Medieval and Early Modern Greek Manuscripts : Euripides

Medieval and Early Modern Greek Manuscripts

<p style='text-align: justify;'>This mid-14th century working text manuscript transmits the so-called 'Byzantine triad' of three plays of <i>Euripides</i> (b. c. 480, d. 406 BC), selected for study in Byzantine schools: <i>Hecuba</i>, <i>Orestes</i> and <i>Phoenician Women</i>.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>The first section (<a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(11);return false;'>ff. 1r-33v</a>) comprises <i>Hecuba</i> and <i>Orestes</i> ll. 1-133, and the text follows the recension (i.e. redaction) of the Byzantine grammarian Manuel Moschopoulus (13th-14th century; see Turyn (1957), p. 123-124).</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>The second section (<a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(77);return false;'>ff. 34r-107v</a>) contains <i>Orestes</i> ll. 134-end and <i>Phoenician Women</i>, in the recension of Byzantine grammarian Thomas Magistros (13th-14th century), and is accompanied by scholia of the same scholar.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>The order of quires from ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(91);return false;'>41r</a> to <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(146);return false;'>68v</a> is inverted, and an English hand has noted the order of lines.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>Richard Porson, Regius Professor of Greek at Cambridge (b. 1759, d. 1808), used this manuscript (siglum Cant) in his edition of Euripides' tragedies (see the <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='http://mdz-nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:12-bsb10232794-4'>second edition, 1802</a>).</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>J. Diggle designated the manuscript with siglum Mm in his edition of <i>Phoenician Women</i> (Oxford, 1994); the manuscript is also designated as Zx for scholia by Günther (1995).</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>The fragments that are now<a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-ADD-02753-00001/1'> Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 2753.1</a> once served as endleaves to this manuscript before the present binding.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>Dr Matteo Di Franco</p>