Zenodotus and Related Topics

Ephesus

City in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, 3 km southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey.

Site of the Temple of Artemis in the town of Selçuk, near Ephesus.

Street scene at the archeological excavations at Ephesus.

Electrum coin from Ephesus, 620–600 BC. Obverse: Forepart of stag. Reverse: Square incuse punch.

Historical map of Ephesus, from Meyers Konversationslexikon, 1888

The Theatre of Ephesus with harbour street. Due to ancient and subsequent deforestation, overgrazing (mostly by goat herds), erosion and soil degradation the Turkey coastline is now 3 - 4 km away from the ancient Greek site with sediments filling the plain and the Mediterranean Sea. In the background: muddy remains of the former harbour, bare hill ridges without rich soils and woods, a maquis shrubland remaining.

The 'terrace houses' at Ephesus, showing how the wealthy lived during the Roman period. Eventually the harbour became silted up, and the city lost its natural resources.

The İsa Bey Mosque constructed in 1374–75, is one of the oldest and most impressive remains from the Anatolian beyliks.

The Preaching of Saint Paul at Ephesus, Eustache Le Sueur, 1649

The Gate of Augustus in Ephesus was built to honor the Emperor Augustus and his family.

Aqueduct near Ephesus – Mayer Luigi – 1810

Tomb of John the Apostle at the Basilica of St. John.

Image of Ephesus on the reverse of the 20 new lira banknote (2005–2008)

The city prospered again under a new rule, producing a number of important historical figures such as the elegiac poet Callinus and the iambic poet Hipponax, the philosopher Heraclitus, the great painter Parrhasius and later the grammarian Zenodotos and physicians Soranus and Rufus.

Library of Alexandria

One of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world.

Bust excavated at the Villa of the Papyri depicting Ptolemy II Philadelphus, who is believed to have been the one to establish the Library as an actual institution, although plans for it may have been developed by his father Ptolemy I Soter

Map of ancient Alexandria. The Mouseion was located in the royal Broucheion quarter (listed on this map as "Bruchium") in the central part of the city near the Great Harbor ("Portus Magnus" on the map).

According to legend, the Syracusan inventor Archimedes invented the Archimedes' screw, a pump for transporting water, while studying at the Library of Alexandria.

Present-day ruins of the Serapeum of Alexandria, where the Library of Alexandria moved part of its collection after it ran out of storage space in the main building

The Roman general Julius Caesar was forced to set fire to his own ships during the Siege of Alexandria in 48 BC. Many ancient writers report that the fire spread and destroyed at least part of the Library of Alexandria's collections; however, the Library seems to have either at least partially survived or been quickly rebuilt.

This Latin inscription regarding Tiberius Claudius Balbilus of Rome (d. c. AD 79) mentions the "ALEXANDRINA BYBLIOTHECE" (line eight).

Drawing from the Alexandrian World Chronicle depicting Pope Theophilus of Alexandria, gospel in hand, standing triumphantly atop the Serapeum in 391 AD

Hypatia (1885) by Charles William Mitchell, believed to be a depiction of a scene in Charles Kingsley's 1853 novel Hypatia

Illustration by Yahyá al-Wasiti from 1237 depicting scholars at an Abbasid library in Baghdad

Interior of the modern Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Many important and influential scholars worked at the Library during the third and second centuries BC, including, among many others: Zenodotus of Ephesus, who worked towards standardizing the texts of the Homeric poems; Callimachus, who wrote the Pinakes, sometimes considered to be the world's first library catalogue; Apollonius of Rhodes, who composed the epic poem the Argonautica; Eratosthenes of Cyrene, who calculated the circumference of the earth within a few hundred kilometers of accuracy; Aristophanes of Byzantium, who invented the system of Greek diacritics and was the first to divide poetic texts into lines; and Aristarchus of Samothrace, who produced the definitive texts of the Homeric poems as well as extensive commentaries on them.

Librarian

Person who works professionally in a library, providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users.

Burgundian scribe Jean Miélot in his scriptorium (15th century)

Enlightenment era librarian in a library, 19th-century painting by Georg Reimer, National Museum in Warsaw

Librarians at work, National Library of Norway, 1946

A librarian's workspace at Newmarket Public Library in 2013. iPad, PC, eReader and laptop computer are required tools.

Justin Winsor, Librarian of Congress, c. 1885

Southwest Collections / Special Collections Library at Texas Tech University, US

The Radcliffe Science Library, Oxford University

Courtney Young (2015), librarian and former president of the American Library Association

Presenters and recipients of the New York Times-Carnegie Corporation of New York I Love My Librarian awards, presented in association with the American Library Association

It was notable for its famous librarians: Demetrius, Zenodotus, Eratosthenes, Apollonius, Aristophanes, Aristarchus, and Callimachus.

Homer

Legendary author to whom the authorship of the Iliad and the Odyssey (the two epic poems that are the foundational works of ancient Greek literature) is attributed.

Homer and His Guide (1874) by William-Adolphe Bouguereau

Part of an eleventh-century manuscript, "the Townley Homer". The writings on the top and right side are scholia.

Homer as depicted in the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle

Detail of The Parnassus (painted 1509–1510) by Raphael, depicting Homer wearing a crown of laurels atop Mount Parnassus, with Dante Alighieri on his right and Virgil on his left

A Reading from Homer (1885) by Lawrence Alma-Tadema

After the establishment of the Library of Alexandria, Homeric scholars such as Zenodotus of Ephesus, Aristophanes of Byzantium and in particular Aristarchus of Samothrace helped establish a canonical text.

Bronze of Philitas, The Philosopher (c. 250–200 BC)

Philitas of Cos

Greek scholar, poet and grammarian during the early Hellenistic period of ancient Greece.

The Ptolemaic Kingdom, c. 300 BC, was centered on Alexandria in ancient Egypt; Cos was on its northwest frontier.

A 2nd century AD papyrus fragment, written in Greek, copies part of Apollodorus' 2nd century BC mythography On the Gods, which quotes Philitas' Demeter (outlined in red) while discussing the etymology of the word ἌΟΡ (aor; "sword" or "spear").

The Narrative of Philetas by Rodolfo Amoedo, 1887

A 3rd century BC coin depicts the co-rulers of Ptolemaic Egypt: Ptolemy II Philadelphus (left), patron and ex-pupil of Philitas; and Philadelphus' sister and wife Arsinoe II, possibly also an ex-pupil.

Philitas also taught the poets Hermesianax and Theocritus and the grammarian Zenodotus, and after he returned to Cos he seems to have spent at least ten years leading a brotherhood of intellectuals and poets that included Aratus, Hermesianax, and Theocritus.

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 221, showing scholia from Iliad XXI

Homeric scholarship

Study of any Homeric topic, especially the two large surviving epics, the Iliad and Odyssey.

Library of St. Mark's, Venice, home of Venetus A.

Part of the Parthenon Frieze, depicting the Panathenaic Festival. Elgin marble, located in the British Museum.

The second and third key moments are the critical editions made by the 3rd and 2nd century BCE Alexandrian scholars Zenodotus of Ephesus and Aristarchus respectively; both of these scholars also published numerous other works on Homer and other poets, none of which survive.