Nicanor Stigmatias
Encyclopedia
Nicanor Stigmatias was a celebrated grammarian who lived during the reign of the Roman emperor
Hadrian
in the early 2nd century.
According to the Suda
he came from Alexandria
; according to Stephanus of Byzantium
he came from Hierapolis
.
According to the Suda, he acquired the joking nickname stigmatias (στιγματίας, "punctuated") because his labours were principally directed to punctuation
. From his having devoted much of his attention to the elucidation of Homer
's epics through punctuation, Stephanus also calls him "the new Homer", ὁ νέος Ὅμηρος.
He wrote also on the punctuation of Callimachus
; and a work On punctuation in general (περὶ καθόλου στιγμῆς).
He is copiously quoted in the Venetus A
scholia on the Homeric Iliad
.
(Fabricius
Bibl. Graec. i.368, 517, iii.823, vi.345.)
Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...
Hadrian
Hadrian
Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...
in the early 2nd century.
According to the Suda
Suda
The Suda or Souda is a massive 10th century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Suidas. It is an encyclopedic lexicon, written in Greek, with 30,000 entries, many drawing from ancient sources that have since been lost, and often...
he came from Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
; according to Stephanus of Byzantium
Stephanus of Byzantium
Stephen of Byzantium, also known as Stephanus Byzantinus , was the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled Ethnica...
he came from Hierapolis
Hierapolis
Hierapolis was the ancient Greco-Roman city which sat on top of hot springs located in south western Turkey near Denizli....
.
According to the Suda, he acquired the joking nickname stigmatias (στιγματίας, "punctuated") because his labours were principally directed to punctuation
Punctuation
Punctuation marks are symbols that indicate the structure and organization of written language, as well as intonation and pauses to be observed when reading aloud.In written English, punctuation is vital to disambiguate the meaning of sentences...
. From his having devoted much of his attention to the elucidation of Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
's epics through punctuation, Stephanus also calls him "the new Homer", ὁ νέος Ὅμηρος.
He wrote also on the punctuation of Callimachus
Callimachus
Callimachus was a native of the Greek colony of Cyrene, Libya. He was a noted poet, critic and scholar at the Library of Alexandria and enjoyed the patronage of the Egyptian–Greek Pharaohs Ptolemy II Philadelphus and Ptolemy III Euergetes...
; and a work On punctuation in general (περὶ καθόλου στιγμῆς).
He is copiously quoted in the Venetus A
Venetus A
Venetus A is the more common [or original] name for the tenth century manuscript catalogued in the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice as Codex Marcianus Graecus 454, now 822....
scholia on the Homeric Iliad
Iliad
The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
.
(Fabricius
Johann Albert Fabricius
Johann Albert Fabricius was a German classical scholar and bibliographer.-Biography:Fabricius was born at Leipzig, son of Werner Fabricius, director of music in the church of St. Paul at Leipzig, who was the author of several works, the most important being Deliciae Harmonicae...
Bibl. Graec. i.368, 517, iii.823, vi.345.)
Editions
- Scholia on the Iliad:
Erbse, H.Hartmut ErbseHartmut Erbse was a German classical philologist.-Life:The son of a dentist from Thüringen, Erbse studied classical philology in Hamburg, where he was well known for his lively hat-wear and received his doctorate in 1940...
1969-88, Scholia Graeca in Homeri Iliadem, 7 vols. (Berlin) - Nicanor's work reconstructed from the Iliad scholia:
Friedländer, L.Ludwig FriedländerLudwig Henrich Friedlaender was a German philologist.He studied at the universities of his hometown Königsberg, Leipzig, and Berlin from 1841 to 1845...
1967 [1850], Nicanoris περὶ Ἰλιακῆς στιγμῆς: reliquiae emendatiores, 2nd ed. (Amsterdam)