Certamen Homeri Et Hesiodi: Introduction, Critical Edition and Commentary
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Durham E-Theses Certamen Homeri et Hesiodi: Introduction, Critical Edition and Commentary BASSINO, PAOLA How to cite: BASSINO, PAOLA (2013) Certamen Homeri et Hesiodi: Introduction, Critical Edition and Commentary, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/8448/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk Certamen Homeri et Hesiodi: Introduction, Critical Edition and Commentary Paola Bassino Ustinov College This thesis is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Classics and Ancient History University of Durham 2013 Abstract Paola Bassino Certamen Homeri et Hesiodi: Introduction, Critical Edition and Commentary. This dissertation provides an up-to-date introduction to the Certamen Homeri et Hesiodi, a critical edition of the text, and the first commentary in English on it. The Certamen is an anonymous work composed around the second century AD. It gives an account of the lives of Homer and Hesiod and of their poetic contest by re-elaborating biographical anecdotes attested from the sixth century BC onwards. As a biographical work that draws on older texts and oral traditions which developed over hundreds of years, it yields unique insights into the reception of early Greek Epic in the course of classical antiquity. This thesis begins with an introduction to the tradition of the contest between Homer and Hesiod that collects and discusses the extant ancient accounts of that story. It argues that all versions are equally authoritative in principle, for they testify to different acts of reception of the poets in different contexts. The thesis then offers an up-to-date analysis of the manuscript witnesses of the Certamen and of their contribution to our understanding of the textual tradition of this text, and shows that the ancient biographies of the poets form a corpus that is naturally open to variation. The Edition provides a text that accounts for such an open tradition. The line-by-line Commentary offers a systematic analysis of both general and specific issues related to the text: this is a necessary and urgent task, not least because the Certamen is a stratified text, bringing together traditions of very different provenance, which can only be assessed and interpreted through a process of close reading. The ultimate aim of the thesis is to show how the story of the contest between Homer and Hesiod provides crucial insights into the processes of reception and canonisation of early hexameter epic from the archaic period to late antiquity. 1 Table of contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................................ 1 Statement of Copyright .................................................................................................................................. 3 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................................ 3 Abbreviations of editions and works of reference ..................................................................................... 4 Preface .............................................................................................................................................................. 7 1. Introduction: the tradition of the contest between Homer and Hesiod. ........................................... 11 Hesiod. ....................................................................................................................................................... 11 Plutarch. ..................................................................................................................................................... 18 Dio Chrysostom, Oration on Kingship 2.7-12. ........................................................................................ 28 Philostratus, Heroikos 43.7-10. ................................................................................................................. 31 Lucian, True Story 2.20-22. ....................................................................................................................... 35 Themistius, Oration 30.348c-349a. .......................................................................................................... 38 Libanius, Defence of Socrates 65-66. ......................................................................................................... 41 Proclus, Life of Homer 6. ............................................................................................................................ 43 John Tzetzes............................................................................................................................................... 46 Eustathius, Commentary on Homer’s Iliad I 6.4-7.1 Van der Valk (passim). ......................................... 50 2. Textual tradition. ...................................................................................................................................... 53 Manuscript ................................................................................................................................................ 54 Papyri ......................................................................................................................................................... 61 P.Petr. I 25 (1) (= P.Lond.Lit. 191) ........................................................................................................ 61 P.Mich. inv. 2754 ................................................................................................................................... 70 P.Ath.Soc.Pap. inv. M2 ......................................................................................................................... 80 P.Freib. 1.1 b (inv. 12) ........................................................................................................................... 83 P.Duk. inv. 665 (olim P.Duk. inv. MF75 6) .......................................................................................... 85 3. Certamen Homeri et Hesiodi: Edition. .................................................................................................. 90 Note ............................................................................................................................................................ 90 Sigla ........................................................................................................................................................ 90 Editions .................................................................................................................................................. 90 Text ............................................................................................................................................................. 92 4. Commentary ............................................................................................................................................ 118 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................ 231 2 Statement of Copyright The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without the prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. Acknowledgements I would like to thank all the people and the institutions that supported me during these years at Durham. This experience would not have been possible without the financial support provided by the Department of Classics and Ancient History, the Faculty of Arts and Humanities and Ustinov College at Durham University. My supervisor, Prof. Barbara Graziosi, has always been a fundamental point of reference for me. I applied for a PhD under her supervision because of her expertise on my field of research, but her understanding, patience, encouragement and trust in me, especially during hard times, have given me more than I could have ever expected from a supervisor. My second supervisor, Prof. Johannes Haubold, gave me precious comments on my work and saved me from many mistakes. Prof. Paola Ceccarelli too provided much good advice and support. It is a pleasure to acknowledge them here as two of the most influential academic figures during my postgraduate experience at Durham. I have benefitted greatly from discussing my work with Giovanna Menci, who also shared with me the drafts of her editio princeps of P.Duk. inv. 665 while her work was in progress, and with the scholars who took part in the Kyklos teleconference (Harvard 2012) and the conference Conflict and Consensus in Early Hexameter Poetry (Durham 2012). I have shared ideas and good times with many fellow graduate