Eustathius of Thessalonica

Eustathius of Thessalonica ( Greek medium Ευστάθιος Θεσσαλονίκης * 1110, † by 1195) was an eminent Byzantine scholar and cleric.

Life

Eustathius was a deacon at the Hagia Sophia and rhetorician. In his old age he was probably in 1178 ( not, as sometimes stated, 1174 ) appointed Archbishop of Thessalonica, though he should be a bishop in Myra originally. Through an intrigue he had briefly after Constantine Opel escape, but returned to Thessalonica, where he died around 1195.

Eustathius was a well- educated and very versatile interested scholar who seemed to have an almost encyclopedic knowledge. He is regarded as the most outstanding Byzantine scholar of his time. Eustathius wrote numerous works, including, among others, a critical publication for monasticism, panegyrics on emperors and other personalities, letters, theological works, and writings on ancient works.

His literary work is important for the ancient literature mainly because of the comments to Pindar, to Dionysius Periegetes and particularly to the Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer. In the most extensive extant Homer comment he resorted to all areas of Greek literature, and thus handed down also very old, otherwise lost material. His notes are also interesting from a grammatical and linguistic perspective.

Eustathius was also active as a historian and wrote an extant work, which depicts the Norman conquest of Thessalonica in 1185.

Expenditure

  • M. Van Der Valk (eds.): Eustathius. Commentarii ad Homeri Iliadem pertinentes ad fidem Codicis Laurentiani Editi. Vol 1-4. Brill, Leiden 1971, 1976, 1979, 1987; 2 ed 1997.
  • Johann Gottfried Stallbaum (ed.): Eustathii Archiepiscopi Thessalonicensis Commentarii ad Homeri Iliadem. 7 vols, Weigel, Leipzig from 1825 to 1830.
  • Johann Gottfried Stallbaum (ed.): Eustathii Archiepiscopi Thessalonicensis Commentarii ad Homeri Odysseam. Weigel, Leipzig 1825-1826; Reproduction Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2010, digitized
  • Eustathiu archiepiskopu Thessalonikês parekbolai ice TEN Homēru Iliad kai Odysseian. 4 vols bladus, Rome 1542-50. In this: Matthew Devarius: Tabula, seu Index facillimus et utilissimus eorum, quae in Commentariis Eustathii in Iliadem et Odysseam continentur. Anthony bladus, Rome from 1542 to 1550. Reprints: index in Eustathii Commentarios in Homeri Iliadem et Odysseam. Studio Matthaei Devarii. Ad fidem exempli Romani correctior editus. Sumtibus Joann. Aug. Gottl. Weigel, Lipsiae 1828, digitized version (PDF).
  • Athanasios Kambylis (ed.): Eustathius of Thessalonica. Prooimion to Pindarkommentar. Introduction, critical text indices. 2 parts. Göttingen, Vandenhoeck Ruprecht, Göttingen 1997.
  • Athanasios Kambylis (ed.): Eustathius on Pindar Epinikiendichtung. Vandenhoeck Ruprecht, Göttingen 1997
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Schneidewin (ed.): Eustathii Prooemium commentariorum Pindaricorum. Dieterich, Göttingen 1837 digitized
  • R. Stephens: TES oikumenēs periēgēsis. Paris 1547
  • Henry Stephens (ed.): Dionysii Orbis descriptio, annotationibus Eustathii. London 1688 digitized
  • Gottfried Bern Hardy: Dionysius Periegetes Grace et Latine. Weidmann, Leipzig 1828 ( reprint: Olms, Hildesheim 1974)
  • Herbert Hunger ( translator's ): The Normans in Thessalonica. The capture of Thessalonica by the Normans in 1185 AD in the eyewitness account of the Bishop Eustathius. Graz 1955
  • Eustazio di Tessalonica: La espugnazione di Tessalonica. Testo critico introduzione, annotazioni di Stilpon Kyriakidis. Proemio di Bruno Lavagnini, versione italiana di Vincenzo Rotolo. Palermo, 1961 ( Istituto di Studi Siciliano Bizantini e Neoellenici, Testi e monumenti. Testi, 5). (critical text and Italian translation )
  • John R. Melville -Jones ( ed.): Eustathius of Thessalonica. The Capture of Thessaloniki ( Byzantina Australiensia 8). Canberra 1988. (English translation with introduction and commentary )
  • Peter Wirth ( eds.): Eustathii Thessalonicensis Opera minora. Magnam partem inedita. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin and New York 2000 ( Corpus Historiae Fontium Byzantinae, Series Berolinensis, 32).
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