The Ancient, the Medieval, and the Modern in a Greek-English Lexicon, or How To Get Your Daily ‘Bread’ in Greek Any Day Through the Ages

Abstract

Liddell and Scott (LSJ) has always been entitled A Greek-English Lexicon, from the first (1843) through to the ninth edition (1940). Clearly no need was felt to add Ancient to the title, even though LSJ is not and never was intended to be a comprehensive lexicon of the Greek language in its entire history. This chapter asks whether the scope of Ancient should be extended to include later stages, particularly the Medieval and the Modern, given the remarkable continuity of the Greek language stressed by Chantraine and others. With the availability of the online LSJ this is an option which should be seriously considered, although the editorial problems of a continuously updated online version may seem forbidding.β‎