Alexandria, Ancient Library

Paleolitik devirle birlikte ortaya çıkan insan, hemcinsleri ile önce bazı sesler çıkararak iletişim kurmayı deneyerek konuşma özelliği geliştirmiş, daha sonra bazı işaretler ve sembolleri bir takım nesneler üzerine yazarak edindiği deneyimleri sonraki kuşaklara aktarmıştır 1 . Kuşkusuz, unutma, ekleme ve hatta değiştirmelere yol açacağından, çeşitli şekillerde elde edilen bilgilerin sözlü olarak iletilmesi sağlıklı değildir. Düşüncelerini yazı ile ifade etmeyi öğrenen insan, kendinden öncekilerden öğrendiklerine kendi öğrendiklerini de katarak bunları sonraki kuşaklara iletmiştir 2 . Diğer bir deyişle, sözlü dönemde mümkün olmayan bilginin kalıcılığı yazı ile birlikte olanaklı hale gelmiştir.

"La vita e la personalità letteraria di Istro sono difficili da ricostruire a causa della povertà di notizie conservate dalla tradizione. L’unica fonte che riporta informazioni significative è la Suda, che definisce Istro schiavo e allievo di Callimaco, oltre ad attribuirgli un’origine pafia e a registrarne l’attività di poligrafo.

Ciò nonostante, gli autori antichi hanno conservato ben settantasette frammenti attribuibili a più di diciassette opere di Istro. Essi coprono svariati argomenti di carattere letterario e storico-antiquario, rivelando tratti che fanno del nostro autore un tipico rappresentante della scuola callimachea e della cultura alessandrina. Tra i frammenti conservati spiccano gli oltre trenta frustuli riguardanti tematiche afferenti alle antichità ateniesi, che la tradizione attribuisce parzialmente a un’opera intitolata Raccolta delle Atthides.

Questo volume è il primo di una nuova edizione dei frammenti di Istro: esso comprende le testimonianze e trentotto frammenti degli scritti su Atene e l’Attica. L’opera sarà completata da un secondo volume contenente i frustuli delle altre opere del Callimacheo. Questa edizione – che segue quella di Felix Jacoby nei Fragmente der Griechischen Historiker – si ispira a criteri e metodologie moderne e tiene conto dei nuovi risultati delle ricerche sulla letteratura frammentaria.

La scelta di isolare i frammenti su Atene dipende anzitutto dal fatto che la metà dei frammenti di Istro riguarda questa materia. Anche se il criterio numerico non è metodologicamente corretto per la valutazione delle opere frammentarie, è indubbio che gli interessi di Istro per le antichità ateniesi ricoprirono una parte consistente delle sue ricerche all’interno della biblioteca di Alessandria. Nel contempo, la varietà dei soggetti affrontati dal Callimacheo e le curiosità che ha raccolto possono risultare utili a qualunque studioso moderno interessato ad Atene e all’Attica, e si è pensato che solo in un’opera monografica questi temi potessero trovare spazio e rilievo adeguato.

Infine, la motivazione più importante deriva da una delle caratteristiche della collana I Frammenti degli Storici Greci, il cui piano editoriale prevede la pubblicazione degli scritti di tutti gli Attidografi. L’edizione dei frammenti di Istro su Atene intende dunque essere un completamento di questa sezione, avendo egli redatto un’opera che i testimoni definiscono come una raccolta delle Atthides ed essendo particolarmente discusso il suo contributo alla ricerca e alla conservazione del materiale attidografico."

Alexandria's maritime destiny was naturally predetermined by its excellent geographical position at the confluence of the two worlds. It was here that the waters of the Nile mingled with the Sea and here the Egyptian culture, riverine in its origins, mingled with the maritime world of the Greeks. The Ptolemaic dynasty was based on the principles of the thalassocracy that manifested itself in almost every aspect of the Egyptian state and was represented by the legendary Pharos through seventeen centuries. This article is an attempt to evaluate the contribution of the city to the global development of navigation and seafaring in the ancient world. The Alexandrian traces of some of these inventions currently remain implicit; however, they were equally included in the discussion in hope that future research will bring more light on their origins.

The Hellenistic period was an era of literary canons, of privileged texts and collections. One of the most stable of these consisted of the nine (rarely ten) lyric poets: whether the selection was based on poetic quality, popularity, or the availability of texts in the Library of Alexandria, the Lyric Canon offers a valuable and revealing window on the reception and survival of lyric in antiquity.

This volume explores the complexities inherent in the process by which lyric poetry was canonized, and discusses questions connected with the textual transmission and preservation of lyric poems from the archaic period through to the Hellenistic era. It firstly contextualizes lyric poetry geographically, and then focuses on a broad range of sources that played a critical role in the survival of lyric poetry - in particular, comedy, Plato, Aristotle's Peripatetic school, and the Hellenistic scholars - to discuss the reception of the nine canonical lyric poets and their work. By exploring the ways in which fifth- and fourth-century sources interpreted lyric material, and the role they played both in the scholarly work of the Alexandrians and in the creation of what we conventionally call the Hellenistic Lyric Canon, it elucidates what can be defined as the prevailing pattern in the transmission of lyric poetry, as well as the place of Bacchylides as a puzzling exception to this norm. The overall discussion conclusively demonstrates that the canonizing process of the lyric poets was already at work from the fifth century BC and that it is reflected both in the evaluation of lyric by fourth-century thinkers and in the activities of the Hellenistic scholars in the Library of Alexandria.

While basically genealogical in nature, those within the genealogy or family tree as relatives and/or ancestors of the famous Hypatia of Alexandria, do much to put the story of Hypatia and the Library of Alexandria into a much different perspective than ever before. When items such as this become uncovered, it is often seen as a precursor to even more and perhaps much larger discoveries.

Our knowledge about the destruction of the Library of Alexandria is
incomplete. It often gets attributed to the reign of Aurelian and conflicts
that took place in Egypt at the time. It is a fact that the centre
of Alexandria had been moved west from its eastern seaside districts.
However, the testimony of Ammianus Marcellinus – on which the entire current hypothesis is based - seem to be rather questionable as
this author’s knowledge about topography and history of Alexandria
leaves much to be desired. There is no way to specify during exactly
which of the internal struggles in the 3rd and 4th century was the Library
of Alexandria destroyed, and whether the forces behind it were
of human or natural origin

An overview of the history of the ancient library at Alexandria and a suggestion that its destruction was caused by being "borrowed to death" within the context of the initial progress made with regard to what is now the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.

Neste artigo, pretendo explorar um cenário admitidamente hipotético, porém bastante plausível, que envolve a participação de Aristóteles, através de seu trabalho filológico muito bem documentado nas fontes antigas, com autores da Antiguidade, na edição e posterior transmissão das obras de Píndaro para Alexandria. Baseando-me nas evidências disponíveis, acredito que seja possível argumentar que o filósofo, ajudado pela sua enorme coleção de livros, estava em uma boa posição para ter coletado, editado e produzido uma edição padrão das canções de Píndaro que puderam, após a sua morte e a dispersão de seu espólio, chegar às mãos dos bibliotecários em Alexandria. Em face de uma quase completa ausência de testemunhos acerca dos primeiros estágios de transmissão e fixação da obra de Píndaro, acredito que valha a pena tentar revisar as evidências que nos permitiriam reconstruir um cenário no qual Píndaro é primeiro editado em Atenas e, apenas mais tarde, chega em Alexandria, sobretudo porque uma tradição semelhante já foi proposta para os épicos homéricos.

Efsanevi ve yitik bir kütüphanenin izleri, kökleri antik çağlara uzansa da etkisi hâlâ canlı olan bir bilgelik ve esin kaynağının kalıntılarına götürüyor insanoğlunu. Geç antik dönemin bu büyük öğrenim merkezi, İskenderiye’nin 643 yılındaki düşüşüyle birlikte yok olsa da, bugün Grek, Roma, Yahudi ve Süryani kültürlerinin kesiştiği bir kavşak noktasının temsili orunu olmayı sürdürüyor. Ortaçağ’ı ve modern çağları biçimleyen bir entelektüel enerjinin kaynağı, konusunun ehil akademisyenlerince açık ve betimleyici bir dille çözümleniyor bu kitapta.

ΑΝΤΙΚΕΙΜΕΝΟ ΜΕΛΕΤΗΣ της παρούσας διατριβής αποτελούν τα ελληνιστικά ανάγλυφα αγγεία µε ενεπίγραφες διηγηµατικές παραστάσεις, µια υποκατηγορία των σκευών µε ανάγλυφο διάκοσµο στο πλαίσιο της ελληνιστικής κεραµικής, για τον προσδιορισµό των οποίων επιλέχθηκε ο αρχαίος όρος γραµµατικά ποτήρια, που απαντά στον Αθήναιο, από τον οποίο προέκυψε και ο γενικότερος όρος γραµµατικά αγγεία. ΣΤΟΧΟΣ της µελέτης υπήρξε εξαρχής η διάκριση των γραµµατικών αγγείων από την υπόλοιπη ανάγλυφη κεραµική και η µελέτη τους ως ξεχωριστής οµάδας µε βασικά γνωρίσµατα την ύπαρξη διηγηµατικών παραστάσεων και επιγραφών, κυρίως όµως η απάντηση τριών βασικών ερωτηµάτων για την πληρέστερη κατανόηση του φαινοµένου της διάδοσής τους στη συγκεκριµένη εποχή: ποιος τα κατασκεύαζε, για ποιον και γιατί; Προκειµένου να εξασφαλιστούν οριστικές –κατά το δυνατόν– απαντήσεις στα παραπάνω ζητήµατα, υιοθετήθηκε µια ΣΥΝ∆ΥΑΣΤΙΚΗ ΜΕΘΟ∆ΟΣ ΠΡΟΣΕΓΓΙΣΗΣ του υλικού, που στηρίζεται στην αξιολόγηση και αναλυτική εξέταση των βασικότερων πτυχών του θέµατος, τόσο των αρχαιολογικών όσο και των επιγραφικών,παπυρολογικών και φιλολογικών, υπό το πρίσµα µιας κοινής ιστορικής θεώρησης. Για την εφαρµογή της µεθόδου δηµιουργήθηκε ΒΑΣΗ ∆Ε∆ΟΜΕΝΩΝ µε όλα τα απαραίτητα στοιχεία για καθένα από τα 216 συγκεντρωθέντα αγγεία –το σύνολο δηλαδή των δηµοσιευµένων µέχρι σήµερα ευρηµάτων, εµπλουτισµένο από το αδηµοσίευτο υλικό των Πετρών και µεµονωµένα παραδείγµατα άλλων µακεδονικών θέσεων– συµπεριλαµβανοµένου του κειµένου των επιγραφών τους (µεταγραφή και έκδοση) και παρατηρήσεων από την εξέταση των γραµµάτων τους. Από το πλήθος των ΣΥΜΠΕΡΑΣΜΑΤΩΝ στα οποία οδηγεί η µελέτη των ανασκαφικών συµφραζοµένων και του πληροφοριακού φορτίου των γραµµατικών αγγείων, το µεγαλύτερο ενδιαφέρον συγκεντρώνουν οι διαπιστώσεις σχετικά µε τη διακόσµηση και τις επιγραφές.Πρόκειται για αφηγηµατικές παραστάσεις εµπνευσµένες αποκλειστικά από λογοτεχνικά –ποιητικά ως επί το πλείστον– πρότυπα, που στο σύνολό τους καλύπτουν το ευρύτατο φάσµα της συµποτικής λογοτεχνίας, η οποία εκτείνεται από το ηρωικό έπος ως την δραµατική και λυρική ποίηση, και από την παρωδία των µύθων για τους αρχαίους θεούς και ήρωες µέχρι τον κίναιδο και την ερωτική λογοτεχνία. Το ενδιαφέρον των χρηστών για καθένα από τα έργα αυτά ποικίλλει, µε αποτέλεσµα την αισθητή διαφοροποίηση του θεµατολογίου από περιοχή σε περιοχή, µε σαφείς κατά τόπους προτιµήσεις σε συγκεκριµένους µύθους, έργα ή συγγραφείς.Το ουσιαστικότερο, ωστόσο, γνώρισµα αυτών των αγγείων είναι οι επιγραφές, οι οποίες είτε ως δηλωτικές ή διαλογικές είτε ως παραθέµατα ή κείµενα που αντιγράφουν, µιµούνται ή αντλούν από υποθέσεις και µυθογραφικά εγχειρίδια, αποδεικνύουν την αµεσότατη σχέση των αγγείων και των κατασκευαστών τους µε τις συνήθειες, τις τάσεις και τα επιτεύγµατα της λογοτεχνικής και άλλης παραγωγής της Αλεξανδρινής Βιβλιοθήκης, αναδεικνύοντας ταυτόχρονα µία άλλη όψη της αρχαίας Μακεδονίας: αυτής που κάτω από το φθαρµένο επίχρισµα του πηλού συνεχίζει –ακόµα και στα χρόνια της ρωµαιοκρατίας– να αντανακλά την πολυτέλεια της ανάµνησης µιας ελληνικής οικουµένης· µιας οικουµένης που κατακτήθηκε µε το δόρυ, αλλά υποτάχθηκε µε το πνεύµα από έναν λαό που –αν µη τι άλλο– αγαπούσε τα ‘γράµµατα’.

The PRESENT THESIS focuses on Hellenistic relief vases with inscribed narrative scenes, a subcategory of vessels with relief decoration within the production of Hellenistic pottery, for the definition of which Athenaeus’ term γραμματικά ποτήρια (grammatika cups) is used –the general term grammatika vases being essentially its derivative. THE AIM of this study is to distinguish grammatika vases from the rest of the Hellenistic relief vases and to study them as a separate group, as their key features are the narrative scenes and inscriptions; but mostly to give answers to three basic questions for the full understanding of the phenomenon of their dissemination in this particular period: who created these vases, for whom and why? To ensure final –where possible– answers to these questions, a COMBINED METHOD of approaching the material is chosen which is based on the evaluation and analytic examination of all major aspects –archaeological as well as epigraphic, papyrological and philological– for a comprehensive historical view. For the application of this method a DATABASE was created, which includes all the necessary information for each of the 216 vases collected –that is the entire corpus of the so far published vases, together with unpublished material from Petres and individual examples from other sites– as well as the text of their inscriptions (transcription and edition). Among the CONCLUSIONS drawn from the study of grammatika vases as far as their archaeological and literary context is concerned, the most significant are those regarding decoration and inscriptions. These narrative scenes are inspired exclusively by ancient Greek literary –mostly poetic– texts, which as a whole cover the wide range of sympotic literature, from the heroic epic and lyric poetry to drama, and from the parody of the myths about ancient gods and heroes to cinaidological and erotic literature. The users’ interest in each one of these works varies, so that one can trace an obvious differentiation on the subjects from place to place, with clear preferences to certain myths, works or writers. However, the most essential feature of these vases is their inscriptions, which are names, dialogues, citations or texts that copy, imitate or derive from hypotheses and mythographers’ textbooks, which prove a direct relationship between, on the one hand, the vases and their creators and, on the other hand, the habits, trends and achievements of the literary scholars in the Alexandrian Library, thus highlighting another aspect of ancient Macedonia: the one that beneath the worn glaze of clay continues –even in the time of the Roman domination– to reflect the luxury of the remembrance of a Greek universe; of an οικουμένη that was conquered by the spear, but was subjugated by the spirit of a people that –if nothing else– loved ‘γράμματα’.