DOCSLIB.ORG

Signs in the Song: Scientific Poetry in the Hellenistic Period" (2015)

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Signs in the Song: Scientific Poetry in the Hellenistic Period University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2015 Signs in the Song: Scientific oetrP y in the Hellenistic Period Kathryn Dorothy Wilson University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Classical Literature and Philology Commons Recommended Citation Wilson, Kathryn Dorothy, "Signs in the Song: Scientific Poetry in the Hellenistic Period" (2015). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 1162. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1162 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1162 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Signs in the Song: Scientific Poetry in the Hellenistic Period Abstract My dissertation examines the works of three poets, Aratus, Apollonius of Rhodes, and Nicander, as scientific poetry. Rather than focusing on either literary or scientific material within them, I show that such a distinction is artificial and both literary and scientific interests are reflected in all aspects of these works. I argue that we should view the poems as serious attempts to discuss scientific matters, and that their intent to do so also impacts their own understanding of their poetry. In the introduction, I establish the parameters of my project, explain my definition of science, and discuss the lines of argumentation ancient scholars used to address the question of a poetâ??s authority to speak about scientific subjects. In my first chapter, I address Aratusâ?? Phaenomena as a poem about signs. Aratus ties his astronomical and meteorological information together through the unifying theme of semiology, and he focuses on the human ability to recognize signs and use them for practical purposes. My second chapter addresses Apollonius of Rhodesâ?? position within contemporary geographical debates, in particular about the use of Homer as a source. Apollonius uses his poetry to argue not only that Homerâ??s geography is authoritative but also that epic poetry has a prominent place in the discipline. In my final chapter, I focus on how Nicander establishes his relationship with Aratus as a way of legitimizing his subject of study, toxicology, and as a place of departure to secure his own position in the poetic canon. Nicander evinces a particular interest in taxonomy, and experiments with several different ways of organizing his information, while also exploring human mortality and the dangers of interactions with nature. All of this is united in his interest in names, as a means of differentiating species of venomous snakes and as a means of counteracting mortality by ensuring oneâ??s legacy. Each of these poets has a different goal in their works, but none of these can be cleanly separated into the literary and the scientific. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Classical Studies First Advisor Ralph M. Rosen Subject Categories Classical Literature and Philology This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1162 SIGNS IN THE SONG: SCIENTIFIC POETRY IN THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD Kathryn Dorothy Wilson A DISSERTATION in Classical Studies Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2015 Supervisor of Dissertation _____________________________ Ralph M. Rosen Vartan Gregorian Professor of Classical Studies Graduate Group Chairperson ______________________________ Emily Wilson Associate Professor of Classical Studies Dissertation Committee Joseph Farrell, Professor of Classical Studies Emily Wilson, Associate Professor of Classical Studies SIGNS IN THE SONG: SCIENTIFIC POETRY IN THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD COPYRIGHT 2015 Kathryn Dorothy Wilson This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-ny-sa/2.0/ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In looking back at the experience of writing this dissertation, and at my academic career to this point, I am filled with gratitude for the very great number of people who have been so generous with their time and support. I must first thank Ralph Rosen, who forced me from the very beginning to think about my overall argument, and who has always offered support and encouragement, helpful feedback, and coffee and chocolate. In writing this project I have had to consider what makes for an effective didactic person, and I believe Aratus himself would approve. Thanks also to Emily Wilson for her comments, and especially her advice about translations (my own fall as short of hers as Antimachus falls short of Homer) and her deceptively simple questions. Thanks also to Joseph Farrell for his always insightful criticisms and his crucial suggestions in connecting the chapters of this dissertation. Many others have also contributed to my education in ways that I would also like to acknowledge. Bridget Murnaghan, James Ker, and Cynthia Damon were a formative part of my coursework at Penn, and Cynthia also gave me an early grounding in Latin Philology when I was just an undergraduate. I would also like to thank Jason König for his guidance in my first foray into Hellenistic geography when he supervised my masters’ thesis. Conversations with Peter Struck, Tom Tartaron, and Aleszu Bajak were extremely valuable to my thinking about this project at different points along the way. On questions of botany, I have sought the advice of Guy Sanders, Joe Howley, and Jake Morton, and Floris Overduin very kindly shared his dissertation with me before it was published. All errors are still, of course, my own. iii I would also like to express my appreciation for the other graduate students at Penn, especially those who read and discussed my work in Dissertation Workshop and provided helpful feedback. Particular thanks go to my understanding office-mates, Hannah Rich, Alice Hu, and especially Lydia Spielberg for her willingness to talk through any issue I was having with my argument. I was profoundly fortunate to begin at Penn with three amazing women, Anna Goddard, Heather Elomaa, and Joanna Kenty, and during the course of our graduate school careers, I have been repeatedly reminded how brilliant, kind, and supportive they are. Finally, I want to thank my family: my brother for making sure our parents never had to worry about two unemployed children, Jules, for translating the graduate student experience, and especially to my parents, whose love and support has helped me throughout my whole life. I dedicate this project to them, and to my grandparents Joel and Dorothy Cohen, for inspiring a life-long love of learning. iv ABSTRACT SIGNS IN THE SONG: SCIENTIFIC POETRY IN THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD Kathryn Dorothy Wilson Ralph M. Rosen My dissertation examines the works of three poets, Aratus, Apollonius of Rhodes, and Nicander, as scientific poetry. Rather than focusing on either literary or scientific material within them, I show that such a distinction is artificial and both literary and scientific interests are reflected in all aspects of these works. I argue that we should view the poems as serious attempts to discuss scientific matters, and that their intent to do so also impacts their own understanding of their poetry. In the introduction, I establish the parameters of my project, explain my definition of science, and discuss the lines of argumentation ancient scholars used to address the question of a poet’s authority to speak about scientific subjects. In my first chapter, I address Aratus’ Phaenomena as a poem about signs. Aratus ties his astronomical and meteorological information together through the unifying theme of semiology, and he focuses on the human ability to recognize signs and use them for practical purposes. My second chapter addresses Apollonius of Rhodes’ position within contemporary geographical debates, in particular about the use of Homer as a source. Apollonius uses his poetry to argue not only that Homer’s geography is authoritative but also that epic poetry has a prominent place in the discipline. In my final chapter, I focus on how Nicander establishes his relationship with Aratus as a way of legitimizing his subject of study, toxicology, and as a place of departure to secure his own position in the poetic canon. Nicander evinces a particular v interest in taxonomy, and experiments with several different ways of organizing his information, while also exploring human mortality and the dangers of interactions with nature. All of this is united in his interest in names, as a means of differentiating species of venomous snakes and as a means of counteracting mortality by ensuring one’s legacy. Each of these poets has a different goal in their works, but none of these can be cleanly separated into the literary and the scientific. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT................................................................................................................................ V INTRODUCTION: WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO WRITE SCIENTIFIC POETRY? ....................................................................................................................................................... 1 I. Scientific Poetry and Poetic Science .................................................................................................. 1 II. Scientific Anecdotes in Hellenistic Poetry ....................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Enthymema XXIII 2019 the Technê of Aratus' Leptê Acrostich
    Enthymema XXIII 2019 The Technê of Aratus’ Leptê Acrostich Jan Kwapisz University of Warsaw Abstract – This paper sets out to re-approach the famous leptê acrostich in Aratus’ Phaenomena (783-87) by confronting it with other early Greek acrostichs and the discourse of technê and sophia, which has been shown to play an important role in a gamut of Greek literary texts, including texts very much relevant for the study of Aratus’ acrostich. In particular, there is a tantalizing connection between the acrostich in Aratus’ poem that poeticized Eudoxus’ astronomical work and the so- called Ars Eudoxi, a (pseudo-)Eudoxian acrostich sphragis from a second-century BC papyrus. Keywords – Aratus; Eudoxus; Ars Eudoxi; Acrostichs; Hellenistic Poetry; Technê; Sophia. Kwapisz, Jan. “The Technê of Aratus’ Leptê Acrostich.” Enthymema, no. XXIII, 2019, pp. 374-89. http://dx.doi.org/10.13130/2037-2426/11934 https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/enthymema Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License ISSN 2037-2426 The Technê of Aratus’ Leptê Acrostich* Jan Kwapisz University of Warsaw To the memory of Cristiano Castelletti (1971-2017) Λεπτὴ μὲν καθαρή τε περὶ τρίτον ἦμαρ ἐοῦσα εὔδιός κ’ εἴη, λεπτὴ δὲ καὶ εὖ μάλ’ ἐρευθὴς πνευματίη· παχίων δὲ καὶ ἀμβλείῃσι κεραίαις 785 τέτρατον ἐκ τριτάτοιο φόως ἀμενηνὸν ἔχουσα ἠὲ νότου ἀμβλύνετ’ ἢ ὕδατος ἐγγὺς ἐόντος. (Arat. 783-87) If [the Moon is] slender and clear about the third day, she will bode fair weather; if slender and very red, wind; if the crescent is thickish, with blunted horns, having a feeble fourth-day light after the third day, either it is blurred by a southerly or because rain is in the offing.
    [Show full text]
  • Mailch 16, Hlol. Cientri1nc AMERJCAN SUPPLEMENT
    MAIlCH 16, HlOl. �CIENtrI1NC AMERJCAN SUPPLEMENT, No. 1315 21083 of this piece is remar kable ; bu t what adds peculiar ley." Turning, then, to the particular examples before had already been transferred to the skies, i. e., we have interest are the bright colors with which it is set off. us, we find 4 : constellation-figures as coin-types. The Lion, Grab and The body is colored pale red; the hair is of a darker No. 1. H erakles kneeUng. "HerakIes, bearded Water-snake of the modern globe preserve the story. red, and alm ost brown, and the wings are white. Upon naked, kneeling on one knee, r." With club, strung King Herakles could not be placed next thern, even in the back, a delicate stripe of gold descends along the bow, and two arrows; behind, Tunny. Cyzicus. Cir. the Bab. Sphere, as he had already been located else­ spinal column, bifurcates and passes aver the sid�s. B. C. 500-450. Every Sign of the Zodaic, except where. These obvious instances justify us in presum­ This curious figurine, so artistically fashioned, seems Aquarius, and other constellation-figures, whether as ing a probable, or almost certain, connection between to be comparable as a work of art to the best terra such or not, appear on the coins of this city, which, constellation-figure and coin-type where, at first sight, cottas of the Cyrenaic period. through Miletus and Lampsacus, is connected with the evidence may not be quite so clear. Herakles is Visitors to the museum can scarcely believe that this Crete and Ph.
    [Show full text]
  • The Argonautica, Book 1;
    '^THE ARGONAUTICA OF GAIUS VALERIUS FLACCUS (SETINUS BALBUS BOOK I TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH PROSE WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY H. G. BLOMFIELD, M.A., I.C.S. LATE SCHOLAR OF EXETER COLLEGE, OXFORD OXFORD B. H. BLACKWELL, BROAD STREET 1916 NEW YORK LONGMANS GREEN & CO. FOURTH AVENUE AND 30TH STREET TO MY WIFE h2 ; ; ; — CANDIDO LECTORI Reader, I'll spin you, if you please, A tough yarn of the good ship Argo, And how she carried o'er the seas Her somewhat miscellaneous cargo; And how one Jason did with ease (Spite of the Colchian King's embargo) Contrive to bone the fleecy prize That by the dragon fierce was guarded, Closing its soporific eyes By spells with honey interlarded How, spite of favouring winds and skies, His homeward voyage was retarded And how the Princess, by whose aid Her father's purpose had been thwarted, With the Greek stranger in the glade Of Ares secretly consorted, And how his converse with the maid Is generally thus reported : ' Medea, the premature decease Of my respected parent causes A vacancy in Northern Greece, And no one's claim 's as good as yours is To fill the blank : come, take the lease. Conditioned by the following clauses : You'll have to do a midnight bunk With me aboard the S.S. Argo But there 's no earthly need to funk, Or think the crew cannot so far go : They're not invariably drunk, And you can act as supercargo. — CANDIDO LECTORI • Nor should you very greatly care If sometimes you're a little sea-sick; There's no escape from mal-de-mer, Why, storms have actually made me sick : Take a Pope-Roach, and don't despair ; The best thing simply is to be sick.' H.
    [Show full text]
  • Athenians and Eleusinians in the West Pediment of the Parthenon
    ATHENIANS AND ELEUSINIANS IN THE WEST PEDIMENT OF THE PARTHENON (PLATE 95) T HE IDENTIFICATION of the figuresin the west pedimentof the Parthenonhas long been problematic.I The evidencereadily enables us to reconstructthe composition of the pedimentand to identify its central figures.The subsidiaryfigures, however, are rath- er more difficult to interpret. I propose that those on the left side of the pediment may be identifiedas membersof the Athenian royal family, associatedwith the goddessAthena, and those on the right as membersof the Eleusinian royal family, associatedwith the god Posei- don. This alignment reflects the strife of the two gods on a heroic level, by referringto the legendary war between Athens and Eleusis. The recognition of the disjunctionbetween Athenians and Eleusinians and of parallelism and contrastbetween individualsand groups of figures on the pedimentpermits the identificationof each figure. The referenceto Eleusis in the pediment,moreover, indicates the importanceof that city and its majorcult, the Eleu- sinian Mysteries, to the Athenians. The referencereflects the developmentand exploitation of Athenian control of the Mysteries during the Archaic and Classical periods. This new proposalfor the identificationof the subsidiaryfigures of the west pedimentthus has critical I This article has its origins in a paper I wrote in a graduateseminar directedby ProfessorJohn Pollini at The Johns Hopkins University in 1979. I returned to this paper to revise and expand its ideas during 1986/1987, when I held the Jacob Hirsch Fellowship at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. In the summer of 1988, I was given a grant by the Committeeon Research of Tulane University to conduct furtherresearch for the article.
    [Show full text]
  • Water, Air and Fire at Work in Hero's Machines
    Water, air and fire at work in Hero’s machines Amelia Carolina Sparavigna Dipartimento di Fisica, Politecnico di Torino Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, Torino, Italy Known as the Michanikos, Hero of Alexandria is considered the inventor of the world's first steam engine and of many other sophisticated devices. Here we discuss three of them as described in his book “Pneumatica”. These machines, working with water, air and fire, are clear examples of the deep knowledge of fluid dynamics reached by the Hellenistic scientists. Hero of Alexandria, known as the Mechanicos, lived during the first century in the Roman Egypt [1]. He was probably a Greek mathematician and engineer who resided in the city of Alexandria. We know his work from some of writings and designs that have been arrived nowadays in their Greek original or in Arabic translations. From his own writings, it is possible to gather that he knew the works of Archimedes and of Philo the Byzantian, who was a contemporary of Ctesibius [2]. It is almost certain that Heron taught at the Museum, a college for combined philosophy and literary studies and a religious place of cult of Muses, that included the famous Library. For this reason, Hero claimed himself a pupil of Ctesibius, who was probably the first head of the Museum of Alexandria. Most of Hero’s writings appear as lecture notes for courses in mathematics, mechanics, physics and pneumatics [2]. In optics, Hero formulated the Principle of the Shortest Path of Light, principle telling that if a ray of light propagates from a point to another one within the same medium, the followed path is the shortest possible.
    [Show full text]
  • Plato As "Architectof Science"
    Plato as "Architectof Science" LEONID ZHMUD ABSTRACT The figureof the cordialhost of the Academy,who invitedthe mostgifted math- ematiciansand cultivatedpure research, whose keen intellectwas able if not to solve the particularproblem then at least to show the methodfor its solution: this figureis quite familiarto studentsof Greekscience. But was the Academy as such a centerof scientificresearch, and did Plato really set for mathemati- cians and astronomersthe problemsthey shouldstudy and methodsthey should use? Oursources tell aboutPlato's friendship or at leastacquaintance with many brilliantmathematicians of his day (Theodorus,Archytas, Theaetetus), but they were neverhis pupils,rather vice versa- he learnedmuch from them and actively used this knowledgein developinghis philosophy.There is no reliableevidence that Eudoxus,Menaechmus, Dinostratus, Theudius, and others, whom many scholarsunite into the groupof so-called"Academic mathematicians," ever were his pupilsor close associates.Our analysis of therelevant passages (Eratosthenes' Platonicus, Sosigenes ap. Simplicius, Proclus' Catalogue of geometers, and Philodemus'History of the Academy,etc.) shows thatthe very tendencyof por- trayingPlato as the architectof sciencegoes back to the earlyAcademy and is bornout of interpretationsof his dialogues. I Plato's relationship to the exact sciences used to be one of the traditional problems in the history of ancient Greek science and philosophy.' From the nineteenth century on it was examined in various aspects, the most significant of which were the historical, philosophical and methodological. In the last century and at the beginning of this century attention was paid peredominantly, although not exclusively, to the first of these aspects, especially to the questions how great Plato's contribution to specific math- ematical research really was, and how reliable our sources are in ascrib- ing to him particular scientific discoveries.
    [Show full text]
  • 15 Famous Greek Mathematicians and Their Contributions 1. Euclid
    15 Famous Greek Mathematicians and Their Contributions 1. Euclid He was also known as Euclid of Alexandria and referred as the father of geometry deduced the Euclidean geometry. The name has it all, which in Greek means “renowned, glorious”. He worked his entire life in the field of mathematics and made revolutionary contributions to geometry. 2. Pythagoras The famous ‘Pythagoras theorem’, yes the same one we have struggled through in our childhood during our challenging math classes. This genius achieved in his contributions in mathematics and become the father of the theorem of Pythagoras. Born is Samos, Greece and fled off to Egypt and maybe India. This great mathematician is most prominently known for, what else but, for his Pythagoras theorem. 3. Archimedes Archimedes is yet another great talent from the land of the Greek. He thrived for gaining knowledge in mathematical education and made various contributions. He is best known for antiquity and the invention of compound pulleys and screw pump. 4. Thales of Miletus He was the first individual to whom a mathematical discovery was attributed. He’s best known for his work in calculating the heights of pyramids and the distance of the ships from the shore using geometry. 5. Aristotle Aristotle had a diverse knowledge over various areas including mathematics, geology, physics, metaphysics, biology, medicine and psychology. He was a pupil of Plato therefore it’s not a surprise that he had a vast knowledge and made contributions towards Platonism. Tutored Alexander the Great and established a library which aided in the production of hundreds of books.
    [Show full text]
  • THE ARGONAUTIKA He'd Gone on His Vain Quest with Peirithoos: That Couple Would Have Made Their Task's Fulfillment Far Easier for Them All
    Book I Starting from you, Phoibos, the deeds ofthose old-time mortals I shall relute, who by way ofthe Black Sea's mouth and through the cobalt-dark rocks, at King Pelias 's commandment, in search of the Golden Fleece drove tight-thwarted Argo. For Pelias heard it voiced that in time thereafter a grim fate would await him, death at the prompting of the man he saw come, one-sandaled, from folk in the country: and not much later-in accordance with your word-Jason, fording on foot the Anauros's wintry waters, saved from the mud one sandal, but left the other stuck fast in the flooded estuary, pressed straight on to have his share in the sacred feast that Pelias was preparing for Poseidon his father, and the rest of the gods, though paying no heed to Pelasgian Hera. The moment Pelias saw him, he knew, and devised him a trial of most perilous seamanship, that in deep waters or away among foreign folk he might lose his homecoming. ,\row singers before 7ny time have recounted how the vessel was fashioned 4 Argos with the guidance of Athena. IW~cctIplan to do now is tell the name and farnib of each hero, describe their long voyage, all they accomplished in their wanderings: may the Muses inspire mnj sinpng! First in our record be Orpheus, whom famous Kalliope, after bedding Thracian Oikgros, bore, they tell us, 44 THE XRGONAUTIKA hard by Pimpleia's high rocky lookout: Orpheus, who's said to have charmed unshiftable upland boulders and the flow of rivers with the sound of his music.
    [Show full text]
  • (Eponymous) Heroes
    is is a version of an electronic document, part of the series, Dēmos: Clas- sical Athenian Democracy, a publicationpublication ofof e Stoa: a consortium for electronic publication in the humanities [www.stoa.org]. e electronic version of this article off ers contextual information intended to make the study of Athenian democracy more accessible to a wide audience. Please visit the site at http:// www.stoa.org/projects/demos/home. Athenian Political Art from the fi h and fourth centuries: Images of Tribal (Eponymous) Heroes S e Cleisthenic reforms of /, which fi rmly established democracy at Ath- ens, imposed a new division of Attica into ten tribes, each of which consti- tuted a new political and military unit, but included citizens from each of the three geographical regions of Attica – the city, the coast, and the inland. En- rollment in a tribe (according to heredity) was a manda- tory prerequisite for citizenship. As usual in ancient Athenian aff airs, politics and reli- gion came hand in hand and, a er due consultation with Apollo’s oracle at Delphi, each new tribe was assigned to a particular hero a er whom the tribe was named; the ten Amy C. Smith, “Athenian Political Art from the Fi h and Fourth Centuries : Images of Tribal (Eponymous) Heroes,” in C. Blackwell, ed., Dēmos: Classical Athenian Democracy (A.(A. MahoneyMahoney andand R.R. Scaife,Scaife, edd.,edd., e Stoa: a consortium for electronic publication in the humanities [www.stoa.org], . © , A.C. Smith. tribal heroes are thus known as the eponymous (or name giving) heroes. T : Aristotle indicates that each hero already received worship by the time of the Cleisthenic reforms, although little evi- dence as to the nature of the worship of each hero is now known (Aristot.
    [Show full text]
  • The Magic of the Atwood Sphere
    The magic of the Atwood Sphere Exactly a century ago, on June Dr. Jean-Michel Faidit 5, 1913, a “celestial sphere demon- Astronomical Society of France stration” by Professor Wallace W. Montpellier, France Atwood thrilled the populace of [email protected] Chicago. This machine, built to ac- commodate a dozen spectators, took up a concept popular in the eigh- teenth century: that of turning stel- lariums. The impact was consider- able. It sparked the genesis of modern planetariums, leading 10 years lat- er to an invention by Bauersfeld, engineer of the Zeiss Company, the Deutsche Museum in Munich. Since ancient times, mankind has sought to represent the sky and the stars. Two trends emerged. First, stars and constellations were easy, especially drawn on maps or globes. This was the case, for example, in Egypt with the Zodiac of Dendera or in the Greco-Ro- man world with the statue of Atlas support- ing the sky, like that of the Farnese Atlas at the National Archaeological Museum of Na- ples. But things were more complicated when it came to include the sun, moon, planets, and their apparent motions. Ingenious mecha- nisms were developed early as the Antiky- thera mechanism, found at the bottom of the Aegean Sea in 1900 and currently an exhibi- tion until July at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers in Paris. During two millennia, the human mind and ingenuity worked constantly develop- ing and combining these two approaches us- ing a variety of media: astrolabes, quadrants, armillary spheres, astronomical clocks, co- pernican orreries and celestial globes, cul- minating with the famous Coronelli globes offered to Louis XIV.
    [Show full text]
  • Phantom Paths from Problems to Equations
    Archimedes and the Angel: Phantom Paths from Problems to Equations Fabio Acerbi CNRS, UMR 8163 ‘Savoirs, textes, langage’, Lille [email protected] Introduction This paper is a critical review of Reviel Netz’ The Transformation of Mathematics in the Early Mediterranean World.1 Its aim is to show that Netz’ methods of inquiry are too often unsatisfactory and to argue briefly for a substantially different interpretation of the evi- dence which he adduces. These two aims are pursued in parallel throughout the review and can hardly be disjoined. The review is uncommonly long and uncommonly direct, at times perhaps even a trifle vehement, in criticizing the methods and conclusions displayed in the book. There are two reasons for this. First, the transforma- tion of Academic scholarship into a branch of the editorial business and, very recently, into an expanding division of the media-driven star-system, has dramatically reduced the time left to study primary sources, to get properly informed of works by other scholars,2 and even just to read more than once what was written as a first draft. Second, at the same time, it is increasingly difficult to find serious reviews. Though the number of reviews and book-notices is explod- ing, it is clear that most reviews are written just to get a copy of an otherwise too expensive book. At any rate, the current policy is to keep sharp criticisms, if any, hidden under a seemingly gentle stylistic surface. The present paper is organized as follows. In the first section, I present Archimedes’ problem; in the next, I report the contents 1 R.
    [Show full text]
  • The Early History of Man and the Uses of Diodorus in Renaissance Scholarship: from Annius of Viterbo to Johannes Boemus
    chapter 40 The Early History of Man and the Uses of Diodorus in Renaissance Scholarship: From Annius of Viterbo to Johannes Boemus C. Philipp E. Nothaft Introduction When Diodorus of Sicily took up the stylus during the middle years of the first century bce to write a whole “library” (Bibliotheke) of universal history in forty books, the gap between gods and men had become a narrow one. In a reality deeply shaped by the past conquests of Alexander the Great and the present wars of Julius Caesar, many had begun to think of historical change as a pro- cess bound up with the heroic exploits of powerful and charismatic generals, who covered vast stretches of land, founded and destroyed cities, and created conditions under which inventions, crafts, food crops, and other goods could flow at an unprecedented rate from one end of the known world to the other. Nations and city-states reacted to their dependence on the good will of this new class of Hellenistic kings by showering them with divine honors, which sometimes developed into fully fledged ruler cults. The learned approach to mythology that was most congenial to this dynamic atmosphere of hero worship is forever associated with the name of Euhemerus of Messene (fl. 300 bce), for whom even the deities of the old pantheon had once been mere mortals, who received apotheosis on account of their military and politi- cal achievements.1 In Diodorus’s Bibliotheke, which is incidentally our most important source for Euhemerus’s life and ideas, this mythographic approach is expanded to include the deification of inventors, lawgivers, and pioneers of the arts and 1 On Euhemerism and its afterlife, see Marek Winiarczyk, The “Sacred History” of Euhemerus of Messene (Berlin: De Gruyer, 2013); Jean Seznec, The Survival of the Pagan Gods, trans.
    [Show full text]