Interpreting a Classic

Demosthenes (384-322 b.c.) was an Athenian statesman and a widely read author whose life, times, and rhetorical abilities captivated the minds of generations. Sifting through the rubble of a mostly lost tradition of ancient scholarship, Craig A. Gibson tells the story of how one group of ancient scholars helped their readers understand this man's writings. This book collects for the first time, translates, and offers explanatory notes on all the substantial fragments of ancient philological and historical commentaries on Demosthenes. Using these texts to illuminate an important aspect of Graeco-Roman antiquity that has hitherto been difficult to glimpse, Gibson gives a detailed portrait of a scholarly industry that touched generations of ancient readers from the first century b.c. to the fifth century and beyond.

In this lucidly organized work, Gibson surveys the physical form of the commentaries, traces the history of how they were passed down, and explains their sources, interests, and readership. He also includes a complete collection of Greek texts, English translations, and detailed notes on the commentaries.

Demosthenes (384-322 b.c.) was an Athenian statesman and a widely read author whose life, times, and rhetorical abilities captivated the minds of generations. Sifting through the rubble of a mostly lost tradition of ancient scholarship, Craig A. Gibson tells the story of how one group of ancient scholars helped their readers understand this man's writings. This book collects for the first time, translates, and offers explanatory notes on all the substantial fragments of ancient philological and historical commentaries on Demosthenes. Using these texts to illuminate an important aspect of Graeco-Roman antiquity that has hitherto been difficult to glimpse, Gibson gives a detailed portrait of a scholarly industry that touched generations of ancient readers from the first century b.c. to the fifth century and beyond.

In this lucidly organized work, Gibson surveys the physical form of the commentaries, traces the history of how they were passed down, and explains their sources, interests, and readership. He also includes a complete collection of Greek texts, English translations, and detailed notes on the commentaries.

Preface
Abbreviations
Introduction
Part One. The Ancient Commentaries on Demosthenes
1. Form and Transmission
2. Sources, Agenda, and Readership
3. Didymus
Part Two. Texts, Translations, and Notes
1. Commentary on Dem. 9–11 and 13 (P.Berol.inv. 9780)
2. Didymus Fragments in Harpocration
3. Lexicon to Dem. 23 (P.Berol.inv. 5008)
4. Commentary on Dem. 5 (P.Berol.inv. 21188)
5. Commentary on Dem. 22 (P.Stras.inv. 84)
6. Lexicon to Dem. 21 (P.Rain.inv. 7)
Appendix: Rhetorical Prologue and Commentary on Dem. 21 (P.Lond.Lit. 179)
Bibliography
General Index
Index Verborum
Index Locorum