Aristotle, Eratosthenes and the beginnings of Alexandrian scholarship on the Archaia

Abstract

: In his work On the Ancient Comedy, fr. 25 Strecker, Eratosthenes of Cyrene gives a positive appraisal of a metaphorical play on words by the comic poet Cratinus (fr. 54 Kassel / Austin), describing it as εἰς τὸ εἶδος οὐκ ἀρύθμως παίζειν. In this paper, it is argued that this expression, which is in conformity with Aristotelian theorization on metaphor, could also imply an enunciative reminiscence of the judgement given by Aristotle, who held that the irony of the poets of the Archaia was based on αἰσχρολογία, whereas contemporary poets preferred ἐμμελῶς παίζειν (NE 4.14, 1128a 9). Some ancient explications transmitted in the scholia to Aristophanes’ comedies seem to testify to the influence or reception of Eratosthenes’ attitude in this regard.