INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted- Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and inqjroper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletioiL Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overl^s. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photogrtq>hs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations ^>pearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howell information Company 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor. Ml 48106-1346 USA 313.'761-4700 800/521-0600 MEDIEVAL/iCŒ'6iyC/5 TO STATIUS DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Harald Jens Anderson, B.A, M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 1997 Dissertation Committee; Approved by Dr. Frank T. Coulson, Adviser Dr. Charles L. Babcock Adviser Dr. Kirk Freudenburg Department of Classics UMI N um ber: 9 8 1 3 2 1 2 Copyright 1997 by Anderson, Harald Jens All rights reserved. UMI Microform 9813212 Copyright 1998, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Copyright by Harald Jens Anderson 1997 ABSTRACT The Latin poet Statius, though popular in the Middle Ages, was known then only through two epic poems, the Thebaid and Achilleid. Without his partially autobiographical Silvae, medieval scholars knew little of the poet’s life. Since the interpretation of literature then was largely rooted in biographical criticism, scholars had to create a fictional life for him. Through an edition with commentary of twenty-five medieval introductions to manuscripts of his works (termed ”accessiis"), the methods, sources, and quality of this fictional biography are discussed. The earliest accessus to Statius, which dates to the ninth century, demonstrates that the medieval scholars worked extremely cautiously and conservatively, refraining from interpretations that could not be rooted in the text. In the succeeding accessus, which are all based on the original one, scholars show very little desire to change previous results and hypotheses, but shared its carefixl approach, avoiding allegorical interpretations. Unlike the case of accessus to other authors, accessus to Statius are all very traditional and vary from one another according to external circumstances, such as the changing role of the poems’ readership or advancements in the genre of accessus in general However, without any new information about the poet, the scholarship on Statius begins to stagnate in an age where other authors’ accessus reach their fullest and most elaborate form. The rediscovery of Statius’ Silvae in the beginning of the fifteenth century provided a wealth of new information to scholars. At first, they tried to adapt the new correct data to the old incorrect ones. When they finally realized the importance of this new data, they chose not just to change the biographical tradition, but to change the form of its presentation as well. ui la memoriam Maureen V. O’Donnell IV ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank my adviser. Professor Frank T. Coulson, for his guidance, support and confidence, as well for his patience and diligence in correcting my stylistic errors and proofreading my transcriptions. I am also gratefiil to the Mittellateinisches Seminar and the Seminar fur klassische Philologie of the Universitat Bonn for the use of their facilities while I wrote this dissertation. This research was supported by a travel grant from the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies of The Ohio State University and by an exchange fellowship from the Universitat Bonn made through the Graduate School of The Ohio State University. I am deeply appreciative of this support. I am greatly indebted to all of the directors, librarians, and staff of the libraries and institutes whose manuscripts, incunabula, and resources I have been able to use. They have shown me the warmest kindnesses and the greatest patience during my visits. I am especially indebted to: the Augustiner-Chorherren Stifrsbibliothek, Sankt-Florian; the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana; the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana and Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, Firenze; the Biblioteca nazionale Marciana in Venezia; the Biblioteca Riccardiana e Moreniana in Firenze; the Bibliotheek der Rijksuniversiteit, Leiden; the Bibliothèque nationale de France; the Bibliothèque royale Albert 1er, Bruxelles; the Board of Regents of the British Library; the Burgerbibliothek, Bern; the Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel; Karl Graf von Schonbom; the Kongelige Bibliothek, Kobenhavn; the Musaeum Plantin-Moretus, Antwerpen; the Ôsterreichische Nationalbibliothek; the Statni védeckâ knihovna in Olomouc; the Statsbibliothek zu Berlin - PreuCischer Kulturbesitz; the Universitatsbibliothek Freiburg; the Universitatsbibliothek Leipzig; the staff of the Institut de Recherche et dïCstoire des Textes in Paris; Wendy Watkins, Curator of the Center for Epigraphical and Palaeographical Studies at the Ohio State University; and Mary Cole of the Department of Classics at the same institution, to whom I owe an immense debt of gratitude. There are lastly many individuals who indirectly helped to bring about this work; 1 am thankfid to my grandparents, parents, brothers and friends for their financial help and personal support during this research; to Professor J. Ward Jones, Jr., of the College of Wilham and Mary for introducing me to Statius; and lastly to Maureen O’Donnell, who . This dissertation was a labor of love, and it was she that instilled in me a love of the Latin language. VI VITA March 17, 1967 .............................................Bom - Boston, Massachusetts 1989...............................................................B.A. Classical Studies, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA 1991............................................................... M A. Classical Languages and Literatures, the University of Kentucky, Lexrugton, KY 1991-present .................................................. Graduate Teaching and Research Associate, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 1996-7 ............................................................Exchange Student, Universitat Bonn, Germany FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Classics vu TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract ................................................................................................................................... i Dedication .............................................................................................................................iv Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................. v Vita...................................................................................................................................... vii List of Edited Texts............................................................................................................... x List of Stemmata ................................................................................................................. xii List of Charts .......................................................................................................................xiii Chapters: 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................1 1.1 M edieval .......................................................................................... 1 1.2 Statius in the Middle Ages ............................................................................. 9 1.3 Editorial Principles ........................................................................................15 2. Accessus to Statius through the Twelfth Century ....................................................17 2.1 The Thebaid ..................................................................................................17 2.1.1 The Quaeritur accessus ...................................................................17 2.1.2 The Zurich accessits............................................................................27 2.1.3 The Bem-Bumey Accessus .............................................................28 2.2 The A chilleid ............................................................................................... 36 2.2.1 The accessus in Firenze, BML, Plut. 24 sin. 1 2 .............................. 36 2.2.2 The Kobenhavn accessus ................................................................41