On the Attribution and Interpretation of the AbT-scholion to Iliad 2.87

The AbT-scholion to Il. 2.87 addresses the transfusion of metaphor that occurs in the first extended simile of the Iliad , when the narrator compares the ‘tribes’ ( ἔθνεα ) of Achaians to ‘tribes’ ( ἔθνεα ) of bees, thereby describing the vehicle in language more appropriate for the tenor. In his edition of the scholia vetera to the Iliad , Hartmut Erbse attributes the first sentence of this scholion to Aristonicus. This article challenges Erbse’s interpretation and attribution of the note and argues on the basis of comparative and manuscript evidence that it should instead be attributed to one of the commentaries from which the exegetical scholia descend

Attribution · Causal chain · Interpretation (philosophy · Metaphor · Sentence · Simile · Byzantine Studies and History · Classical Antiquity Studies · Historical and Linguistic Studies