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In her critical edition of the Passio Nazarii, Celsi, Geruasii et Protasii (BHL 6043), a text dated to the 6th or 7th century AD and probably translated from Greek, Cecile Lanéry introduces several conjectural changes aimed at language... more
In her critical edition of the Passio Nazarii, Celsi, Geruasii et Protasii (BHL 6043), a text dated to the 6th or 7th century AD and probably translated from Greek, Cecile Lanéry introduces several conjectural changes aimed at language standardization. The author of the present article takes issue with several of her conjectures and suggests that in each case the transmitted text actually stands criticism and should probably be left unchanged. At 2.3, the transmitted alapas is not to be changed to alapis with percutio, since percutio with both the accusative of direct object and the accusative of a word meaning “blow” is several times reliably attested in the Vetus Latina, and in one of these instances the word used for “blow” is actually alapa. At 5.1, et in the expression uocans Nazarium et dixit ei should not be deleted, since there are numerous parallels for this syntax in Late Latin. At 8.2, in carcerem is to be retained as a possible way to describe position in Late Latin, whe...
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We present a new algorithm for stylometric identification of authors of Latin prose texts based on Burrows' Delta and the Dirichlet distribution. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method, we present a case study of... more
We present a new algorithm for stylometric identification of authors of Latin prose texts based on Burrows' Delta and the Dirichlet distribution. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method, we present a case study of fragments of texts by 36 authors and show that our method performs on par with Random Forest, a powerful general-purpose classification algorithm. The advantages of our method are that it is very simple to implement, much quicker to train and do inference with, and that it is more interpretable since it is a model-based algorithm: precision of the fitted Dirichlet distributions directly corresponds to the stylistic homogeneity of the texts by different authors.
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Lines 27.14–17 of the text published by Justin Stover as Apuleius, De Platone 3 are printed by him as follows: quorum [sc. animalium] inmortalia esse quae in caelo sint; idcirco illa ordine cieri et eodem semper modo et alioquin esse... more
Lines 27.14–17 of the text published by Justin Stover as Apuleius, De Platone 3 are printed by him as follows: quorum [sc. animalium] inmortalia esse quae in caelo sint; idcirco illa ordine cieri et eodem semper modo et alioquin esse prudentia. Of them [sc. animals], the immortal animals are those which are in the heavens; thus they move in an ordered pattern in the same way, and in addition, they are rational. (trans. J. Stover)
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Lines 3.20–2 of the text published by Justin Stover as Apuleius’De Platone3 are printed by him as follows:improbat deinde eos qui negantis homines in seruitute habeant aut qui omnino eiusdem ciuitatis nationem belli iure diruant aut qui... more
Lines 3.20–2 of the text published by Justin Stover as Apuleius’De Platone3 are printed by him as follows:improbat deinde eos qui negantis homines in seruitute habeant aut qui omnino eiusdem ciuitatis nationem belli iure diruant aut qui hostium spolia deorum aedibus adfigant.He [sc. Plato] then rebukes those who hold people in slavery against their will, or else who destroy utterly the people of that same city by right of war, or who hang the spoils of enemies on the shrines of the gods. (transl. J. Stover)
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But, as F. H. Colson notes following G. L. Spalding, “ratio comparandi ... is not obvious”. Clearly, the idea must be that for the more advanced students aemulatio is preferable, while for the beginners imitatio is a more suitable tool.... more
But, as F. H. Colson notes following G. L. Spalding, “ratio comparandi ... is not obvious”. Clearly, the idea must be that for the more advanced students aemulatio is preferable, while for the beginners imitatio is a more suitable tool. The word iucundior (together with facilior) would have been appropriate to express this opposition, but quam also requires some comparative, and so iucundior has to be connected with condiscipulorum quam praeceptoris, unless we assume some omission or ellipsis: i. e., the text appears to say, “beginners find imitation of their fellows more agreeable than imitation of their masters”, not “beginners find imitationmore agreeable than emulation (rivalry)”.
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Russian Abstract: При изучении политической составляющей текстов классических римских поэтов следует сместить внимание с упрощенных вопросов о политическом лагере, к которому принадлежит писатель, на содержащиеся в художественных... more
Russian Abstract: При изучении политической составляющей текстов классических римских поэтов следует сместить внимание с упрощенных вопросов о политическом лагере, к которому принадлежит писатель, на содержащиеся в художественных произведениях описания устройства мира во всей их полноте, со сложными и многообразными механизмами функционирования "политического". В препринте предлагается проделать такую работу, двигаясь от разбора остающихся недообъясненными и спорными мелких деталей текстов Вергилия о Овидия к углубленному пониманию того, как работает политика в их великих поэмах. В первой главе исходной точкой разбора становится современное состояние дискуссий о XII книге "Энеиды", одной из центральных в поэме для интерпретации того, как поэт относится к Энею и основанному им государству. Во второй главе обсуждается смысл спорадических отсылок к римской политике в I книге "Метаморфоз" Овидия и за на первый взгляд случайными обмолвками предлагается видеть продуманную поэтом систему.English Abstract: In the study of the political component of the classical Roman poets texts should move the focus from simplistic questions about the political camp, which belongs to the writer on the works of art contained in the device description of the world in its entirety, with a complex and diverse mechanisms of functioning of the "political". The preprint is proposed to do this kind of work, moving from the analysis of the remaining nedoobyasnennymi and controversial small parts of the texts of Virgil Ovid to a deeper understanding of how the policy of the great poems. In the first chapter of the initial analysis point it becomes the current state of discussions on the XII book "Aeneid", one of the central in the poem to interpret how the poet refers to Aeneas, and he founded the state. The second chapter discusses the meaning of sporadic references to the Roman policy in the I book "Metamorphoses" of Ovid and seemingly accidental slip of the tongue are invited to see the thoughtful poet system.
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The ‘New Apuleius’ is a set of Latin summaries of Plato's works first published in 2016 by Justin Stover, who attributed it to Apuleius. The present article attempts to assess two key aspects of Stover's argument, viz. his... more
The ‘New Apuleius’ is a set of Latin summaries of Plato's works first published in 2016 by Justin Stover, who attributed it to Apuleius. The present article attempts to assess two key aspects of Stover's argument, viz. his reconstruction of the manuscript transmission of the new text and his use of computer-assisted stylometric techniques. The authors suggest that both strands of his argument are inconclusive. First, it is argued that the transposition of gatherings in the archetype of the Apuleian philosophica as envisaged by Stover is highly unrealistic. Second, replications of Stover's stylometric experiments show that their results are highly dependent on the particular algorithm settings and on the composition of the corpus. It is further shown that Stover's choice of highly specialized stylometric techniques is suboptimal, because popular generalist methods for statistical data analysis are demonstrably more successful in correctly identifying authors of Latin ...
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'New Apuleius' 27.15 ordine cieri Stover: ordinem queri cod.: ordine moueri Shumilin
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A conjecture of longe is proposed at Verg. Aen. 12.510 based on Vergil's Homeric model and on a probable imitation by Statius.
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Traditional approach to Latin metrics, inherited from Classical Antiquity, was based on evaluating every verse according to few unchanging rules. This trend, however, contradicted one very popular attitude to classical texts, known to the... more
Traditional approach to Latin metrics, inherited from Classical Antiquity, was based on evaluating every verse according to few unchanging rules. This trend, however, contradicted one very popular attitude to classical texts, known to the Middle Ages, e.g., from Servius' commentaries, that presupposed commentator's ability to mention ever new beautiful features in the a priori perfect works of Latin classics, and so to deduce new ways of making text beautiful (et bene dixit, quia...). This conflict resulted in the new theory of Latin metrics, based on the latter approach, formulated in Giovanni Pontano's dialogue Actius (1495-1499). Instead of applying external rules to verses, Pontano tries to deduce their internal rules; the main goal of poetry is for him to arouse admiratio, and while admiring Virgil's perfectly harmonious verses (which, of course, reminds of Servius' posture), the characters of the dialogue try to understand what exactly produces this perfect harmony. Thus in Actius unaccountable beauty must first be felt, and only later tentative explanations can be given, while for ancient scholars you determine whether a verse is harmonious or not once you have checked if it observes the rules. Pontano's approach turns out to be very productive and helps him to introduce several new notions, such as alliteratio.
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The paper considers two cases of Ovid’s playful treatment of features specific for the locations of his narrative. In Ov. Met. 6.673 the piece of Tereus’ armor that is being transformed into hoopoe’s beak is described in a contradictory... more
The paper considers two cases of Ovid’s playful treatment of features specific for the locations of his narrative. In Ov. Met. 6.673 the piece of Tereus’ armor that is being transformed into hoopoe’s beak is described in a contradictory way: rather as a spear or a prolonged point (praelonga cuspis), while the context more probably implies a sword. I argue that this might allude to some specific form of Thracian armor, in particular with the so-called romphaia, especially if it is correctly identified by the archaeologists. It must be something functioning both as a sword and as a spear, and having a very long thin blade, reminiscent of the form of
hoopoe’s beak. In Ov. Met. 7.6 I suggest that purely literary explanations of the epithet limosus applied to the river Phasis (like that of E. Kenney, comparing it to the description of Tiber in Verg. Aen. 7.31) can be supplied by the comparison with that fact that the real river Rioni (corresponding to ancient river Phasis) is indeed muddy. Ovid could get acquainted with this fact from geographical descriptions like Arr. Peripl. 8.5; for instance, he could choose facts from similar descriptions that fitted his allusive intentions in a particular passage. Possibly a similar case can be detected in Ov. Met. 6.400, where cf. Curt. 3.1.3–4 (here a river in Phrygia is described, which means that Ovid could actually visit this place personally during his trip described in Ov. Pont. 2.10.21, but the similarity of the expressions used in two passages still seems noteworthy).
hoopoe’s beak. In Ov. Met. 7.6 I suggest that purely literary explanations of the epithet limosus applied to the river Phasis (like that of E. Kenney, comparing it to the description of Tiber in Verg. Aen. 7.31) can be supplied by the comparison with that fact that the real river Rioni (corresponding to ancient river Phasis) is indeed muddy. Ovid could get acquainted with this fact from geographical descriptions like Arr. Peripl. 8.5; for instance, he could choose facts from similar descriptions that fitted his allusive intentions in a particular passage. Possibly a similar case can be detected in Ov. Met. 6.400, where cf. Curt. 3.1.3–4 (here a river in Phrygia is described, which means that Ovid could actually visit this place personally during his trip described in Ov. Pont. 2.10.21, but the similarity of the expressions used in two passages still seems noteworthy).
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The epigram APl 131 is attributed by the manuscript to a certain Antipater, but this might mean either Antipater of Sidon of Antipater of Thessalonica; there is no consensus on the question of its attribution among modern scholars. In the... more
The epigram APl 131 is attributed by the manuscript to a certain Antipater, but this might mean either Antipater of Sidon of Antipater of Thessalonica; there is no consensus on the question of its attribution among modern scholars. In the present paper I show that this epigram was probably used by Ovid in the Metamorphoses, and I suggest that the
particular character of the parallels as compared to other parallels between Ovid’s texts and epigrams by Antipater of Thessalonica point toward the attribution of the epigram in question to the latter poet. I also suggest that the fact that Ovid rather chooses in Antipater of Thessalonica’s epigrams those features that are non-specific and not unambiguously identifiable can be explained by an assumption that Ovid did not expect his readers necessarily to know the works of a contemporary poet.
particular character of the parallels as compared to other parallels between Ovid’s texts and epigrams by Antipater of Thessalonica point toward the attribution of the epigram in question to the latter poet. I also suggest that the fact that Ovid rather chooses in Antipater of Thessalonica’s epigrams those features that are non-specific and not unambiguously identifiable can be explained by an assumption that Ovid did not expect his readers necessarily to know the works of a contemporary poet.
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The paper focuses on the question of relations between Ovid’s narrative about the origin of corals from seaweed turned into stone by Gorgon’s head (Ou. Met. 4.740–752) and parallel versions of that plot (in particular Orph. Lith.... more
The paper focuses on the question of relations between Ovid’s narrative about the origin of corals from seaweed turned into stone by Gorgon’s head (Ou. Met. 4.740–752) and parallel versions of that plot (in particular Orph. Lith. 558–577): whether parallel texts are dependent on Ovid, or all the extant texts under discussion are dependent on a lost common source, and what can be said about this source. A Hellenistic poetic common source has already been hypothesised on a priori grounds; the author comes to similar conclusions by comparing the texts and reconstructing certain details of this hypothetical common source.
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The paper is dedicated to a reexamination of reconstructions proposed for the Greco-Roman myth about a misdeed committed by the Idaean Dactyl Celmis for which he was metamorphosed into iron. I show that the version that Celmis doubted the... more
The paper is dedicated to a reexamination of reconstructions proposed for the Greco-Roman myth about a misdeed committed by the Idaean Dactyl Celmis for which he was metamorphosed into iron. I show that the version that Celmis doubted the divinity of Jupiter is not based on ancient sources. I discuss the relative merits of versions that Celmis was inhospitable towards Rhea and that he attempted to rape the goddess
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L. Varius Rufus’ lost tragedy Thyestes appears to have been one of the poetic texts that were most infuential and most supported by the state at the beginning of Augustus’ rule; at the same time, by the end of his reign, Augustus seems to... more
L. Varius Rufus’ lost tragedy Thyestes appears to have been one of the poetic texts that were most infuential and most supported by the state at the beginning of Augustus’ rule; at the same time, by the end of his reign, Augustus seems to have abandoned serious support of its diffusion. The article puts forward the hypothesis that Seneca’s Thyestes is to a considerable extent dependent on this tragedy and that some features of Varius’ work can be reconstructed from Seneca’s play. It appears that Varius criticized Mark Anthony and Cleopatra, recently defeated by Octavian, but failed to dedicate any extensive positive praise of the princeps. Early Augustus’ interest in using drama for political needs can be explained by his wish, within the context of a fashion for esoteric learned poetry, to turn to a more conservative genre oriented towards communicating with the people as a whole: thus, he sought to restore the pragmatic context and the content features of Athenian tragedy. But the momentary relevance of Athenian-style tragedy was a bad ft with regard to its future use in propaganda, while the successful compromise between “democratic” features and learned style achieved in Vergil’s Aeneid was the primary reason why Augustus reconsidered the guidelines of his cultural policies and abandoned his reliance on drama
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For the name of (H)alcyoneus the Bactrian killed by the Ovidian Perseus several sources can be conjectured from the extant parallels (viz. a certain Centauromachy used by Ovid, the cyclic Aithiopis), but these reconstructions require the... more
For the name of (H)alcyoneus the Bactrian killed by the Ovidian Perseus several sources can be conjectured from the extant parallels (viz. a certain Centauromachy used by Ovid, the cyclic Aithiopis), but these reconstructions require the spelling Alcyoneus, not Halcyoneus, as in all modern editions. The note shows that, contrary to what the apparatus criticus of modern editions implies, Alcyoneus is actually the reading supported by the manuscript tradition.
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The author argues that the reading of the manuscripts of Ovid’s Metamorphoses is no sufficient reason to postulate the existence of the alternative spelling of the name of Anapus, a river in Sicily, viz. Anapis, as all the modern editors... more
The author argues that the reading of the manuscripts of Ovid’s Metamorphoses is no sufficient reason to postulate the existence of the alternative spelling of the name of Anapus, a river in Sicily, viz. Anapis, as all the modern editors of the Metamorphoses do. All the adduced parallels are weak. A Renaissance conjecture Anapus is to be printed in Ou. Met. 5.417, perhaps first attested in the 14th cent. MS Laurentianus Plut. 36.17.
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The periodization of the history of Ancient Greek literature proposed by Joseph Justus Scaliger in his letter to Claudius Salmasius from November 30th, 1607 was not just an application to the Greek material of the developmental scheme... more
The periodization of the history of Ancient Greek literature proposed by Joseph Justus Scaliger in his letter to Claudius Salmasius from November 30th, 1607 was not just an application to the Greek material of the developmental scheme Julius Caesar Scaliger had imposed on Latin poetry in his Poetics. The periodization of Julius Caesar Scaliger (itself probably derived from Florus’ division of Roman history into periods) rather served Joseph Justus Scaliger an object of polemics, and the key influences determining the outlook of his own scheme were the context of his correspondence with Salmasius and the list of authors in Henri Estienne’s collection Poetae Graeci principes… that Scaliger the Younger used as a kind of Greek canon.
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Публикую здесь авторский текст статей (в одном месте исправленный), потому что в БРЭ под моим именем была напечатана переписанная редакторами бессмыслица.
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В работе высказывается предположение, что некоторые из вставок в ирландском переложении «Ахиллеиды» Стация могут восходить к несохранившемуся античному мифографическому источнику.
