Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 August 2023
From Late Antiquity onward many Homeric verses and phrases were considered to have a proverbial value and as such were employed as independent witty sayings. While the use of these Homeric proverbs in Byzantine writings has yet to be thoroughly investigated, in the early sixteenth century these expressions were gathered in paroemiographical collections. These include Erasmus’ Adagia and Arsenios Apostolis’ Violarium, two works which seem to be interdependent in this respect. Apostolis copied many Homeric verses and their accompanying scholia into the margins of Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, gr. 3058, with the intention to add another section to the four existing typologies (proverbs, maxims, apothegms and anecdotes). In doing so, he explored and exploited available sources, such as the Commentaries on Homer by Eustathios of Thessalonike. The criteria according to which Apostolis organized the proverbs, as well as his creation of a separate section on Homeric proverbial verses, were innovations in Greek literature. This chapter explores the textual relationship between Apostolis’ compilation and the long exegetical tradition on Homer. More particularly, it will demonstrate how Eustathios’ works were preserved and adapted to the expectations of a new era.
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