The Shelves · Epic and hexameter poetry

Edition (diorthosis) of Homer, and Homeric Glosses

Known · Attestedin Alexandria?Conjecturedvery likely class

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I · The entry, in his form

In the table of Epic and hexameter poetry: “critical edition”

Conjecturedvery likely class

Zenodotus of Ephesus

c. 330–260 BCE. The Suda places him under Ptolemy I and says he headed the libraries in Alexandria; no earlier head is known, so he is counted the first. He made the first critical edition (diorthosis) of Homer, marked suspect lines with the obelos, and compiled a glossary of rare words.

Edition (diorthosis) of Homer, and Homeric Glosses

Opening words not preserved.

Length: not counted

Above, his entry form, filled from what we know. Below, ours.

II · Does it survive? Where to read it

Survives in fragments

Known through hundreds of readings reported in the Homeric scholia.

Was it in Alexandria?

Known · Attested

Written in Alexandria.

In the cupboard: written at Alexandria by a scholar or court writer a source places there.

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III · In the show

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IV · Sources and the living entry

Ancient references (2)
  • Suda ζ 74
  • Scholia to the Iliad (Venetus A)
Modern scholarship (3)
  • R. Pfeiffer, History of Classical Scholarship from the Beginnings to the End of the Hellenistic Age (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968)
  • M. L. West, Studies in the Text and Transmission of the Iliad (Munich: K. G. Saur, 2001)
  • F. Montanari, S. Matthaios and A. Rengakos (eds.), Brill's Companion to Ancient Greek Scholarship (Leiden: Brill, 2015)

Entry checked 31 Oct 2026 · no corrections · Suggest a correction ›

EDITION (DIORTHOSIS) OF HOMER, AND HOMERIC GLOSSES

Beside it in the cupboard