Didymos of Alexandria

Didymos of Alexandria
Author: Bruce Karl Braswell
Publisher: Schwabe Verlag (Basel)
Total Pages: 331
Release: 2017-06-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 3796534937

Modern studies of Pindar have largely neglected ancient scholarship on the poet. This is not entirely by chance, since the almost 1000 pages of the scholia vetera on the odes presuppose an acquaintance with the language and conventions of the Hellenistic grammarians who commented on the Pindaric texts. While the scholia have not undeservedly been criticized for containing a sizeable amount of dross, they have nevertheless preserved the comments of major figures of Alexandrian scholarship such as Aristarchos and Didymos whose interpretations are not only of historical interest but can often contribute to a better understanding of ancient texts. The Pindaric scholarship of Aristarchos was the subject of two special studies, both of which appeared as long ago as 1883, while Didymos has fared even less well. The only collection of the remains of his Pindar commentary was published by Moritz Schmidt in his 1854 edition of all the fragments of the grammarian known to him. This was based on Boeckhʼs partial edition of the Pindar scholia published in 1819. The present edition, which draws on Drachmann's critical edition, not only offers a revised Greek text but also an English translation with explanatory notes and full indices. An extensive introduction, which situates Didymos in the scholarship of late Ptolemaic Alexandria, includes the first modern critical catalogue of all the works which are expressly attributed to him. While the present work is primarily addressed to advanced students and professional classicists, it is hoped that the presentation will ease the entry of others into the fascinating field of ancient scholarship which has now established itself as a special discipline.

Didymos of Alexandria, Commentary on Pindar

Didymos of Alexandria, Commentary on Pindar
Author: Didimo (di Alessandria)
Publisher: Schwabe
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2013
Genre: Laudatory poetry, Greek
ISBN: 9783796529016

Modern studies of Pindar have largely neglected ancient scholarship on the poet. This is not entirely by chance, since the almost 1000 pages of the scholia vetera on the odes presuppose an acquaintance with the language and conventions of the Hellenistic grammarians who commented on the Pindaric texts. While the scholia have not undeservedly been criticized for containing a sizeable amount of dross, they have nevertheless preserved the comments of major figures of Alexandrian scholarship such as Aristarchos and Didymos whose interpretations are not only of historical interest but can often contribute to a better understanding of ancient texts. The Pindaric scholarship of Aristarchos was the subject of two special studies, both of which appeared as long ago as 1883, while Didymos has fared even less well. The only collection of the remains of his Pindar commentary was published by Moritz Schmidt in his 1854 edition of all the fragments of the grammarian known to him. This was based on Boeckh's partial edition of the Pindar scholia published in 1819. The present edition, which draws on Drachmann's critical edition, not only offers a revised Greek text but also an English translation with explanatory notes and full indices. An extensive introduction, which situates Didymos in the scholarship of late Ptolemaic Alexandria, includes the first modern critical catalogue of all the works which are expressly attributed to him. While the present work is primarily addressed to advanced students and professional classicists, it is hoped that the presentation will ease the entry of others into the fascinating field of ancient scholarship which has now established itself as a special discipline.

Didymus the Blind and the Alexandrian Christian Reception of Philo

Didymus the Blind and the Alexandrian Christian Reception of Philo
Author: Justin M. Rogers
Publisher: SBL Press
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2017-09-29
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0884142647

Explore the Jewish traditions preserved in the commentaries of a largely neglected Alexandrian Christian exegete Justin M. Rogers surveys commentaries on Genesis, Job, Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and Zechariah by Didymus the Blind (ca. 313–398 CE), who was regarded by his students as one of the greatest Christian exegetes of the fourth century. Rogers highlights Didymus’s Jewish sources, zeroing in on traditions of Philo of Alexandria, whose treatises were directly accessible to Didymus while he was authoring his exegetical works. Philonic material in Didymus is covered by extensive commentary, demonstrating that Philo was among the principle sources for the exegetical works of Didymus the Blind. Rogers also explores the mediating influence of the Alexandrian Christian tradition, focusing especially on the roles of Clement and Origen. Features Fresh insights into the Alexandrian Christian reception of Philo A thorough discussion of Didymus’s exegetical method, particularly in the Commentary on Genesis Examination of the use and importance of Jewish and Christian sources in Late Antique Christian commentaries

The Vision of Didymus the Blind

The Vision of Didymus the Blind
Author: Grant D. Bayliss
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2015-12-10
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0191065048

An independent teacher, based in Alexandria throughout the second half of the fourth century, Didymus appealed to many within the broadly Origenist currents of Egyptian asceticism, including Jerome, Rufinus, and Evagrius. His commentaries, lecture-notes, and theological treatises show him specifically committed to the legacy of Origen and Philo, rather than a broader 'Alexandrian' or noetic reading of Scripture. Yet his concern was not to answer classic 'Antiochene' critique but rather offer a faithful continuation of many aspects of Origen's thought and exegesis, now made consistent with the broader anti-subordinationist developments in Nicene faith from the 350s onwards. In doing so he made virtue a primary category of reality, human existence, and life, in ways that go beyond the traditional philosophical tropes. This 'turn to virtue' draws parallels with wider fourth-century trends but it sets Didymus' own Origenism apart from those of other Origenists, such as Eusebius of Caesarea or Evagrius of Pontus. Thus detailed discussion focuses on Didymus' portrayal of virtue, sin, and passion, which together form the constant hermeneutical terrain for his anagogical exegesis and exhortation to a dynamic process of ascent. Speculative comments of Origen on the pre-existence of the soul, salvation of the devil, pre-passion, and the sin of Adam are shown to be reframed, both to aid the individual's navigation of the return to virtue and to answer the challenge of contemporary Manichaean and Apollinarian beliefs.

Didymos on Demosthenes

Didymos on Demosthenes
Author: Didymus (Chalcenterus.)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2006
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0198150431

This edition of the papyrus containing Didymos' comments on some of Demosthenes' speeches aims to provide the student with a new reading of the text, a facing translation that is carefully edited for those who cannot use the Greek to show what is extant and what is restored, and a detailed commentary that considers all issues related to the restoration of the text and to its historical content. All Greek is translated into English so that the discussion is fully accessible. In addition, throughout the introduction and commentary an attempt is made to arrive at a balanced appraisal of Didymos' position in the history of scholarship.

Dictionary of Major Biblical Interpreters

Dictionary of Major Biblical Interpreters
Author: Donald K. McKim
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 1133
Release: 2007-11-12
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 083082927X

Featuring more than two hundred in-depth articles, a comprehensive resource introduces the principal players in the history of biblical interpretation and explores their historical and intellectual contexts, their primary works, their interpretive principles, and their broader historical significance.

Christian Reading

Christian Reading
Author: Blossom Stefaniw
Publisher: University of California Press
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2019-05-21
Genre: History
ISBN: 0520300610

Uncovered in 1941 near Cairo, the Tura papyri brought to light numerous works attributed to Didymus the Blind, including commentaries and grammatical lessons on the Psalms and Ecclesiastes. Previously thought to reflect exercises in exegesis or instruction in virtue, the lessons include 300 authentic student questions, demonstrating that grammar in late antiquity was based not on Homer or Menander, but on the Old Testament. Blossom Stefaniew argues that these lessons constitute an unusual instance of non-confessional reading and study of the Bible, directed at conveying general knowledge of the linguistic, moral, physical and social orders to young people. Grammar was about knowledge of the general order of things, not only how to read and speak well, but how to behave properly and know what is appropriate. Didymus’s work epitomizes this transformation of education and civic culture, raising a claim that language, comportment, and common sense were governed by a Christian order. By reanalyzing the paradigms of religion and pedagogy, Christian Reading intervenes in existing scholarship by focusing on the history of Christianity as part of the history of reading, study, and scholarship.

Monastic Education in Late Antiquity

Monastic Education in Late Antiquity
Author: Lillian I. Larsen
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 411
Release: 2018-08-23
Genre: History
ISBN: 1107194954

Redefines the role assigned education in the history of monasticism, by re-situating monasticism in the history of education.

Mantissa

Mantissa
Author: Jonathan Barnes
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 779
Release: 2015
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0198709285

Mantissa is the fourth (and last) volume of Jonathan Barnes' collected essays on ancient philosophy. It contains twenty-three papers on a diverse range of subjects, from the size of the sun to Plato and Aristotle in Victorian Oxford. One of the essays is new, and the others are all retouched or revised; six are newly translated into English.

Origen: Philosophy of History & Eschatology

Origen: Philosophy of History & Eschatology
Author: Panayiotis Tzamalikos
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 516
Release: 2007-05-31
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9047428692

A common accusation made against Origen is that he dissolves history into intellectual abstraction and that his eschatology (if this is recognized at all) is notoriously obscure. In this new work, the author draws on an impressive range of bibliography to consider Origen’s Philosophy of History and Eschatology in the widest context of facts, documents and streams of thought, including Classical and Late Antiquity Greek Philosophy, Gnosticism, Hebraism and Patristic Thought, both before Origen and well after his death. Against claims that he causes history to evaporate into barren idealism, his thought is shown to be firmly grounded on his particular vision of historical occurences. Confronting assertions that Origen has no eschatological ideas, his eschatology is shown rather to have made a distinctive mark throughout his works, both explicitly and tacitly. In Origen’s view, history was the foundation of scriptural interpretation, a teleological process determined by factors and functions such as providence – prophecy – promise – expectation – realization – anticipation – faith – anticipation – hope – awaiting for – fulfilment – end. Since 1986, the author has argued for the unpopular thesis that Origen is, in many respects, an anti-Platonist. Nevertheless, the author casts light upon the Aristotelian rationale of Origen’s doctrine of apokatastasis, arguing that its validity is bolstered by ontological rather than historical premises. The extent of Origen’s influence upon what is currently regarded as ‘orthodoxy’ turns out to be far wider and more profound than has hitherto been acknowledged.