Review: [untitled]

Author(s): Robert Browning

Reviewed work(s): Prodromea: textkritische Beiträge zu den Historischen Gedichten des
Theodoros Prodromos by A. Kambylis
Source: The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 107, (1987), pp. 263-264
Published by: The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/630178
Accessed: 06/04/2008 05:49

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 NOTICES OF BOOKS 263
palaces, and indeed settled in the royal precincts. I historicalbackground to Theophylact's narrative.This
celebrate the royal courts and compose these antique sound historical understandingandjudgement is effec-
Attic Hymns'. Apart from the impossible mangling of tively and advantageouslydisplayed again and again in
word order to which the first clause has been subjected the footnotes, of which, those dealing with Theophy-
(it can only mean 'saved me and gave me back my lact's Balkan narrative are particularly outstanding.
citizen rights'), since when has EiotKlcrav become Finally,the Gazetteerand list of datessuppliedat the end
intransitive?Also the meaninglessrendering'I celebrate of the book for the reader'sconvenience constitute yet
the royal courts' has been offered in defiance of De another admirable and praiseworthy feature of this
Boor's Index Graecitatiswhich translatesthe phrase in work.
palatio sonitum edo. (2) The phrase pfi3ia EVutEvcos J. D. FRENDO
15puUPEvov (Dialogue io) cannot in the Greek of any UniversityCollege, Cork
period mean 'an advantageouslysited rostrum'. (3) It is
a simple howler to translate oUTros6vai,utrlvrTCv EiJOV
EpaaTo-rvas 'may I thus profit my devotees'. (4) AiXvov
yap aKOti Kai xaKpEaTov, Eo-aTcoltpiv Aoyov TrrapCa6otovKAMBYLIS(A.) Prodromea: textkritische Beitrage
(Prooemium IO)is a sententia,not part of the preceding zu den historischen Gedichten des Theodoros
narrative,as it takes only a little common sense and a Prodromos. (Wiener byzantinistische Studien,
smattering of Greek syntax to perceive, and may be I I, suppl.) Vienna: OsterreichischeAkademie der
translated(I hope not too freely!) 'For the ear is an avid Wissenschaften. 1984. Pp. I31. oS 28o/DM 40.
and insatiablething, once it is treated to a strange tale',
but never 'Since their ear was inquisitive and insatiable, Wolfram Horandner's TheodorosProdromos:Histor-
as it feasted on an amazing account' as the Whitbys ischeGedichte(Vienna I974) provided a criticaltext of all
would have us believe. (5) Prooemium 13: OUKOUV the poems certainly or probably attributable to the
E1ppCmoEIETIS KOIV11VawavTACOVavOpcbwTrCvTTlV iTcropiav twelfth-century writer Theodore Prodromos and con-
8tSa&7Kacov, E?ianyoupivnv oTS TE EYXEIPTrTEov Kai a cerned with historical events or personages. It was
TraporTTEov receives the amazing rendering 'Therefore reviewed in JHS xlvi (I976) 271 and elsewhere.
one should regard the common history of all mankind Professor Kambylis of Hamburg has already given
as a teacher'.The list could be extended, but it would be proof of his philological acumen in his edition of the
tedious to do so. Incidentally,most of these errorscould Hymns of Symeon the New Theologian (SymeonNeos
have been avoided, had the translators bothered to Theologos:Hymnen,Berlin-New York 1976), his criti-
consult ArnoldJ. Toynbee's elegant (mellifluous?)and, cal reviews of recent editions of Romanos the Melode
in the main, accurateversions of the Dialogue and the (BZ Ixiv [197I] 28-32), George and Demetrios Tor-
Prooemium contained in his little book, Greekhistorical nikes (JOB xxiii [I974] 185-200), and the Strategikon
thought,first published in 1924. of Maurice (JOB xxv [1976] 47-56) as well as in his 90
In one instance an inaccuraterendering has unfortu- critical notes on Byzantine prose texts, (Kyklos. Grie-
nately been made the basis of an unnecessaryfootnote, chisches und ByzantinischesRudolf Keydell zum 9o.
namely in Book One, 4. i, where we read that the Geburtstag [Berlin-New York I978] 129-70). In recent
Chagan of the Avars 'captured by surprisethe city of years he has often turned his attention to H6randner's
Singidunum, which was ungarrisoned and bereft of edition of Prodromos, which, like many other first
military equipment because of the great peacetime critical editions, has not said the last word on the text.
indolence which had spread throughout Thrace for The result of his long study is the present volume, in
peaceis not watchful and does not tolerateforethought'. which he examines Ioo passageswhich he believes call
We are then told in footnote 22 'Theophylact'sassertion for emendation.
that the city was ungarrisoned is surprising, and was Many of his proposals are obvious enough-once
perhapsa mistakeninferenceoccasionedby his desireto they are made, e.g. Er-Eifor Trri (6.11); -rr'TrpIPoifor
introduce the comment about the improvidence of ETriTplIoI (6.24), supported by passages in Homer,
peace; since the Avars met stiff opposition (I. 4. 3), it is Apollonius Rhodius, and Prodromos' contemporary
likely that there were soldiers in the city'. In other Eustathios; ?K8p6.iCo)v8p6Opofor EK8p6kPoCv p6Opot
words, Theophylact has invented a historical detail in (11.56); EKTrUpCooEis for EK-rrlpc0dEis(I5.18); OvfiaEtfor
order to be able to coin a maxim! Unluckily this a&vUCi (15.37); 8uvacarcov 5uvao-Ta for Buvarcov
erroneous notion has somehow found its way into the SUvaCrTa(15.92); a`TEqpcoTOS for aTa'ppcTros (30.314);
section of the Introductionheaded 'Compilation of the auyKapStcobaS ('sharing his heart trouble') for cuyKap-
History' as an example of one of the 'personal 8icOcaS('joining in encouraging him') on stemmatic as
explanatory' comments that he (i.e. Theophylact) well as semantic grounds. In other passages clarity is
might have added to the factual reports of his sources reached only after a careful study of the argument and
(xxv). It is, in fact, extremely difficult to extract any of the author's usage, e.g. Pr1TOpESaOAEuovro for
referenceto the absenceof soldiersfrom Theophylact's p1rTpESaeOAEUovTO (6.Ioo)-what would be the nomi-
text. There Singidunum is described simply as &appaK- native singular of 5i-rTpEs?; 1iKKp6v for ptaKpav
TOV oiaaav TrOAEPlKoKVTE 6pyOvcov Xnpeuouaav, which (I1.213)-who would urgeJohn II Comnenus to take 'a
means no more than that the city was not on a full-scale long rest'?; Mc6rns 13oaTcofor McxbansP3aTcoyoOv
defensive alert with gates shut, walls manned and (74.1 Io)-probably a confused reminiscence of the
military engines in place. burning bush underliesthe corruption. Finally there are
But it would be grossly unfair to dwell upon these passages where K. proposes a bold emendation as a
evident shortcomings and fail to mention the more result of close analysis of the context, e.g., KrlpOVfor
positive side of the Whitbys' achievement. Their real TrTlA6v(I9.47); cos ipovi& for cooEi povia (74.214) in a
strength appears to lie in their excellent grasp of the long simile about drawing wisdom from the Scriptures
264 NOTICES OF BOOKS
like water from a well; 3o6s Eyc) vEKiUeo'lvfor 3coos
EiyCvSuiaaiv (78.7).
The editor of a Byzantine text is faced with
difficulties which his classical colleagues are usually
spared.There is still no remotely satisfactorylexicon of
medieval Greek, nor any descriptive grammar which
takesaccount of differencesin stylistic level. Inadequate
or non-existent indexes and concordancesmake it hard
to identify sources. K. faces these difficultiessquarely.
Conjectural criticism, he observes, is rarely a 'Blitz in
der Nacht'. It often demandslaboriouswork, which not
infrequently leads only to disappointment. But even a
wrong conjecture,if it is basedon sound method, is not
completely useless.It may be an indispensableprelimin-
ary to the right conjecture.
In the long and carefullystructureddiscussionswhich
accompany each of his suggestions he illustrates in
practice the principleswhich he sets out. Not all of his
suggestionswill win acceptance.But they areall worthy
of study by those concerned with textual criticism, be it
of ancient or medieval Greek.
ROBERT BROWNING
DumbartonOaks, Washington,D.C.
Ps. LUCIAN. Timarion. Trans. and ed. B. Baldwin.
nally disconcertinglyarchorjarringly colloquial. This is
perhapsdue to the author's eagernessto strike a 'mid-
atlantic' tone (2). In general the commentary is rather
too long and discursivefor the readershipto which it is
addressed. However it contains some sharp observa-
tions, such as those on the use made of Heliodorus'
Aethiopica.In view of the twelfth-century revival of the
novel this is not without interest.
A few observationsof detail. P. 4I, 'It is alreadytime
to feed the cows' is a heavy-handed and misleading
translationof 'ETyap Trepip3ouAXvrT. P. 45, 'riTrrrAa
are
hardly 'altar-cloths'.P. 46, 'embroideredgarments',not
'studded garments' for KcaracrKTra&cpta; ibid., 'Their
naturecomes from their heads'is nonsense-the passage
means 'naturepoured curly locks, like the flowers of the
hyacinth, down from his head', P. 5I, yvo0epoi rT1V
6otv means 'with black faces' (like the devils in
Byzantine LastJudgements).P. 57, for 'councillor' read
'counsellor', P. 65, for 'Timonices' read 'Timonicus'
(the genitive is TipoviKov).Note 24, we do not know
that St Demetrius was a high official;and whatever the
reasonfor his epithet pup6pJopuros, it was not becausehis
tomb exuded fragrance-he had no tomb.
This book will make an interesting Byzantine text
accessibleto the Greeklessmajority.
ROBERT BROWNING

(Byzantine texts in translation.)Detroit: Wayne DumbartonOaks, Washington,D.C.

State University Press. I984. Pp. ix+ I6I. $I8.95.

The Byzantine satire Timarion-an account of a CHRISTIDIS (D. A.) MapKLava avK8oTa. . 'Avaxapats
descent to and return from the underworld-was first * 'AvavLas. 2. 'ErmToAsX-IyAXL0o. [Diss.]
edited by M. Hase in Noticeset extraitsdesmanuscrits de la 1
('Errtto'rrllovnKtKn
'TTETpi8a (piAooo(plKftSaXoAiis,
Bibliothequeimperialeix (1813), when cod. Vat. gr. 87, 'ApItTo-TrTElXo navVETTo'ralTo GEooaAoviKKS,wTrap-
the unique manuscript,was in Parisin accordancewith PTrrTpa,45.) Thessaloniki: University. 1984. Pp.
the terms of the Treaty of Tolentino. It was next edited 377. Price not stated.
by A. Ellissenin Analektendermittel-undneugriechischen
Literatur4 in i860, and lastly by R. Romano, Timarione This is a splendid piece of work. Dr Ch(ristides)has
(Naples 1974). There is a Latin translation by Hase, a taken two anonymous texts (a 'diatribe', the 'Av6cxap-
German by Ellissen, an Italian by Romano, and a als, and a collection of letters) from the well-known
Russian by S. V. Poljakova, I. V. Felenkovskajaand Venice MS, Marcianus Graecus XI.22, a conglome-
E. E. Lipshitsin VivantijskijVremennik vi (I953), as well ration of mainly twelfth-century rhetoricalworks, and
as several partial translations. has teased out their connections in a thorough and
Professor Baldwin offers the first complete English thought-provoking way.
translation,precededby a long Introduction (1-37) and In the first part of the book Ch. argues, largely on
accompanied by a copious Commentary (77-I39). stylistic grounds, that these two texts were written by
Neither the Introductionnor the Commentary assumes the same person some time in the reigns ofJohn (I II 8-
any previous knowledge of the subject. Apart from 43) and Manuel (1143-80) Komnenos. Then, after
notes on the text and the translationthe Introduction detailed comparisons with the linguistic usages of
comprisesa discussionof Byzantine satireand humour, possible candidates, he concludes that the most likely
which revises the rather negative view taken by author is Niketas Eugenianos, known chiefly for his
nineteenth- and some twentieth-century scholars, a romance T& KaTr&Ap6ociAav Kai XaplKAXa. He then
lengthy summaryof the story line, and a long discussion proceeds to suggest identifications for some of the
of date and authorship, which shows commendable characters who figure enigmatically in the texts; in
caution. B. points out the weakness of Romano's particular he proposes that beneath the unpleasant
attributionof the work to Nicholas Callicles, Alexios I's personality of Anacharsis himself is concealed John
court physician, observes that there were plenty of Kamateros,AoyoOeT-r TOUj 85p6ou in I1 55 and a sinister
twelfth-century writers capable of producing such a figure in mid-twelfth century political life. All this is
Lucianicpiece, and tentatively puts forward a candidate presented in carefully worked out stages with ample
of his own, Michael Italicus,an attractive but unprov- evidence tantalisinglyproduced to support each step in
able hypothesis. As for the date of the work, he is the argument, so that one follows Ch. at times with
perhaps too ready to consider the second half of the bated breath,as in all good detective stories,waiting for
century. Michael Psellus' fame may have lived on, but the denouement. In the process Ch. has vividly
who would then have remembered John Italus and demonstrated the close connections that existed
Theodore of Smyrna, who appear prominently in the between prominent literary figures (e.g. Theodore
satire? Prodromos, Michael Italikos, Niketas Eugenianos) in
The translationis generallyaccurate,though occasio- Constantinoplein the firsthalf of the twelfth century, as