Abstract
Grammar and epigram
Grammarians of antiquity—the precursors later generations of classical philologists—were often the target of attacks by contemporary writers of satiric epigrams. Examples appear in collections of both Greek and Latin epigrams from the Hellenistic period down to the end of antiquity. Grammarians are generally depicted in them as pretentious humbugs, a pest both to poets, whose works they maltreat and fail to understand, and to their immediate audience, who must listen to their endless quarrels on insignificant linguistic details and absurd pseudo-problems of interpretation. The conventional character of these epigrams is obvious, and they seem to belong to a literary tradition with origins in the internal professional rivalry between Pergamene and Alexandrian grammarians, but it cannot be denied that ancient grammarians of all sorts, in particular teachers in the elementary schools, had a low standing in society. Laudatory epigrams on grammarians are scarce. In the epigraphic material there exist about a dozen sepulchral epigrams, composed or commissioned by family or close friends. The only examples appearing in the Greek Anthology stem from the sixth century AD, when grammarians had acquired a respected position in society as guardians of the classical heritage and dispensers of its spiritual treasures.
Grammarians of antiquity—the precursors later generations of classical philologists—were often the target of attacks by contemporary writers of satiric epigrams. Examples appear in collections of both Greek and Latin epigrams from the Hellenistic period down to the end of antiquity. Grammarians are generally depicted in them as pretentious humbugs, a pest both to poets, whose works they maltreat and fail to understand, and to their immediate audience, who must listen to their endless quarrels on insignificant linguistic details and absurd pseudo-problems of interpretation. The conventional character of these epigrams is obvious, and they seem to belong to a literary tradition with origins in the internal professional rivalry between Pergamene and Alexandrian grammarians, but it cannot be denied that ancient grammarians of all sorts, in particular teachers in the elementary schools, had a low standing in society. Laudatory epigrams on grammarians are scarce. In the epigraphic material there exist about a dozen sepulchral epigrams, composed or commissioned by family or close friends. The only examples appearing in the Greek Anthology stem from the sixth century AD, when grammarians had acquired a respected position in society as guardians of the classical heritage and dispensers of its spiritual treasures.
| Original language | Swedish |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Förbistringar och förklaringar. Festskrift till Anders Piltz |
| Editors | Per Beskow, Stephan Borgehammar, Arne Jönsson |
| Publisher | Skåneförlaget |
| Pages | 112-122 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-91-87976-29-2 |
| Publication status | Published - 2008 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015.The record was previously connected to the following departments: Greek (015004007)
Subject classification (UKÄ)
- Languages and Literature