George Choiroboskos (), Latinized as Georgius Choeroboscus, was an early 9th-century

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

grammarian and deacon.

Life

Little is known about his life. He held the positions of

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

and '' chartophylax'' (keeper of archives) at the

Patriarchate of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (, ; ; , "Roman Orthodox Patriarchate, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Istanbul") is one of the fifteen to seventeen autocephalous churches that together compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is headed ...

, and is also referred in some of his works, known as ''oikoumenikos didaskalos'' (οἰκουμενικὸς διδάσκαλος), i.e. as one of the three teachers at the Patriarchal School of the

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia (; ; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque (; ), is a mosque and former Church (building), church serving as a major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The last of three church buildings to be successively ...

. Earlier scholars used to date him in the 6th century, but he is now placed in the early 9th century, during the second period of

Byzantine Iconoclasm The Byzantine Iconoclasm () are two periods in the history of the Byzantine Empire when the use of religious images or icons was opposed by religious and imperial authorities within the Ecumenical Patriarchate (at the time still comprising the ...

(c. 815–843) or shortly after it. This would also explain his pejorative sobriquet (''choiroboskos'', i.e. "swineherd") as well as the only fragmentary survival of his works, as he may have been an adherent of Iconoclasm. His reputation was certainly blackened, so that the 12th-century bishop and scholar

Eustathius of Thessalonica Eustathius of Thessalonica (or Eustathios of Thessalonike; ; ) was a Byzantine Greek scholar and Archbishop of Thessalonica and is a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church. He is most noted for his stand against the sack of Thessalonica by the No ...

, who quotes frequently from his works, fulminates against those who gave the "wise teacher" this nickname out of envy, and thereby condemned him to oblivion. Indeed, many of his works were later attributed to

iconophile Iconodulism (also iconoduly or iconodulia) designates the religious service to icons (kissing and honourable veneration, incense, and candlelight). The term comes from Neoclassical Greek εἰκονόδουλος (''eikonodoulos'') (from – ''i ...

authors.

Works

George Choiroboskos wrote a number of works on grammar, which have often survived only in fragments, as well as in the notes of his pupils. He wrote a commentary on the canons of Theodosius of Alexandria on declension and conjugation, which survives complete; commentaries on the works of

Apollonius Dyscolus Apollonius Dyscolus (; reached his maturity sometime around 130 CE) is considered one of the greatest of the Greek grammarians. Life Little is known of Apollonius Dyscolus, other than that he was born at Alexandria, son of Mnesitheus. Th ...

Herodian Herodian or Herodianus () of Syria, sometimes referred to as "Herodian of Antioch" (c. 170 – c. 240), was a minor Roman civil servant who wrote a colourful history in Greek titled ''History of the Empire from the Death of Marcus'' (τῆς με ...

, Hephaestion of Alexandria and

Dionysius Thrax Dionysius Thrax ( ''Dionýsios ho Thrâix'', 170–90 BC) was a Greek grammarian and a pupil of Aristarchus of Samothrace. He was long considered to be the author of the earliest grammatical text on the Greek language, one that was used as a st ...

, which survive in fragments; a treatise on orthography, also fragmentary; a set of epimerisms, grammatical analyses of the

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of B ...

, which were used in Byzantine schools; and a treatise on poetry, later translated into

Old Slavonic Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic ( ) is the first Slavic literary language and the oldest extant written Slavonic language attested in literary sources. It belongs to the South Slavic subgroup of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European ...

and included in Sviatoslav II's ''Izbornik''. According to

Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian literature, Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentar ...

in the ''

Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium The ''Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium'' (ODB) is a three-volume historical dictionary published by the English Oxford University Press. With more than 5,000 entries, it contains comprehensive information in English on topics relating to the Byzan ...

'', "the dry and detailed treatises of Choiroboskos played a major part in transmitting ancient grammatical doctrine to the Byzantine world", and were later mined by

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

scholars like

Constantine Lascaris Constantine Lascaris ( ''Kostantinos Láskaris''; 1434 – 15 August 1501) was a Greek scholar and grammarian, one of the promoters of the revival of Greek learning in Italy during the Renaissance, born in Constantinople. Life Constantine Lasca ...

and Urban of Belluno for information on literary Greek.

Editions

* ''Georgii Choerobosci diaconi et oecumenici magistri Prolegomena et scholia in Theodosii Alexandrini Canones isagogicos de flexione nominum, subscriptis discrepantiis scripturae codicum, ed. Alfredus Hilgard in Grammatici Graeci partis quartae volumen prius (IV.1)'', Lipsiae 1889, pp. 103–417. The previous edition was by Thomas Gaisford in 1842: ''Georgii Choerobosci Dictata in Theodosii Canones necnon Epimerismi in Psalmos, e codicibus manuscriptis edidit Thomas Gaisford, Aedis Christi Decanus necnon Graecae Linguae Professor Regius'', Oxonii (e typographeo academico) 1842 (3 vols: vol. 1, pp. 1–396). Before Gaisford,

Immanuel Bekker August Immanuel Bekker (21 May 17857 June 1871) was a German philologist and critic. Biography Born in Berlin, Bekker completed his classical education at the University of Halle under Friedrich August Wolf, who considered him as his most promi ...

had edited only the section dealing with the accent of the cases: ''Anecdota Graeca'' vol. III (1821), pp. 1209–70.

References

External links

Original Greek texts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Choeroboscus, Georgius Byzantine clergy Grammarians from the Byzantine Empire Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Trope theorists Deacons 9th-century Byzantine writers