What to Know About Creating Citations for Greek and Roman Sources*
- References to classical texts should appear as in text citations
- Citations should include:
- Ancient Author
- Title of work (in italics) - not required if only one work by the author survives
- For prose authors: Book number, chapter number, section number.**
- For verse authors: Book/poem number, line number.**
Examples:
(Herodotus, 1.32.7)
(Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus 447-462)
(Virgil, Aeneid 2.49)
(Plato, Republic 360e–361b)
- Abbreviations are often used for the author and title of the work.
Examples:
(Hdt. 1.32.7)
(Soph. OT 447-462)
(Verg. Aen. 2.49)
(Pl. Resp. 360e-361b)
Citing Ancient Sources in the Research Paper - Zainaldin Customizations
The above illustrates standard practice for citing Greek and Roman sources. When citing your Greek and Roman sources in the research paper, Prof. Zainaldin requests the following customizations that will aid him in reviewing your works cited.
When you citing a Greek or Roman source for the first time, add a footnote:
In the footnote, identify the translated text you are using and provide the translator's name and year of publication
In your Works Cited/Bibliography, replace the author, Plato, in the standard citation with the translators name and incorporate the ancient author into the title if not already present:
The customized citation appears as follows:
*For reference see the Notes and Bibliography section (14.242 - 14.252) of the Chicago Manual of Style 17th ed.
**The formatting of classical works (books, sections, lines, etc.) is standardized across all editions regardless if the text is in the original language or translation. See Chicago 14.243.
See it all put together in a writing sample provided by Prof. Zainaldin: