Apollonii Rhodii Argonautica - Ad Fidem Librorum Manuscriptorum Et Editionum Antiquarum Recensuit, Integram Lectionis Varietatem Et Annotationes Adiecit, Scholia Aucta Et Emendata Indicesque Locupletissiomos Addidit Augustus Wellauer.

[Homer] Apollonius of Rhodes / Apollonius Rhodius / August Wellauer.

Published by Leipzig, B.G. Teubner, 1828

Two Volumes (complete set). Octavo. Pagination: Volume I: XIV, 293 pages / Volume II: 318 pages. Hardcover / Very decorative, original full leather with gilt lettering and ornament on spine. Very good condition with only minor signs of wear. Minor signs of a faded dampstain to outer margins Apollonius was among the foremost Homeric scholars in the Alexandrian period. He wrote the period's first scholarly monograph on Homer, critical of the editions of the Iliad and Odyssey published by Zenodotus, his predecessor as head of the Library of Alexandria. Argonautica seems to have been written partly as an experimental means of communicating his own researches into Homer's poetry and to address philosophical themes in poetry. It has even been called "a kind of poetic dictionary of Homer", without at all detracting from its merits as poetry. He has been credited with scholarly prose works on Archilochus and on problems in Hesiod. He is also considered to be one of the period's most important authors on geography, though approaching the subject differently from Eratosthenes, his successor at the library and a radical critic of Homer's geography. It was a time when the accumulation of scientific knowledge was enabling advances in geographical studies, as represented by the activities of Timosthenes, a Ptolemaic admiral and a prolific author. Apollonius set out to integrate new understandings of the physical world with the mythical geography of tradition and his Argonautica was, in that sense, a didactic epic on geography, again without detracting from its merits as poetry. (Wikipedia) Apollonius of Rhodes (Ancient Greek: Apollonios Rhódios; Latin: Apollonius Rhodius; fl. first half of 3rd century BC) was an ancient Greek author, best known for the Argonautica, an epic poem about Jason and the Argonauts and their quest for the Golden Fleece. The poem is one of the few extant examples of the epic genre and it was both innovative and influential, providing Ptolemaic Egypt with a "cultural mnemonic" or national "archive of images", and offering the Latin poets Virgil and Gaius Valerius Flaccus a model for their own epics. His other poems, which survive only in small fragments, concerned the beginnings or foundations of cities, such as Alexandria and Cnidus places of interest to the Ptolemies, whom he served as a scholar and librarian at the Library of Alexandria. A literary dispute with Callimachus, another Alexandrian librarian/poet, is a topic much discussed by modern scholars since it is thought to give some insight into their poetry, although there is very little evidence that there ever was such a dispute between the two men. In fact, almost nothing at all is known about Apollonius and even his connection with Rhodes is a matter for speculation. Once considered a mere imitator of Homer, and therefore a failure as a poet, his reputation has been enhanced by recent studies, with an emphasis on the special characteristics of Hellenistic poets as scholarly heirs of a long literary tradition writing at a unique time in history. The most reliable information we have about ancient poets is largely drawn from their own works. Unfortunately, there is little to no evidence that Apollonius of Rhodes revealed information about himself in his writings. Most of the biographical material comes from four sources: two are texts entitled Life of Apollonius found in the scholia on his work (Vitae A and B); a third is an entry in the 10th-century encyclopaedia the Suda; and fourthly a 2nd-century BC papyrus, P.Oxy. 1241, which provides names of several heads of the Library of Alexandria. Other scraps can be gleaned from miscellaneous texts. The reports from all the above sources however are scanty and often self-contradictory. Ancient biographies often represent famous poets as going into exile to escape their ungrateful fellow citizens. Thus for example Homer was said to have left Cyme because the government there would not support him at public expense. Seller Inventory # 32398AB

Bibliographic Details

Title: Apollonii Rhodii Argonautica - Ad Fidem ...
Publisher: Leipzig, B.G. Teubner
Publication Date: 1828
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Sehr gut