Got Plato?

[Michael Hanel]

Just another reason why BW7 would be a worthwhile update. Earlier I have posted a Greek database for BW of all of Homer's works (the Iliad and the Odyssey), Hesiod's works (Theogony and Works and Days + Shield of Heracles) and recently added the Homeric Hymns. I have just reached a pausing point in making a new database:

Plato's Works.

This database will not (yet) include ALL of Plato's works, but let me tell you what it has so far:
1. Euthyphro
2. Apology
3. Crito
4. Phaedo
5. Ion
6. Republic (all of the books)
7. Timaios (Timaeus)
8. Symposium
9. Phaedrus

These are all based on public domain texts (out of copyright) and most of them were converted and compiled through the wonderful Little Sailing website . They're not yet available, but upon the release of BibleWorks 7, they will be.

Hope this excites people as it was exciting for me to work on The reason why I am putting this in with BW7 is because I've only used this with BW7 in Beta-testing and so I know it compiles in it. I give no guarantees that this will work in BW6, and this is not a BW-supported addition. This is a user module added by my own effort and for my own good pleasure. I just assumed others would also want to reap from the fruits of my labor.

Also, not to tip too many scales, but by the end of February it is POSSIBLE that the Greek text for the entirety of Herodotus' Histories may also be done. None of these databases will provide morphological helps or English translations. However, if you are interested in helping in any such projects for the benefit of BW users in general, please email me.

Good programmers make BW a fantastic program. Good users make it the BEST.

[xara777]

Michael,

Can you summarize the strengths of the compiler in terms of creating a BW book? For example, are Bible refs. tagged and viewable when moused over? Can you include a navigable Table of Contents? If you take a Public Domain commentary, is it possible to make it synchronize with Bibles?

What would you say are the key deficiencies of using the compiler to create a BW module?

Thanks!

Mike

[Michael Hanel]

The compiler is not really a place to create a book. I use it for Plato and Homer because I want to use those texts much in the same way I'd use the Greek text for the Bible or even Josephus and Philo.

If you want to do something larger, you would not want to use the compiler (which was never made for this purpose). In BW7 users can make new modules and BW can make them functional with Verse reference pop-ups, links, etc. The format by which this is done is through HTML Help. Instructions are given in BW7 as to how this is done. I'm snipping just a portion from the BW7 help file below.

Creating a module in HTML Help format is a little more complex than simply creating a document in a word processor. But with a little patience, careful attention to the instructions given below, and use of the sample files and templates included with BibleWorks, most people will be able to create a simple HTML Help file that integrates with BibleWorks.
There are several advantages to creating your own materials in HTML Help format with tags to BibleWorks.
§You create your HTML Help file from common HTML files. You can create these files easily using popular word processors or HTML editor programs. You can save your Microsoft Word documents as HTML files, then compile them into one single HTML Help file for integration into BibleWorks.

§The HTML Help file format allows you to add a variety of content. You can include text documents, graphics, and even sound and video files.

§The HTML Help file is easy to distribute to others. All the files, even hundreds of files, are compiled into one single file. There is no concern about missing files. It is a simple, self-contained book.

§The HTML Help file is a stand-alone ebook. You can give your HTML Help file to anyone who uses Windows 98 or higher, and they will be able to read your ebook. They do not have to have BibleWorks to read it.

§By creating your HTML Help file according to the instructions given below, you can add your ebook to BibleWorks and use your ebook the same way as you use the other HTML Help files that are included with BibleWorks.

§You can distribute your ebook to other BibleWorks 7 users to add to their copy of BibleWorks.


So for the record. What I am doing is NOT this (the HTML Help stuff). I am doing something completely different, which is basically to format Greek texts into a form which can be used in BibleWorks to function much like the BGT (minus the morphology and such).

[showhisdeath]

There is a site with a lot of classical texts, but you cannot display them in Greek characters. I am happy you are doing this. It will be nice having these texts. Are any of the Bible works add ons particularly useful with classical or Homeric Greek? When I have the new version loaded, I would like to install Plato and Homer and Heroditus also. Are any of the translations available online?

[Michael Hanel]

There is a site with a lot of classical texts, but you cannot display them in Greek characters. I am happy you are doing this. It will be nice having these texts. Are any of the Bible works add ons particularly useful with classical or Homeric Greek? When I have the new version loaded, I would like to install Plato and Homer and Heroditus also. Are any of the translations available online?

Translations are available in many, many different places. With the following being just a couple examples.
http://classics.mit.edu/Browse/index.html
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/
http://www.library.northwestern.edu/homer/

Translations are readily available, but are not in a BW database mostly because no one has ever done this. It is rather laborious, because you have to go through the Greek and split up the English text into sections so it would correspond with the "verses" in Greek.