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.
Greek and Latin Texts with Facing Vocabulary and Commentary 
Definitely not the Annales or the Timaeus.
Any comedy of Aristophanes would be great!
The Timaeus
Tacitus please. Anything he wrote.
Tacitus, Thucydides, and Plato are all great! I would also be happy to see a commentary on one of Aeschylus’ plays!
Thucydides 6 or Annales 1 or 14 get my support. The Timaeus or Eutropius, not so much.
How about some excerpts from Marcus Aurelius for all those neoStoics out there, journaling away like the good emperor himself….
I would love a commentary on the Theaetetus!
Plutarch Life of Alexander please!
I would love the Theaetetus too!
Noted, thank you. I am concerned about the length but will continue to consider it.
Philoctetes. I am translating it right now and finding it very hard going. It would benefit from your expertise.
Genesis (Septuagint or Vulgate or both!). Any of the remaining books of the Iliad or Odyssey.
I totally agree—I’d love to use a Pharr-style Greek-Latin reader for Genesis, and for Luke and Acts, too. Would you consider doing one of any of the works of the Greek Church Fathers? There are some readers out there, but none of them as helpful as yours.
Thanks for the response! I hadn’t considered the logistical difficulty of such an undertaking. Perhaps it would be best, then, to proceed as you had indicated and choose a selection of chapters (such as Genesis 1-25) rather than to try to tackle an entire book.
I really appreciate the work you’re doing. You’ve made my Greek learning experience much easier, and I know several other people who feel the same way!
It would be great to see both Seneca’s and Cicero’s philosophical works as a Pharr-formatted commentary.
The Oresteia
Second this! Also the Bacchae.
Aeneid Bks 7-12
I’ve heard The Frogs won a poll you made some time ago. That’d be nice.
The Moselle by Ausonius or Virgil’s Georgics and Eclogues.
You may find this edition of the Eclogues useful: T.W.C. Edwards (1825) which includes vocabulary, prose order and translation: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark%3A%2F13960%2Ft6pz6ft92&seq=5
Please consider Plato, Republic, Book VI and VII. The Sun, the Good, the Cave.
I would love to see Tacitus An. I and Thucydides VI commentaries.
For some of us, very Greek-challenged, almost anything is great. I remember sending you a note about the Phaedrus, and you pointed out that there was a recent commentary(which I have thanks to you), but some of us will take any additional aid, overlap is good. (I have three commentaries on The Apology, and all of great help as I was grinding through it, and yours was easily the most helpful). One of your repliers suggested something by Aeschylus, with which I agree, even if there are commentaries. Prometheus? Your work is so helpful that you can do something that others have already done, and it is still good (market….of course is another issue…..). Surely the Agammemnon would benefit from one more commentator (you). If not, then more Sophocles — or Euripedes (Hippolytus?). I would finally suggest finishing the Oedipus trilogy — Oedipus at Colonus would be terrific.
Great idea, and having all commentaries from one source would be a researcher’s luxury.
Josephus’ Jewish War, please 🙂
Agamemnon, please.
Plotinus 6.9; Areopagite’s _Mystical Theology_. Thank you!
I’m glad to hear this! I had an honor of knowing Christian Wildberg through all his years at Princeton. He was on my dissertation committee (my thesis was on Clement of Alexandria); then we both participated for many years in the Classical Philosophy Reading group and in the varies events sponsored by the Hellenic Studies Program. I admire your work and use it for my online teaching at the Paideia Institute!
I’d love a reader of Nonnus’s μεταβολὴ(homeric paraphrase of John’s gospel)😃
I second that request. There are no good editions of this Nonnos’ work in print.
Thucydides 6 would be very helpful.
Annales I, please!
Aristotle’s Metaphysics 1 and 4 or 6 ?
Concur with suggestions above for Thucydides (though more interested in Books 1, 3, and 7 than Book 6), Georgics and Eclogues, Agamemnon, or any remaining Iliad and Odyssey books. Many thanks for making so much valuable material available already!
I’d love anything Greek, but my personal wishlist in rough order of preference would be:
* Theocritus
* Plutarch (a Greek life or a Delphic dialogue)
* Hesiod
* Aristophanes (Frogs would be great)
* I’d second the Agamemnon
* more Euripides (especially the Hippolytus)
thanks again for all your work!
Homer’s Iliad, Book A. Would be a great companion to your Books 6 and 22.
Second choice: Hesiod’s Theogony, Works and Days would also be great, but may be too large a chunk.
I’d like to see one of your commentaries done on Thucydides – Book 1 maybe, or 2. The old “Macmillan Red” books by Marchant are useful but of limited help to today’s students. Another suggestion – Livy VI, though there is a ‘Green & Yellow’ on that.
Would love to see some more Greek Tragedies – perhaps Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound? Or Agamemnon? But any would be great! Also any Aristophanes! My first introduction to Greek was with the JACT series with lots of fun adapted Aristophanes and I’ve wanted to read the originals since then! 🙂
Also, if you’d be up for doing Oedipus at Colonus to complete the trilogy that would be brilliant!
Plato’s Gorgias
I would love to see Plato’s Protagoras included in the series. It is a rich dialogue that is not taught as frequently as it should be. And thank you so much for all of the textbooks you have already written.
Dear Mr. Steadman,
I would lead a class in Plato Phaedrus were a text like your available!,
Or Ovid Heroides.
Thank you very much for making excellent study guides available.
George Wendell
Have you considered Epictetus?
Cicero’s De Officiis Bk I, where the student will see interesting moral reasoning and many interesting stories to illuminate the reasoning.
Hesiod’s Theogony
A book from St. Augustine’s City of God
A book from Cicero’s De Re Publica
Pliny’s letters on the eruption of Vesuvius
Book of Job- Greek Septuagint or Latin Vulgate
Thank you for all your contributions to the study of the Classics.
Yes to Pliny’s letters! What about Cicero’s letters to Atticus too? It’s hard to find student friendly editions like yours for epistolography
Yes ~800, I think. That’s why I was narrowing down my request to Cicero’s letters to Atticus!
Dear Mr. Steadman. many thanks for all your work to date. I would also like to see Thucydides ., especially since Thucydides is so difficult to read. John King
Plato’s Timaeus would be highly welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for the great work you do Dr. steadman for all would-be Hellenists and Latinists like myself. Greatly appreciated.
Thucydides!!! I’d say 1 or 2, but 6 (or any other book) would be awesome. Agamemnon, Trojan Women, Electra, Lysistrata, Timon, Enchiridion, Sappho, Anacreontea… Your commentaries have brought me so much pleasure, eagerly looking forward to the next one.
if you are considering Latin the Annales would be very useful, or perhaps Juvenal.
For Greek, I would love to see Frogs, Philoctetes or a few more books of the Iliad. Oh, and Demosthenes. I don’t understand why Demosthenes doesn’t get more love on here. His Greek is beautiful.
LUCIANO DI SAMOSATA. GRAZIE INFINITE PER LA GENEROSITÀ!
Any of the following would be great:
Plato:
~ Republic, Book 7
~ Phaedrus
~ Cratylus
~ Sophist
~ Theaetetus
Heraclitus!
Thank you for all your work – I love using your books!
I would very much like to read Aeschylus’s, The Agamemnon-a wonderful, wonderful play! I have the Denniston and Page edition, well-commentated, but I appreciate the rapidity with which one can read any particular work using your excellent commentary. This is slightly tangential, but I would like to read more of Herodotus’s, The Histories, in Attic Greek- I have the 1963 Bristol Classical Press’s, Tales of Herodotus, a sign of laziness!, but I am a post-beginner enthusiast.
Thank you for creating these. I really appreciate the ease of reading. Personally, I would love to have all of Homer in these editions. More realistically, I’d enjoy Tacitus or Thucydides. After them, Aristophanes. Thanks for asking. Best
I don’t think there is a need for new comments on Plato. This author has already received the most significant attention from you. I would agree with the proposal to make a commentary on Demosthenes, ancient Greek oratorical prose is wonderful.
As for Latin Literature. Tacitus is a terribly boring author. Your comment won’t save him. Juvenal is an excellent idea.
Would love anything from Diodorus Siculus!
Thank you for your wide-ranging output so far. We are a group of senior citizens who enjoy reading all Greek and Latin writers, and your volumes are appreciated for the support they give us.
Thucydides, Aristophanes, Tacitus and Juvenal would be high on our list of suggestions.
Thank you for your work.
My Wish List:
Plato Gorgias or Phaedrus
Aristotle Physica I or De Anima I
Euripides Bacchae
Aeschylus Persae
Aristophanes Birds
Herodotus II
Thucydides I
Xenophon Oeconomicus or Hiero
Thank you for making these works more accessible!
For Latin, Apuleius’s Metamorphoses would be thoroughly enjoyable. His idiosyncratic style, while entertaining, makes him challenging at times. Suetonius and Statius are two other Latin suggestions.
For Greek, authors outside the classical period of Greek literature would be welcome. Appian, Arrian, Plutarch, and Dio Cassius to name a few. The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius too.
Thank you!
+1 to the Meditations, which I think would fill an important gap.
I would love to see the following:
Juvenal’s Satires
Seneca’s Tragedies
Lucan’s Civil War
Many thanks
You know what would be very, very fruitful for beginners to have? Your edition of the Euthyphro.
Euthyphro, I think, is the most accessible and the best dialogue for beginners of Ancient Greek to start reading Plato. It is short, funny, interesting, not too difficult philosophically, and does not give too much trouble to those wanting to read Plato in the original. Therefore, your help with the vocabulary and some (rarely occuring) troublesome syntax would make it ideal to start Plato. What say?
Cicero’s De Amicitia and Somnum Scipionis, please!!! I haven’t been pleased with the editions or excerpts that are out there–if anyone knows of something good, say so–and I would really love leading our advanced Latin students through these interesting and influential texts!
The final chapter of Roma Aeterna contains the Somnium Scipionis, annotated by Ørberg.
Thanks, Bellerophon. I was aware of Oerberg’s inclusion of that text, but the LLSPI method makes it more difficult to skip and dip into later parts. I am hoping for something more independent. But that can be a starting point, I guess.
There’s an excellent Bryn Mawr commentary on the Somnium Scipionis.
Am seconding Apuleius’s Metamorphoses.
Agree. Also, Odyssey, Book 21-24. Wondered why you had stopped at the end of Book 20? We miss your help and expertise!
I think the Agamemnon would be a great addition – it is rarely touched by undergrads on account of its complexity.
Anything written by Tacitus or Thucydides.
“On Ancient Medicine” (Also known as “De Vetere Medicina”), a treatise of the Corpus Hippocraticum.
Thank you for your suggestions, I’m aware of those works. “On Ancient Medicine” is one of the shortest treatises, but perhaps one of the most important. And, as you probably know, the texts of the Corpus Hippocraticum vary wildly. Anyway, I am immensely grateful just for your consideration.
Lysistrata!
Sappho… Or an anthology of lyric poetry
Are you sure that someone is actually doing Agamemmnon? The person that claimed to be annotating it on Reddit said that they had made only personal notes, without any actual intention of publishing the commentaries.
Procopius of Caesarea. Some selection of the most interesting sections of “History of the Wars”, e.g. the one about the justinian plague. Perhaps even some of his ” Secret History”. By what I could find, looks like he strived to use a pure form of Attic, putting a lot of effort to explain whatever vocabulary alien to the classic period. Or Anna Komnene and her “Alexiad”. Something from the Byzantine period. Or Dionysius Thrax and his “The Art of Grammar”. But I would trade all of that plus my left arm any day to see a Pharr-formatted comentary of the “On Ancient Medicine”. (:
I would love to see more works of Greek epic verse, since those (maybe together with Plato and sacred texts) seem to be the most common motivators for beginning students.
I would like most of all to see Theogony. Its syntax and vocabulary are generally within the reach of beginning-intermediate students. It directly covers mythology which draws many people to classics (think D’Aulaires’.) Its language provides strong inroads to Homer, with some lines almost directly lifted from (or shared with?) him. The entire poem moreover fits into the space of less than a book and a half of the Iliad or Odyssey. For these reasons I find it to be the ideal candidate.
Thank you so much for the readers, they’ve made my life so much easier.
It would be amazing if you could do one for Aristotle’s politics.
Thank you for making Latin and Greek more accessible to all students studying Classics. I am very interested in reading Aeschylus or Greek Lyric poetry with my students.
Given that you’ve already done the Nicomachean Ethics Bk.1, Bk. 10 would be an addition that is desirable, as the two could be well read (and taught) together as a unit. Thanks, again, for the great work you do!
I want as many of Plato’s dialogues commented on as possible, including Timaeus, Parmenides, The Sophist, The Politician, and Philebus.
Thanks Geoffrey. I’d love to see Timeaus come out. Will it be ready next year and do you have a rough idea of the date? Thanks for your hard work and merry Christmas!
Hesiod’s Theogony would be great, as would 1 and 2 Maccabees (either Septuagint or Vulgate would be equally valuable).
I would love to see the beta editions (Bacchae, Thucydides, Herodotus, the Odyssey 17-20) finished and brought to print. Call me ol’ fashioned, but I really prefer having a physical copy. Other than that, anything thing from the Iliad, Herodotus, Aristophanes, or tragedy. Plato’s Gorgias or Theaetetus would also be welcome.
No, no, thank you for all your hard work! As an amateur, without these commentaries, I would be probably have given up on greek. That said, I can see how prose stretches the limits of the format. The one thing that I would be most excited to see is a Pharr style commentary on the whole Iliad. The poem has a large vocabulary with a lot of hapax legomena. It is also the key to all subsequent greek literature (not to mention amazing). anyway, I am excited for any text that you put out. thanks again.
I want to see Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Book VI.
Thucydides, Bk 8, which, in a way, seems self-contained and different from the rest of Thucydides.
Xenophon Memorabilia, Bk 1 which students can then use to compare to the contents of the other Apology.
Most definitely Tacitus’ Annales I! Tacitus is one of the hardest Latin authors, yet you haven’t covered him yet.
Thank you so much for all the amazing work! Maybe some selection from Diogenes Laertius would be a great addition. I would also like to see some Plutarch in this edition, and also some lyric poetry would be great.
One more suggestion, if I may: _Asinus aureus_. Thanks again!
I cannot thank you enough for your resources!
AP Latin is proposing new passages from the Aeneid in a few years. Is expanding your Vergil to include these a possibility?
Love the work that you do! Is there any chance that you could do Statesman (Politicus) of Plato? It is a particularly challenging text with interesting Greek constructions.
Geoffrey, what about the Aesop fables?.
Thanks for your hard work!.
I’d love Odyssey 1-5 (and the rest…). We’ve been sight-reading Homer with your versions, and it has been so much fun, and actually possible, compared to just having the Greek text with the need to scramble for vocabulary and grammar help.
Other than that I’d love more plays. Any of Sophocles and Euripides. Aeschylus and Aristophanes. Whatever you’d like to invest in! Thank you so much for putting the time and effort to produce these texts and for your immense generosity in making these available to us!
That’s a wonderful idea! I’ve got your 6-8, if you have time to add book 5…to have help with the wonderful sea and cave images. (I already voted for Aeschylus’ Agamemnon though) – thankyou for your wonderful books!
Any interest in legal Latin (perhaps the Digest) or neo-Latin (perhaps Erasmus)?
Gesta Romanorum? I’m searching for Latin prose at a similar level to the Vulgate’s gospels. De Bello Gallico is a bit too much for my students.
I’m starting off with Beeson’s Primer of Medieval Latin; he includes 5, 80, 251, 273, and 120, with some footnotes.
Perhaps Horace’s Odes? (Book 3?)
I love your books. Thank you so much for doing what you do!
I am a big fan of William H. F. Altman’s “basanistic reading order” of Plato’s dialogues. So I would love to see versions of both Alcibiades dialogues, Erastai, and both Hippias dialogues. Maybe Ion and Menexenus, too. I feel I’ve already gotten quite greedy with my requests, so I’ll stop there.
Thanks again for all you do!
Thank you, that is great hear. I’ve got your version of Plato’s Meno, and nothing had helped me more in my study of Greek!
Pindar would be splendid.
Thanks! Your work is fantastic, incidentally. A few small thoughts: might there be an audience for editions of certain authors with your commentaries on, say, the recto and a translation on the verso? Also, your work is more thorough than Pharr’s. So Aeneid 1-6 (or 1, 2, 4, 6) might yet be a worthwhile project. Likewise Catullus and Horace.
Finally, I see several readers above are looking for Greek lyric. I refer them to the excellent Aoidoi.org/poets. Among much else it has (a bit of) Pindar. I wish someone involved with Aoidoi would make a print version of their work.
My choice would be Plato, Republic, books 2-4 (which form a natural unit) or, if that is too much at once, just book 2. It’s a pity that only books 1 and 10 are available in student editions.
Perhaps:
De Senectute would be lovely, thank you.
Aristophanes’ Clouds or Frogs; any Greek tragedy.
Grad school is so much nicer with a Steadman at hand …
I started compiling the vocabulary to the Frogs during the pandemic (2020), but teaching hybrid classes (some students in class, some virtually) proved to be overwhelming, and I stopped the project. I will give your recommendation serious thought and perhaps revisit the what I have starts. Thank you.
Dr Steadman – I wrote a class paper on Frogs and would love to be of help. If I may continue your list or perhaps send you one, would love to.
Thank you for the offer, but it is important that I work alone on the list to maintain consistency in formatting, etc. Also, I have a number of other projects in the works, so I will likely not be working on the Frogs in the near future.
Thucydides: Book 6.
Peggy Havey Albany, CA
On Fri, Apr 5, 2024 at 9:18 AM Greek and Latin Texts with Facing Vocabulary
Well, a completed beta edition for Thucydides Book 6 is on the website, so I image that you are suggesting that I revise it and put it in print. To be honest, I do not know how much interest there is for a paperback edition. I have not received much feedback about the draft yet, so I may have to wait and see. I will still keep this recommendation and your earlier recommendation for Tacitus in mind. Thank you.
There are six people in Sheffield, UK who would welcome a paperback edition of Thucydides Book 6. We are members of a group of senior citizens who meet weekly to study a Greek or Latin text. We are steadily working our way through your very helpful publications.
Deidre Eastburn
Thank you for the note. Lengthy prose works stretch this commentary format to its limits. I spend so much time with the formatting and vocabulary that the grammatical notes often do not get the attention that they deserve in the beta edition. I will keep your suggestion in mind.
I would love to see the Homeric Hymn to Demeter!