Brill’s Companion to Callimachus. by Benjamin Acosta-Hughes, Luigi Lehnus, and Susan Stephens (eds.) (review)

This splendid collection contains twenty-seven articles on various aspects of Callimachean studies bracketed by an informative introduction (Stephens) and thoughtful epilogue (Acosta-Hughes) by two of the three editors. It is impossible to describe its riches in this brief review. The volume is, first of all, a treasure-house of information for those who wrestle seriously with Callimachus’ text. The entire first section is devoted to its complex sources, beginning with a useful survey of the earliest collections of fragments assembled from literary and sub-literary sources, plus a complete, up-to-date list of all the relevant papyri (Lehnus). The ancient authors who cite Callimachus and difficulties in interpreting the quotations are explored by Fillippomaria Pontani, while Maria Rosaria Falivene concentrates on the nature of the Milan Diegeseis, (PMilVogl 1.18), which summarizes the arguments and guarantees the order in at least one ancient manuscript of Aitia books 3 and 4, 13 Iambi, 4 Mele, the Hecale, and the first two Hymns. As an example of how Callimachus’ text has been reconstructed, Massimilla carefully details what is currently known about the Aitia, Callimachus’ chef d’ œuvre, while Annette Harder weaves the threads of all these discussions together in a thoughtful essay on what it means to work in a responsible way on a fragmentary text constructed from such diverse components. I know of nowhere else, except perhaps the prolegomena to Pfeiffer’s edition of 1949–53, now out of date, where so much useful information on the nature and sources of Callimachus’ text is gathered together.

The later sections are devoted to various modes of interpretation. There are no tired, overworked topics here, but much that is fresh and thought-provoking. As Stephens makes clear in the introduction, the editors made a conscious decision to avoid reprising the kinds of scholarship that have dominated Callimachean studies over the past half century. Much of this earlier work was focused on literary issues, which is understandable considering the challenges posed by the text’s complexity and sophistication. The current trend, however, is to look outward to discover the ways it interacts with its broader cultural and historical contexts. This change in orientation is fully reflected in this volume where it emerges as a powerful heuristic force. For example, rather than another discourse on the poet’s defense of his literary principles in the Aitia Prologue and Hymn to Apollo, Romano compares Callimachus’ theory and its expression with the work of roughly contemporary prose critics like Demetrius On Style. In place of the inconclusive debates on whether Callimachus’ Hymns were ever performed in religious ceremonies, Irana Petrovic uncovers elements in the Hymn to Apollo that reflect contemporary religious practice as it is documented in inscriptions. Gone is the assumption that Callimachus composed his verse in an “ivory tower,” and in its place are articles on the poet’s deft handling of real kings (Silvia Barbantani), queens (Evelyne Prioux), the Alexandrian court (Weber), and on the ways in which Ptolemaic geopolitics informs Callimachus poetics (Markus Asper).

Instead of repeating what is already well known about Callimachus’ recollections of Homer, Hesiod, and Pindar, there are articles on his use of Atthidographers (Giovanni Benedetto), fable (Ruth Scodel), and proverbs (Emanuele Lelli). The poetics of allusion, however, is not ignored, but rather is represented by Mario Citroni’s illuminating analysis of Pasquali’s “Arte Allusiva” (1942), which together with the work of his student, Giangrande, set the agenda for Callimachean studies for much of the second half of the last century. This is not paired with articles on Callimachus’ allusions to earlier poets, but thoughtfully placed at the end of the volume with articles focusing on allusions to Callimachus’ own work at Rome (Alessandro Barchiesi) and in later Greek poetry down to the Byzantine age (Claudio De Stefani and Enrico Magnelli).

In all, this carefully curated collection is not a summation of the past work...