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The wise Homer and his erudite commentator: Eustathios’ imagery in the proem of the Parekbolai on the Iliad

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 March 2017

Baukje van den Berg
Baukje van den Berg*
Affiliation:
University of [email protected]
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Abstract

In this paper it is argued that the proem of the Parekbolai on the Iliad by Eustathios of Thessalonike gives a practical example of the use to which the lessons in his work are to be put. It explores how Eustathios advertises himself as a skilful rhetorician and how he perceives the relationship between poet, commentator, and readers by examining four images that embellish the proem: Homeric poetry as the song of the Sirens, Homer as the Ocean and as a host, and the commentator as a cook.

Keywords

Eustathios of ThessalonikeHomeric poetryreception of HomerByzantine rhetoricByzantine scholarshiprhetorical education
Type
Articles
Information
Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies , Volume 41 , Issue 1 , April 2017 , pp. 30 - 44
Copyright
Copyright © Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies, University of Birmingham, 2017 

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References

1 On the intellectual world of twelfth-century Byzantium, see e.g. Kazhdan, A.P. and Wharton Epstein, A., Change in Byzantine Culture in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries (Berkeley 1985) 130–3Google Scholar; 220–30; Magdalino, P., The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos, 1143–1180 (Cambridge 1993) 339–52CrossRefGoogle Scholar. For an overview of Byzantine scholarship, see Pontani, F., ‘Scholarship in the Byzantine empire (529–1453)’, in Montanari, F., Matthaios, S., Rengakos, A. (eds.), Brill's Companion to Ancient Greek Scholarship, I (Leiden 2015) 297–455 CrossRefGoogle Scholar, here 385–393 on Eustathios.

2 On Eustathios’ life and work, see e.g. Wirth, P., Eustathiana: Gesammelte Aufsätze zu Leben und Werk des Metropoliten Eustathios von Thessalonike (Amsterdam 1980)Google Scholar; Kazhdan, A. and Franklin, S., Studies on Byzantine Literature of the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries (Cambridge 1984) 115–95CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Schönauer, S., ‘Eustathios von Thessalonike: ein “fahrender Scholiast?”’, Byzantinische Zeitschrift 97/1 (2004) 143–51Google Scholar. Browning, R., ‘Eustathios of Thessalonike revisited’, Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies 40 (1995) 83–90 CrossRefGoogle Scholar presents a convenient introduction to Eustathios as an intellectual.

3 See Cullhed, E., Eustathios of Thessalonike. Parekbolai on Homer's Odyssey 1–2. Proekdosis (diss. Uppsala 2014) 3*–26* Google Scholar for a discussion of Eustathios’ Parekbolai from a social perspective. On the productive aim of the Byzantine study of classical literature, see e.g. Hunger, H., ‘On the imitation (ΜΙΜΗΣΙΣ) of antiquity in Byzantine literature’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 23/24 (1969/70) 15–38 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Hunger, H., ‘The classical tradition in Byzantine literature: the importance of rhetoric’, in Mullett, M. and Scott, R. (eds.), Byzantium and the Classical Tradition (Birmingham 1981) 35–47 Google Scholar; Kaldellis, A., ‘Classical scholarship in twelfth-century Byzantium’, in Barber, Ch. and Jenkins, D. (eds.), Medieval Greek Commentaries on the Nicomachean Ethics (Leiden 2009) 17 Google Scholar.

4 A translation of the first part of the proem can be found in Herington, C. J., ‘Homer: a Byzantine perspective’, Arion 8 (1969) 432–4Google Scholar.

5 Eustathios, Parekbolai on the Iliad, ed. van der Valk, M.H.A.L.H., Eustathii archiepiscopi Thessalonicensis Commentarii ad Homeri Iliadem pertinentes ad fidem codicis Laurentiani editi, 4 vols. (Leiden 1971) I 2.27–36 (henceforth, Eust. in Il.)Google Scholar.

6 On this phenomenon, see Nünlist, R., ‘Homer as a blueprint for speechwriters: Eustathius’ commentaries and rhetoric’, Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 52 (2012) 493–509 Google Scholar.

7 Cullhed, Eustathios of Thessalonike, 39*–46*.

8 The proem can be divided into three parts: (i) a defence of (the study of) Homer and Homeric poetry (Eust. in Il. 1.1–2.16); (ii) an introduction to the commentary (2.17–3.40), including programmatic statements on myth and allegory (3.13–34); (iii) an introduction to epic poetry, Homer, and the Iliad (3.41–5.27). The four images occur in the first and second part.

9 Homer, Odyssey 12.158–200.

10 Eust. in Il. 1.2–5.

11 In a forthcoming article on Leo the Philosopher, Emilie van Opstall discusses this passage and especially the problematic expression οὔτε . . . ἂν εὔχαρις (E. M. van Opstall, ‘Balancing on the tightrope of paganism: Leo the Philosopher’, Y. Durbec, D. Pralon, F. Trajber (eds.), Traditions épiques et poésie épigrammatique. Présence des épopées archaïques dans les épigrammes grecques et latines (forthcoming) n. 43. I am very grateful to Emilie van Opstall for giving me the opportunity to exchange ideas on this difficult passage and to read the forthcoming article, and for providing me with relevant bibliographical references.

12 On the reception of the Sirens in literature and art, see e.g. Rahner, H., Griechische Mythen in christlicher Deutung (Darmstadt 1957)Google Scholar; Wedner, S., Tradition und Wandel im allegorischen Verständnis des Sirenenmythos : ein Beitrag zur Rezeptionsgeschichte Homers (Frankfurt am Main 1994)Google Scholar; Leclercq-Marx, J., La Sirène dans la pensée et dans l'art de l'Antiquité et du Moyen-Âge. Du mythe païen au symbole chrétien (Brussels 1997)Google Scholar. See Van Opstall, ‘Balancing on the tightrope of paganism: Leo the Philosopher’, for another Byzantine example of the reception of the image of the Sirens and further references.

13 E.g. Plato, Republic 376e–398b9; 595–608b10. On Plato's criticism and its reception, see e.g. Weinstock, S., ‘Die platonische Homerkritik und ihre Nachwirkung’, Philologus 82 (1927) 121–53CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Murray, P., Plato on Poetry: Ion; Republic 376e–398b9; Republic 595–608b10 (Cambridge 1996)Google Scholar. On the debate on poetry, see e.g. Gould, Th. F., The Ancient Quarrel between Poetry and Philosophy (Princeton, N.J. 1990)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Edmundson, M., Literature against Philosophy, Plato to Derrida: a Defence of Poetry (Cambridge 1995)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

14 Plutarch, How the Young Man Should Study Poetry (de audiendis poetis), 15C–D.

15 Basil, Address to Young Men on Reading Greek Literature (ad adolescentes de legendis libris gentilium).

16 Basil, Address to Young Men on Reading Greek Literature 4.3–11. It is remarkable that Basil changes the image and has Odysseus block his own ears instead of those of his companions. On this change see Van Opstall, ‘Balancing on the tightrope of paganism: Leo the Philosopher’, n. 45; Kaldellis, A., Hellenism in Byzantium: the Transformations of Greek Identity and the Reception of the Classical Tradition (Cambridge 2007) 164–5Google Scholar.

17 Eustathios, Parekbolai on the Odyssey, ed. Stallbaum, J. G., Eustathii archiepiscopi Thessalonicensis Commentarii ad Homeri Odysseam ad fidem exempli Romani editi, II (Leipzig 1825–26) 1706.24–1711.9 Google Scholar (henceforth, Eust. in Od.).

18 Eustathios speaks about the politikos philosophos in 1708.18–24. On the politikos philosophos, see e.g. Hermeias, Scholia in Plato's Phaedrus, ed. Couvreur, P., Hermeias von Alexandrien. In Platonis Phaedrum scholia (Paris 1901) 221.9–24Google Scholar; Joannes Siceliotes, Commentary on Hermogenes’ On Types of Style, ed. Walz, C., Rhetores Graeci, VI (Stuttgart 1834) 376.1–17Google Scholar.

19 Eust. in Od. 1708.36–50; Eustathios lists encomia (ἐγκώμια), historical accounts (ἱστορίαι), stories of old (παλαιοὶ λόγοι), narratives (συγγραφαί), the composition of myth and of other things (συνθῆκαι μύθων τῶν τε ἄλλων), and all other things that are elevated in a philosophical way (ὅσοι φιλοσόφως ἀνάγονται) as the components of this theoretical knowledge. Philosophy and rhetoric seem to be closely connected in Eustathios’ view. Cf. Magdalino, The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos, 1143–1180, 331–4, where the close relationship of rhetoric and philosophy in twelfth-century Byzantium is discussed. See Papaioannou, S., Michael Psellos: Rhetoric and Authorship in Byzantium (Cambridge 2013) 26–50 CrossRefGoogle Scholar, on Psellos’ insistence on the mixture of philosophy with rhetoric, and 245–6 for its reception in the twelfth century.

20 Eust. in Od. 1708.64–1709.6; on the goal of poetry, cf. Eust. in Od. 1710.67 and the proem of the Parekbolai on the Odyssey 1379.25–7.

21 Eust. in Il. 2.21–3. I distinguish between three groups of readers, contrary to Kaldellis’ interpretation, which distinguishes between two groups, uneducated and educated. Consequently, I disagree with Kaldellis’ view that Eustathios’ statement is charged with irony: Kaldellis argues that Eustathios negates the first claim that his work is not useful for the learned man by later arguing that it may serve as a reminder for those who already studied Homer. See Kaldellis, ‘Classical scholarship’, 34–5.

22 On the Ocean surrounding the earth, see e.g. Eust. in Il. 514.33–43.

23 Eust. in Il. 1.9–11.

24 Homer, Iliad 21.194–6: [. . .] Ὠκεανοῖο, / ἐξ οὗ περ πάντες ποταμοὶ καὶ πᾶσα θάλασσα / καὶ πᾶσαι κρῆναι καὶ φρείατα μακρὰ νάουσιν·

25 Dionysios of Halikarnassos, On Literary Composition (de compositione verborum) 24.4, quoting Homer, Iliad 21.195–6.

26 Pseudo-Longinos, On the Sublime 13.3.

27 Longinos, On the Sublime 9.13. More examples of the same imagery are collected by Williams, F., Callimachus, Hymn to Apollo. A commentary (Oxford 1978) 85–9, 98–9Google Scholar; Bühler, W., Beiträge zur Erklärung der Schrift vom Erhabenen (Göttingen 1964) 64–5Google Scholar.

28 Tzetzes, Allegories on the Iliad, ed. Boissonade, J.F., Tzetzae allegoriae Iliadis (Paris 1851)Google Scholar Prolegomena 51–2. The phrase ὁ Ὅμηρος ὁ πάνσοφος, ἡ θάλασσα τῶν λόγων is repeated in Chiliades, ed. Leone, P.L.M., Ioannis Tzetzae historiae (Naples 1968)Google Scholar 13.620. Cf. Tzetzes Allegories on the Iliad 16.116; 20.35; 21.107. On the image of Homer as the Ocean in Tzetzes and Eustathios, cf. Cesaretti, P., Allegoristi di Omero a Bisanzio: ricerche ermeneutiche, XI–XII secolo (Milan 1991) 181 Google Scholar; 188–9; 214–5. See Nilsson, I., ‘Words, water, and power: literary fountains and metaphors of patronage in eleventh and twelfth-century Byzantium’, in Shilling, B. and Stephenson, P. (eds.), Fountains and Water Culture in Byzantium (Cambridge 2016)Google Scholar for water images concerning the rhetoricians’ streams of words in return for the patrons’ streams of gold.

29 Eustathios, Proem of the Parekbolai on Pindar, ed. Kambylis, A., Eustathios von Thessalonike, Prooimion zum Pindarkommentar (Göttingen 1991)Google Scholar section 2.2.

30 Eustathios makes the same point in the proem of the Parekbolai on the Iliad: Eust. in Il. 4.46–5.7.

31 Eust. in Od. 1379.46–50. Text and translation are quoted from Cullhed, Eustathios of Thessalonike. See also the commentary on this passage by Pontani, F., ‘Il proemio al “Commento all'Odissea” di Eustazio di Tessalonica’, Bollettino dei Classici III, 21 (2000) 28–32 Google Scholar.

32 Eust. in Od. 1379.41–6.

33 Cf. e.g. Eust. in Il. 225.17–22; 409.21–25; 652.13–4.

34 Cf. Suda, ed. A Adler (Leipzig 1928–38) τ 626; Pontani, ‘Il proemio al “Commento all'Odissea”’, 29–31.

35 Eust. in Od. 1379.61. Cf. Pontani, ‘Il proemio al “Commento all'Odissea”, 34–5.

36 Eust. in Il. 244.30 and 942.39 respectively. Cf. Eust. in Il. 1.8; 665.10.

37 Eust. in Il. 1.11–17.

38 Athenaios, The Learned Banqueters (Deipnosophistai) 8.347e.

39 On Old Testament wisdom tradition see e.g. Sandelin, K.G., Wisdom as Nourisher: a Study of an Old Testament Theme, its Development within Early Judaism and its Impact on Early Christianity (Åbo 1986)Google Scholar; MacKinlay, J. E., Gendering Wisdom the Host: Biblical Invitations to Eat and Drink (Sheffield 1996)Google Scholar.

40 Eust. in Il. 1.42.

41 See n. 8 above.

42 Cf. Pseudo-Hermogenes, On Invention 3.13, where it is recommended that the proofs (ἐπιχειρήματα) used in a speech be connected in order for ‘the speech to become one web and body’ (ὕφος ἓν ὁ λόγος γένηται καὶ σῶμα).

43 Eust. in Il. 3.1–5. The explicit rejection of the method of exegesis might be intended as a sneer at Tzetzes, who designates his commentary on the Iliad as ἐξήγησις. Eustathios makes the same point in the proem of the Parekbolai on the Odyssey. See Eust. in Od. 1380.11–3 (quoted below) with Pontani, ‘Il proemio al “Commento all'Odissea”’, 41.

44 Eust. in Od. 1380.11–3 (text and translation from Cullhed, Eustathios of Thessalonike).

45 Eust. in Il. 2.40–2 (on using the Parekbolai either with or without the Iliad).

46 Plato, Gorgias 462c–463b.

47 On the preparation and consumption of food as a metaphor for composing and reading literature in ancient literature and criticism, see Gowers, E., The Loaded Table: Representations of Food in Roman Literature (Oxford 1993)Google Scholar for a useful introduction and further references. For Byzantine literature, see Kolovou, F., ‘Die Rezeption der Platonischen Opsopoiia in der byzantinischen Literatur’, in Hinterberger, M. and Schiffer, E. (eds.), Byzantinische Sprachkunst (Berlin 2007)Google Scholar 181–93; for Eustathios, see Kolovou, F., Die Briefe des Eustathios von Thessalonike: Einleitung, Regesten, Text, Indizes (Munich 2006) 57*–73* CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

48 Eustathios, Parekbolai on Dionysios Periegetes, ed. Müller, K., Geographi Graeci minores II (Paris 1861)Google Scholar epist. 85–7.

49 Eust. in Il. 3.34–41.

50 Plato, Theaetetus 200e with Scholia Vetera on Plato's Theaetetus, ed. Greene, W. C., Scholia Platonica (Haverford, Pennsylvania 1938)Google Scholar 200e: παροιμία· ὁ τὸν ποταμὸν καθηγούμενος, αὐτὸ δείξει. ἐπὶ τῶν ἐκ τῆς πείρας γινωσκομένων. κατιόντων γάρ τινων εἰς ποταμὸν πρὸς τὸ διαπεράσαι, ἤρετό τις τὸν προηγούμενον εἰ βάθος ἔχοι τὸ ὕδωρ· ὁ δὲ ἔφη ‘αὐτὸ δείξει’. I owe this reference to Kolovou, Die Briefe des Eustathios von Thessalonike, 61* n. 64. For further references, see Kambylis, A., Eustathios über Pindars Epinikiendichtung: ein Kapitel der klassischen Philologie in Byzanz (Göttingen 1991) 104 Google Scholar n. 374.

51 Eust. in Il. 829.48; Eust. in Od. 1380.10. For references to further examples of the image of dining and cookery in the Parekbolai on the Iliad, see der Valk, Van, Eustathii archiepiscopi Thessalonicensis Commentarii ad Homeri Iliadem pertinentes ad fidem codicis Laurentiani editi, II (Leiden 1976) XXVII Google Scholar, esp. n. 7 and 9.

52 Simile: Eust. in Il. 1088.47–8, 1271.21; jests: 1084.9–11; historical accounts: 532.33, 717.45–6; taking the form of Nestor's memories: 100.29–32; 769.62–3.

53 Homer, Iliad 5.36–83.

54 Eust. in Il. 522.44–523.1.

55 Pedaios: Homer, Iliad 5.69–71; Hypsenor: 5.76–8.

56 On γοργότης, cf. Hermogenes, On Types of Style, 2.1. On γοργότης in Hermogenes and Eustathios, see Lindberg, G., Studies in Hermogenes and Eustathios: the Theory of Ideas and its Application in the Commentaries of Eustathios on the Epics of Homer (Lund 1977) 78–9Google Scholar; 163–6.

57 One of these ‘poetical spices’ is the simile, on which see e.g. Eust. in Il. 1065.28–48 (a simile relaxes the listener; explains the scene; creates variation; shows the poet's learning and teaches the audience); 1271.40–3 (a simile is used in order to avoid monotony).

58 Tzetzes, Allegories on the Odyssey, ed. H. Hunger, ‘Johannes Tzetzes, Allegorien zur Odyssee Buch 13–24, Kommentierte Textausgabe’, Byzantinische Zeitschrift 48.1 (1955) 4–48, book 24, lines 282–3. Cf. Allegories on the Iliad 24.183–8 Boissonade. On the image in Tzetzes, cf. P. Cesaretti, Allegoristi di Omero a Bisanzio, 199–201; 213 (on Tzetzes and Eustathios).

59 Cf. e.g. Eust. in Il. 717.45: ἱστορίᾳ τε γὰρ ἤρτυται καὶ μύθῳ γλυκάζεται (‘it [sc. this passage] is seasoned with a historical account and sweetened by myth’).

60 I wish to express my gratitude to Irene de Jong and Emilie van Opstall for valuable comments at various stages of this paper. I would also like thank Ingela Nilsson and Eric Cullhed for helpful suggestions, as well as the members of the ‘Hellenistenclub’ (Amsterdam, September 2013) and the participants of the OIKOS international PhD days (Oxford, September 2013), especially Adrian Kelly, for comments on previous versions of this article. I thank the anonymous referee for corrections.