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Grammatik och epigrammatik

Blomqvist, Jerker LU (2008) p.112-122
Abstract
Grammar and epigram

Grammarians of antiquity—the precursors later generations of classical philologists—were often the target of attacks by contemporary writers of satiric epigrams. Examples appear in collections of both Greek and Latin epigrams from the Hellenistic period down to the end of antiquity. Grammarians are generally depicted in them as pretentious humbugs, a pest both to poets, whose works they maltreat and fail to understand, and to their immediate audience, who must listen to their endless quarrels on insignificant linguistic details and absurd pseudo-problems of interpretation. The conventional character of these epigrams is obvious, and they seem to belong to a literary tradition with origins in the internal... (More)
Grammar and epigram

Grammarians of antiquity—the precursors later generations of classical philologists—were often the target of attacks by contemporary writers of satiric epigrams. Examples appear in collections of both Greek and Latin epigrams from the Hellenistic period down to the end of antiquity. Grammarians are generally depicted in them as pretentious humbugs, a pest both to poets, whose works they maltreat and fail to understand, and to their immediate audience, who must listen to their endless quarrels on insignificant linguistic details and absurd pseudo-problems of interpretation. The conventional character of these epigrams is obvious, and they seem to belong to a literary tradition with origins in the internal professional rivalry between Pergamene and Alexandrian grammarians, but it cannot be denied that ancient grammarians of all sorts, in particular teachers in the elementary schools, had a low standing in society. Laudatory epigrams on grammarians are scarce. In the epigraphic material there exist about a dozen sepulchral epigrams, composed or commissioned by family or close friends. The only examples appearing in the Greek Anthology stem from the sixth century AD, when grammarians had acquired a respected position in society as guardians of the classical heritage and dispensers of its spiritual treasures. (Less)
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author
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
categories
Popular Science
host publication
Förbistringar och förklaringar. Festskrift till Anders Piltz
editor
Beskow, Per ; Borgehammar, Stephan and Jönsson, Arne
pages
112 - 122
publisher
Skåneförlaget
ISBN
978-91-87976-29-2
language
Swedish
LU publication?
no
additional info
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Greek (015004007)
id
979249df-a20a-4032-8d53-2de5df6f2d69 (old id 1526854)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 10:35:58
date last changed
2018-11-21 20:59:42
@inbook{979249df-a20a-4032-8d53-2de5df6f2d69,
  abstract     = {{Grammar and epigram<br/><br>
Grammarians of antiquity—the precursors later generations of classical philologists—were often the target of attacks by contemporary writers of satiric epigrams. Examples appear in collections of both Greek and Latin epigrams from the Hellenistic period down to the end of antiquity. Grammarians are generally depicted in them as pretentious humbugs, a pest both to poets, whose works they maltreat and fail to understand, and to their immediate audience, who must listen to their endless quarrels on insignificant linguistic details and absurd pseudo-problems of interpretation. The conventional character of these epigrams is obvious, and they seem to belong to a literary tradition with origins in the internal professional rivalry between Pergamene and Alexandrian grammarians, but it cannot be denied that ancient grammarians of all sorts, in particular teachers in the elementary schools, had a low standing in society. Laudatory epigrams on grammarians are scarce. In the epigraphic material there exist about a dozen sepulchral epigrams, composed or commissioned by family or close friends. The only examples appearing in the Greek Anthology stem from the sixth century AD, when grammarians had acquired a respected position in society as guardians of the classical heritage and dispensers of its spiritual treasures.}},
  author       = {{Blomqvist, Jerker}},
  booktitle    = {{Förbistringar och förklaringar. Festskrift till Anders Piltz}},
  editor       = {{Beskow, Per and Borgehammar, Stephan and Jönsson, Arne}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-87976-29-2}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  pages        = {{112--122}},
  publisher    = {{Skåneförlaget}},
  title        = {{Grammatik och epigrammatik}},
  year         = {{2008}},
}