Aristonicus of
Alexandria (Greek Ἀριστόνικος ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, Aristonikos ho Alexandreus) was a distinguished
Greek grammarian who lived during the reigns of
Augustus and
Tiberius, contemporary with
Strabo.[1] He taught at
Rome, and wrote commentaries and grammatical treatises.[2]
Works
Aristonicus is mentioned as the author of several works, most of which were related to the
Homeric poems.[3]
On the wanderings of Menelaus (περὶ τῆς Μενελάου πλάνης)[1]
On the critical signs of the Iliad and Odyssey (περὶ τῶν σημείων τῆς Ἰλιάδος καὶ Ὀδυσσείας), on the marginal signs by which the Alexandrian critics used to mark suspected or
interpolated verses in the Homeric poems and in
Hesiod's Theogony[4]
On ungrammatical words (ἀσυντάκτων ὀνομάτων βιβλία), a work of six books on irregular grammatical constructions in Homer[5]
These and some other works are all now lost, with the exception of fragments preserved in the passages above referred to. By far the most important fragments of Aristonicus' work are preserved in the scholia of the
Venetus A manuscript of the Iliad.[2]
Editions
Scholia on the Iliad: Erbse, H. 1969–88, Scholia Graeca in Homeri Iliadem, 7 vols. (Berlin)
Aristonicus' work reconstructed from the Iliad scholia: Friedländer, L. 1965 [1853], Aristonici Alexandrini περὶ σημείων Ιλιάδος reliquiae emendatiores, reprint (Amsterdam)
See also
Homeric scholarship – Study of any Homeric topic, especially the Iliad and Odyssey