Venetus A is the more common name for the 10th century manuscript catalogued in the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice as codex Marcianus Graecus 454. As a means of recording the passage of time, the 10th century was that century which lasted from 901 to 1000. ... The Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, the Library of St Marks, patron of Venice, is one of the primary manuscript depositories of Italy. ... Venice (Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venezsia) is the capital of region Veneto, and has a population of 271,663 (census estimate January 1, 2004). ... First page of the Codex Argenteus A codex (Latin for block of wood, book; plural codices) is a handwritten book, in general, one produced from Late Antiquity through the Middle Ages. ...

Venetus A is the most famous manuscript of the Homeric Iliad; it is regarded by some as the best text of the epic. As well as the text of the Iliad, Venetus A preserves several layers of annotations, glosses, and commentaries known as the "A scholia", and a summary of the early Greek Epic Cycle which is by far our most important source of information on those lost poems. Homer (Greek: , Hómēros) was a legendary early Greek poet and aoidos (singer) traditionally credited with the composition of the Iliad and the Odyssey. ... It has been suggested that Deception of Zeus be merged into this article or section. ... The epic is a broadly defined genre of poetry, and one of the major forms of narrative literature. ... Scholium (tr~bXtoe), the name given to a grammatical, critical and explanatory note, extracted from existing commentaries and inserted on the margin of the manuscript of an ancient author. ... The Epic Cycle (Greek: Επικός Κύκλος) was a collection of Ancient Greek epic poems that related the story of the Trojan War, which includes the Kypria, the Aithiopis, the Little Iliad, the Iliou persis (The Sack of Troy), the Nostoi (Returns), and the Telegony. ...

Contents

Venetus A contains the following in one volume:

• a full text of the Iliad in ancient Greek
• marginal critical marks, shown by finds of ancient papyri to reflect fairly accurately those that would have been in Aristarchus' edition of the Iliad
• damaged excerpts from Proclus' Chrestomathy, namely the Life of Homer, and summaries of all of the Epic Cycle except the Cypria
• two sets of marginal scholia on the Iliad:
  • the "A scholia", derived largely from the work of Aristarchus
  • some "D scholia", discussing difficulties in the meanings of words
  • among the above, a very few exegetical scholia (exegetical scholia are far more characteristic of the "B" and "T" scholia)

The excerpts from Proclus' Chrestomathy are damaged, and the summary of the Cypria is missing. (See also Epic Cycle, Eutychius Proclus.) Note: This article contains special characters. ... Blank papyrus. ... Aristarchus of Samothrace, Gr. ... The Epic Cycle (Greek: Επικός Κύκλος) was a collection of Ancient Greek epic poems that related the story of the Trojan War, which includes the Kypria, the Aithiopis, the Little Iliad, the Iliou persis (The Sack of Troy), the Nostoi (Returns), and the Telegony. ... The Cypria is one of the lost sections of the eight volume cycle that told the full story of the Trojan War. ... Scholium (tr~bXtoe), the name given to a grammatical, critical and explanatory note, extracted from existing commentaries and inserted on the margin of the manuscript of an ancient author. ... The Epic Cycle (Greek: Επικός Κύκλος) was a collection of Ancient Greek epic poems that related the story of the Trojan War, which includes the Kypria, the Aithiopis, the Little Iliad, the Iliou persis (The Sack of Troy), the Nostoi (Returns), and the Telegony. ... Eutychius Proclus (Latin; Greek Eutychios Proklos) was a grammarian who flourished in the 2nd century CE. He was born at Sicca in Africa. ...

Origins

None of the works on which the scholia in Venetus A are based survives. As a result, the task of tracing their contents to their sources is extraordinarily difficult and obscure. The study of the Iliadic scholia is a significant ongoing research topic in Homeric scholarship. Homeric scholarship is the study of Homeric epic, especially the two large surviving epics the Iliad and Odyssey. ...

The A scholia, for which Venetus A is by far the most important source, derive from the so-called "VMK" (Viermännerkommentar, "four-man commentary"), named for the four ancient scholars Aristonicus, Didymus, Herodian, and Nicanor. The main source for the A scholia was probably a compilation of their work, rather than each of the four men's work individually. Because all four of these scholars worked in the tradition of the Alexandrian scholar Aristarchus, much of the A scholia can be traced back to Aristarchos himself. Didymus Chalcenterus (ca. ... Aelius Herodianus (c. ... This article is about the city in Egypt. ... Aristarchus of Samothrace, Gr. ...

The relationship between the A scholia and other branches of the Iliadic scholia, however, is much more debatable and confused. A text which does not survive, known as "ApH" for its authors "Apion and Herodorus", is key to all reconstructions of this relationship. Eustathius in his own commentary on the Iliad frequently refers to "Apion and Herodorus" as a source, and a comparison between them shows that the relationship between "ApH" and the A scholia is a close one. Eustathius of Thessalonica (Greek: ) (? - 1198) was a native of Constantinople who became archbishop of Thessalonike. ...

Two stemmata or "family trees" for Venetus A may be summarised from the work of van der Valk and Erbse respectively: Textual criticism or lower criticism is a branch of philology or bibliography that is concerned with the identification and removal of errors from texts. ...

Van der Valk's reconstruction of the sources for Venetus A; bold text indicates texts that survive

Erbse's reconstruction of the sources for Venetus A; bold text indicates texts that survive

Of the two, Erbse's viewpoint tends to be the more highly regarded.

Another important source that feeds into A is a group of scholia on mythographical and allegorical topics, derived from Porphyry's Homeric Questions. The current standard edition of the Iliad scholia, that of Erbse, omits these scholia. Porphyry (Greek: , c. ...

On the origins of the Proclean Chrestomathy which is partially preserved in Venetus A, see also Epic Cycle, Eutychius Proclus. The Epic Cycle (Greek: Επικός Κύκλος) was a collection of Ancient Greek epic poems that related the story of the Trojan War, which includes the Kypria, the Aithiopis, the Little Iliad, the Iliou persis (The Sack of Troy), the Nostoi (Returns), and the Telegony. ... Eutychius Proclus (Latin; Greek Eutychios Proklos) was a grammarian who flourished in the 2nd century CE. He was born at Sicca in Africa. ...

History

Venetus A was created in the 10th century. All text on the manuscript dates to the same period, including the Iliad text, critical marks, and two sets of scholia in different writing styles. The 12th century Byzantine scholar and archbishop Eustathius, even if he never saw the manuscript itself, certainly knew texts which were closely related to it; see Origins above (Eustathius cites "Apion and Herodorus" as a source in his own commentary about seventy times). As a means of recording the passage of time, the 10th century was that century which lasted from 901 to 1000. ... (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ... Eustathius of Thessalonica (Greek: ) (? - 1198) was a native of Constantinople who became archbishop of Thessalonike. ...

At some point Venetus A was transported to Italy, but how and when this happened is uncertain. At one point it was thought that Giovanni Aurispa brought it there.^[1] In 1424, in a letter to Traversari in Venice, he mentioned four volumes which he had brought back from Greece: Giovanni Aurispa (c. ... Events August 17 - Battle of Verneuil - An English force under John, Duke of Bedford defeats a larger French army under the Duke of Alençon, John Stuart, and Earl Archibald of Douglas. ... Venice (Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venezsia) is the capital of region Veneto, and has a population of 271,663 (census estimate January 1, 2004). ...

Aristarchum super Iliade in duobus voluminibus, opus quoddam spatiosum et pretiosissimum; aliud commentum super Iliade, cuius eundem auctorem esse puto et illius quod ex me Nicolaus noster habuit super Ulixiade.

Aristarchus on the Iliad in two volumes, a large and very precious work; another commentary on the Iliad; I think Aristarchus was the author of that, as well as of the one on the Odyssey that our friend Niccolò Niccoli got from me. Odysseus and Nausicaä - by Charles Gleyre The Odyssey (Greek: , Odusseia) is one of the two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to the poet Homer. ... Niccolò de Niccoli (1364 - 1437) was an Italian Renaissance humanist. ...

Aurispa already owned the "two volumes" in 1421; this suggests that he may have brought them back from a trip to Greece in 1413.^[2] For a long time it was thought that these two volumes were Venetus A and Venetus B.^[1] More recently, however, it has been pointed out that the Venetus A and B manuscripts list multiple authors as their sources, not just Aristarchus, and Aurispa would be unlikely to have ignored this distinction. One scholar has suggested that Aurispa's two volumes were in fact Laurentianus LIX 2 and 3, a two-volume copy of Eustathius' Iliad commentary corrected in Eustathius' own hand, and in which the title is erased.^[2] Events March 21 - Battle of Baugé. A small French force surprises and defeats a smaller English force under Thomas, Duke of Clarence, a brother of Henry V of England, in Normandy. ... // Events March 20 - Henry V becomes King of England Project of Annals of Joseon Dynasty began. ...

Venetus A came into the possession of Cardinal Bessarion, the Greek immigrant and scholar, and the man most directly responsible for the Western rediscovery of Greek literature in the Renaissance. Bessarion collected over a thousand books in the 15th century, including the only complete text of Athenaios' Deipnosophistai; the autograph of Planudes' Greek Anthology; and Venetus A. Johannes Bessarion, or Basilius (c. ... Raphael was famous for depicting illustrious figures of the Classical past with the features of his Renaissance contemporaries. ... (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ...

In 1468 Bessarion donated his library to the Republic of Venice, and the library was increased by further acquisitions from Bessarion until his death in 1473.^[3] This collection became the core of the Biblioteca Marciana. Bessarion made a condition that scholars wishing to consult the library should deposit books, but no attempt to enforce this was made until 1530. Events Baeda Maryam succeeds his father Zara Yaqob as Emperor of Ethiopia Births February 29 - Pope Paul III (died 1549) Juan del Encina, Spanish poet, dramatist and composer Charles I of Savoy John, Elector of Saxony (died 1532) Juan de Zumárraga, Spanish Franciscan prelate and first bishop of Mexico... Venice (Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venezsia) is the capital of region Veneto, and has a population of 271,663 (census estimate January 1, 2004). ... Events Ottoman sultan Mehmed II defeats the White Sheep Turkmens lead by Uzun Hasan at Otlukbeli Axayacatl, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan invades the territory of neighboring Aztec city of Tlatelolco. ... The Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, the Library of St Marks, patron of Venice, is one of the primary manuscript depositories of Italy. ... June 25 - Augsburg confession presented to Charles V of Holy Roman Empire. ...

The earliest known scholar to have used Venetus A as a source is Martinus Phileticus in the 1480s;^[4] in this he was followed by Vettore Fausto in 1546 or 1547. Centuries: 14th century - 15th century - 16th century Decades: 1430s 1440s 1450s 1460s 1470s - 1480s - 1490s 1500s 1510s 1520s 1530s Years: 1480 1481 1482 1483 1484 1485 1486 1487 1488 1489 Events and Trends Categories: 1480s ... // Events Spanish conquest of Yucatan Peace between England and France Foundation of Trinity College, Cambridge by Henry VIII of England Katharina von Bora flees to Magdeburg Science Architecture Michelangelo Buonarroti is made chief architect of St. ... Year 1547 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. ...

In 1554 Bessarion's library was transferred to the building designed for it by Sansovino, the Biblioteca Sansoviniana. It remains there today. Events January 5 - Great fire in Eindhoven, Netherlands. ... Jacopo d’Antonio Sansovino (1486 - November 27, 1570) was an Italian sculptor and architect. ...

After that, Venetus A was largely forgotten until Villoison rediscovered and published it, along with the "B scholia" from Venetus B, in 1788. This was the first publication of any Iliadic scholia other than the "D" scholia (the scholia minora). The A and B scholia were a catalyst for several new ideas from the scholar Friedrich August Wolf. In reviewing Villoison's edition, Wolf realised that these scholia proved conclusively that the Homeric epics had been transmitted orally for an unknown length of time before appearing in writing. This led to the publication of his own seminal Prolegomena ad Homerum, which has set the agenda for much of Homeric scholarship since then. Jean-Baptiste Gaspard dAnsse (or Dannse) de Villoison (March 5, 1750 (or 1753) – April 25, 1805) was a classical scholar born at Corbeil-sur-Seine, France. ... 1788 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Friedrich August Wolf (February 15, 1750 - August 8, 1824) was a German philologist and critic. ... Homeric scholarship is the study of Homeric epic, especially the two large surviving epics the Iliad and Odyssey. ...

Publication of A scholia

• Villoison, 1788 -- A and B scholia
• Bekker, 1825-26 -- A and B scholia
• (Heyne, 1821-27 -- D scholia or "scholia minora")
• Lehrs, 1848 -- Herodian (reconstructed from VMK)
• Friedländer, 1850 -- Nicanor (reconstructed from VMK)
• Friedländer, 1853 -- Aristonicus (reconstructed from VMK)
• Schmidt, 1854 -- Didymus (reconstructed from VMK)
• Dindorf and Maass, 1875-1888 -- A, B, and T scholia
• (Nicole, 1891 -- Ge scholia)
• Comparetti, 1901 -- facsimile edition of Venetus A
• Erbse, 1969-1988 -- all Iliad scholia, except D scholia and mythographical/allegorical scholia derived from Porphyry
• (Van Thiel, 2000 -- D scholia or "scholia minora")

Porphyry (Greek: , c. ...

See also

• Homer
• Homeric scholarship
• Epic Cycle
• Scholia

Homer (Greek: , Hómēros) was a legendary early Greek poet and aoidos (singer) traditionally credited with the composition of the Iliad and the Odyssey. ... Homeric scholarship is the study of Homeric epic, especially the two large surviving epics the Iliad and Odyssey. ... The Epic Cycle (Greek: Επικός Κύκλος) was a collection of Ancient Greek epic poems that related the story of the Trojan War, which includes the Kypria, the Aithiopis, the Little Iliad, the Iliou persis (The Sack of Troy), the Nostoi (Returns), and the Telegony. ... Scholium (tr~bXtoe), the name given to a grammatical, critical and explanatory note, extracted from existing commentaries and inserted on the margin of the manuscript of an ancient author. ...

Further reading

• Allen, T.W. 1931, The Homeric Scholia, Proceedings of the British Academy 17 (London)
• Erbse, H., various articles: see list in Classical Review 11 (1961) 109 n. 1
• Erbse, H. 1960, Beiträge zur Überlieferung der Iliasscholien, Zetemata 24 (Munich)
• Erbse, H. 1969-88, Scholia Graeca in Homeri Iliadem (Berlin) ISBN 3-11-002558-2, ISBN 3-11-003882-X, ISBN 3-11-004641-5, ISBN 3-11-005770-0, ISBN 3-11-006911-3, ISBN 3-11-009530-0, ISBN 3-11-011314-7
• Labowsky, L. 1979, Bessarion's Library and the Biblioteca Marciana (Rome)
• Van der Valk 1963-64, Researches on the Text and Scholia of the Iliad, 2 vols. (Leiden)

External links

• Online edition of Comparetti -- facsimile of Comparetti's 1901 facsimile edition of Venetus A
• Online edition of Villoison -- facsimile of Villoison's 1788 edition of the Iliad and its scholia
• NewScholiasts -- project for translating the Iliad scholia into English

References