The Descent of Milman: A Darwinian Reading of Parry on the Homeric Formula

R. Drew Griffith — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The opposition of synchrony to diachrony represents a false dichotomy for understanding Parry’s work, for, like Darwin before him, he sought to reconstruct from the present state of the evidence historical developments (in his case the oral, formulaic style). Since no pre-Homeric Greek was known to him, he used the noun-epithet formulae he found in Homer’s finished text and later that of South Slavic oral song. Many aspects of his work echo what Darwin’s Origin of Species has to say about evolution.

Falsificazioni umanistiche in aree periferiche: un caso dal Veneto

Sofia Piacentin — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Falsificazioni umanistiche in aree periferiche: un caso dal Veneto

La ricerca esamina un gruppo di falsi epigrafici in lingua latina, trasmessi in forma manoscritta e attribuiti alla città di Arzignano, Vicenza. Si tratta di testi costruiti sull’onomastica di iscrizioni genuine e ispirati da rinvenimenti archeologici locali. L’indagine rivela che questi falsi epigrafici ebbero un ruolo significativo nella costruzione della memoria collettiva di alcuni luoghi del territorio vicentino. In particolare, i testi contribuirono alla costruzione di leggende popolari legate all’esistenza di un’arce del dio Giano ad Arzignano, finalizzata a dar lustro alle origini del paese tra il XIV e il XVI secolo. Infine, l’analisi testuale suggerisce che la diffusione e la conoscenza dei testi classici in età umanistica nella provincia di Vicenza fu notevole, anche grazie al lavoro dei maestri di grammatica, probabili autori di questi falsi.

Humanistic forgeries in peripheral areas: a case from Veneto

This work examines a group of fake Latin inscriptions, recorded by the manuscript tradition, allegedly found in Arzignano, Vicenza, northeastern Italy. These texts were written using names found in genuine inscriptions and were also inspired by local archaeological findings. These inscriptions played a significant role in the making of the collective memory of some places in the Vicenza region. Some of these fakes were used to make up local legends linked to the existence of a fort of the god Janus at Arzignano, which aimed at dignifying the origins of this town, between the XIV and XVI centuries. The textual analysis suggests that the knowledge of the classics in the province of Vicenza, during the age of Humanism, was remarkable, thanks also to the work of grammar teachers, who might have been behind these forgeries.

History of Classical Scholarship

The Descent of Milman: A Darwinian Reading of Parry on the Homeric Formula

Falsificazioni umanistiche in aree periferiche: un caso dal Veneto