Search help
The Classical Works Knowledge Base (CWKB) assembles data about Classical works (1,550 authors and 5,200 texts). The database is now searchable online. It allows you to resolve most citations of ancient Greek and Latin texts (whether in a canonical, abbreviated form or in a modern language) and to find an expression for it in the following full-text services:
- the Classical Latin Texts of the Packard Humanities Institute (PHI Latin Texts);
- the Greek and Roman Texts from the Perseus Digital Library;
- the Library of Latin Texts - Series A (LLT-A) from Brepols Publishers [licensed];
- the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (TLG) [licensed] and the Abridged Online TLG.
Examples:
S. Ai. 120 is a canonical citation for the play of Sophocles the Ajax, line 120. Filone, La Creatione del mondo 16 is a citation in Italian of Philo, De opificio mundi (On the Creation, in English), section 16.
Thanks to CWKB you do not need to be familiar with the Italian name of Philo or with the canonical abbreviation for the Ajax.
Here are the few steps to follow to resolve a citation:
In the text field "author," enter the first letters of the author's name as you have it in the citation for which you are searching, whether it is in its Latin form, a form in one of the main modern languages for Classical Studies (English, French, German, Italian), or an abbreviation. Select the form you are looking for in the drop down list and click on the "submit" button.
- In each line of the list, the first form is one of the many variants of the author's name (in Latin, English, French, German, Italian, or abbreviation); the second one is the Latin form used in CWKB. Note, however, that CWKB does not aim at creating a new canon of Classical literature.
On the next page, you will select the work from which you are seeking a citation. In the text field "work," enter the first letters of the work's name as you have it in your citation, whether it is its Latin form, a form in one of the main modern languages for Classical Studies (English, French, German, Italian), or an abbreviation. Select the form you are looking for in the drop down list.
- In each line of the list, the first form is one of the many variants of the work's name (in Latin, English, French, German, Italian, or abbreviation); the second one is the Latin form used in CWKB.
Then enter the scope of the citation in the text field "scope."
Click on the "submit" button.
The next and last page lists the full text services that offer the text for which you are searching. Click on one of the links to go to the service you want.
- Please note that some of the services are licensed and that you cannot access the full text unless you have a subscription.
On the same page, you also find a link to search Worldcat for this work. Finally, you can copy the OpenURL link to the citation if you want to embed it on a webpage.