Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Greene Chase William, The Platonic Scholia
Greene Chase William, The Platonic Scholia
The Johns Hopkins University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association.
http://www.jstor.org
184
XV.-The
WILLIAM
[1937
Platonic Scholia
CHASE
GREENE
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
I
For somewhat less than a century and a half, portions of
the Platonic scholia have been available in printed form. The
earlier editors, Siebenkees,2 Ruhnken,3 Gaisford,4 and even
Bekker,5 were content to print certain scholia with little attempt to designate precisely the manuscripts from which they
were severally drawn, to distinguish hands, or even to collate
them fully and accurately; nor was any attempt made to
examine the sources of the scholia. The edition of the scholia
which has been most widely used is that of C. F. Hermann,
contained in the sixth volume of his edition of Plato; 6 this is
chiefly a conflation of the work of his predecessors. Since this
edition appeared, Schanz distinguished the hands in the scholia
of the Bodleian Plato,7 and published the scholia in Venetus
T; 8 moreover the sources of the scholia were investigated by
Fredericus de Forest
1 Scholia Platonica, contulerunt atque investigaverunt
Allen, Ioannes Burnet, Carolus Pomeroy Parker, omnia recognita, praefatione
In lucem protulit
indicibusque instructa, edidit Guilielmus Chase Greene.
in Civitate
Haverfordiae
Pennsylvaniae,
Societas Philologica Americana,
MDCCCCXXXVIII.
2
Vol. lxviii]
185
186
[1937
Vol. lxviii]
187
O was copied from A from Laws 746b on, but not in the earlier
portion. The third hand in O (which, with Post, I designate
as 03) in the tenth or eleventh century added scholia and
marginalia, and as far as Laws 746b the readings of the text
of A, as A3 added the readings of the text of 0; after Laws
746b it proves to be the same scribe (A303) who added marginal supplements in both manuscripts.14a Slightly later, but
still in the tenth or eleventh century, a learned scribe (04)
added many variant readings, mostly designated as coming
from "the book of the Patriarch," or as emendations contained in it, or as coming from other sources; also some emendations of his own, as well as a few scholia, mostly on grammatical and rhetorical points. It seems probable that "the
Patriarch" is no one else than the learned Photius himself.
At Laws 743b, moreover, 04 noted the "end of the recension
of the Philosopher Leo" (the pupil of Photius). Indications
of theological interests appear in his citations of Gregory of
Nazianzus and of Origen, and his use of a special sign (r6
?7\XaKOV) to mark scholia dealing with theological points, after
the manner of contemporary Christian commentators on
Christian authors; it should be added, however, that he, like
scribes dealing with pagan authors, elsewhere uses the sign
without any such significance. All this suggests that we have
here the traces of a recension of Plato, made by or for Photius,
which gives us access to an older text tradition than that
represented by A and 0. Most of these readings recorded by
04 have never before been published;15 some of them deserve
to be considered by future editors of the Platonic text.
III
far
How
the tradition of the Platonic scholia throws light
on the relationships of the extant Platonic manuscripts is a
14aFor examples of this identical hand see the supplements Kaic
ftpa6vkpovs,
Legg. 773c (A fol. 211 recto; 0 fol. 59 verso); roXXicv, Legg. 779e (A fol. 214
recto; O fol. 62 verso). It must be remembered that "A3" represents two
scribes, only one of whom, naturally, is to be identified with "03".
15Rabe published the scholia to Laws I and v only; Burnet, in the fifth
volume of his Oxford text of Plato, made some use of imperfect collations made
by Bekker and Bast.
188
[1937
Vol. lxviii]
189
matter in question.
21 J.
Burnet, "Vindiciae Platonicae I", Class. Quart. vIII (1914), 231; cf.
J. Burnet, Phaedo (Oxford, 1911), lviii.
22Burnet, "Vind. Plat. I," 232.
23E.g. scholl. on Theaet. 148e JeAXeLt(yp. W); Rep. 334b KcKa'OaL(W m.
altera).
24Theaet. 178a 10 #ueXXov
W: ,taXXovBT and -yp. W; Symp. 213b 9 rovrl rT
TW
jv
Oxy.: roUT' eiTrevB, and yp. W.
25 Schanz, Platocodex
78; A. Jordan, Hermes xIII (1878), 480; Alline, 214-216.
26E.g. scholl. on Rep. 373c
avpwcrCv; 383b 7ratv' (sic A).
190
[1937
Vol. Ixviii]
191
192
[1937
Vol. lxviii]
193
V
The Platonic scholia are of further value as they provide
testimonia for the text of authors other than Plato. A few
examples must suffice here; scholars with special interests
will be able to cull much more. Interesting traces are to
be found of really old Platonic commentaries which throw
light on lexicography, music, mythology, and even philosophic
thought.38 Frequently the scholia preserve traces of lost
commentaries, or of lost portions of extant commentaries, of
Proclus and Olympiodorus;39 sometimes they condense the
extant comment of these authors.40 Often the scholia preserve lost portions of ancient lexica, such as those of Didymus,41
the Atticists,42 Diogenianus (preserved less fully, if at all, by
Hesychius Alexandrinus),43 Boethus,44 or unknown lexicogra35a Schol. Areth. on Symp. 172a.
36Schol. Areth. on Cratyl. 413a.
37 Schol. Areth. on Theaet. 172c.
38E.g. scholl. on Apol. 19b avTcopuoalav;27c ev rT avrLypaq^; Alc. II 147c
b0OovepoD;
Rep. 388d elrtrXjretev; 392b OVKODVkad KTX.; 440b rod roLTOroV;443d
6 'A5pao'rLav; 453d 8EXcrva; Twva; 487b
vearrs re KaZL
vTrarrs7;451a 7rpocaKvWvp
rp6s luev 7aOra; 498a rod 'HpaKXetreiOv ov
o; 509c 'yeXolws (1).
39Scholl. on Theaet. 155b; Rep. 546a (two scholl.); 546b; 587d; Soph., at
beginning; Legg. 629a Tbpratov;630a eoyYOPv.
40E.g. schol. on Phaed. 61d, on Philolaus.
41 Schol. on Euthyd. 303a 7rv?r7r&.
42Scholl. on Parm. 127a IIavaOrOvaLa;127b 7raL&Ka.
43Scholl. on Symp. 190d a&KWXLa&oaovres;191d cOrraL; 213e tVKTripa; Charm.
153c T-tLLKC,; Phileb. 66d ro rptrov rT owriTpt (cf. on Rep. 583b).
44 Scholl. on Polit. 307c /XacKL&a; Phileb. 56e revraCobvrcv.
194
[1937
Cratyl. 384b
aXeora
Tar
KaXa;Phaed. 99c (also Polit. 300c and Phileb. 19c) bebrepov7rXov; Phaed. 108d
ovov aKLas;Charm. 165a ^7yyyl,7r&pa5' air1;
rXaLKovu
Texv); Phaedr. 260c 7repL
Rep. 337a aapa&vLov.
47Scholl. on Phaedr. 244b Zl3vXXav (1), a long and interesting scholium;
Ale. I 118e TCrIIepK\Xivs
e6; Menex. 235e 'Aaraoarav; Rep. 599d AvKOVpyov;
599e Xapcv5oav; 599e 26Xova; 600a OaXeco; 600a 'AvaxAp-ios; 600b Hveay6pas;
600b KpecovXos; 600c IIpcrayopas; 600c Ip6rKos; Epist. 320a Aicovl 2paKoaTo;
scholl. Areth. on Euthyphro lic Aat&hXov;Apol. 18b 'AvuroV; 19c 'Ap&froaivovs;
20e
XaLpe4c&va;
48 Scholl. on
23e M(X7ros.
Vol. lxviii]
195
196
[1937
or as to Scylla and Charybdis,66 or as to the lore of the halcyon.67 Our knowledge of Greek games is enlarged by a
scholium on
TrerTrLa;
68 of some interest
on Epist. 345e.
67The long schol. preceding the Halcyon.
68Schol. on Legg. 820c.
69Schol. on Legg. 950e.
70Schol. on Legg. 633b.