Life of TzetzesΒίος Τζέτζου
Homer Life-anonymous Life of Tzetzes PDF
The Life of Tzetzes is a brief, anonymous prose biography of the Byzantine scholar and poet John Tzetzes, who was active in Constantinople during the 12th century. As no independent work of this precise title is widely attested, the text is understood to be a short biographical preface, or vita, commonly found in medieval Greek manuscripts preceding an author's collected works. It would have functioned as a paratextual element within the manuscript tradition of Tzetzes's own extensive writings rather than as a standalone literary composition.
The content of such a biography would typically outline the key aspects of Tzetzes's life and career. It would describe his profession as a grammatikos, or teacher, and his struggles to secure patronage in the intellectual milieu of the Komnenian period. The sketch would likely highlight his prolific literary output, particularly his role in preserving and interpreting classical Greek literature through detailed commentaries and through his major didactic poem, the Book of Histories, also known as the Chiliades. Furthermore, it would probably note his reputation for being contentious and his active involvement in the literary and scholarly polemics of his time.
Transmitted within the codices containing Tzetzes's works, this biographical preface would have played a significant role in shaping his posthumous reputation. Tzetzes's writings served as important compendia of mythological, historical, and literary knowledge for later Byzantine and early Renaissance humanist writers. A formal "Life" would have provided an authoritative framework for understanding the author, thereby influencing how his scholarly legacy was received and utilized in subsequent centuries.
| 1 | Ὁ Ὅμηρος ὁ πάνσοφος ἡ θάλασσα τῶν λόγων πλὴν γέμουσα τοῦ νέκταρος οὐχ ἁλμυρῶν ὑδάτων, ἑπτὰ πατρίδων λέγεται τυγχάνειν ἀμφιβόλων. ἑπτὰ πατέρων γέννημα καὶ τούτων ἀμφιβόλων. |
| 2 | σὺ δὲ Σμυρναῖον γίνωσκε τὸν Ὅμηρον ὑπάρχειν, υἱὸν δὲ δὴ τοῦ Μέλητος ὄντα καὶ Κριθηίδος ἐῶ τὰ μυθωδέστερα γονῆς τῆς τούτου λέγειν. διδάσκαλον Ὁμήρου δὲ τὸν Πορναπίδην νόει. σύνευνος ἦν Ὁμήρου δὲ τὴν κλῆσιν Εὐρυδίκη, Γνώστορος εἴτε Πάστορος θυγάτηρ τοῦ Κυμαίου. Σερίφων καὶ Θεόλαος υἱοὶ δὲ τοῦ Ὁμήρου· θυγάτηρ Ἀρσιφόνη δέ, ἣν ἔγημε Στασῖνος, Στασῖνος ὁ τὰ Κύπρια συγγράμματα ποιήσας ἅπερ οἱ πλείους λέγουσιν Ὁμήρου πεφυκέναι, εἰς προῖκα δὲ σὺν χρήμασι δοθῆναι τῷ Στασίνῳ Ἀρκτῖνος ὁ Μιλήσιος ἦν μαθητὴς Ὁμήρου, καὶ δοῦλος δὲ τῷ ποιητῇ κλῆσιν ὑπῆρχε Βύκκων ὃν βίκωνα καὶ φλάσκωνα παίζων ὁ Τζέτζης λέγει. βιβλία τοῦ Ὁμήρου δὲ τρία εἰσὶ καὶ δέκα. |
| (650) | ὁ χρόνος τούτου σύγχρονος ἦν ἐκστρατείας δύο, Θηβαικῇ καὶ Τρωικῇ κατὰ πολλοὺς ἑτέρους. ὁ δ’ Ἀπολλόδωρος αὐτὸς ὁ χρονογράφος λέγει τελεῖν μετ’ ὀγδοήκοντα ἔτη τῆς Τρώων μάχης. Ἡσίοδος δὲ ἤκμαζεν ὡς εὗρον ἐν ἑτέροις, κατὰ τὴν ἑνδεκάτην μὲν αὐτὴν Ὀλυμπιάδα. τοιάδε τῷ Ὁμήρῳ δὲ ἡ τελευτὴ συνέβη. ἦν προχρησθὲν θανεῖν αὐτὸν ὅταν ἠρωτημένος οὐ δυνηθῇ τὸ αἴνιγμα ἐκεῖνο ἐπιλῦσαι. πένης τελῶν δὲ ὁ ἀνὴρ καί γε τυφλὸς ἐκ γήρως· τὰ μυθικὰ ληρήματα τίς γὰρ φρονῶν ἐγγράφοι; ἁπανταχοῦ διήρχετο τὰς χώρας τῆς Ἑλλάδος λέγων αὐτοῦ ποιήματα δεχόμενος ἐντίμως εἰς δ’ Ἀρκαδίαν ξενισθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ Κρεωφύλου περιπατήσων ἔρχεται ἐπὶ τὴν παραλίαν. |
| (650) | ὡς δ’ εἶπεν ἄνδρες ἁλιεῖς Ἀρκάδες ἔχομέν τι; οἱ δ’ ἀπεκρίθησαν αὐτῷ περὶ φθειρῶν λαλοῦντες ὡς οὓς εἷλον οὐκ ἔχουσιν, ἔχουσι δ’ οὕς περ εἷλον, ὑπέστρεφε λυπούμενος ὡς μὴ νοήσας τοῦτο. πηλοῦ δ’ ὄντος ὠλίσθησε καὶ κεκρουκὼς εἰς πέτραν κλᾶται πλευρὰν τὴν δεξιὰν καὶ τελευτᾷ τριταῖος. |