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  3. The Ancient Scholia to Homer's Iliad
  • Cited by 1
      • Volume 1: Books 1-2
      • Edited and translated by Bill Beck, Indiana University
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    • Publisher:
      Cambridge University Press
      Publication date:
      16 December 2025
      02 October 2025
      ISBN:
      9781009547369
      9781009547383
      DOI:
      https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009547369
      Dimensions:
      (229 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.83kg, 466 Pages
      Dimensions:
      Weight & Pages:
      • Subjects:
      Classical Studies, Classical Literature
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    Subjects:
    Classical Studies, Classical Literature
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    Book description

    With roots in the Homeric scholarship produced in the Library of Alexandria in the third and second centuries BCE, the ancient scholia to the Iliad constitute the richest and most extensive collection of ancient criticism on the most widely read poem in Greco-Roman antiquity. Excerpted from lost works of ancient scholarship and transmitted as marginal and interlinear comments in medieval manuscripts of the Iliad, these scholia contain a remarkable wealth of insights into the constitution of the Homeric text, the readings and editorial principles of ancient grammarians, the literary interpretations of ancient critics, and the lessons that ancient readers took from Homer. This volume provides the first English translation of the ancient scholia to Iliad books 1–2. With a clear and accessible introduction, extensive explanatory notes, and a glossary of ancient scholars, this book serves as the ideal guide to this complex and fascinating tradition.

    Reviews

    ‘Beck’s book can … be considered an improvement over Erbse … anyone interested in the Iliad scholia should consult Beck first; then proceed to the Greek in Erbse, van Thiel, or Beck’s other sources, as necessary. … This book is one that should be consulted by all interested in what the ancient world found interesting or puzzling in the Iliad.’

    David Sider Source: The Classical Journal

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    Contents

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