Apollonius Dyscolus
| Apollonius Dyscolus | |
|---|---|
| Born |
2nd century Alexandria |
| Died | 2nd century |
| Occupation | Grammarian |
| Parent(s) | Mnesitheus of Alexandria (father) |
Apollonius Dyscolus (Greek: Ἀπολλώνιος ὁ Δύσκολος; fl. 2nd century AD) is considered one of the greatest of the Greek grammarians.
Life
He was born at Alexandria, son of Mnesitheus. The dates for his life are not known. His son Aelius Herodianus dedicated a work to Marcus Aurelius, which places Apollonius in the early to middle 2nd century.
Nicknamed ὁ δύσκολος, meaning "the Surly or Crabbed or Hard to please", because of his irascible and heavily analytical personality, he lived in the reigns of Hadrian and Antoninus Pius. He spent the greater part of his life in his native city of Alexandria, where he died; he is also said to have visited Rome and attracted the attention of Antoninus. He was the founder of scientific grammar, and is styled by Priscian grammaticorum princeps ("prince of grammarians").[1] He wrote extensively on the parts of speech. Of twenty books named in the Suda, four are extant: on syntax, ed. J. Lallot, 1997,[2] and three smaller treatises: on adverbs, on conjunctions, and on pronouns, ed. Richard Schneider, 1878.[3]
He and his son Aelius Herodianus had an enormous influence on all later grammarians.
References
- ↑ Chisholm 1911.
- ↑ Apollonius Dyscole, De la construction (syntaxe), vol. 1: Introduction, texte et traduction par Jean Lallot, Paris: Librairie philosophique J. VRIN 1997.
- ↑ Apollonii Scripta minora a Richardo Schneidero edita, in Grammatici Graeci pars II Vol. I fasc. 1, Lipsiae: in aedibus B.G. Teubneri 1878. The Περὶ ἀντωνυμίας is found on pp. 3-116; Περὶ ἐπιρρημάτων 119-210; and Περὶ συνδέσμων 213-258. The previous edition of the last two treatises was by August Immanuel Bekker in his Anecdota Graeca vol. II (1816) (Περὶ συνδέσμων pp. 477-526, and Περὶ ἐπιρρημάτων pp. 527-625).
Sources
- Grammatici Graeci, pars secunda, voluminis primi fasc. I (1878); voluminis primi fasc. II (1902; Schneider's notes on vol. I fasc. I;), volumen alterum (1910), volumen tertium (1910), in Teubner series.
- Émile Egger, Apollonius Dyscole (1854)
- Apollonius Dyscole, De la construction (syntaxe), vol. 1: Introduction, texte et traduction par Jean Lallot, Paris: Librairie philosophique J. VRIN 1997.
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Apollonius (the Surly)". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Further reading
- Andreas U. Schmidhauser, "Apollonius Dyscolus. De pronomine pars generalis", PhD thesis, University of Geneva, 2007. Comprehensive critical text with English translation.
External links
- Apollonius Dyscolus – a website dedicated to Apollonius.
- Grecae linguae dialecti, in scholae regiae westmonasteriensis usum (...) praefationem & appendicem ex Apollonii Dyscoli fragmento inedito, J. F. Reitzius (ed.), Hgae-comitis, apud Joannem Neaulme, Biblipolam., 1738.
- Historiae commentitiae liber, sive historiae mirabiles, Guilielmus Xyladrus, Joannes Meursius, Ludovicus Henricus Teucherus (ed.), Lipsiae in bibliopolio gleditschiano, 1792.
- De pronomine liber, Immanuel Bekker (ed.), Berolini, in libraria scholae realis, 1813.
- De constructione orationis libri quatuor, Immanuel Bekker (ed.), Berolini impensis Ge. Reimeri, 1817.