Aristarchus of Samothrace ( ''Aristarchos o Samothrax''; BC) was an ancient Greek grammarian, noted as the most influential of all scholars of

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

ic poetry. He was the head

librarian A librarian is a person who professionally works managing information. Librarians' common activities include providing access to information, conducting research, creating and managing information systems, creating, leading, and evaluating educat ...

of the Library of Alexandria and seems to have succeeded his teacher

Aristophanes of Byzantium __NOTOC__ Aristophanes of Byzantium ( ; Byzantium – Alexandria BC) was a Hellenistic Greek scholar, critic and grammarian, particularly renowned for his work in Homeric scholarship, but also for work on other classical authors such as ...

in that role.

Life

Aristarchus left the island of Samothrace at a young age and went to

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

, where he studied with the director of the library. Later, he was a teacher at the royal courtyard, and then director of the library from 153 to 145BC. After he was persecuted by his disciple Ptolemy the Benefactor, he found refuge in

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, where he died. It is said that Aristarchus had a remarkable memory and was completely indifferent as to his external appearance. Accounts of his death vary, though they agree that it was during the persecutions of Ptolemy VIII of Egypt. In one account, he contracted an incurable dropsy and starved himself to death while in exile on Cyprus.

Work

Homeric poems

He established the most historically important critical edition of the Homeric poems, and he is said to have applied his teacher's accent system to it, pointing the texts with a careful eye for metrical correctness. His rejection of doubtful lines made his severity proverbial.Hor. A. P. 450 It is likely that he, or more probably, another predecessor at Alexandria, Zenodotus, was responsible for the division of the ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

'' and ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

'' into twenty-four books each.

Other works

According to the ''

Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; ; ) is a large 10th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine encyclopedia of the History of the Mediterranean region, ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas () or Souidas (). It is an ...

'', Aristarchus wrote 800 treatises ( ''hypomnemata'') on various topics; these are all lost but for fragments preserved in the various '' scholia.'' His works cover such writers as Alcaeus, Anacreon,

Pindar Pindar (; ; ; ) was an Greek lyric, Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes, Greece, Thebes. Of the Western canon, canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar i ...

, Hesiod, and the tragedians.

Punctation

He modified the system of the ancient Greek textual signs (''semeia'') and from some point on these signs were called

Aristarchian symbols Aristarchian symbols are editorial marks developed during the Hellenistic period and the early Roman Empire for annotating then-ancient Greek texts—mainly the works of Homer. They were used to highlight missing text, text which was discrepant be ...

. The historical connection of his name to

literary criticism A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature's ...

has created the term ''aristarch'' for someone who is a judgmental critic.

References

External links

New Advent Encyclopedia article on Library of AlexandriaAristarch.org, Humanist Critique

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aristarchus of Samothrace People from Samothrace Homeric scholars Librarians of Alexandria Ancient Greek grammarians Ancient Thracian Greeks Ancient Samothrace Textual scholarship 220s BC births 140s BC deaths