Database of Byzantine Book Epigrams

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Type 30861

Καὶ σὺ δέ, Μαρκελλῖνε, τὰ ψευδῆ γράφεις.
Ἀναξαγόραν Εὐριπίδου διδάσκαλον
ὄντα παλαιὸν πῶς λέγεις Θουκυδίδου;
ὁ τοῦ Ξύλου παῖς προχρονώτερος τούτου.
Οὗ συγγράφοντος παῖς τελῶν Θουκυδίδης
ἀκηκοὼς ἔκλαυσε τῶν συγγραμμάτων.
Ὁ δ’ Ἡρόδοτος φησὶ πατρὶ τῷ τούτου τάδε·
ἔνθουν, Ὄλουρε, παῖς ὁ σὸς ψυχὴν ἔχει.
Οὗτος χρόνοις δ’ ἦν ὑστέροις Εὐριπίδου.
Εὐριπίδης δὲ Ξερξικοῖς ἦν ἐν χρόνοις.
Εὐριπίδου πρῶτος δὲ πῶς Θουκυδίδης,
ἔτι τελῶν παῖς συγγραφαῖς ταῖς Ἡροδότου
καθυστερούσαις τῶν χρόνων Εὐριπίδου;
Text source M. Luzzatto, 1999, Tzetzes lettore di Tucidide: note autografe sul Codice Heidelberg Palatino Greco 252, Bari: 70-73
Text status Text completely known
Editorial status Not a critical text
Genre(s)
Person(s)
Poet
John Tzetzes (12th c.) - PBW: Ioannes/459/
Metre(s) Dodecasyllable
Subject(s)
Tag(s)
Translation(s)
  • And you too, Markellinos, write false things.
    How can you claim Anaxagoras was the teacher of Thucydides,
    when he [Anax.] was old when he taught Euripides?
    The son of Xyles [Hdt.] was much earlier than him [Thuc.].
    When he [Hdt.] was writing, Thucydides was a child,
    and cried when he heard a recitation of the Histories.
    Whereupon Herodotos said this to his father:
    “Your son, Olouros, has a soul inspired by god.”
    Now he [Hdt.] came after Euripides.
    Euripides lived in the time of Xerxes.
    So how could Thucydides have come before Euripides
    when he was still a child when Herodotos was writing his Histories,
    which came after the times of Euripides?
    Language
    English
    Source(s)
    A. Kaldellis, 2015, Byzantine Readings of Ancient Historians, Abingdon and New York: 69
  • Ma anche tu, o Marcellino, scrivi il falso. Come puoi dire che Anassagora, che da vecchio fu maestro di Euripide, sia stato maestro di Tucidide? Il figlio di Xyles (Erodoto) era più anziano di costui (scil. di Tucidide). Quando infatti Erodoto scriveva le sue Storie, Tucidide ancora bambino uditele (recitare) pianse per la commozione ed Erodoto disse al padre di lui queste parole: O Oluro, tuo figlio ha un’anima ispirata dal dio’. Ora costui (Erodoto) è vissuto in anni posteriori ad Euripide. Euripide infatti era vivo ai tempi di Serse. Quindi come fa ad essere prima di Euripide uno come Tucidide che era ancora bambino quando Erodoto leggeva le sue Storie le quali coprono eventi più recenti degli anni in cui visse Euripide?
    Language
    Italian
    Source(s)
    M. Luzzatto, 1999, Tzetzes lettore di Tucidide: note autografe sul Codice Heidelberg Palatino Greco 252, Bari: 70-73
Bibliography

Primary

Secondary

A. Kaldellis, 2015, Byzantine Readings of Ancient Historians, Abingdon and New York: 68-69
Number of verses 13
Occurrence(s) [30895] (καὶ) σὺ δὲ μαρκελλῖνε, τὰ ψευδῆ γράφ(εις) [1146-1155]
HEIDELBERG - Universitätsbibliothek - Palat. gr. 252 [851-950] (f. 3r)
(13 verses)
Acknowledgements
Creator(s)
Anne-Sophie Rouckhout
Contributor(s)
Anne-Sophie Rouckhout

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Identification Vassis ICB 2005, 382: "Ioann. Tzetzes, In Thucydidis vitam"
Permalink http://dev.dbbe.ugent.be/types/30861
Last modified: 2026-01-19.
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