Interpreting a Classic: Demosthenes and His Ancient Commentators

Gibson, Craig A.

ISBN 10: 0520229568 / ISBN 13: 9780520229563

Published by Univ of California Pr, Ewing, New Jersey, U.S.A., 2002

About this Item

Hardcover. 261 pps with index. Ancient Greek scholarship at its best. As new in crisp dust jacket.

Seller Inventory # E574M

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Interpreting a Classic: Demosthenes and His Ancient Commentators
• Publisher: Univ of California Pr, Ewing, New Jersey, U.S.A.
• Publication Date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0520229568
• ISBN 13: 9780520229563
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Editiion.
• Dust Jacket Condition: Yes

About this title

Synopsis

Demosthenes (384-322 b.c.) was an Athenian statesman and a widely read author whose life, times, and rhetorical abilities captivated the minds of generations. Sifting through the rubble of a mostly lost tradition of ancient scholarship, Craig A. Gibson tells the story of how one group of ancient scholars helped their readers understand this man's writings. This book collects for the first time, translates, and offers explanatory notes on all the substantial fragments of ancient philological and historical commentaries on Demosthenes. Using these texts to illuminate an important aspect of Graeco-Roman antiquity that has hitherto been difficult to glimpse, Gibson gives a detailed portrait of a scholarly industry that touched generations of ancient readers from the first century b.c. to the fifth century and beyond.

In this lucidly organized work, Gibson surveys the physical form of the commentaries, traces the history of how they were passed down, and explains their sources, interests, and readership. He also includes a complete collection of Greek texts, English translations, and detailed notes on the commentaries.

About the Author

Craig A. Gibson is Assistant Professor of Classics at the University of Iowa.