A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

HOMERUS. HOMERUS. -I1
with Zenodotus at Alexandria. For such a task tion, spiritus, and the like. 4. Nicanor, Ilepl
the times after Alexander were quite fit. Life mriLyps, on the stoppings. On Aristarchus we
had fled from the literature of the Greeks; it was need not say much here [ARISTARCHUS]: we will
become a dead body, and was very properly carried only add, that the obelos, one of the critical marks
into Egypt, there to be embalmed and safely pre- used-by Aristarchus, and invented, like the accents,
served for many ensuing centuries. It was the by his master, Aristophanes, was used for the ae4task of men, who, like Aristarchus, could judge of riaels, i. e. to mark those verses which seemed innpoetry without being able to write any themselves, proper and detrimental to the beauty of the poem,
to preserve carefully that which was extant, to but which Aristarchus dared not throw out of the
clear it from all stains and corruptions, and to ex- text, as it was impossible to determine whether they
plain what was no longer rooted in and connected were to be ascribed to an accidental carelessness of
with the institutions of a free political life, and the author, or to interpolations of rhapsodists.
therefore was become unintelligible to all but the Those verses which Aristarchus was convinced to
learned. Three men, who stand in the relation of be spurious he left out of his edition altogether.
masters and pupils, were at the head of a numerous Aristarchus was in constant opposition to Crates of
host of scholars, who directed their attention either Mallus, the founder of the Pergamene school of
occasionally or exclusively to the study and criti- grammar. This Crates had the merit of transcism of the Homeric poems. Zenodotus [ZENo- planting the study of literature to Rome. With
DOTUS] laid the foundation of systematic criticism, regard to Homer, he zealously defended the alleby establishing two rules for purifying the corrupted gorical explication against his rival Aristarchus.
text. He threw out, 1st, whatever was contra- [CRATES.] In the time of Augustus the great
dictory to, or not necessarily connected with, the compiler, Didymus, wrote most comprehensive
whole of the work; 2d, what seemed unworthy of commentaries on Homer, copying mostly the works
the genius of the author. To these two rules his of preceding Alexandrian grammarians, which had
followers, Aristophanes and Aristarchus, added two swollen to an enormous extent. Under Tiberius,
more; they rejected, 3d, what was contrary or Apollonius Sophista lived, whose lexicon Homeriforeign to the customs of the Homeric age, and 4th, cum is very valuable (ed. Bekker, 1833). Apion,
what did not agree with the epic language and a pupil of Didymus, was of much less importance
versification. It is not to be wondered at that than is generally believed, chiefly on the authority
Zenodotus, in his first attempt, did not reach the of Wolf: he was a great quack, and an impusummit of perfection. The manner in which he cut dent boaster. (Lehrs, Quaest. Epicae, 1837; see
out long passages, arbitrarily altered others, trans- APION.) Longinus and his pupil, Porphyrius, of
posed and, in short, corrected Homer's text as he whom we possess some tolerably good scholia, were
would have done his own, seemed shocking to all of more value. The Homeric scholia are dispersed
sober critics of later times, and would have proved in various MSS. Complete collections do not exist,
very injurious to the text had not Aristophanes, nor are they desirable, as many of them are utterly
and still more Aristarchus, acted on sounder prin- useless. The most valuable scholia on the Iliad
ciples, and thus put a stop to the arbitrary system are those which have been referred to above, which
of Zenodotus. Aristophanes of Byzantium [ARIS- were published by Villoison from a- MS. of the
TOPHANES], a man of vast learning, seems to have tenth century in the library of St. Mark at Venice,
been more occupied with the other parts of the together with the scholia to the Iliad previously
Greek literature, particularly the comic poets, than published, Ven. 1788, fol. These scholia were
with Homer. He inserted in his edition many of reprinted with additions, edited by I. Bekker,
the verses which had been thrown out by Zeno- Berlin, 1825, 2 vols. 4to., with an appendix, 1826.
dotus, and in many respects laid the foundations which collection contains all that is worth reading.
for what his pupil Aristarchus executed. The re- A few additions are to be found in Bachmann's
putation of the latter as the prince of grammarians Scholia ad Homeri Iliadem, Lips. 1835. Thewas so great throughout the whole of antiquity, most valuable scholia to the Odyssey are those
that before the publication of the Venetian scholia published by Buttmann, Berl. 1821, mostly taken
by Villoison, we hardly knew how to account for from the scholia originally published by A. Mai
it. But these excellent scholia, which have chiefly from a MS. at Milan in 1819. The extensive comenabled us to understand the origin of the -Homeric mentary of Eustathius is a compilation destitute of
poems, teach us also to appreciate their great and judgment and of taste, but which contains much
unrivalled interpreter, and have now generally led valuable information from sources which are now
to the conclusion, that the highest aim of the am- lost. [EUSTATHIUS, NO. 7.] The old editions of
bition of modern critics with respect to Homer is Homer, as well as the MSS., are of very little imto restore the edition of Aristarchllus, an under- portance for the restoration of the text, for which
taking which is believed to be possible by one of we must apply to the scholia.'The Editio Princeps
the most competent judges, chiefly through the by Demetrius Chalcondylas, Flqr. 1488, fol., was
assistance afforded by. these scholia. (Lehrs, de the first large work printed in Greek (one psalm
Aristarchi Studiis Homericis, 1833.) Lehrs has only and the Batrachomyomachia having preceded).
discovered the sources from which these scholia are This edition was frequently reprinted. Wolf reckons
derived. 1. Aristonicus, nlept! aoAIEIWv C9V r jo scarcely seven critical editions from the Editio Prin-'IALdaos Kal'Obaveras. These ruyez7a are the ceps to his time. That of H. Stephanus, in Poet.
critical marks of Aristarchus, so that from Aristo- Graec. Princ. her. Carmn., Paris, 1566, fol., was one
nicus we learn a great many of the readings of of the best. In England the editions of Barnes,
Aristarchus. 2. Didymus, Iepl 7is'AplevdpXou Cantab., 1711, 2 vols. 4to., and of Clarke, who
wtop~Oeaos. 3. Herodian, Ilpoao30a'OAn7paKc: the published the Iliad in 1729, and the Odyssey in
word prosody contained, according to the use of 1740, were generally used for a long time, and
those grammarians, not merely what is called pro- -often reprinted. The latter was published with
sody now, but the rules of accentuation, contrac- additions by Ernesti, Lips. 1759-1764, 5 vols.