Medieval and Early Modern Greek Manuscripts : Pindar's Olympic Odes and Lykophron's Alexandra

Pindar's Olympic Odes and Lykophron's Alexandra (Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.1.73)

This manuscript, probably copied in the mid-16th century, contains ten of Pindar's Olympic Odes and Lykophron's Alexandra. The Odes present here are the first ten of the set of fourteen surviving poems composed by the Theban poet in the 5th century BCE to celebrate victors at the Olympic games. The Alexandra is a long poem framed as a prophecy of Cassandra, relating the deeds of heroes of the Trojan War, traditionally attributed to the 4th-3rd-century BCE tragedian Lykophron of Chalkis.

These two items of content were copied by different scribes and separated by a long run of blank folios. Both were written on widely spaced lines in order to accommodate interlinear and marginal scholia, which clarify and comment on the text. The scholia accompanying the Alexandra belong to the collection organised by the 12th-century Byzantine scholar John Tzetzes.

The presence in a Greek note on f. i verso of a name apparently containing the Venetian honorific Miser suggests that the manuscript may have spent time in a Greek population under Venetian rule.

Dr Christopher Wright

Information about this document

Physical Location: Trinity College Library
Classmark: Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.1.73
Alternative Identifier(s): Diktyon 11969
Subject(s): Poetry, Ancient
Date of Creation: mid-16th century
Language(s): Greek
Former Owner(s): Gale, Roger, 1672-1744
Extent: Codex iii + 2 + 222 + i Leaf height: 180 mm, width: 110 mm.
Collation:
The manuscript consists of 27 quires, of which one is of fourteen folios, two are quinia, one is a binion and the rest are quaternia.
- Quires 1-13⁸ ff. 1-104
- Quire 14¹⁴ ff. 105-118
- Quire 15^10-1 ff. 119-127 The fifth folio has been cancelled, without loss of text
- Quires 16-21⁸ ff. 128-175
- Quires 22-23¹⁰ ff. 176-195
- Quires 24-26⁸ ff. 196-219
- Quire 27^4-1 ff. 220-222 The last folio has been lost, without loss of text
1-13⁸ 14¹⁴ 15^10-1 (5th leaf excised) 16-21⁸ 22-23¹⁰ 24-26⁸There are quire signatures in Greek on the first recto and last verso of each quire, in the middle of the lower margin. Some have been partially cropped when the manuscript was bound and others lost entirely.
Material: ff. 1-8 Western paper, folded in duodecimo. Watermark: Unidentified motif ( Watermark height: c. 45 mm, width: 45 mm. ) in the gutter.ff. 17-24 Western paper, folded in duodecimo. Watermark: Bird ( Watermark height: c. 65 mm, width: c. 50 mm. ) in the gutter.ff. 25-48 Western paper, folded in duodecimo. Watermark: Bird ( Watermark height: c. 60 mm, width: c. 45 mm. ) in the gutter.ff. ff. 49-64, 144-195 Western paper, folded in duodecimo. Watermark: Hat ( Watermark height: 53 mm, width: 43 mm. ) in the gutter, similar to Briquet 3407. This example is dated to 1523-1553.ff. 65-118, 196-222 Western paper, folded in duodecimo. Watermark: Anchor ( Watermark height: c. 62 mm, width: 40 mm. ) in the gutter, similar to Mošin 1138-1139, 1142-1143, 1150-1152. These examples are dated to 1550-1565.
Format: Codex
Condition: In good condition. Some areas of dirt, typically in the lower outer corners of the leaves where the volume was held. Water damage on ff. 127v-128r (not affecting the text), ff. 105v-106r (blanks), 107v-108r. Some leaves remain uncut or partially uncut along the upper edge: for example, ff. 73-74, 79-80, 99-100. The same is true of the endleaves ff. [b-c].
Binding:
18th-century binding with grey paper covering over couched-laminate boards, with a white parchment spine and plain pastedowns. The classmark appears on the spine on patches.
Binding height: 116 mm, width: 85 mm, depth: 45 mm.
Script:
ff. 1r-70r were copied by Hand A in mixed minuscule script with variable slant, in black ink, with moderate variation in letter size.
Syllabic abbreviations and superscript word endings appear throughout the line. Breathings are round and mute iota is subscript. Accents are sometimes joined to breathings and abbreviations.
The modern nu and sigma telikon are present.
Punctuation used includes the middle point, lower comma and full stop.
Interlinear scholia are written in the same style in red ink.
ff. 107r-194r were copied by Hand B in mixed minuscule script, slanting to the right, in black ink, with moderate variation in letter size.
Syllabic abbreviations and superscript word endings appear throughout the line. Breathings are round and mute iota is subscript. Accents are sometimes joined to breathings, letters and abbreviations.
The modern eta, modern nu, loop epsilon and sigma telikon are present.
Punctuation used includes the middle point, lower and middle commas, question mark and full stop.
Interlinear scholia are written in the same style in red ink.
Foliation:
The manuscript is foliated with the numbers [a-c] + I-II + 1-222 + [d], in Arabic and Roman numerals, in pencil, recto, upper right.
Layout: ff. 1r-70r A single column of 6-12 lines. Written height: 50-90 mm, width: 50 mm. Ruled in hardpoint, frame only, though this is not always visible. ff. 107r-194r A single column of 5-9 lines. Written height: 46-71 mm, width: 45 mm.
Decoration: The beginning of each of the Odes of Pindar is preceded by a simple plaited headpiece in black ink (ff. 1r, 10r, 21r, 26r, 28v).
The Odes on ff. 10r, 21r, 26r and 28v begin with ornamented minor initials in red ink. That on f. 107r begins with a small and simple minor initial in coloured ink, now faded.
The Ode on f. 1r begins with an ornamented minor initial in black ink.
Additions:
There are notes in Greek by various hands on ff. i verso-ii recto and 219v-222r, including on f. i verso the names Miser Gianni Alivizi, Evrantzo and Antoni Kokini: "Μυρσερ Τζάνι Ἀλιβίζη", "Ευράντζω", "Ἀντώνι Κοκίνη".
The former classmarks L.1 and 392 are written on f. i verso.
Origin: The manuscript was probably copied in the mid-16th century, as suggested by the watermarks. This is consistent with the style of script.
Acquisition: Donated by the antiquary Roger Gale (1672-1744), in 1738.
Funding: The Polonsky Foundation
Author(s) of the Record: Christopher Wright
Bibliography:
James, M.R., The western manuscripts in the library of Trinity College: a descriptive catalogue, 4 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1902) 3.
Irigoin, Jean, Histoire du texte de Pindare (Paris: C. Klincksieck, 1952).

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Olympia (image 11, page 1r) Blank folios (image 150, page 70v) Alexandra (image 217, page 107r) Scholia in Lycophronem (scholia vetera et recentiora partim Isaac et Joannis Tzetzae) (image 217, page 107r) Blank folios (image 392, page 194v)

Information about this document

Physical Location: Trinity College Library
Classmark: Cambridge, Trinity College, MS O.1.73
Alternative Identifier(s): Diktyon 11969
Subject(s): Poetry, Ancient
Date of Creation: mid-16th century
Language(s): Greek
Former Owner(s): Gale, Roger, 1672-1744
Extent: Codex iii + 2 + 222 + i Leaf height: 180 mm, width: 110 mm.
Collation:
The manuscript consists of 27 quires, of which one is of fourteen folios, two are quinia, one is a binion and the rest are quaternia.
- Quires 1-13⁸ ff. 1-104
- Quire 14¹⁴ ff. 105-118
- Quire 15^10-1 ff. 119-127 The fifth folio has been cancelled, without loss of text
- Quires 16-21⁸ ff. 128-175
- Quires 22-23¹⁰ ff. 176-195
- Quires 24-26⁸ ff. 196-219
- Quire 27^4-1 ff. 220-222 The last folio has been lost, without loss of text
1-13⁸ 14¹⁴ 15^10-1 (5th leaf excised) 16-21⁸ 22-23¹⁰ 24-26⁸There are quire signatures in Greek on the first recto and last verso of each quire, in the middle of the lower margin. Some have been partially cropped when the manuscript was bound and others lost entirely.
Material: ff. 1-8 Western paper, folded in duodecimo. Watermark: Unidentified motif ( Watermark height: c. 45 mm, width: 45 mm. ) in the gutter.ff. 17-24 Western paper, folded in duodecimo. Watermark: Bird ( Watermark height: c. 65 mm, width: c. 50 mm. ) in the gutter.ff. 25-48 Western paper, folded in duodecimo. Watermark: Bird ( Watermark height: c. 60 mm, width: c. 45 mm. ) in the gutter.ff. ff. 49-64, 144-195 Western paper, folded in duodecimo. Watermark: Hat ( Watermark height: 53 mm, width: 43 mm. ) in the gutter, similar to Briquet 3407. This example is dated to 1523-1553.ff. 65-118, 196-222 Western paper, folded in duodecimo. Watermark: Anchor ( Watermark height: c. 62 mm, width: 40 mm. ) in the gutter, similar to Mošin 1138-1139, 1142-1143, 1150-1152. These examples are dated to 1550-1565.
Format: Codex
Condition: In good condition. Some areas of dirt, typically in the lower outer corners of the leaves where the volume was held. Water damage on ff. 127v-128r (not affecting the text), ff. 105v-106r (blanks), 107v-108r. Some leaves remain uncut or partially uncut along the upper edge: for example, ff. 73-74, 79-80, 99-100. The same is true of the endleaves ff. [b-c].
Binding:
18th-century binding with grey paper covering over couched-laminate boards, with a white parchment spine and plain pastedowns. The classmark appears on the spine on patches.
Binding height: 116 mm, width: 85 mm, depth: 45 mm.
Script:
ff. 1r-70r were copied by Hand A in mixed minuscule script with variable slant, in black ink, with moderate variation in letter size.
Syllabic abbreviations and superscript word endings appear throughout the line. Breathings are round and mute iota is subscript. Accents are sometimes joined to breathings and abbreviations.
The modern nu and sigma telikon are present.
Punctuation used includes the middle point, lower comma and full stop.
Interlinear scholia are written in the same style in red ink.
ff. 107r-194r were copied by Hand B in mixed minuscule script, slanting to the right, in black ink, with moderate variation in letter size.
Syllabic abbreviations and superscript word endings appear throughout the line. Breathings are round and mute iota is subscript. Accents are sometimes joined to breathings, letters and abbreviations.
The modern eta, modern nu, loop epsilon and sigma telikon are present.
Punctuation used includes the middle point, lower and middle commas, question mark and full stop.
Interlinear scholia are written in the same style in red ink.
Foliation:
The manuscript is foliated with the numbers [a-c] + I-II + 1-222 + [d], in Arabic and Roman numerals, in pencil, recto, upper right.
Layout: ff. 1r-70r A single column of 6-12 lines. Written height: 50-90 mm, width: 50 mm. Ruled in hardpoint, frame only, though this is not always visible. ff. 107r-194r A single column of 5-9 lines. Written height: 46-71 mm, width: 45 mm.
Decoration: The beginning of each of the Odes of Pindar is preceded by a simple plaited headpiece in black ink (ff. 1r, 10r, 21r, 26r, 28v).
The Odes on ff. 10r, 21r, 26r and 28v begin with ornamented minor initials in red ink. That on f. 107r begins with a small and simple minor initial in coloured ink, now faded.
The Ode on f. 1r begins with an ornamented minor initial in black ink.
Additions:
There are notes in Greek by various hands on ff. i verso-ii recto and 219v-222r, including on f. i verso the names Miser Gianni Alivizi, Evrantzo and Antoni Kokini: "Μυρσερ Τζάνι Ἀλιβίζη", "Ευράντζω", "Ἀντώνι Κοκίνη".
The former classmarks L.1 and 392 are written on f. i verso.
Origin: The manuscript was probably copied in the mid-16th century, as suggested by the watermarks. This is consistent with the style of script.
Acquisition: Donated by the antiquary Roger Gale (1672-1744), in 1738.
Funding: The Polonsky Foundation
Author(s) of the Record: Christopher Wright
Bibliography:
James, M.R., The western manuscripts in the library of Trinity College: a descriptive catalogue, 4 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1902) 3.
Irigoin, Jean, Histoire du texte de Pindare (Paris: C. Klincksieck, 1952).

Section shown in images 11 to 149

Title: Olympia
Author(s): Pindar
Note(s): Odes 1-10; The text of Odes 1-5 (ff. 1r-31v) is accompanied by interlinear scholia in red ink and marginal scholia in black ink; interlinear scholia in black ink have been added by a different hand to parts of Odes 7 and 8 (ff. 50r-50v, 55v); TLG 0033.001
Excerpts:
Rubric: f. 1r Πινδάρου Ὀλυμπινίκα Ἱέρωνι Συρακουσίῳ κέλητι
Incipit: f. 1r Ἄριστον μὲν ὕδωρ· ὁ δὲ χρυσὸς, αἰθώμενον πῦρ
Explicit: f. 70r Γανυμήδει θάνατον ἄλαλκε σὺν Κυπρογενεῖ

Section shown in images 150 to 216

Title: Blank folios
Note(s): There are later notes on ff. 70v and 106v.

Section shown in images 217 to 391

Title: Alexandra
Author(s): Lykophron
Note(s): TLG 0033.001
Excerpts:
Incipit: f. 107r Λέξω τὰ πάντα νητρεκῶς ἁ(!) μ’ἱστορεῖς
Explicit: f. 194r σώζων παλαιὰν Βεβρύκων παγκληρίαν

Section shown in images 217 to 391

Title: Scholia in Lycophronem (scholia vetera et recentiora partim Isaac et Joannis Tzetzae)
Note(s): Scholia appear between the lines in red ink and in the margins in black ink; TLG 5030.001
Excerpts:
Rubric: f. 107r Βίβλος μὲν τελέθουσα Λυκόφρονος ἀσματακόμπου ἦν ἀλαὸς προπάροιθεν ἀδερκέα δεγρμ'ἀτ'ἐχουσα(!) νῦν δέ με δορκαλέην Ἑρμείῃ θήκατο τέχνῃ, Τζέτζης Ἰσαάκιος ἐΰστροφα πείσματα λύσας