Reading a text objectively– yet through (subjective) lenses: Aristarchus on Homer

• In Event: What is Commentary?

Abstract

In my talk, I will discuss some examples of the work which Aristarchus of Samothrace, the last and most important philologist working in the Alexandrian Library in the Hellenistic period, did on Homer. Through these examples I will show how, while establishing philology on a more firm and ‘scientific’ basis, Aristarchus’ own ideas about Homer also had an effect on the Homeric text he produced in his edition and commentaries. These examples, on the one hand, will give a brief overview of the reception of Homer among Hellenistic philologists; on the other, they will also raise the question of what exegetical and editorial practices entail and what the problems connected with them are, across times and places.

Author

• Francesca Schironi, University of Michigan