The paperback is available on Amazon here, and the pdf is available on the Bacchae page on this website.

This commentary is 7 x 10 inches (17.78 x 25.4 cm), slightly larger than the common 6 x 9 in. commentary in order to accommodate more vocabulary and grammatical notes with a larger and more readable font.

If you have a Latin or Greek text that you would like to see as a commentary on this website and in paperback, please add your suggestion to the comments to this post.

Recent recommendations have included Euripides’ Bacchae and Thucydides Book 6, and both commentaries are now available as beta editions on this website.

Other authors have made me aware that they are working on the Timaeus and Agamemnon. If I receive any updates, I will pass them along.

I am trying to add a link on each commentary page for corrections (you can comment on a pdf in the link, and I receive an email to address the comment). If you would like to suggest a correction but such a link is not available, please let me know, and I will add the link so that you can make a suggested corrections effortlessly.

Thank you.

J. Shaw’s commentary is now available on Amazon here (for 10.95 USD), and the latest pdf version is available as a free download here on his website. He has previously published Pharr-formatted commentaries on Bk 1 and Epistle to the Hebrews.

Teachers have contacted me and offered a number of ways that they use the pdf to enhance instruction. Below are a few tips worth passing along:

(1) Enlarge the pdf on the desktop which you are projecting to create a quick and easy presentation.

(2) Enlarge the pdf on the desktop and take screenshot images of the selected text (Mac: shift-command-4, Windows: Snipping tool) to insert in presentations, handouts, quizzes, and tests. (Enlarging the pdf improves the image resolution.) This is a very easy way to maintain formatting between the book, presentations, and handouts.

(3) Post the pdf (or a link to the pdf) on your class website and ask that students use the paperback in class and pdf at home or vice versa and not carry the book in their book bags. This method discourages daily wear-and-tear on your books and yet ensures that students always have access to the commentary.

(4) Need flashcards? Search Quizlet or Anki before you make your own. The flashcards may already have been created. If you wish to make your own flashcards, most applications allow you to copy and paste vocabulary and then ask what punctuation you wish to use to divide up the word from the definition. Choose “:” (a colon) and within seconds you will convert the vocabulary list copied from the pdf into a set of flashcards. Then, simply copy the link to the flashcard set and send it to your students.

(5) Use the search function in the pdf to find relevant grammar constructions throughout the commentary: e.g. search “subj” to find all labeled subjunctive constructions and “dat” to find labeled dative constructions.

(6) If the students have mastered the core vocabulary, copy and paste selected dictionary entries from the corresponding vocabulary sections (e.g. word occurring 3-8 times) as you read to create vocabulary lists for students to review and memorize.

If you have any other suggestions to add to this list, please let me know.

J. Shaw’s commentary is now available on Amazon here (for 13.95 USD), and the latest pdf version is available as a free download here on his website.

J. Shaw’s commentary on St. Augustine’s Confessions is also available on Amazon here (for 9.95 USD), and the latest pdf version is available as a free download here on his website. 

Finally, a very early beta edition for 10 Letters of Seneca is available on this website.

J, S. has just published  a Pharr-formatted commentary on Ars Amatoria Book 1, a didactic poem that instructs readers on how to pick up members of the opposite sex. The opening lines are known to be a bit challenging, but if you read ahead just a little, you will be rewarded with a guided tour of the best places to find love in Rome.

If you have enjoyed reading Ovid in the past but never considered Ars Amatoria, it is certainly a great summer read. The paperback is available on Amazon here, and a free pdf of the commentary is available on her website here.