Greek Anthology
As the Anthology of Planudes was not only the latest compiled, but was also that which was recognised as The Greek Anthology, until the discovery of the Anthology of Constantinus Cephalas, this is chosen as the fittest place for an account of the
Literary History of the Greek Anthology.
1. Materials.
The various collections, to which their compilers gave the name of Garlands and Anthologies, were made up of short poems, chiefly of an epigrammatic character, and in the elegiac metre. The earliest examples of such poetry were, doubtless, furnished by the inscriptions on monuments, such as those erected to commemorate heroic deeds, the statues of distinguished men, especially victors in the public games, sepulchral monuments, and dedicatory offerings in temples (ἀναθήματα) ; to which may be added oracles and proverbial sayings. At an early period in the history of Greek literature, poets of the highest fame cultivated this species of composition, which received its most perfect development from the hand of Simonides. Thenceforth, as a set form of poetry, it became a fit vehicle for the brief expression of thoughts and sentiments on any subject; until at last the form came to be cultivated for its own sake, and the literati of Alexandria and Byzantium deemed the ability to make epigrams an essential part of the character of a scholar. Hence the mere trifling, the stupid jokes, and the wretched personalities, which form so large a part of the epigrammatic poetry contained in the Greek Anthology. The monumental inscriptions, to which reference has already been made, are often quoted by the ancient writers as historical authorities, as, for example, by Herodotus and Thucydides; and by later writers, such as Diodorus and Plutarch, partly as authorities, partly to embellish their works. This use of inscriptions would naturally suggest the idea of collecting them. The earliest known collection was made by the geographer Polemnon (B. C. 200), in a work περὶ τῶν κατὰ πόλεις ἐπιγραμμάτων (Ath. x. p. 436d., p. 442e.). He also wrote other works, on votive offerings, which are likely to have contained the epigrammatic inscriptions on them. [POLEMON] Similar collections were made by Alcetas, περὶ των ἐν Δελφοῖς ἀναθημάτων (Ath. xiii. p. 591,c.), by Menestor, ἐν τῷ περὶ ἀναθημάτων (Ath. xiii. p. 594d.), and perhaps by Apellas Ponticus. These persons collected chiefly the inscriptions on offerings (ἀναθήματα) : epigrams of other kinds were also collected, as the Theban Epigrams, by Aristodemus (Schol. in Apoll. Rhod. 2.906), the Attic by Philochorus (Suid. s.v. the reading is, however, somewhat doubtful), and others by Neoptolemusof Paros (Ath. x. p 454, f.), and Euhemerus (Lactant. Instit. Div. 1.9; Cic. de Nat. Deor. 1.42).2. The Garland of Meleager.
The above compilers chiefly collected epigrams of particular classes, and with reference to their use as historical authorities. The first person who made such a collection solely for its own sake, and to preserve epigrams of all kinds, was MELEAGER, a cynic philosopher of Gadara, in Palestine, about B. C. 60. His collection contained epigrams by no less than forty-six poets, of all ages of Greek poetry, up to the most ancient lyric period. He entitled it The Garland (Στέφανος), with reference, of course, to the common comparison of small beautiful poems to flowers; and in the introduction to his work, he attaches the names of various flowers, shrubs, and herbs, as emblems, to the names of the several poets. The same idea is kept up in the word Anthology (ἀνθολογία), which was adopted by the next compiler as the title of his work. The Garland of Meleager was arranged in alphabetical order, according to the initial letters of the first line of each epigram.3. The Anthology of Philip of Thessalonica.
In the time of Trajan, as it seems, PHILIPPUS of THESSALONICA compiled his Anthology (Ἀνθολογία), avowedly in imitation of the Garland of Meleager, and chiefly with the view of adding to that collection the epigrams of more recent writers. The arrangement of the work was the same as that of Meleager. It was also entitled στέφανος, as well as ἀνθολογία. Another title by which it is quoted is συλλογὴ νέων ἐπιγραμμάτων.4. Diogenianus, Straton, and Diogenes Laertius.
Shortly after Philip, in the reign of Hadrian, the learned grammarian, DIOGENIANUS of Heracleia, compiled an Anthology, which is entirely lost. It might perhaps have been well if the same fatte had befallen the very polluted, though often beautiful collection of his contemporary, STRATON of Sardis, the nature of which is sufficiently indicated by its title, Μοῦσα παιδική. About the same time Diogenes Laertius collected the epigrams which are interspersed in his lives of the philosophers, into a separate book, under the title of ή πάμμετρος. [DIOGENES LAERTIUS.] This collection, however, as containing only the poems of Diogenes himself, must rather be viewed as among the materials of the later Anthologies than as an Anthology in itself.5. Aqathias Schoiasticus.
During the long period from the decline of original literature to the era when the imitative compositions of the Constantinopolitan grammarians had reached their height, we find no more Anthologies. The next was the Κύκλος ἐπιγραμμάτων of AGATHIAS SCHOLASTICUS, who lived in the time of Justinian. It was divided into seven books, according to subjects, the first book containing dedicatory poems ; the second, descriptions of places, statues, pictures, and other works of art; the third, epitaphs ; the fourth, poems on the various events of human life; the fifth, satiric epigrams; the sixth, amatory ; the seventh, exhortations to the enjoyment of life. This was the earliest Anthology which was arranged according to subjects. The poems included in it were those of recent writers, and chiefly those of Agathias himself and of his contemporaries, such as Paulus Silentiarius and Macedonius. [AGATHIAS.]6. The Anthology of Constantinus Cephalas, or the Palatine Anthology.
Constantinus Cephalas appears to have lived about four centuries after Agathias, and to have flourished in the tenth century, under the emperor Constantinus Porphyrogenitus. The labours of preceding compilers may be viewed as merely supplementary to the Garland of Meleager; but the Anthology of Constantinus Cephalas was an entirely new collection from the preceding Anthologies and from original sources. As has been said above [CEPHALAS] nothing is known of Constantine himself. Modern scholars had never even heard his name till it was brought to light by the fortunate discovery of Salmasius. That great scholar, when a very young man, visited Heidelberg about the end of the year 1606, and there, in the library of the Electors Palatine, he found the MS. collection of Greek epigrams, which was afterwards removed to the Vatican, with the rest of the Palatine library (1623), and has become celebrated under the names of the Palatine Anthology and the Vatican codex of the greek anthology. 1 Salmasius at once saw that it was quite a different work from the Planudean Anthology. He collated it with Wechel's edition of the latter, and copied out those epigrams which were not contained in the latter. The work thus discovered soon became known among the scholars of the day as the Anthologia inedita codicis Palatini. The MS. is written on parchment. of a quarto form, though somewhat longer than it is broad, and contains 710 pages, without reckoning three leaves at the commencement, which are stuck together, and which are also full of epigrams. The writing is by different hands. The index prefixed to the MS. and the first 453 pages are in an ancient handwriting ; then follows a later hand, up to p. 644; then again an older handwritillg to p. 705. The rest is by a hand later than either of the others, and in the same writing are some additions in the other parts of the work, the leaves which are stuck togerther at the beginning, and some pages which had been left vacant by the former writers. The numbers of the pages are added by a still later hand, and the first three leaves are not included in the numbering. The most ancient handwriting is supposed to be of the eleventh century. The time of the others cannot be fixed with any certatinty. But not only is it thus evident that the MS. was written by different persons and at different times, but it is also quite clear that the original design of the work has been materially altered by the successive writers. There is an index at the beginning, which states the contents of each book of the collection, but, as the MS. now stands, its actual contents do not agree with this index. (The exact amount of the discrepancies is stated by Jacobs, who prints the index in his Prolegomena, p. lxv.) The inference drawn from these variations is that the present MS. is copied from an older one, the contents of which are represented by the index, but that the copyists have exercised their own judgment in the arrangement of the epigrams, and in the addition of some which were not in the older MS. It may further be pretty safely assumed that the older MS. was the Anthology as compiled by Constantinus Cephalas, the contents of which the index represents. But even in the index itself there are discrepancies ; for it consists of two parts, the first of which professes to give the contents of the book, and the second their arrangement; but these parts disagree with one another, as well as with the contents of the MS. itself. The order given in the index is as follows (we give the titles in an abbreviated form):---
α. τὰ τῶν Χριστιανῶν
β. τὰ Χριστοδώρου τοῦ Θηβαίου.
γ. τὰ ἐρωτικὰ ἐπιγράμματα.
δ. τὰ ἀναθηματικά.
ε. τὰ ἐπιτύμβια.
ς. τὰ ἐπιδεικτικά.
ζ. τὰ προτρεπτικά.
η. τὰ σκωπτικά.
θ. τὰ Στράτωνος τοῦ Σαρδιανοῦ.
ι. διαφόρων μέτρων διάφορα ἐπιγράμματα.
ια. ἀριθμητικὰ καὶ γρήφα σύμμικτα.
ιβ. Ἰωάννου γραμματικοῦ Γάζης ἔκφρασις.
ιγ. Σύριγξ Θεοκρίτου καὶ πτέρυγες Σιμμίου.Δωριάδα βωμός. Βηζαντίνου ὠὸν καὶ πέλεκυς.
ιδ. Ἀνακρέοντος Τηΐου.
ιε. Γρεγορίου ἐκλογαί, κ.τ.λ.
-
Pauli Silentiarii Ecphrasis, to p. 40
S. Gregorii Eclogae, to p. 49
Epigrammata Christiana, to p. 63
Christodori Ecphrasis, to p. 76
Epigammata Cyzicena, to p. 81
Prooemia Meleagri, Philippi, Agathiae, to p. 87
Amatoria, to p. 140
Dedicatoria, to p. 207
Sepulcralia, to p. 326
Epigrammata S. Gregorii, to p. 357
Ἐπιδεικτικά, to p. 488
Προτρεπτικά, to p. 507
Συμποτικά. to p. 517
Σκωπτικά, to p. 568
Stratonis Musa Puerilis, to p. 607
Epigrmmata variis metris conscripta, to p. 614
Problemata arithmetica et aenigmata, to p. 643
Joannis Gazae Ecphrasis, to p. 665
Syrinx Theocriti, &c. pp. 670-674
Anacreontis Carmina, to p. 692
Carmina quaedam Gregorii et aliorum, to p. 707
Epigrammata in Hippodromo Constantinopolitano, to p. 710.
- I. Χριστιανικὰ Ἐπιγράμματα. 123, pp. 49-63. II. Χριστοδώρου ἔκφρασις.416 lines, pp. 64-74. III. Ἐπιγράμματα ἐν Κυζικῷ. 19, pp. 76-81. IV. Τὰ προοίμια τῶν διαφόρων ἀνθολογιῶν. 4, pp. 81-87. V. Ἐπιγράμματα ἐρωτικά. 309, pp. 87-140. VI. Ἀναθηματικά. 358, pp. 141-207. VII. Ἐπιτύμβια. 748, pp. 207-326. VIII. Ἐπ. Γρηγορίου τοῦ Θεολόγου. 254, pp. 326-357. IX. Ἐπιδεικτικά. 827, pp. 358-488. X. Προτρεπτικά. 126, pp. 489-507. XI. Συμποτικὰ καὶ σκωπτικά. 442, pp. 507-568. XII. Στράτωνος μοῦσα παιδική. 258, pp. 569-607. XIII. Ἐπιγράμματα διαφόρων μέτρων. 31, pp. 608-614. XIV. Προβλήματα ἀριθμητικά, αἰνίγματα, χρησμοί. 150, pp. 615-643. XV. Σύμμικτά τινα. 51, pp. 665-710.
7. The Anthology of Planudes
is arranged in seven books, each of which, except the fifth and seventh, is divided into chapters according to subjects, and these chapters are arranged in alphabetical order. The chapters of the first book, for example, run thus:-- 1. Εἰς Ἀγῶνας, 2. Εἰς ἄμπελον, 3. Εἰς ἀναθήματα, and so on to 91. Εἰς ὥρας. The contents of the books are as follows : -- 1. Chiefly ἐπιδεικτικά, that is, displays of skill in this species of poetry, in 91 chapters. 2. Jocular or satiric (σκωπτικά), chaps. 53. 3. Sepulchral (ἐπιτύμβια), chaps. 32. 4. Inscriptions on statues of athletes and other works of art, descriptions of places, &c. chaps. 33. 5. The Ecphrasis of Christodorus, and epigrams on statues of charioteers in the Hippodrome at Constantinople. 6. Dedicatory (ἀναθηματικά.), chaps. 27. 7. Amatory (ἐρωτικά). It should be observed that this division is altogether different from the seven books of the Anthology of Agathias, with which that of Planudes has sometimes been confounded. The opinion of Reiske, that Planudes collected chiefly those ancient epigrams which had been overlooked by Cephalas, is at once contradicted by a comparison of the two Anthologies, and can only have arisen from the circumstance that Reiske mistook the Leipzig copy of the Palatine Anthology for the complete work, whereas that copy only contains the epigrams which are not found in the Planudean Anthology. The true theory seems to be that of Brunck and Jacobs, namely, that Planudes did little more than abridge and re-arrange the Anthology of Constantinus Cephalas. Only a few epigrams are found in the Planudean Anthology, which are not in the Palatine. With respect to the fourth book of the Planudean, on works of art, &c., which is altogether wanting in the Palatine, it is supposed by Jacobs that the difference arises solely from the fact of our having an imperfect copy of the work of Cephalas. Jacobs has instituted a careful comparison between the contents of the two Anthologies (Proleg. pp. lxxxiii.--lxxxvii.), which places Brunck's theory beyond all doubt.Assessment
From the time of its first publication, at the end of the 15th century, down to the discovery of the Palatine Anthology in the 17th, the Planudean Anthology was esteemed one of the greatest treasures of antiquity, and was known under the name of The Greek Anthology. Planudes, however, was but ill-qualified for the duties of the editor of such a work. Devoid of true poetical taste, he brought to his task the conceit and rashness of a mere literatus. The discovery of the Palatine Anthology soon taught scholars how much they had over-estimated the worth of the Anthology of Planudes. On comparing the two collections, it is manifest that Planudes was not only guilty of the necessary carelessness of a mere compiler, but also of the wilful faults of a conceited monk, tampering with words, "expurgating" whole couplets and epigrams, and interpolating his own frigid verses. He reaped the reward which often crowns the labours of bad editors who undertake great works. The pretensions of his compilation ensured its general acceptance, and prevented, not only the execution of a better work, which in that age could scarcely be hoped for, but, what was far more important, the multiplication of copies of the more ancient Anthologies; and thus modern scholars are reduced to one MS. of the Anthology of Cephalas, which, excellent as it is, leaves many hopeless difficulties for the critic.Editions of the Greek Anthology.
a. The Anthology of Maximus Planudes.
1. There are several codices of the Planudean Anthology (Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. ii. pp. 430-437). The first printed edition was published about 150 years after the compilation of the work by Planudes, under the following title ;--Ἀνθολογία διαφόρων ἐπιγραμμάτων, ἀμχαίοις συντεθειμένων σοφοῖς, ἐπὶ διαφόροις ὑποθέσεσιν, ἑρμηνείας ἐχόντων ἐπίδειξιν καὶ πραγμάτων ἢ γενομένων, ἢ ὡς γενομένων ἀφήγησιν. Διῃρμένου δὲ εἰς ἑπτὰ τμήματα τοῦ βιβλίου καὶ τούτων εἰς κεφάλαια κατὰ στοιχεῖον διεκτεθειμένων, τάδε περιέχει τὸ πρῶτον: Εἰς ἀγῶνας ;--then follow the epigrams: it was edited by Janus Lascaris, and printed at Florence, 1494, 4to.; it is printed in capital letters. This Editio Princeps is by far the best of the early editions; the errors of the press are much fewer than in the Aldine and Wechelian editions; and the text is a faithful representation of the MS. from which it is printed. At the end of the work is a Greek poem by Lascaris, and a Latin letter by him to Pietro di Medici, occupying seven pages, which are wanting in several of the still existing copies of this rare work : these seven pages were reprinted by Maittaire, in his Anal. Typ. vol. i. pp. 272-283. 2. The first and best of the Aldine editions was printed at Venice, 1503, 8vo., under the title: Florilegium diversorunm Epigrammatum in Septem Libros--Ἀνθολογία διαφόρων Ἐπιγραμμάτων, and so on, nearly as in the title of Lascaris. The text is a reprint of the edition of Lascaris, but less accurate. It contains nineteen additional epigrams; but its great value consists in an appendix of various readings from MS. codices. Reprints of this edition in 1517 and 1519 are mentioned by some bibliographers, but it is very probable that the dates are erroneously given, and that the edition of 1503 is the one meant to be described. 3. The next edition was the Juntine, 1519, under the title: Florilegium diversorum Epigrammatum, &c., as in the Aldine: and at the end, Impressum Florentiae per heredes Philippi Juntae Florentini. Anno a Virginis nuntio dxix. supra mile. It is a mere reprint of the Aldine, with some differences of arrangement, and with more misprints. 4. Two years later, Aldus himself published a second edition: Florilegium, &c. Solerti nuper repurgatum cura. MDXXI. 8vo. The title-page goes on to state that the errors of the former edition were corrected in this: but the fact is that this is a still more inaccurate reprint of the former edition, with a few variations, especially the reception into the text of some very bad various readings from the Appendix to the first edition. 5. The edition of Badius or the Ascensian, Paris, 1531, 8vo., is an inaccurate reprint of the second Aldine. It is very scarce. 6. A few years later, the first attempt at a commentary on the Anthology was made by Vincentius Opsopoeus, in his work entitled: In Graecorum Epigrammatum Libros quatuor Annotationes longe doctissimae quam primum in Iucem editae. Vincentio Opsopoeo Auctore. Cum Indice. Basil. 1540, 4to. Its value is very small. 7. A much better commentary accompanied the edition of Brodaeus: Epigrammatum Graecorum, Liri VII. annotationibus Joanni Brodaei Turonensis illustrate, quibus additus est in calce operis rerum as vocum explicatarum Index. Basil. 1549, fol. 8. A very accurate reprint of the second Aldine edition, with new Indices, appeared at Venice, apud Petrum et Jo. Mariam Nicolenses Sabienses, 1550. 8vo. It is extremely rare: Jacobs even states in his Prolegomena that he had not seen it : Brunck, however, used a copy of it. 9. About the same time the third Aldine edition was printed by the sons of Aldus, Venet. 1550-1551, 8vo. It is the fullest, and the most sought after of the Aldine editions, but not the best. Though some of the errors of the second Aldine edition are corrected, those of the first are generally retained, and a new source of the worst sort of errors is supplied by numerous conjectural emendations. The additions are very trifling. Stephanus calls the edition rich in nothing but faults, of which, he says, there are many thousands. 10. The next and the best known of the old editions is that of H. Stephanus, 1566 : Ἀνθολογία διαφόρων ἐπιγραμμάτων παλαιῶν εἰς ἑπτὰ βιβλία διῃρημένη. Florilegium diversorum epigrammatum reterem, in septem libros divisumn, magno epigrarinatum numero et duobus indicibus auctum. Anno M.D.LXVI. Excudebat Henricus Stephanus, 4to. The distich which Stephanus inscribed on his titlepage, Pristinus a mendis fuerat lepor ante fugatus:Nunc profugae mendae, nunc lepor ille redit, gives a higher estimate of the value of his labours than modern critics have been able to assign to them. Its excellencies consist in the addition of a large number of epigrams, not contained in any of the former editions, of the Scholia of Maximus Planudes, and of a commentary by Stephanus himself. Its chief faults are the arbitrary alterations in the arrangement of the epigrams, many rash conjectural emendations of the text, and the imperfections of the notes, which, though confessed by Stephanus himself to be brief, contain, on the other hand, much irrelevant matter. This work stands at the head of what may be called the third family of editions of the Anthology: the first comprising that of Lascaris, the first Aldine, and the Juntine; and the second, the second Aldine and the Ascensian. 11. The Wechelian edition (Francofurti apud Claudium Marnium et Jo. Aubrium, 1600, fol.) is, in the text, a mere reprint of that of Stephanus, with few of its errors corrected, and many new ones introduced. It is, however, of considerable value, as it contains, besides some new Scholia, and the notes of Opsopoeus and Stephanus, the whole of the excellent commentary of Brodaeus. In spite of its faults, it remained for nearly two centuries, until the publication of Brunck's Analecta, the standard edition of the Greek Anthology. 12. The Commelinian edition, 1604, 4to. (reprinted at Cologne, 1614), only deserves mention on account of the literal Latin version, by Eilhard Lubinus. 13. The last and most perfect of the editions of the Planudean Anthology is that which was commenced by Hieronymus de Bosch, and finished, after his death, by Jacobus Van Lennep, in 5 vols. 4to. Ultraj. 1795, 1797, 1798, 1810, 1822. This splendid edition (at least as to its outward form) is not only useful for those who wish to read the Greek Anthology in the form in which it was compiled by Planudes, but it is valuable on account of the large mass of illustrative matter which it contains, including the notes of Huet, Sylburg, and other scholars; but above all for the metrical Latin versions of Hugo Grotins, which are esteemed by far the best of his productions in that department of scholarship, and which have never been printed except in this edition. The Greek text, however, is only a reprint of the Wechelian edition, with many of its worst errors uncorrected. It is now necessary to go back to the period when the discovery of the Palatine Codex placed the Greek Anthology in an entirely new light.