Georgius Choeroboscus

Georgius Choeroboscus (ca. AD 600), deacon and professor at the ecumenical school at Constantinople.

He is also called "chartophylax" either as the holder of some ecclesiastical office or as superintendent of the university library. It is not known whether Choeroboscus (Greek for swineherd) is an allusion to his earlier occupation or an inherited family name. During his tenure of office he delivered a course of lectures on grammar, which has come down to us in the shape of notes taken by his pupils. He drew from the best authorities: Apollonius Dyscolus, Herodian, Orion, and Theodosios I of Alexandria. The lectures are written in simple style, but suffer from diffuseness. They were much used by Constantine Lascaris in his Greek grammar and by Urban of Belluno at the end of the 15th century. The chief work of Choeroboscus, which we have in its complete form, is the commentary on the canons of Theodosius on declension and conjugation. Mention may also be made of a treatise on orthography, of which a fragment (on quantity) has been preserved; a tract on prosody; commentaries, on Hephaestion and Dionysius Thrax; and grammatical notes on the "Psalms".

References

*1911