28 - Dionysios Periegetes

Summary

This chapter presents a new, annotated translation (approximating English iambics) of the sophisticated poem, preserved in its entirety under the title Oikoumenes periegesis (Guided Tour of the Inhabited World), which was written in skilful Homeric hexameters by Dionysios of Alexandria between AD 130 and 138. The chapter introduction establishes the date of the work, which includes a tribute to Hadrian’s companion Antinoös, and its relationship to other possible works by Dionysios. Its sources may include Strabo, though it is difficult to sift Strabo’s geography from that of his sources. The poem—Hesiodic in conception, Homeric in language, with many echoes of hellenistic poets—is mostly framed in terms of west–east movement, with a north–south progression within each part of the oikoumene. It remained popular in literate society between the 4th century and the late Middle Ages, being translated into Latin twice, copied frequently, annotated intensively, and printed in Greek as early as 1512. The translation replicates the acrostics within the poem, including a fourth one newly discovered.