Nick at 11:43, 11 June 2020

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Nick: New page: '''Aristophanes of Byzantium''' (Greek:Ἀριστοφάνης ὁ Βυζάντιος; c. 257 – c. 185/180 BC) was a Hellenistic Greek [[scholarly method|s...

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New page: '''Aristophanes of Byzantium''' (Greek:Ἀριστοφάνης ὁ Βυζάντιος; c. 257 – c. 185/180 BC) was a Hellenistic Greek [[scholarly method|s...

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'''Aristophanes of [[Byzantium]]''' (Greek:Ἀριστοφάνης ὁ Βυζάντιος; c. 257 – c. 185/180 BC) was a [[Hellenistic Period|Hellenistic Greek]] [[scholarly method|scholar]], [[critic]] and [[Philologist|grammarian]], particularly renowned for his work in [[Homeric scholarship]], but also for work on other classical authors such as [[Pindar]] and [[Hesiod]]. Born in Byzantium about 257 BC, he soon moved to Alexandria and studied under [[Zenodotus]], [[Callimachus]], and Dionysius Iambus. He succeeded [[Eratosthenes]] as head [[librarian]] of the [[Library of Alexandria]] at the age of sixty.

Aristophanes was the first to deny that the ''[[Precepts of Chiron]]'' was the work of [[Hesiod]].[1]

Aristophanes is credited with the invention of the [[polytonic orthography|accent system]] used in [[Greek (language)|Greek]] to designate pronunciation, as the tonal, pitched system of archaic and [[Ancient Greek language|Classical Greek]] was giving way (or had given way) to the stress-based system of [[Koine Greek|Koine]]. This was also a period when Greek, in the wake of [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]]'s conquests, was beginning to act as a ''lingua franca'' for the Eastern [[Mediterranean]] (replacing various [[Semitic languages]]). The accents were designed to assist in the pronunciation of Greek in older literary works.

He also invented one of the first forms of [[punctuation]] in [[200 BC]]; single [[Interpunct|dots]] (''théseis'', Latin ''distinctiones'') that separated verses (colometry), and indicated the amount of breath needed to complete each fragment of text when reading aloud (not to comply with rules of grammar, which were not applied to punctuation marks until centuries later). For a short passage (a ''komma''), a ''stigmḕ mésē'' dot was placed mid-level ('''·'''). This is the origin of the modern [[comma]] punctuation mark, and its name. For a longer passage (a ''kolon''), a ''hypostigmḗ'' dot was placed level with the bottom of the text ('''.'''), similar to a modern [[Colon (punctuation)|colon]] or [[semicolon]], and for very long pauses (''periodos''), a ''stigmḕ teleía'' point near the top of the line of text ('''·''').[2][3][4]

As a lexicographer he compiled collections of archaic and unusual words. He died in [[Alexandria]] around 185–180 BC. His students included [[Callistratus (grammarian)|Callistratus]], [[Aristarchus of Samothrace]], and perhaps [[Agallis]].

All that has survived of Aristophanes of Byzantium's voluminous writings are a few fragments preserved through quotation in the literary commentaries, or ''[[scholia]]'', of later writers, several ''argumenta'' to works of Greek drama, and part of a glossary.[5] The most recent edition of the extant fragments was edited by William J. Slater.[6]
== See also ==
* [[Homeric scholarship]]
* [[Lille Stesichorus]]
* [[Polytonic orthography]]

== Citations ==
* 1. H. G. Evelyn-White, tr. ''Hesiod II: The Homeric Hymns and Homerica'' ([[Loeb Classical Library]] 503), 2nd ed. 1936 fr. 4.
* 2. [http://www.haverford.edu/classics/courses/2006S/lat101/handouts/no_spaces_aeneid.pdf Reading Before Punctuation] [https://web.archive.org/web/20060902185038/http://www.haverford.edu/classics/courses/2006S/lat101/handouts/no_spaces_aeneid.pdf] — ''Introduction to Latin Literature'' handout, [[Haverford College]]
* 3. [https://archive.is/20050308135347/http://www.completetranslation.com/punctuation.htm A History Of Punctuation]
* 4. Bliss, Robert. "Points to Ponder". Software Technology Support Center.
* 5. Beach, Frederick Converse (1912). The Americana: A Universal Reference Library. 2. New York City, New York: Scientific American Compiling Department.
* 6. ''Aristophanis Byzantii fragmenta'', Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1986.

== General sources==
* This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Aristophanes". Encyclopædia Britannica. Volume 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 501.

== External links ==
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01303a.htm "Library of Alexandria"]—''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'' article

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[[Category:180s BC deaths]]
[[Category:250s BC births]]
[[Category:2nd-century BC Greek people]]
[[Category:3rd-century BC Greek people]]
[[Category:Ancient Byzantines]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek grammarians]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek lexicographers]]
[[Category:Librarians of Alexandria]]

Aristophanes of Byzantium - Revision history

Nick at 11:43, 11 June 2020

Nick: New page: '''Aristophanes of Byzantium''' (Greek:Ἀριστοφάνης ὁ Βυζάντιος; c. 257 – c. 185/180 BC) was a Hellenistic Greek [[scholarly method|s...