Scholia, Commentaries, and Lexica on Specific Literary Works

Abstract

Abstract This category includes the most famous and most often cited scholia. By far the most important are the Homer scholia, but those on Pindar and the Attic dramatists are also significant. Ancient scholarship on Homer was extensive and of high quality, for the best scholars of antiquity devoted much of their time and energy to the Homeric poems. Work on Homer that could be described as scholarship goes back at least to the classical period and probably to the sixth century bc, and editing the text of Homer was one of the main tasks of the first Alexandrian scholars. Zenodotus, Aristophanes of Byzantium, and Aristarchus probably all produced editions of the Iliad and Odyssey, and Aristarchus wrote extensive commentaries, while Zenodotus and Aristophanes compiled glossaries of primarily Homeric words. In addition, the early and persistent use of Homer as a school text meant that there was a tradition of school exegesis that reached back as far as the classical period. Though none of the very early work on Homer survives in its original form, a surprising amount is preserved in various later compilations, so we often know, for example, the readings of several different Alexandrian scholars for a particular passage, and even some of the arguments behind these readings (although the arguments preserved in later sources cannot always be assumed to be those of the editor himself). Two principal sources for the ancient scholarship on Homer survive: the scholia and Eustathius’ commentaries, both of which are gigantic works filling many volumes in modern editions. There are also some smaller works, some of which are more valuable than others.