Abstract
Callimachus, renowned for his hatred of big books, had giant stature among poets of antiquity. We have become accustomed to think in terms of a ‘Callimachean aesthetic’ that guided the tastes of both Greek and Latin poets for centuries after Callimachus wrote. Only recently has Callimachus, too, become the subject of the revisionism that is a necessary, if predictable, part of academic discussion; a conference to be held in Cambridge later this year is entitled, ‘Casting off Shadows: Hellenistic Poetry Beyond Callimachean Aesthetics,’ and promises to provide enriching new perspectives.
Annette Harder’s very big book, published in two volumes, is the first modern English edition of the Aetia, and takes into account all the papyrus finds since Pfeiffer’s 1949 edition. (Between 1996 and 2006, there have also been modern editions in Italian, German, and French.) The first volume comprises introduction, text, and translation; the second is a commentary with fourfold aim: to establish the text, provide basic comprehension, appreciate the Aetia as a work of art, and interpret the work in its literary, historical and cultural context. There is extensive bibliography, and full indices.
This is a work of consummate scholarship. Harder attributes it to her ‘youthful hubris’ back in the early 1980s. If so, then that is the sort of youthful hubris that is worth its weight in gold.