Oxford Classical Text Research Articles

Stesichorus: The Geryoneïs

More light is thrown on the poetic art of Stesichorus by the papyrus-text of his Geryoneïs than by all his other fragments together. I published some thoughts about it in the Oxford Classical Text Lyrica Graeca Selecta in 1968, and I now give the detail of the work on which that publication was based, together with the results of work which I have done since. Some of the most important of these results are not mine but Mr Barrett's, and I have been careful to acknowledge my debt to him in detail throughout.I. The TextA. PMG 184

Computers and classical literature: 1971–1972

During the past year, the use of computers in the study of Greek and Latin literature has continued a steady growth. Trends and events since the last article in this series' are mentioned here. Bibliographical details are generally omitted because of their availability in Computers and the Humanities and in Calculi, a bimonthly newsletter specifically about the use of computers in classical studies edited by the author at Dartmouth College. Also omitted are references to work in Greek and Roman archaeology. Concordances continue to be a major objective; they generally are in the standard key-word-in-context form. Most often, these are unlemmatized, with the words arranged according to the forms actually in the text rather than under the headings in a dictionary. Indeed, it seems that the process of lemmatization can greatly delay the appearance of a concordance, and there are grounds for questioning whether the added convenience of having all the forms of words such as sum in one place outweighs the problems caused by delayed publication. Henrik Holmboe is producing concordances to the individual plays of Aeschylus; four had appeared at the time this article was being written, and the remaining three can be expected in a short time. All words have been included, arranged with the key word in the center of the page and a full-sentence context. The printing was done by plates prepared on an output device equipped with a special Selectric-like Greek typing element, and all accents and breathing marks are included. Hopefully, it will be possible, when a planned combined concordance to all the plays is published, to take account of the changes in a new Oxford Classical Text of Aeschylus reportedly being prepared. A concordance, prepared by Andrew Q. Morton and others, to the Johannine epistles has been published as the third volume in the series entitled The Computer Bible, and a word index to Plautus' Amphitruo compiled by Alfred Maniet and Annette Paquet is likewise available. A series of concordances to patristic and late classical texts has been announced by a committee headed by John Strugnell, Andover-Harvard Theological Library, 45 Francis Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138. A second series, to medieval Latin texts, is accepting subscriptions, and one volume, on Raoul de Saint-Trond, has appeared; inquiries should be addressed to Paul Tombeur, Centre de Traitement Electronique des Documents (CETEDOC), Universit6 Catholique de Louvain, Tiensevest 156, B-3000 Louvain, Belgium.

C. Valerii Catulli Carmina

The Oxford Classical Texts, or Scriptorum Classicorum Bibliotheca Oxoniensis, are renowned for their reliability and presentation. The series consists of a text without commentary but with a brief apparatus criticus at the front of each page. There are now over 100 volumes, representing the greater part of classical Greek and Latin literature. The aim of the series remains that of including the works of all the principal classical authors. Although this has been largely accomplished, new volumes are still being published to fill the remaining gaps, and old editions are being revised in the light of recent research or replaced.

A New Text of Catullus

IF contemporary fashions in literature permitted one to speak of the popularity of Latin authors, it would undoubtedly be correct to describe Catullus as being today the most popular poet of ancient Rome. No portion of any classical author is more widely read or more deeply appreciated by students at school or college and by their teachers than selected poems of Catullus. Indeed, in this year of 1958 he probably has more readers than ever before, and next year the number will be yet higher. Surprisingly enough, no classical writer survived the middle ages by a narrower margin, for we owe the poems to a single manuscript which was lost soon after its discovery. Moreover, the text bristles with corruptions from beginning to end; and no modern edition, however conservative, is likely to appear with less than five or six hundred conjectural emendations of the text. Consequently, the appearance of a new text of Catullus,' especially when it is as excellent as the new Oxford Classical Text edited by the Corpus Professor of Latin in the University of Oxford, calls for more than the usual brief review. It may be said at once that this text is superior to all others, and no teacher of Latin should be without it.

新刊紹介 Index Verborum Ciceronis Epistularum. William Abbott Oldfather, Howard Vernon Canter, Kenneth Morgan Abbott, with the assistance of friends and in completion of the task inaugurated by M. N. Wetmore and A. M. Dame: based on the edition by L.C.Purser in Oxford classical Texts 1901-1903

新刊紹介 Index Verborum Ciceronis Epistularum. William Abbott Oldfather, Howard Vernon Canter, Kenneth Morgan Abbott, with the assistance of friends and in completion of the task inaugurated by M. N. Wetmore and A. M. Dame: based on the edition by L.C.Purser in Oxford classical Texts 1901-1903