Perseus Digital Library
Ranked 10 of 13 ebook libraries by recommenders
Free online library of Greek and Latin texts, translations and tools, valued for its long track record and depth. Critics say it is incomplete and sometimes unreliable.
Free online library of Greek and Latin texts, translations and tools, valued for its long track record and depth. Critics say it is incomplete and sometimes unreliable.
10 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 9
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 90%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 9 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 9 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Long-running, well-established resource
“Online tools to simplify this process like Perseus have existed for at least 15 years”
Comment from 8 Aug 2026 in “Ancient Library – 1,060 Greek/Latin texts, click any word to parse it” “Perseus has been around since 1987 & seems to have more features”
Comment from 7 Aug 2026 in “Ancient Library – 1,060 Greek/Latin texts, click any word to parse it” Large collection of texts and tools
“a large number of texts and translations and tools to go between all three”
Comment from 7 May 2026 in “The Vatican's Website in Latin” “Perseus has been around since 1987 & seems to have more features”
Comment from 7 Aug 2026 in “Ancient Library – 1,060 Greek/Latin texts, click any word to parse it” Accurate, complete scholarly editions
“has a more advanced presentation of the text (including the Teubner edtion)”
Comment from 27 Jan 2026 in “The Enchiridion by Epictetus” “Perseus had them all right, for what it's worth.”
Comment from 8 Aug 2026 in “Ancient Library – 1,060 Greek/Latin texts, click any word to parse it”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Unreliable in places
“it is incredibly unreliable”
Comment from 7 Aug 2026 in “Ancient Library – 1,060 Greek/Latin texts, click any word to parse it”
Other ebook libraries people recommend
The four most recommended other ebook libraries, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anna's Archive | 134 | 57 | 70% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Project Gutenberg | 76 | 8 | 90% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Standard Ebooks | 34 | 8 | 81% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Library Genesis | 15 | 2 | 88% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Perseus Digital LibraryThis page | 9 | 1 | 90% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
All 10 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Perseus had them all right, for what it's worth.”
“Online tools to simplify this process like Perseus have existed for at least 15 years”
“It's cool that Perseus did the work that makes this possible”
“it is incredibly unreliable”
“Perseus has been around since 1987 & seems to have more features”
“a large number of texts and translations and tools to go between all three”
“the Perseus catalog is notoriously incomplete”
“the gold standard for dealing with non-English poetry in English”
“has a more advanced presentation of the text (including the Teubner edtion)”
“It looks good, lean and clean.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.