Aristophanes of Byzantium

Aristophanes of Byzantium

Infobox actor
name = Aristophanes of Byzantium
birthdate = ca. 257 BC
location = flagicon|Greece Byzantium, Greece
deathdate = ca. 185 BC/180 BC
deathplace = Alexandria, Greece

Aristophanes (Greek: Unicode|Ἀριστοφάνης) of Byzantium (c. 257 BC–c. 185 BC/180 BC) was a Greek scholar, critic and grammarian, particularly renowned for his work in Homeric scholarship, but also for work on other classical authors such as Pindar and Hesiod. Born in Byzantium about 257 BC, he soon moved to Alexandria and studied under Zenodotus and Callimachus. He succeeded Eratosthenes as head librarian of the Library of Alexandria at the age of sixty.

Aristophanes is credited with the invention of the accent system used in Greek to designate pronunciation, as the tonal, pitched system of archaic and classical Greek was giving way (or had given way) to the stress-based system of koine. This was also a period when Greek, in the wake of Alexander's conquests, was beginning to act as a "lingua franca" for the Eastern Mediterranean (replacing various Semitic languages). The accents were designed to assist in the pronunciation of Greek in older literary works.

He also invented one of the first forms of punctuation in the 3rd century BCE; single dots ("distinctiones") that separated verses (colometry), and indicated the amount of breath needed to complete each fragment of text when reading aloud (not to comply with rules of grammar, which were not applied to punctuation marks until thousands of years later). For a short passage (a "komma"), a "media distinctio" dot was placed mid-level (·). This is the origin of the modern comma punctuation mark, and its name. For a longer passage (a "colon"), a "subdistinctio" dot was placed level with the bottom of the text (.), similar to a modern colon or semicolon, and for very long pauses ("periodos"), a "distinctio" point near the top of the line of text (·). [ [http://www.haverford.edu/classics/courses/2006S/lat101/handouts/no_spaces_aeneid.pdf Reading Before Punctuation] — "Introduction to Latin Literature" handout, Haverford College] [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20050308135347/www.completetranslation.com/punctuation.htm A History Of Punctuation] ] [ [http://www.stsc.hill.af.mil/crosstalk/1994/11/xt94d11m.asp Points to Ponder] — STSC Crosstalk]

He died in Alexandria around 185-180 B.C.

See also

* Homeric scholarship
* Polytonic orthography

References

ources

*1911|article=Aristophanes|url=http://en.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=User:Tim_Starling/ScanSet_TIFF_demo&vol=02&page=EB2A539

External links

* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01303a.htm New Advent Encyclopedia article on Library of Alexandria]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Aristophanes Of Byzantium — ▪ Greek critic and grammarian born c. 257 BC died 180 BC, Alexandria       Greek literary (literary criticism) critic and grammarian who, after early study under leading scholars in Alexandria (Alexandria, Library of), was chief librarian there c …   Universalium

  • Aristophanes of Byzantium — biographical name circa 257 180 B.C. Greek scholar …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Aristophanes (disambiguation) — Aristophanes may refer to:* 2934 Aristophanes, a small main belt asteroid * Aristophanes (circa 456 386 BC), Greek Old Comic dramatist * Aristophanes (vase painter) (5th century BC), ancient Greek vase painter of the Attic red figure style *… …   Wikipedia

  • Aristophanesof Byzantium — Aristophanes of By·zan·ti·um (bĭ zănʹshē əm, tē əm), 257? 180?B.C. Greek philologist who systematized the punctuation, pronunciation, and accentuation of Greek. * * * …   Universalium

  • Slavery in ancient Greece — Funerary stele of Mnesarete; a young servant (left) is facing her dead mistress.[1] Attica, circa 380 BC. (Glyptothek, Munich, Germany) Slavery was common practice …   Wikipedia

  • List of ancient Greeks — This an alphabetical list of ancient Greeks. These include ethnic Greeks and Greek language speakers from Greece and the Mediterranean world up to about 200 AD. compactTOCRelated articles NOTOC A*Acacius of Caesarea bishop of Caesarea… …   Wikipedia

  • Ancient Greek comedy — Detail, side A from a Silician red figured calyx krater (c. 350 BC–340 BC). Ancient Greek comedy was one of the final three principal dramatic forms in the theatre of classical Greece (the others being tragedy and the satyr play). Athenian comedy …   Wikipedia

  • classical scholarship — Introduction       the study, in all its aspects, of ancient Greece (ancient Greek civilization) and Rome (ancient Rome). In continental Europe the field is known as “classical philology,” but the use, in some circles, of “philology” to denote… …   Universalium

  • Demosthenes — For other historical and fictional personages named Demosthenes, see Demosthenes (disambiguation). Demosthenes Bust of Demosthenes (Louvre, Paris, France) Born …   Wikipedia

  • 180 BC — NOTOC EventsBy placeGreece* After three years of intriguing against his younger brother Demetrius, including accusing him of coveting the succession to the Macedonian throne and being allied to Rome, Perseus persuades his father King Philip V of… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”