 of Apollodorus\u2019 Library of Greek Mythology<\/em>. Apollodorus only wrote one work, so mentioning its title is optional. When there is no title, no comma is needed after the author\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

Herodotus 4.1.<\/p>\n

The first section of Herodotus\u2019 Histories<\/em>, Book 4. This section actually has three sentences, each individually numbered. But there is no reason to give a specific sentence number if you are referring the reader to the whole section.<\/p>\n

Plato, Symposium<\/em> 215a3\u2013218b7.<\/p>\n

Plato has his own special reference numbers called \u201cStephanus pages\u201d after an early editor of his complete works. Each numbered section has subsections labeled a, b, c, d, e. Within each subsection, each sentence has a number. This reference specifies a range from Stephanus page 215, subsection a, sentence 3, to Stephanus page 218, subsection b, sentence 7. Modern translations put these reference numbers in the margins, so you can always locate the specific passage.<\/p>\n

Abbreviations: Most classical authors and texts have standard abbreviations that you may want to employ; these can be at the Oxford Classical Dictionary Abbreviations list<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Multiple references to the same work in the course of a paragraph can be abbreviated even further. Once it\u2019s been established that you are discussing Iliad<\/em> Book 18, for subsequent references you can simply put line numbers in parentheses, rather than repeating the whole \u201cHomer, Iliad<\/em> 18\u201d part. Efficient! The goal is clarity, so if you refer to something else, then come back to Iliad<\/em> 18, put the full form in again just to be sure.<\/p>\n

Those are the basics. Any questions? Leave a comment and I will respond as soon as I can.<\/p>\n

Chris Francese, October 7, 2020<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When citing classical texts scholars employ a specialized, precise method that does not use page numbers. In outline, the proper format for citing classical texts is as follows: Author, Title Book#.Section#.Line# Different texts have different structures that might alter this schema slightly. Using this method ensures the reader can find the exact passage no matter … Continue reading Citing Ancient Authors<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/classicalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/classicalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/classicalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/classicalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/classicalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/classicalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/classicalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/classicalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/classicalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}