The thesis consists of a critical analysis of the scholia Demosthenica on the First Olynthiac. The merits of the scholia are discussed through an examination of the different traditions of scholia on the speech. The thesis also contains a discussion of the value of the prolegomena Ulpiani and its relationship to the scholia proper. It is apparent that the author of the prolegomena was aware of different interpretations of the speech which have, in some cases, been preserved in the scholia. The sources of the scholia are examined and certain individuals have been identified as posible authors. Of particular interest is the possiblity that Menander Rhetor may be the author of a long unified commentary which is found in one codex. The influence of the Alexandrians appears to be less significant than is widely held. A summary of the development of commentaries and the function of scholia within that tradition is also provided. The thesis offers a complement to general works on rhetoric. The comments contained in the scholia and prolegomena are found to be perceptive and provide a fresh approach to the study of Demosthenes' speeches. There are clear indications that the scholia Demosthenica have been undervalued in the past.

An epinician ode is not only praise for a laudandus but also a form of civic discourse in which the laudandus conducts a debate inviting the audience to make a judgement. This enquiry investigates how the eighteen epinician odes composed by Pindar and Bacchylides for Sicilian laudandi accommodate the political and social aspirations of the patrons commissioning them. It also investigates how rhetoric contributes to the fulfilment of the encomiastic purpose in those odes. This enquiry situates the epinician odes in their proper historical context. It contrasts its findings with those of others. It concludes that in odes composed for laudandi other than tyrants the purpose of the debate is more often than not to counter suspicions which fellow citizens may harbour against the laudandus. However, the laudandi concerned appear to have been problematic already before they entered Panhellenic competition, and not, as some scholars think, because of their newly acquired status as Panhellenic victor. In particular, Pindar’s fifth and sixth Olympian odes are poems in which the suspicions of others are apparently countered as a matter of urgency. At the other end of the spectrum is Pindar’s first Nemean ode, arguably an ode composed for an unproblematic laudandus. This enquiry concludes that the presence of strategies of inclusion or exclusion is not determined by the status of the laudandus. It further concludes that odes composed for tyrants do not necessarily reflect a Herrschaftssystem: rather elements of Polisideologie are often used in these odes in the debate with the audience. Hence the variety of patron message employed in epinician odes is much greater than has hitherto been thought. Finally, this enquiry makes some observations on the development of odes composed for the Sicilian tyrants over time and links the observations with historical circumstances surrounding the Deinomenid and Emmenid tyrannies.

This work is the first translation into a modern language of book 1 of the Libri Medicinales of Aëtius of Amida, a Byzantine physician who wrote in the middle of the 6th century AD. It comprises a lengthy preface, describing the analysis of pharmacological materials in terms of the science of the time, followed by 418 chapters, listing such materials obtained from plants. Commentary is to be found in the Introduction, as well as a running commentary after each part of the preface and each chapter. As Aëtius’ book 1 is a synopsis of the plants section of Galen’s On the Mixtures and Capacities of Simple Drugs, particular attention is paid to comparison between Aëtius’ work and that of Galen. Evaluation of the efficacy and safety of the ancient drugs in the light of modern scientific knowledge, a relatively neglected area of research, has also been given serious consideration.

This thesis will examine Horace’s two books of Satires and his collection of Epodes and will look at three main aspects of the collections: how the three volumes are connected through a shared dialogue with each other, the issue of genre and the task of literary self- fashioning against a problematic political landscape. In particular, I will look at the influence of Lucilius on Horace and show how Horace’s reworking of Lucilian satire plays a vital role in his presentation of himself and his development as a poet. I will examine the Lucilian allusions and intertextuality found within Horace’s work and will show how Horace’s treatment of iambic poetry is connected to his refashioning of Lucilian satire. Horace’s first book of Satires, where the poet announces himself with his updated version of Lucilius’ genre, works as a vital reference point for the following two collections. I will show how the three volumes are linked through repeated references to and echoes of each other as Horace employs his previous work for different effects throughout the collections. I will examine how Horace continually uses what has gone before – either his own work or that of his generic predecessor Lucilius – to progress and establish himself as a poet. I will also consider the political context of Horace’s early work and the effect of this on Horace’s establishment as a poet and his handling of different genres. I will show how Horace adopts and adapts satire and iambic poetry to create literary works appropriate for both the poetic and political tastes of his time.

Aristophanes allows Euripides to interrupt constantly. In Athenian comedy of the fifth century they are on stage together, both literally and figuratively. Despite Aristophanes’ comedies having a meaning of their own, Euripides’ lines are so clearly visible underneath them that they can only be described as the verbal equivalent of a palimpsest. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a palimpsest as a manuscript or piece of writing on which later writing has superimposed or effaced earlier writing, or something reused or altered but still bearing visible traces of its earlier form. It is clear that a palimpsest is the product of layering that results in something as new, whilst still bearing traces of the original. Dillon describes the palimpsest as " ... an involuted phenomenon where otherwise unrelated texts are involved and entangled, intricately interwoven, interrupting and inhabiting each other". Aristophanes takes texts, particularly those of Euripides, which may otherwise have been unrelated, and weaves them together to form something new. I will show that in a number of cases Aristophanes offers scenes that have already been performed in Euripides’ plays but lays his own plot over the tragedian’s, whilst at the same time drawing the audiences’ attention to the original. The nature of this borrowing overwrites Kristeva’s theory of ‘intertextuality’ and provides a new and more apposite name for the permutation of texts in which the geno-text corresponds to infinite possibilities of palimpsestuous textuality (and the pheno-text to a singular text, which contains echoes of what it could have been). The plurality of Euripides’ texts, whilst engendering those of Aristophanes, constantly interrupts them. Through the consideration of ancient and modern literary theory and by a close analysis of Aristophanes’ and Euripides’ plays, this thesis sets out to offer a new reading of the relationship between these two poets. It shows that they were engaged in a dialogue of reciprocal influence that came to a head at the end of the Peloponnesian War.

The Judgement of Paris has been one of the most influential and popular myths throughout antiquity. Significant work has been done by previous scholars on the collection and analysis of artistic representations of the Judgement. This thesis is also looking into the Judgement of Paris in ancient Greek art, but it mainly focuses on the collection and analysis of the references to the myth in Greek literature from the eighth century B.C. to the second century A.D. Special attention is paid to recurring themes and ideological implications that the Judgement story raises, as well as to the interaction between those themes and specific genres. The detailed account and analysis of the references available sheds light not only on the perception of the myth itself, but also on conceptions of morality, beauty, gods, free choice, responsibility and even humour in antiquity. Through this thesis it is possible to see the transformations of the Judgement of Paris throughout centuries of literature, from its very first appearance in Homer’s Iliad to the enjoyable world of Lucian, realising the vast possibilities of this mythological tradition.

The commentary examines the first 192 verses of Thebaid 6, which describe the preparation and events before the funeral of Ophletes/Archemorus. The commentary explores the cultural effect and “affect” of the text. Philological and intertextual issues are discussed throughout. Textual problems are treated where appropriate. The introduction provides an overview of major themes, concepts and contexts. In the commentary itself, discursive notes introduce shorter lemmata that encompass textual, metrical, linguistic and cultural-historical issues as well as literary interpretation. Theb.6.1-24 describes the summoning of competitors to the first games at Nemea, places those games within the tradition of the other Panhellenic games and finishes with the first simile in the book. The commentary discusses the epinician, aetiological and anachronistic features of the language here and introduces the concept of the “hanging simile”. vv. 25-53 describe an “epic” Dawn, detail the lamenting in and around the palace and summarize the consolation speech of Adrastus. The commentary examines how reader expectations are defeated and how Roman and Greek rituals merge at this point. The rhetorical features of consolatio and the ineffectiveness of oratory to console are considered. vv. 54-83 focus is on the funeral couch of Opheltes. The commentary discusses the metapoetic comment in this passage; also the use of ekphrasis and the emotional significance of the gifts placed on the pyre. vv. 84-117 detail the cutting down of the grove for the funeral pyre, following aspects of the traditional topos and finishing on a second simile, the latter anachronistically describing direptio. The commentary draws out the Greek and indigenous Italian elements of this passage and shows how the language foreshadows future conflict. The animated and hyperreal nature of the landscape is explained in the commentary. vv. 118-134 the gods above and below are given equal altars and the funeral procession starts. The commentary discusses the infernal gods in the context of the poem, elucidating Roman and “Oriental”, as well as Greek, motifs. vv.135-192 Eurydice, mother of Opheltes begins a lament but, on seeing Hypsipyle, she turns it into a recriminatory speech. The commentary examines her speech as an intertextual node around which other mothers, distraught and guilty because of a lost child, can be seen. Her speech, language and non-verbal communication are then associated with these intertexts. Focus is also upon how the speech changes in terms of tone, elevation and erratic structure, and illuminates the historical/eternal conflict between birth mother and wet-nurse. The generic relationship between epic narrative and dramatic structures, such as tragedy and mime are made throughout the commentary especially at 25-192.

It has been long acknowledged that Lucian employs various forms of allusion to the Iliad and Odyssey across his writings. This thesis builds on previous studies — which have produced taxonomic analyses of allusion, (mis)quotation and parody — to explore more fully the intertextual richness and complexity of Lucian’s writing that such approaches can paradoxically conceal. Works such as Charon, Hercules, Alexander and several of the miniature dialogues are examined in depth, especially those which have received less attention previously and those in which Lucian can be most clearly seen engaging with the Homeric text, whether at the level of whole scenes, through quotation of short passages, by the construction of parodies and centos, or in drawing attention to lexical details. This examination reveals how such techniques are used to signal Lucian’s close familiarity with the author who was the ultimate talisman of sophistic paideia. Lucian is revealed as re-reading and re-presenting Homer in clever, mischievous, even ‘postmodern’ ways to produce striking effects which make his work both accessible and amusing to ancient audiences across a range of levels of education, from those who knew the main features of Homeric stories and language to those who were intimately familiar with allegorical interpretations of Homer and Alexandrian scholarly controversies over textual minutiae. This is complemented by analysis of Lucian’s presentation of material from the biographical traditions about Homer as man and poet, a topic which has been less studied but which leads to consideration of the role played by Homer both in Lucian’s reflections on truth and lying and in the examination, by this Greek-speaking Syrian, of cultural relations between Greeks and non-Greeks in the cosmopolitan Mediterranean world of the second century.

Before the publication of Professor Richard Hunter’s Cambridge Classics edition in August 2015, the last large-scale commentary on Apollonius Rhodius’ Argonautica Book 4 was that of Enrico Livrea in Italian in 1973, though mention should be made of the Budé volumes edited by Vian (1974–81). During this period the literary study of the poem has undergone a virtual revolution. The present thesis is an attempt to update and advance the work of the poem’s previous editors. It is intended as a prolegomenon to a commentary on the whole Book. Apollonius’ epic is an outstanding example of Hellenistic poetic practice, embodying all of its allusive qualities. It draws on the entire tradition of previous Greek literature, while maintaining an innovative point-of-view. This commentary tries to elucidate Apollonius’ experiments with respect to all aspects of style and narration, viewing him both as an important literary critic, closely involved in maintaining the inheritance of Classical Greece, and as a creative artist intent on developing an individual voice. The section chosen for commentary exhibits many aspects of Apollonius’ artistry: passages of atmospheric description, action sequences which speed the narrative, speeches, in some of which irony predominates while in others rhetoric prevails, similes which often contain fine images and a macabre climax of chilling power which achieves its effects through a number of striking and original details. There are, therefore, many reasons why the poem as a whole was enormously influential on Latin epic, especially on Virgil’s Aeneid, and why the story and Apollonius’ methods of retelling it enjoyed such an important reception in the European tradition.

Plautus’ Epidicus focuses on the titular cunning slave, who is on stage for all but 15 of these first 305 lines, and his attempts to rescue himself from certain punishment, after his initial scheme almost collapses with news of a change of heart from his young master. He brings about a dizzying number of deceptions to extricate himself, eventually winning his freedom at the expense of virtually every other character. This commentary aims to recuperate what has all too often been seen as one of Plautus’ minor works, by demonstrating how several alleged incongruities have been misinterpreted, how Epidicus controls and shapes the many plots and plans of this breakneck play, and how the compactness of this drama makes for a unique and compelling comedy. The focus is on the performance and dramatic value of Epidicus, bringing in approaches which have developed since George Duckworth’s 1940 commentary, the last in English. The format enables both line-by-line discussion of the text and approaches to sections and scenes as a whole. Linguistic, metrical and textual discussion are brought to the play anew, building on recent research to not merely explain what the quirks of Plautus’ language, metre and text are, but what it is they do. In all, this thesis aims to fulfil Malcolm Willcock’s desideratum for ‘any general view that this is actually a well conceived, witty and enjoyable play’ – and indeed to provide not merely a general view of its worth, but a detailed and thorough approach to its excellence.